Most experts don’t realize their website is speaking a completely different language than their potential clients are searching for.
The solution is usually pretty simple, but it’s easy to miss this entirely because you’re too close to your own work. You know exactly what you do. You understand your transformations inside and out. But your potential clients are searching using very different words. If your website isn’t speaking their language, you’re invisible to them where they are actively looking for someone like you.
This article summarizes my interview with Laura Jawad, an SEO strategist who helps service providers build stronger online reputations and connect with people actively searching for their services, on what is currently working in SEO (and the quick win you can get today!)
With a background as a PhD-trained scientist, Laura brings a research-minded, evidence-based perspective to visibility. She’s built two businesses through search herself, and now helps values-led entrepreneurs create long-term, reputation-driven visibility across both traditional search and emerging AI tools.
*Note: This blog post may contain an affiliate link, which means if you click and buy, I’ll earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I never recommend things I don’t love or haven’t used. 
This post is for you if you’ve been wondering:
- How do I actually attract clients (not just traffic) through SEO?
- What does a realistic content marketing strategy look like for a small business?
- Why does everyone say SEO takes 6–12 months? What am I supposed to do in the meantime?
- Is my website actually saying what I do in a way people can find?
- How do I create content that matters and ranks?
I predicted that blogging would become even more important this year, and that’s still holding true. Let’s dig in and make it work for you.
What 80% of Websites Get Wrong (You Can Fix This in 2-Minutes)
Here’s the uncomfortable truth Laura shared with me that I want you to sit with: About 80–90% of the websites she audits have the same problem.
People don’t actually say what they do.
We talk around our offers instead of naming them plainly. We get so close to our work that we describe it in the language of transformation, philosophy, or outcome…which can be great for your sales page copy, but not for the person in search mode asking Google or AI a straightforward question.
A pelvic floor physical therapist needs to use the phrase “pelvic floor physical therapy” on her website. A mortgage broker needs to say “mortgage broker.” A Facebook ads manager needs to mention “Facebook ads.”
This is usually because of one sneaky thing:
We’re trying to differentiate ourselves.
We call ourselves things like “wellness architect” or “visionary strategist” or “the abundance coach.” These names feel smart. They feel different. But here’s the problem: nobody is searching for a “wellness architect.” They’re searching for a “life coach” or “therapist” or “gut health practitioner.”
When you replace the searchable word with a branded term that exists only in your ecosystem, you become invisible to the exact people looking for you.
Your website needs to speak the language your ideal clients are using before they learn your unique methodology or philosophy.
The Two Parts of a Content Marketing Strategy That Works
If you’re going to invest time and energy into a content marketing strategy, you need to understand that there are actually two distinct layers working together (and most people focus on only one).
1. Your Brand Reputation
Your brand reputation is how you’re perceived across the entire internet, not just on your website. It’s the sum of everything people are saying about you, linking to you, and associating with you. This is the part most skip over.
When you podcast guest, you’re building reputation. When you submit a guest blog post, you’re building reputation. When you pitch yourself to media outlets, apply to speak at events, or contribute to industry publications, you’re building reputation. When people link to you, mention you, and reference your work—that’s your reputation in action.
Here’s why this matters: Google and AI tools increasingly care about the source of information, not just the information itself. They want to know: Is this person credible? Are other credible people talking about them? Do they have real-world authority in this space?
Building a strong reputation used to be a long-term play with no immediate ROI. Yes, reputation-building takes time, but every podcast appearance, every guest post, every media mention gives you immediate brand awareness and relationship value. Those things have short-term ROI. Your website SEO is the long game that compounds on top of it.
2. Your Content
The second layer is what most people focus on: the content on your website. Your blog posts, your service pages, your resources—this is where you get to be incredibly intentional about what you’re saying and to whom so that you attract clients.
Your content is where you tailor your message for conversion, not just visibility. The type of content you create, the way you produce it, the problems you solve in it…all of that ensures you’re calling in the right person, not just any person.
A blog post about “how to choose a therapist” attracts different people than “three red flags that mean you need therapy now.” The first brings in browsers. The second brings in people actively seeking help.
Both pieces are necessary for a content marketing strategy that works.
The Website Versus LinkedIn Debate (And Why Your Website Still Wins)
Should you focus on blogging on your website or creating LinkedIn articles instead?
The answer is: both. But not in the way people think.
Your website is the only place where you own the experience. LinkedIn can disappear. Algorithms can change. But your website? That’s yours. You control how it looks, how it feels, how people move through it, and what happens after they land there.
LinkedIn articles are incredible for building credibility and reaching people in your network. LinkedIn is also one of the highest-authority websites in the world, so when you have a LinkedIn profile with your name and expertise, Google shows it prominently when someone searches your name. LinkedIn content matters (see how your personal brand can become the top 3% in your industry on LinkedIn here!), but it cannot replace website content.
Your website is your credibility hub and your conversion engine. LinkedIn is part of how you build authority and extend your reach. Use them both, but understand what each one does.
How Frequently Do You Need To Blog To See Results?
One of the most persistent myths in content marketing strategy is that you need to blog weekly to see results. While that may not hurt, the real answer is that it depends. (I know, not satisfying.)
If you’re just starting out and you have zero content on your website, making the effort to publish more frequently at the beginning is absolutely worth it. You need to get something up. Consistency is better than perfection, especially when you’re building from scratch.
But frequency isn’t the primary metric. Quality is.
If you’re publishing one blog post per month and each one is highly optimized, answers real questions your clients ask, and speaks to the language they use, then you’re going to see better results than someone publishing four mediocre posts per month.
Also—and this is important—not all of us are here to monetize our blogs. Most service providers aren’t running ads. The goal isn’t traffic for traffic’s sake. It’s qualified leads. So over time, as your content library grows and you have more posts ranking, you can actually reduce your publishing frequency. You’ll also spend time updating old content to make it perform better, which is often more valuable than writing brand new posts.
How to Create Content That AI Can’t (And Why It Matters Now)
Laura said: “If AI can generate the blog post for you without your input, it’s not going to perform well on your website because AI can generate that.”
Think about that.
If you prompt ChatGPT to write a blog post on your topic, you get an overview. You get general information. You get… what everyone else can get. There’s no reason for Google to rank your version instead of anyone else’s. There’s no reason for someone to click through to your site when they can get the answer from an AI tool.
But if you write a blog post about “how I onboarded my first 10 clients without paid ads,” that’s different. If you write about the specific questions your clients get stuck on, the exact mistakes you see them make, the process you developed in your own business—that can’t be AI generated.
This specificity works for three reasons:
First, it gives people a reason to click. They want your specific experience and perspective, not a generic overview they could get anywhere.
Second, it signals to AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude that if they want to reference this information, they have to cite you. That brings traffic and authority.
Third, it actually converts better. People don’t hire you because they read a generic “how to choose a coach” article. They hire you because they read your story about how you became a coach, or your framework for understanding client struggles, or your unconventional take on something everyone else agrees on.
So your content strategy needs to include more:
- Case studies about what worked for you and why
- Your specific process, step-by-step
- Questions your clients actually ask (not theoretical questions)
- The places where you see people get hung up
- Your unconventional perspective on a common problem
- Stories about your own journey and what you learned
It’s not that purely informational content has no value. It does. But it has to be grounded in your experience. It has to have your fingerprints on it.
This is one of the things I did to turn an Outdated Website to Elevated Brand (in only 1 hour of the client’s time!)
The Metrics That Actually Matter (And Why Bulk Traffic Doesn’t)
If you’ve ever felt confused about what to track in Google Search Console, Laura’s insight here will feel like permission.
Most guides tell you to obsess over traffic numbers. Track your visitors. Watch your growth. But if you’re a small business or solo service provider, those numbers are sampled and inaccurate because of privacy settings and cookie blocking. The data is essentially guessing.
So what is valuable?
Individual keywords and where they’re bringing traffic from. Which keywords are bringing clicks, which ones are getting impressions, which ones are converting to inquiries.
Also, ask a simple question on your contact form: “Where did you hear about us?” or “How did you find us?” That single question will tell you more about your client acquisition than any dashboard will.
Here’s another shift Laura made that I want you to consider:
Some of your content won’t rank at all. And that’s okay.
Sometimes you write a blog post because your clients ask you the same question over and over. You write it so you can send them there instead of answering the same email five times a week. That post might never rank on Google, but it still has value because it serves your audience and establishes your authority.
Not every page needs to be an SEO play. But most of them should be written with SEO in mind.
This is something that I look for when I do a website copy audit. You can see an example of what a website copy audit experience is like here.
The Long Game: Why SEO Is Your Business Retirement Plan
With social media, you’re constantly feeding the algorithm. With referrals, you’re dependent on who knows you and who’s willing to recommend you. Both bring in money today. But they require constant effort.
SEO is different. You do the work once (well, you maintain and update it, but you’re not starting from scratch every month). You build your website library. You establish your authority. And then, years later, you’re still getting warm, qualified leads from people searching for exactly what you offer. Jess Freeman shared how SEO has worked for her business in this post (and allows her to take a guilt-free nap on a Tuesday afternoon).
The catch: You have to give it time. Laura’s ballpark estimate is 6–12 months before you’re pulling in solid leads. (This varies by niche, local versus online reach, and competition, but that’s a reasonable timeline.)
That sounds long. But if you’ve been doing social media marketing for five years and you still have to post three times a week to stay visible, suddenly 6–12 months of focused content work to create a passive lead source sounds pretty good.
This is why starting now matters. The longer you wait, the longer the timeline. But if you start today, in two years you’ll be a completely different business.
The First Step In Your SEO Content Marketing Strategy
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Okay, but where do I actually start?” here’s what to do for a quick win.
The very first step is making sure your website uses the language your clients use.
This means keyword research. Real keyword research, not just asking an AI tool (which will guess) but using a tool like Keywords Everywhere or Uber Suggest that shows you actual search volume data.
You’re looking for: What words are people actually typing into Google when they’re looking for what you offer? Are you using those exact words on your website? Or are you using nicer, more branded versions that only exist in your world?
Once you know the words, put them in key places:
- Your meta titles
- Your page headers
- Your above-the-fold copy
- The first paragraph of your blog posts
You’re not stuffing keywords awkwardly.Make sure you’re speaking the language of the people searching for you.
Laura has created a free keyword research workbook called SEO Simplified that walks you through this exact process. It’s designed for exactly this moment: when you’re starting to realize your website isn’t serving your business, and you’re ready to fix it with what your audience is actually actively searching for.
Also, if you want to go deeper into understanding what’s working and what isn’t in your current marketing, check out the Why Isn’t This Converting? free 5-day challenge. It’s specifically designed to help you audit your messaging and spot where you’re losing aligned leads.
FAQ: Your Content Marketing Questions Answered
Q: How often should I publish new blog content?
A: Quality over quantity. If you’re starting from scratch, aim for consistency (weekly or biweekly is solid). Once you have a content library, focus on updating and optimizing existing posts. There’s no magic number—it’s about having content that actually answers questions and serves your audience.
Q: Should I use AI to generate my blog posts?
A: You can use AI as a drafting tool, but your voice, your experience, and your perspective need to be in there. If you’re using AI to generate the entire post without adding your specific insights, examples, or unconventional angle, it won’t perform as well. Use AI to speed up the process, not to replace your thinking.
Q: What if I don’t have time to blog consistently?
A: Then focus on quality over frequency. Write fewer posts, but make them excellent. Also, consider that other reputation-building activities (podcast guesting, guest posts on bigger platforms, media mentions) might have better ROI for your time. It depends on your business.
Q: How do I know what keywords to target?
A: Use a keyword research tool like Keywords Everywhere, Uber Suggest, or SEMrush. Look at search volume, competition, and relevance to your actual clients. Also do “voice of customer” research—ask your clients and leads: What words do you use when you search for this? What problem are you trying to solve? That real human insight combined with data is powerful.
Q: Does blogging really bring clients, or is it just vanity metrics?
A: Blogging brings clients when two things happen: (1) You’re using the language your clients search for, and (2) Your content actually solves their problem and makes them want to work with you. Generic blog posts about your industry? Those are vanity metrics. Strategic content written for your ideal client? That brings real leads.
Q: How long until I see results from my content marketing?
A: 6–12 months is a reasonable timeline if you’re starting from scratch and publishing consistently. But you don’t have to wait that long to see some results. Relationships from guest posts, engagement from social sharing, and immediate value to your email list can start happening right away. The SEO results take longer, but they compound over time.
The Timeless Content Marketing Strategy That Works
There’s so much noise in marketing right now. Do Reels, do TikToks, get on Threads, optimize for AI, chase virality, grow your podcast downloads.
But the core of a content marketing strategy that works hasn’t changed: Create valuable, authentic content that serves your ideal client. Use language they actually use. Build your reputation through visibility and credibility-building activities. Do the work consistently.
That’s it. That’s the timeless strategy that works.
And if you’re ready to get serious about building a content marketing strategy that actually attracts aligned clients—not just traffic—take the Why Isn’t This Converting? challenge. It’s a five-day audit that helps you see exactly where your messaging is working and where it’s leaking leads.
You’ve got this.
Connect With Our Guest, Laura Jawad
Laura Jawad is an SEO strategist who helps service providers and service-based business owners build a stronger online reputation, grow their audience, and connect with people who are actively searching for their services.
With a background as a PhD-trained scientist, Laura approaches SEO with a research-minded, evidence-based perspective. She focuses on practical, reputation-driven strategies that support long-term visibility across both traditional search and emerging AI tools.
After building two businesses through search, Laura now helps values-led entrepreneurs make their websites easier to find, easier to understand, and better aligned with the work they want to be known for.
SEO Simplified is a keyword research workbook that helps business owners identify the words that their audience is searching for.
And I would highly recommend her Done-With-You SEO program. You’ll walk away with a website that’s genuinely set up to be found, published content that works while you’re not working, and the skills and system to keep building after the program ends.
