The State of SEO With Ben Steele - EP 293

Want to increase your ROI and improve your SEO strategy? How will SEO evolve in the year ahead? What are the biggest threats and challenges? SEJ's Ben Steele joined me on the SEJ Show to discuss the findings of SEJ's Second Annual State of SEO Study, which includes emerging trends in the world of SEO and can help companies plan for 2023 and beyond.   As long as people need to find things, there will be SEO. That explains why this industry has seen so much growth, even with the upset of the last few years and economic issues on the horizon.  –Ben Steele, 12:34 Organic marketing or performance marketing forms, such as SEO and affiliate marketing, have risen from staffing and investment perspectives. –Loren Baker, 14:31 If you're hyper-focusing on that automation element, you might be missing its actual value, which is allowing you to go hands-off on some of the things that don't matter as much and focus on creating content that resonates with your audience –Ben Steele, 31:11   [00:00] - About Ben. [06:49] - What is the second annual State of SEO? [09:59] - Number of respondents involved. [10:25] - Preliminary findings that stuck out. [16:09] - Locales with the highest salaries for SEO. [18:20] - Where SEO professionals focused big this year. [22:31] - Metrics to track success. [32:40] - Important emergent factors in the next two years. [41:33] - Difficulties in ebook planning. [43:34] - The difference between an ebook & a white paper.   Resources mentioned:  State of SEO - https://www.searchenginejournal.com/state-of-seo-performance/ Ebooks are an interesting beast because they have unique difficulties and advantages. The most significant unique problem is they require a lot of buy-ins. By that, I mean they need someone to not only have the time to sit down and read it but to go through the process of discovering and deciding to download it. –Ben Steele, 37:55 People are returning to basics, driven by Google's updates over the last couple of years. –Ben Steele, 19:40 Yes, rankings are nice, but it's much better to have an ROI where people purchase or click. –Loren Baker, 28:16   For more content like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/searchenginejournal Are you looking to keep up with current and effective digital marketing today? Check out https://www.searchenginejournal.com for everything you need to know within the digital marketing space and improve your skills as an internet marketer.   Connect with Ben Steele:   Ben Steele, Senior Editor at SEJ, is an expert in digital content. He didn't set out to be an SEO strategist. Still, after learning the skills needed for his job and combining them with some self-driven research on digital marketing, he found that this is where his true passion lay.  His professional theater background also helped him develop a work ethic and leadership skills, among other soft factors like creativity.  Ben now works on the ebooks of SEJ, where he always offers fresh insights and recommendations for content strategy. Through his work in SEO, he channels the human experience, journey, or expression into something that others can learn. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/writerbensteele/ Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BennyJamminS