The Santa Barbara Web Design and Marketing Blog

When planning the search engine optimization (SEO) for your website, one of the most fundamental—yet often overlooked—steps is to thoroughly survey your online environment. It’s not enough to simply know the basics of SEO or plug in a handful of keyword phrases and expect results. True SEO success comes from understanding both your competitors and, most importantly, your customers. If you want your website to stand out, attract the right traffic, and convert visitors into clients, you need to know exactly which keywords matter and who you’re truly up against in the search engine results.

The Critical First Step: Who Are You REALLY Competing Against?

As you embark on your SEO strategy, the first action should be a comprehensive survey of your competitive landscape. This isn’t just about identifying your competitors by name—it's about identifying them at the keyword level. For every unique service, product, or solution you offer, there are specific ways that potential customers are searching for you. “Competitors” in SEO might not be the business down the street but the website with the best answer to your prospective customers’ questions.

Start by searching for your target keywords across search engines like Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo. Make a list of the top-ranking websites, not just for your brand name, but for questions and problems your customers are likely to search. Oftentimes, competitors in the search results may not be businesses just like yours; they could be publishers, directories, or even large forums.

Going beyond simple search engine queries, use SEO tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to identify who dominates the search results for your target phrases. These insights are invaluable, as they’ll help you craft a strategy that addresses the real digital competition, not just the businesses you’re aware of in your local network.

The Peril of “Expert” vs. “Customer” Keywords

Here’s where many businesses go wrong: They focus their SEO efforts on words and phrases commonly used by industry insiders. These “expert” keywords sound impressive, but the people searching for those terms are often your peers, not your customers. For example, let’s say you run a digital marketing agency. You might feel compelled to optimize for “conversion rate optimization” or “multi-channel attribution.” While these terms are important, most business owners or potential clients may simply be searching for “how to get more leads online,” “improve website sales,” or “better Google ads.”

The goal is to uncover the actual language your prospects use when they search for solutions to their problems. These words might be simpler, less technical, and even vary by geography or demographic. If your SEO strategy is dominated by industry jargon, you may end up attracting more colleagues than customers—or worse, be invisible to your target audience entirely.

How to Discover Customer-Centric Keywords

- Review Client Communications: Look through your emails, contact forms, and support tickets. How do your customers describe their needs and issues?

- Social Media Listening: Scan discussions in Facebook Groups, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, and niche forums. Pay close attention to how people in your target market phrase their questions.

- Google’s “People Also Ask” and “Related Searches”: At the bottom of Google search pages or within the “People Also Ask” boxes, you’ll often find long-tail phrases that signal how real users are wording their queries.

- AI Tools and Chatbots: Use modern AI such as ChatGPT to simulate customer questions or identify commonly asked queries related to your industry.

- Survey Your Audience: Consider sending out a brief survey to your email list or social followers, asking them how they would describe the challenge you solve.

Take note of the recurring words and themes, then cross-reference these with your current website content. Are you speaking your clients’ language or defaulting to expert-speak?

Analyzing and Learning from the Top-Ranked Content

Once you know which keywords truly matter, examine the content that currently dominates those search results. Don’t merely glance at the headlines—look deeply at:

- Content Structure: How are top posts or pages structured? Are they guides, lists, case studies, videos, or something else?

- Depth and Breadth: How thoroughly does each top-ranked page address the topic? Is it fluff, or genuinely valuable information?

- Engagement Signals: Do these posts encourage comments, shares, and backlinks? Is there a community around this content?

- On-Page SEO: How do they use titles, headers, images, and internal/external links?

Imagine yourself in the shoes of your target customer. Ask yourself: Does this content answer my question completely? If not, where does it fall short? This critical gap analysis will become the fuel for your SEO strategy.

The Golden Rule: Outperform by 10x

Now comes the heart of an advanced SEO strategy: If you want to win the top spot, you can’t simply match what’s already there—you must exceed it significantly. A good rule of thumb is to create content that’s “10 times better” than anything found on page one for your target keywords.

What does “10x content” look like? It’s comprehensive, actionable, beautifully formatted, and perhaps most importantly: unique. It answers every conceivable question your customer might have about the topic, and does so in a way that’s engaging and memorable.

Ways to Create “10x” SEO Content:

1. Depth: Cover all relevant subtopics, FAQs, and use cases in detail.

2. Original Research: Include data, surveys, or case studies unique to your business.

3. Expert Opinions: Gather and quote insights from authorities in your field.

4. Multimedia: Mix in images, infographics, videos, and downloadable assets.

5. User Experience: Ensure the page is fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate.

6. Actionable Steps: Provide checklists, templates, or step-by-step instructions.

7. Engagement: Embed polls, comments, or interactive content to drive participation.

Remember, great content is not about stuffing in as many keywords as possible. It’s about genuinely helping your audience solve their problems better than anyone else can.

Striking the Balance: Authority Keywords vs. Customer Language

While it's crucial to use the words your customers are typing into Google, you shouldn't ignore the expert or “authority” keywords entirely. Search engines need to confirm that your site is credible and relevant to the topic. Therefore, pepper in those professional terms judiciously—to signal your expertise—but always prioritize clarity and accessibility for your audience.

For example, if you’re a web designer focused on helping local businesses, your customers may not use the term “responsive web design” but instead say “website looks good on phones.” Blend these phrases throughout your content, ensuring both search engines and readers grasp your authority and your relevance.

Avoid jargon overload. Instead, explain technical concepts in plain language. By doing so, you’ll build trust and establish superior relevance not just in the eyes of Google, but in the hearts of your future clients.

Content Volume: Why More Is (Still) Better

Search engines love depth and breadth. The more high-quality content you have, the more opportunities you provide for different keyword variations, user questions, and long-tail searches to bring people to your site. But volume alone isn’t enough. Every piece of content needs a clear purpose, target keyword, and customer problem to address.

- Start building a content calendar: Plan out regular blog posts, FAQs, case studies, how-to’s, and resource pages that touch every stage of your customer’s journey.

- Repurpose content: Turn webinars into articles, articles into infographics, infographics into social posts. This multiplies your reach and search visibility.

- Update regularly: Search engines reward freshness, so revisit and update your best-performing articles to keep them accurate and comprehensive.

Innovative Approaches: Stand Out in the Crowd

Finally, to dominate in your niche, dare to be different. Look for creative ways to approach problems, present information, or structure your content. Could you introduce comparison tools, online calculators, step-by-step checklists, or immersive video guides? Is there a fresh, empathetic, or even humorous voice you can bring to otherwise dry subject matter?

Innovation isn’t just about what you say, but how you deliver it. If all your competitors use plain text blog posts, consider launching a mini-podcast series or in-depth video tutorials. If their content is all broad generalities, zero in on hyper-specific, actionable advice.

The more remarkable—and genuinely helpful—your content, the more naturally it will attract backlinks, shares, and organic engagement, all of which propel your SEO efforts further.

Bringing It All Together

Great SEO is more than technical checklists and keyword density. At its core, it's about understanding the real needs of your prospects and communicating with them in a way that’s authentic, authoritative, and genuinely useful.

1. Survey your competitive landscape at the keyword level, using Google and third-party tools to find out what’s working in your field today.

2. Listen carefully to how your customers describe their problems and solutions—and build your keyword and content strategy around their language, not just expert terms.

3. Analyze the content that’s currently ranking, and identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.

4. Commit to creating content that’s 10x better—deeper, more insightful, and more user-friendly—than anything out there.

5. Balance expert authority with customer-centric clarity to signal both relevance and expertise to search engines and site visitors alike.

6. Embrace content volume and innovation, constantly looking for new formats, ideas, and approaches that set you apart from the competition.

By following these principles, you’ll not only improve your chances of ranking well in search engines—you’ll also build a site that delights your human visitors, turns prospects into customers, and grows your reputation as the go-to solution in your area of expertise.

Remember: The best SEO isn’t about gaming the system. It’s about delivering transformational value to your ideal clients—and making sure they can find you when they need you the most.

If you’re ready to elevate your web presence and outshine the competition, start by putting yourself in your customer’s shoes—then walk the extra mile to make your site the obvious, irresistible choice. Whether you’re a local business owner, creative professional, or start-up founder, the path is clear: Survey, listen, analyze, outwork, and innovate.

See you at the top of search results.