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25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOs

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25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOs

ChatGPT is a revolutionary technology that will significantly change how we work.

As a programmer, I initially didn’t believe it could solve advanced tasks, but I was surprised to see how helpful it can be in my daily life.

So, I started playing around with ChatGPT and discovered several ways it could help me – and I think SEO pros and marketers should master it and make it part of their daily working routing as an assistant tool.

Let’s break down examples by niches you can use, such as:

  • Analytics and Data.
  • Digital Marketing.
  • Productivity.
  • Technical SEO.
  • Keyword Research.
  • On-Page SEO.

But before we start, I would like to point out one caveat you have to remember: The data that ChatGPT was trained on is from the third quarter of 2021 and based on what is available on the internet, which may contain misinformation and outdated.

That means fact-checking and revising ChatGPT’s answers are mandatory, so you don’t fall into trap of errors made by the machine.

Examples Of ChatGPT For Analytics And Data

1. Compose Regular Expressions In Analytics Reporting

Regular expressions can be used in composing analytic reports such as Google Search Console (GSC) or Google Analytics (GA).

Regular expressions are one of the most boring tasks I know, and it may really slow down work. For marketers, it is even tougher, as they typically don’t have a technical background.

Let’s look at an example of GSC’s reporting, which supports filtering by regexp (regular expression).

Screenshot of GSC Query Filter by Regexp, January 2023

If you are a marketer with no technical background, you may find it hard to use this feature and limit yourself to the few basic regexps, which you can find by searching dev-related forums.

Now, you have ChatGPT at your disposal.

Just go to ChatGPT and ask:  Compose regular expression which starts with “How To” or “What is” case insensitive using RE2 syntax.

ChatGPT ResponseScreenshot of ChatGPT response, January 2023

Yup!

(?i)^(?:How To|What is)

It got the job done instantly.

Copy and paste the pattern in GSC’s filter field, and you will have all the queries that are candidates to optimize for FAQ or HowTo schema.

GSC reportScreenshot of GSC report, January 2023

Pretty easy, isn’t it?

You can use it to compose regexp for GA reports as well.

For example, let’s say you want to filter a report which has in the URL the words “Samsung” and “phone.”

Just ask ChatGPT: Compose regular expression which contains words “Samsung” and “phone” case insensitive using RE2 syntax.

Just to note, it is important to mention “RE2 syntax” in the command, as Google’s reporting dashboards support that syntax.

2. Compose Complex Spreadsheet Formulas

Everyone works with Excel or Google Sheets at some time.

Spreadsheets are a part of daily work life for many of us. But composing spreadsheet formulas can be arduous, as you must research to find the function name you need and then spend 10 to 15 minutes figuring out how to make it work.

Now, it just takes you a minute to ask ChatGPT with a command like: Google Sheet formula which copies all rows from sheet1 where column "A" contains word "iphone".

And it didn’t take long to get the solution.

Google Sheet Formula ChatGPTScreenshot of Google Sheet Formula created by ChatGPT, January 2023

But, the formula it gave =QUERY(Sheet1!A:Z, "SELECT * WHERE A CONTAINS 'iphone'", "Sheet2!A1") has a small error.

Of course, ChatGPT doesn’t always provide 100% correct answers. You should always check its answers, as you may need to fix them manually.

The formula I got is 99% correct, except that the third parameter shouldn’t be there.

So, I removed it manually and now have =QUERY(Sheet1!A:Z, "SELECT * WHERE A CONTAINS 'iphone'") which works perfectly!

I always recommend using punctuation in ChatGPT to help it better understand the prompt.

For example, use a colon to end the prompt or quotes around any text that isn’t part of the prompt.

3. Composing SQL queries

With the introduction of GA4, marketers may often need to fetch data from BigQuery, as Google now offers a free connection of GA4 to BigQuery.

To query the dataset, you would need to learn SQL – or just ask ChatGPT to build a specific query for you to extract valuable data without sampling from the dataset.

SQL sample using ChatGPTScreenshot of an SQL sample using ChatGPT, January 2023

Examples Of ChatGPT For Digital Marketing

When using ChatGPT for market research and your brand marketing, always remember that it was trained on data up to the third quarter of 2021 and thus may not be the best tool for dealing with current trends.

But it is a handy tool for many other tasks you may have. Let’s take a look at some of them.

4. Generate Audience Personas

Let’s say you’ve launched a new SaaS company and want to know who your audience is so that you can build your marketing efforts around them.

You can ask ChatGPT to create audience personas.

The prompt I would use is Create audience personas for the "physical threat detection software."

Audience persona created by ChatGPTScreenshot of an audience persona created by ChatGPT, January 2023

And the results are just a great place to start.

This doesn’t mean you should fire your marketing leader, but now, they have a tool that can 10x boost their performance and deliver faster results.

5. SWOT Analysis

This is a really cool prompt you can use for your brand or competitive analysis.

You can ask to do a SWOT analysis of any company.

For example, I used the prompt SWOT analysis of "Washington Post" , and the results were a very interesting starting point.

SWOT analysis Screenshot of SWOT analysis by ChatGPT, January 2023

6. S.M.A.R.T. Goals

SMART goals are important because they provide a clear framework for setting and achieving objectives.

With ChatGPT, you can get ideas for your company using the prompt S.M.A.R.T. goals for SaaS "<company name>."

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot of SMART Goals by ChatGPT, January 2023

7. Craft A Newsletter

You can use ChatGPT to craft an outline for the newsletter campaign you want to run.

Let’s say you have a sale on Black Friday and want to send a newsletter to promote your offer.

Just ask, Craft an email campaign newsletter on Black Friday for SaaS "<company name>" which offers 20% discount. Include a catchy call to action button at the end of the email.

Email newsletter generated by ChatGPTScreenshot of an email newsletter generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

Examples Of ChatGPT For Productivity

8. Craft Pitch Emails

Again, if you are a SaaS startup, you definitely need to sell your software.

Your sales team needs to pitch prospective customers and respond to hundreds of emails, which is exhausting and can be a slow process.

Increasing the productivity of your sales team can help you sell more and increase your revenue.

The example prompt you can use here is Craft a pitch email for selling "physical threat detection software."

Pitch email example generated by ChatGPTScreenshot of a pitch email example generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

Alternatively, there is a Chrome add-on that you may use.

9. Craft A Social Media Post

Let’s say you’ve published articles and want to push them to social media.

You would need a well-crafted and compelling text to post on social media so that users will click on your post.

Social media post crafted by ChatGPTScreenshot of social media posts crafted by ChatGPT, January 2023

I bet you would spend at least 15 minutes composing such a compelling social media post. But now, you can do it in one minute.

10. Write Ad Copy

If you are a PPC marketer, you deal a lot with creating ad copy – and having an extra resource to provide you with thought starters could save hundreds of hours a month for you.

The sample prompt I used is Write a Google ad text with a title of up to 30 characters and a description of up to 90 characters for SaaS "physical threat detection software."

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot of an ad copy by ChatGPT, January 2023

You may also include blog post article text from which to generate the ad copy, which will be more specific to you.

The sample prompt would be: Write a Google ad text with a title of up to 30 characters and a description of up to 90 characters for SaaS "<company type>" from the text below.

Just replace the prompt with the company type with your version.

11. Craft A Job Description

All companies need to hire, meaning they must write job descriptions.

Now, ChatGPT can help with that, too.

For example, Job description of Social Media Manager for real estate company.

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot of a job description generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

Always remember you can finetune the prompt by adding more details to it, which will make the answer even better.

Examples Of ChatGPT For Technical SEO

12. Generate FAQ Schema

You can have ChatGPT generate FAQ schema code from a text you provide.

FAQ schema generated by ChatGPTScreenshot of an FAQ schema generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

Of course, you may use a CMS plugin for that, too.

But what if you use Wix, for example, which doesn’t have a plugin? Should you copy and paste schema code into the editor? In this case, ChatGPT is a handy tool and assistant at your disposal.

You can generate any kind of schema by using a similar example.

13. Generate HowTo Schema

In the case of the HowTo schema, you can enter a similar prompt as we did for FAQ, and ChatGPT will do 99% of the job.

The prompt would be,Generate HowTo schema on how to bake a cake from the steps below and suggest images with each step.

HowTo schema generated by ChatGPTScreenshot of a HowTo schema generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

Why 99% and not 100%? Simply because you need to replace sample image URLs.

It did, however, add HowTo schema steps with real images.

Just upload images in your CMS and replace the sample image path in the suggested schema.

14. Create Robots.txt Rules

SEO pros deal with robots.txt a lot.

Now you have a tool that can help you create any robots.txt rules with ease.

Below is an example of how to prevent Google from crawling your PPC campaign landing pages, which are located in directory /landing/but let Google ads bot in.

The prompt you can use is Robots.txt rule which blocks Google's access to directory /landing/ but allows Google ads bot.

Robots.txt rule created by ChatGPTScreenshot of a robots.txt rule created by ChatGPT, January 2023

After you’ve done edits, always test your robots.txt.

15. Generate htaccess Redirect Rules

SEO pros often deal with migrations and may need to redirect a lot of stuff, depending on what type of server one has.

You can now generate htaccess or Nginx redirect rules using ChatGPT.

The prompt I used is For redirecting folder1 to folder2 generate nxig and htaccess redirect rules,

The results are just neat.

Python script generated by ChatGPTScreenshot of a Python script generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

16. Connect To APIs And Coding

SEO pros often need to connect to various APIs and fetch data, but may lack programming skills.

Now you have ChatGPT at your disposal for basic tasks which require programming.

In the example below, I asked ChatGPT to get Google autosuggestion using the known “pytrends” library.

Python script generated by ChatGPTScreenshot of a Python script generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

You can basically use ChatGPT for coding in all programming languages.

The same prompt may be composed to ask the same, but in PHP: Get Google Keyword Suggestions using PHP.

For running PHP on your local machine, you may use the free environment XAMPP; for running Python, you may use Jupiter.

If you are a PPC marketer who wants to set up custom conversions when users perform certain actions on the website but don’t have a web developer’s help, it could be quite challenging in some situations.

Yes, you can use Google Tag Manager in many cases when users click on the link, but you could need something different, which is not a built-in feature of GTM.

For example, you need to send a conversion event when one lands on your landing page and scrolls through 35% of the page.

Now, you don’t need to hire a developer to get the job done.

Just go to ChatGPT and ask: Send Facebook pixel custom conversion event once as users scroll through 35% of the page using JavaScript, and it will do the magic!

JavaScript code firing custom facebook pixel eventScreenshot of JavaScript code firing custom Facebook pixel event, January 2023

You can copy and paste this code in your <head> tag of HTML, and you are done.

If you have a WordPress site, you can use plugins such WPCode to make the job easier.

Alternatively, you can use Google Tag Manager custom HTML tag to add your JavaScript code there.

It saves you the time of having to find a developer for small daily tasks. And even if you do have a dev team, you can significantly reduce their workload by doing it yourself.

Examples Of ChatGPT For Keyword Research

17. Get Keyword Ideas

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot of long-tail keywords generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

An example prompt you can use is Generate a list of long  and short tail keyword ideas on the topic “machine learning.”

Now SEO tools have a serious competitor that’s free to use.

The only caveat is that, as I’ve mentioned already, ChatGPT is trained on data up to the third quarter of 2021 and isn’t connected to the internet. Thus, it may fail to work in cases when you need more recent data.

For example, I asked who won Fifa 2022 World Cup, and it failed to answer.

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot from ChatGPT, January 2023

18. Get The Search Intent Of The Search Query

You have a lot of data in your GSC, which now you can copy and paste into ChatGPT to get more insights.

For example, you can copy-paste a list of search queries and ask for the intent of the query using the prompt What is the user intent behind these queries?.

Search intent generated by ChatGPTScreenshot of a search intent generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

19. Cluster Semantically Relevant Keywords

Again, you can use ChatGPT to organize the keywords you rank for – and not only those – into clusters: Cluster list of keywords based on their semantic relevance.

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot of ChatGPT, January 2023

Another case is to identify pages that rank for semantically relevant queries and restructure your URLs under silos.

For example, bring all pages that are about social media or under /social-media/ silo, which can help you boost ranking and help Google better understand your website structure.

20. Generate Related Keywords And Synonyms

It is always good to mention your content-related keywords and synonyms.

You can do it at scale by using ChatGPT.

Just ask:Generate related keywords or the list of keywords below.

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot from ChatGPT, January 2023

21. Generate Article Titles Based On Keywords

As you have keywords you want to write articles about, it is time to brainstorm titles for your articles.

The prompt I used is Suggest titles based on keywords list below.

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot from ChatGPT, January 2023

Examples Of ChatGPT For On-Page SEO

22. Generate Meta Descriptions

You can copy and paste text into ChatGPT and ask it to create a meta description from it.

The prompt I used is Generate concise and compelling meta description of up to 200 characters from the provided text.

Meta description generated by ChatGPTScreenshot of a meta description generated by ChatGPT, January 2023

23. Optimize For PAA Box And Featured Snippets

SEO professionals may need help getting related questions from users to optimize content for a specific keyword.

You can use ChatGPT to get these related questions to make your content more helpful.

If you have a travel blog, you may ask: Related questions regarding "cozy cities in Germany," and ChatGPT will draw many queries which really make sense.

ChatGPT Keyword ResearchScreenshot of ChatGPT performing keyword research, January 2023

Of course, there may be ones that don’t make sense – but they will do 90% of the job.

The questions it suggests may not have any search volume, but it is still worth going after them because zero search volume keywords may drive significant traffic.

24. Generate FAQ For The Product With Answers

If you have an ecommerce store and want to enhance your product pages with an FAQ section, you can ask ChatGPT to help you.

The example prompt I used is Generate FAQ for the Galaxy A23 5G with answers. Based on the results generate also FAQ schema.

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot of ChatGPT generating FAQ for a product, January 2023

And you can shoot two rabbits with one shot, as you will also get an FAQ schema you can use.

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot of ChatGPT generating an FAQ schema, January 2023

Pretty simple, isn’t it?

If you worry about being penalized by Google for AI-written content, I think you are okay as long as you fact-check and revise it for errors.

But I am strictly against generating full article copy using ChatGPT because you must fact-check it and likely spend more time revising it than writing from scratch. With the rise of AI detectors, Google may eventually be able to detect it.

Treat ChatGPT as an assistant that you can use wisely when you next an extra hand.

25. Suggest Heading Tags

Let’s say you have a big chunk of text and want to get ideas about what subheadings to add to make your content more structured.

You can ask ChatGPT to do that time-consuming editorial task for you just by asking, Suggest H2 subheadings to content below without modifying the text.

25 ChatGPT Examples For Digital Marketers & SEOsScreenshot of ChatGPT generating subheadings, January 2023

Of course, it might not always offer exactly what you wanted, but you may play with the prompt and add more context to it – or take ChatGPT hints and work from there by adding your edits to subheadings.

Conclusion

There are talks that ChatGPT is going to replace humans, and many professions are just going to die out.

In my personal opinion, that won’t happen – but ChatGPT will make life easier in different industries and professional fields.

Make sure also to check out the AIRPM Chrome add-on, as it contains tons of useful prompts you can use.


Have you got an example of using ChatGPT? Share with us on Twitter and we might feature you.

More Resources:


Featured Image: LALAKA/Shutterstock



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What It Really Is & How to Build One

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What It Really Is & How to Build One

Building a personal brand is undeniably hard work, but it isn’t as tricky as you might think. 

I spoke with two influencers—Wes Kao and Matt Diggity—for their best tips on establishing a name for yourself online.

What is a personal brand, really?

A personal brand is how people perceive you and what you’re known for. It’s the skills, experience, and values that give you an edge over others.

Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman is one example. He helms and hosts the science/health podcast Huberman Lab, lectures at Stanford Medicine, and has earned media mentions from the likes of BBC, TIME, and more.

Andrew’s personal brand is built on his credibility and areas of expertise. Many of his posts attract thousands of likes and hundreds of comments on X and LinkedIn.

If we want to dig deeper, Maven and altMBA co-founder Wes Kao has a somewhat alternative take on the definition:

In my opinion, it’s better to reframe ‘personal branding’ into ‘personal credibility.’ Personal branding has a superficial undertone. It assumes you have your work, then you tack on an artificial layer of ‘branding’ to shape perceptions.

Wes KaoWes Kao

She suggests that personal credibility is about substance: Showing people what you do, how you think, and how you can contribute. Wes adds:

In this way, you build deeper connections with people who believe in your work—which means stronger relationships, more control, and more opportunities.

Wes KaoWes Kao

In this podcast interview snippet with Nick Bennett, SparkToro’s Amanda Natividad echoes Wes’ sentiment: 

People generally don’t like the term [personal brand] because it sounds disingenuous and icky. Acknowledging the existence of your personal brand is admitting that you care what others think about you, and that you find ways to manage those expectations at scale.

Amanda NatividadAmanda Natividad

Benefits of building a personal brand

Wild as it sounds, building a solid personal brand gives you more control over your life.

A strong following could:

  • Expand your realm of influence, particularly in your area of expertise (i.e., be viewed as a subject matter expert).
  • Boost your credibility, in turn allowing you to promote your company/product better.
  • Build a loyal following independent of the company you’re working for (or if you own that company, create more positive sentiment towards it).
  • Open doors to job, networking, and investment opportunities.

Chiangmai SEO conference founder Matt Diggity shares some excellent points in his Facebook post on the topic, too.

Excerpt from Matt Diggity's Facebook post on the benefits of personal branding. Excerpt from Matt Diggity's Facebook post on the benefits of personal branding.

How to build a personal brand

There’s no linear path to building your personal brand.

As a precursor to the below steps, let’s first talk about finding your “voice.”

Wes and Matt both emphasize the importance of staying true to yourself. That means not crafting an online persona of who you think you should be.

I try to write like how I sound in person. Talking and writing are different media, so you shouldn’t try to match the two in a literal sense, but you want to capture your overall spirit. For example, I have a hint of snark in my writing because that’s how I sound in person.

Wes KaoWes Kao

Matt echoes this sentiment: 

How I talk on the internet is how I talk IRL. If I’m not having a f**king blast on my YouTube videos, I won’t do them. It has to be fun.

Matt DiggityMatt Diggity

Keep this idea in mind as you go through the steps below.

Step 1: Position yourself 

Think of yourself as a product: What are your strengths, obsessions, and areas of expertise?

If you’re well-versed in technical SEO or a seasoned entrepreneur, these might be your unique selling points.

From there, double down on something you would be excited to think, write, and talk about for years—because “it will likely take years to get to where you want to go,” says Wes.

As an (optional) next step, consider solidifying your position with a spiky POV—a term coined by Wes, and which she cautions should be used with care.

A spiky POV is not about a contrarian hot take for the sake of it. In 2023, social platforms are flooded with hot takes and generic advice. I think about respecting the intelligence of my audience and teaching them something they don’t already know. A true spiky POV is rooted in deep expertise, including recognizing the limitations and counterpoints of your idea. This builds your reputation as someone who is rigorous and worth the time to engage with.

Wes KaoWes Kao

Here’s a LinkedIn post by Wes that combines all of the above: a unique perspective backed by her personal experiences, with a takeaway for the audience too. In other words—a spiky, worthy POV.

Step 2: Start sharing publicly

You already knew this, but social media platforms are one of the best ways to get growth and build your name. It’s your chance to build your reputation in a public arena.

Wes, Amanda, and Matt each utilized a combination of online channels to promote their voice and content. It’s one of the first things you should do—because your content is really only as good as its reach.

This doesn’t mean cross-posting your content across more platforms than you can manage, of course.

Study where your target audience spends most of their time, then hone in on those platforms (ideally, stick to no more than 2-3).

In Matt’s case, his followers are primarily on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube—and that’s where his SEO-led content thrives.

Matt Diggity's videos get lots of views on YouTube, again in part thanks to a strong personal brand.Matt Diggity's videos get lots of views on YouTube, again in part thanks to a strong personal brand.

If creating whole posts from scratch seems daunting, start by commenting thoughtfully in relevant online communities. Obviously, do it with heart:

Here are some simple ways to start.

LinkedIn: Contribute to a collaborative article

You might have seen these articles floating around LinkedIn—perhaps even been invited to add your insights to them.

These blog posts are similar to Wikipedia pages: LinkedIn users build on each AI-generated article with their perspectives, and readers can choose to react to these additions or engage with the content.

Example of a collaborative post on LinkedInExample of a collaborative post on LinkedIn

Here’s an example of what a contribution looks like:

Example of a collaborative post on LinkedInExample of a collaborative post on LinkedIn

Reddit: Weigh in on discussions

  1. Go to a relevant subreddit, e.g. r/bigSEO
  2. Sort by “Top” and “This Week”
  3. Browse the questions or discussions and offer your two cents where relevant.
Popular post from the /r/bigSEO subredditPopular post from the /r/bigSEO subreddit

Ride on trending topics

Found an interesting insight on X or someplace else? Turn it into a poll, question, or post. (Be sure to also tag and credit the author!)

Bring it all together

If some of your responses or posts get traction, repurpose those answers into new content: a blog post, video, or series of social posts.

(PSST: Learn more about my process behind curating and repurposing content for Ahrefs’ X account.)

This segues into our next and final step:

Step 3: Double down on what works

By now, you should have an idea of which topics you’re most comfortable discussing at length—and what resonates most with your target audience.

You can further maximize your reach by doubling down on the things that have brought you success. Or, more specifically, by repurposing popular content in other formats and creating more content about similar things.

For instance, we turned this popular video on how to use ChatGPT for SEO into a Twitter thread and LinkedIn post—and later, a blog post.

Our repurposed ChatGPT for SEO post on LinkedInOur repurposed ChatGPT for SEO post on LinkedIn
Performance of our repurposed ChatGPT for SEO post on LinkedInPerformance of our repurposed ChatGPT for SEO post on LinkedIn

Wes has also done this plenty with her “eaten the bear” analogy over the years. She first wrote about it in this 2019 blog post, rewrote it in 2023, and shares variations of the analogy on LinkedIn and X every few months.

Wes' "eaten the bear" analogy, from her original 2019 blog postWes' "eaten the bear" analogy, from her original 2019 blog post

Each time, these posts garner hundreds or thousands of likes

Don’t let your success die there, though. You can find more content ideas that will resonate with your audience by doing some keyword research around your topic. Here’s how:

  1. Plug your target topic into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
  2. Go to the Matching terms report

For example, if we enter “chatgpt seo,” we see that people are searching for ChatGPT prompts for SEO and ChatGPT SEO extensions:

Finding keywords (topic ideas) in Ahrefs' Keywords ExplorerFinding keywords (topic ideas) in Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

Given how our audience is interested in ChatGPT and SEO, these would be great topics to create content about—whether that be social media posts, videos, blog posts, or something else. 

If you don’t have a paid account with us, you can plug your topic into our free keyword generator tool to view related phrases/questions.

Extra tips to build your personal brand

We mentioned some of these in some shape or form earlier, but they’re worth expanding on.

Maintain human connections

Who are you without the people who consume your content? Engage consistently with your followers and others’ content. Human connections are worth their weight in gold when you’re trying to get your personal brand off the ground.

Maintain consistency across your social media profiles

This means using the same profile picture across all platforms, and a standardized bio so others can quickly get a sense of who you are and what you often post about.

Jack Appleby is a great example. The creator/consultant is behind Future Social, an independent social strategy newsletter with 56,000+ subscribers.

Notice how he maintains consistency on X and LinkedIn:

Jack Appleby's Twitter brandingJack Appleby's Twitter branding
Jack Appleby's LinkedIn brandingJack Appleby's LinkedIn branding

Ahrefs’ Tim Soulo further explains the importance of your profile picture in personal branding here:

Be yourself

Remember how Wes and Matt shared the importance of staying true to yourself? We couldn’t emphasize that enough.

Final thoughts

These steps aren’t exhaustive, obviously. To truly stand out online, Wes suggests having a combination of these things: social proof, good design sense, strong writing, interesting insights, and a track record of contribution.

As she puts it: 

All these things will make people think, ‘This person knows their craft.’

Wes KaoWes Kao

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SEO Salary Survey 2023 [Industry Research]

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SEO Salary Survey 2023 [Industry Research]

How much do SEOs earn? I wanted to know, so I ran a survey at Brighton SEO and asked 111 attendees what they earned.

Editor’s note

We realize that this is a small sample set and not representative of all SEO salaries as it’s focused on UK and EU data. If you want to be part of the next Ahrefs salary survey, you can submit your details anonymously here.

Here are the top takeaways:

  • The median annual salary for SEOs we polled was $49,211
  • The highest annual salary we polled was $229,652
  • To earn the higher salaries in SEO you need be a technical SEO expert—Heads of SEO, SEO Directors and SEO Leads all said that their main specialization was technical SEO 
  • Only 5.4% of respondents learned SEO through a course—most learned on the job (52.3%) or by themselves (42.3%)
  • 36.9% described themselves as content specialists, 30.6% described themselves as technical specialists, 6.3% described themselves as specializing in link-building
  • 49.5% of respondents worked in SEO agencies, 42.3% in-house and 8.2% were self-employed
  • Most respondents (28.8%) worked in companies that had 11-50 people
  • The average SEO experience of our respondents was 6.9 years
  • Self-employed SEOs earned the most on average ($60,232k)—the median annual salary for in-house roles was slightly lower at $56,789, and agency SEOs had the lowest median annual salary at $44,169

There were also a few surprises:

  • Few SEOs in our survey said that they specialized in link building compared to technical and content. This is despite the fact that links are still one of the most important Google ranking factors.
  • The average level of experience between SEO Directors and Head of SEO is not that different—10.4 years for a SEO Director and 10.6 years for a Head of SEO—but the salary difference between the roles was ~$11,552—quite substantial.

Overview

Role Median annual salary ($USD) Average experience (years) Main specialization Main work location
Head of SEO $92,988 10.6 Technical SEO Agency and in-house
SEO Director $81,436 10.4 Technical SEO Agency and in-house
SEO Lead $38,289 7.4 Technical SEO Agency
SEO Specialist $49,229 5.8 Content In-house
SEO Account Manager $43,850 4.2 Content Agency
SEO Consultant $49,240 6 All-rounder Agency
SEO Executive $31,956 3 All-rounder Agency
SEO Analyst $56,393 5 All-rounder In-house

Here’s how annual salaries broke down across our respondents:

According to the SEOs we polled, most of them learned SEO on the job or were self-taught. 

Chart displaying how individuals learned SEO.Chart displaying how individuals learned SEO.

Average level of experience by role

Most of our respondents had a couple of years of experience under their belts. The amount of experience Head of SEOs had versus SEO Directors was not that different, at around 10 years.

Average level of experience by roleAverage level of experience by role
  • Across all respondents, the average experience was 6.9 years
  • For Head of SEO, the average experience was 10.6 years
  • For SEO Director, the average experience was 10.4 years
  • For SEO Lead, the average experience was 7.4 years
  • For SEO Account Manager, the average experience was 4.2 years
  • For SEO Consultant, the average experience was 6 years 
  • For SEO Executive, the average experience was 3 years 
  • For SEO Analyst, the average experience was 5 years

What areas of SEO do they specialize in? 

Technical and Content were the two top skills that SEOs we surveyed specialized in.

Areas of SEO specializationAreas of SEO specialization

The proportion of SEOs that said they specialized in links was much lower despite links being a major ranking factor.

Our survey showed an almost 50/50 split between the UK and Europe. 48.6% of respondents were from the UK—perhaps not surprising given that BrightonSEO is based in the UK.

Chart of countries SEOs are fromChart of countries SEOs are from

Most of the respondents we spoke to worked in agencies or in-house. It does mean, however, that our salary data was mainly focused on these two employment types.

Chart listing where SEOs workChart listing where SEOs work

How big are the companies they work in?

Across all respondents, the most common company size was 11-50. A large proportion of SEOs also worked for substantially larger companies that had over 1000 employees.

Number of people in the company
Number of people in the company

How much does each SEO role earn?

Here’s the full breakdown of each role.

Head of SEO salary

It’s probably not too much of a surprise that the Head of SEO role was our highest-paying SEO role surveyed. What’s more of a surprise was the variation in salary—our survey showed that a Head of SEO can earn anything from ~$25k to ~$229k. 

head-of-seo-salaryhead-of-seo-salary

Average experience

According to our survey, a Head of SEO has ~10.6 years of experience.

Type of company

46.7% of respondents worked for an agency, and 46.7% worked in-house. 6.7% were self-employed.

Education

66.7% of respondents said they were self-taught, 26.7% said they’d learned on the job, and 6.7% said that they had learned SEO from a course.

Specialization

40% said that they specialized in technical SEO, 33.3% in Content, and 13.3% said they were a generalist. The remaining 13.4% said they focused on people management. 

This is surprising, as it implies that 73.3% of people in Head of SEO roles are actively providing SEO services for their clients rather than focusing on managing a team.

Company size

There were two company sizes that were most popular for Head of SEOs to work in. 40% of respondents said they worked in companies with 11-50 people, and 20% said they worked in companies with over 1001 people. 

Location

40% of respondents were from the UK, 13.3% were from the Netherlands, and the remainder were from mainland Europe.

SEO Director salary

The salary variation wasn’t quite as extreme for SEO Directors, but salaries ranged from ~$42k to ~$121k—still quite a difference.

SEO Director salarySEO Director salary

Average experience

SEO Directors in our survey had 10.4 years of experience on average.

Type of company

There was a 50/50 split between SEO Directors’ backgrounds, with 50% from agency and 50% from in-house

Education

62.5% of SEO Directors described themselves as self-taught, and 37.5% said that they learned SEO on the job.

Specialization

75% of them specialized in technical SEO, whilst 25% described themselves as generalists or Other.

Company size

According to our survey, SEO Directors typically work in medium to large companies. 25% said that they worked in companies that had over 1000 people, and 25% said they worked in companies that had 51-100 employees.

Location

Most SEO Directors we surveyed were from the UK (62.5%). The rest were equal splits between India, the U.S., and Germany (12.5%).

SEO Lead salary

SEO Leads typically have a lot of experience, but our survey shows that they only earn slightly more on average than SEO Specialists.

SEO Lead salary
SEO Lead salary

Average experience

SEO Leads in our survey had 7.4 years of experience on average.

Type of company

50% of SEO Leads came from an agency background, 41.7% came from in-house, and 8.3% were self-employed.

Education

69.2% learned on the job, 23.1% were self-taught, and 7.7% learned SEO through a course.

Specialization

30.8% of SEO Leads specialized in technical SEO, 23% specialized in content, and 23.1% specialized in links. 15.4% described themselves as generalists. The remaining 7.7% described themselves as specializing in SEO strategy.

Company size

46.2% worked in companies that had 1001+ people, and the remaining 53.8% worked in smaller companies.

Location

23.1% of SEO Leads came from the UK, with the remainder coming from the Netherlands, Italy, and Sweden (15.4% each) and 30.7% from other European countries.

SEO Specialist salary

SEO Specialists we surveyed had around 5-6 years of experience, but they typically got paid better than SEO Leads. Based on my experience, this may be due to in-house roles paying better than agency roles in the UK.

SEO Specialist salarySEO Specialist salary

Average experience

SEO Specialists in our survey had an average of 5.8 years of experience.

Type of company

41.2% of SEO Specialists came from an agency background, while 58.8% said that they were from an in-house background.

Education

58.8% of SEO Specialists said that they had learned SEO on the job, 35.3% said that they were self-taught, and 5.9% said that they had learned SEO through a course.

Specialization

52.9% of SEO Specialists specialized in content, 29.4% focused on technical, 11.8% described themselves as all-rounders, and 5.9% described specialized in links.

Company size

41.2% of SEO Specialists said that they worked in companies that had 11-50 people. Only 17.6% of respondents said that they worked in companies that had 1001+ people. 23.6% said they worked in companies between 51-500 people. The remaining 17.6% worked in smaller companies with less than 10 people.

Location

23.5% of SEO Specialists said that they were from the UK, with the remainder from Europe.

SEO Account Manager salary

SEO Account Managers in our survey were one of the most consistent salary bands earning between ~$40k and ~$55k.

SEO Account Manager salarySEO Account Manager salary

Average experience

SEO Account managers in our survey had 4.2 years of experience on average.

Type of company

85.7% of respondents worked for an agency, and 14.3% worked in-house.

Education

71.4% of respondents said they learned SEO on the job, and 28.6% said they were self-taught.

Specialization

42.9% said that they specialized in content, 28.6% described themselves as an all-rounder, 14.3% said they were technical SEO, and the remaining 14.2% said they specialized in links.

Company size

42.9% of respondents said they worked in companies with 11-50 people, and 28.6% said they worked in companies with over 1001 people. The remaining 28.6% was split equally between people who worked in companies with between 2-11 people or 51-100 people.

Location

85.7% of respondents were from the UK, and 14.3% of the remainder were from Europe.

SEO Consultant salary

SEO Consultants we surveyed earned up to ~$87k, which was lower than I was expecting—because our SEO pricing post suggested that SEO consultants charge between $100-150 per hour. 

But as the data is UK-focused, the likely reason for this is the £85k VAT tax threshold

SEO Consultant salarySEO Consultant salary

Average experience

SEO Consultants in our survey had 6 years of experience on average.

Type of company

63.3% of respondents worked for an agency, and 36.7% worked in-house.

Education

45.5% of respondents said they were self-taught, 36.4% said they’d learned on the job, and 9.1% said that they had learned SEO from a course. The remaining 9% said they’d learned from other ways.

Specialization

27.3% said that they specialized in technical SEO, 27.3% in content, and 27.3% said they were a generalist. The remaining 18.1% said they focused on management and strategy.

Company size

SEO Consultants typically worked on their own or in smaller agencies according to our survey — 36.4% of respondents said they worked on their own, and 27.3% said they worked in companies with 51-100 people. The remaining 36.3% said they worked in companies with between 2-50 people.

Location

36.4% of respondents were from the UK, 27.3% were from the Netherlands, and the remaining 36.3% were from Europe.

SEO Executive salary

SEO Executive salarySEO Executive salary

Average experience

SEO Executives in our survey had 3 years of experience on average.

Type of company

80% of respondents worked for an agency, and 20% worked in-house.

Education

80% of respondents said they were self-taught, and 20% said they’d learned SEO from a course.

Specialization

40% said that they specialized in technical SEO, 20% in Content, and 40% said they were a generalist. 

Company size

80% of respondents said they worked in companies with 11-50 people, and 20% said they worked in companies with 1001 or more people.

Location

80% of respondents were from the UK, and 20% were from Belgium.

SEO Analyst salary

SEO Analysts typically had a few more years of experience than SEO Executives, but it looks like they earned roughly the same as them.

SEO Analyst salarySEO Analyst salary

Average experience

SEO Analysts in our survey had 5 years of experience on average.

Type of company

33.3% of respondents worked for an agency, and 66.7% worked In-house.

Education

33.3% of respondents said they were self-taught, and 66.7% said they’d learned on the job.

Specialization

33.3% said that they specialized in technical SEO, 33.3% in Content, and 33.3% said they specialized in News SEO.

Company size

33.3% of respondents said they worked in companies with 101-200 people, and 66.7% said they worked in companies with over 201 people.

Location

SEO Analysts came from a range of locations 33% of respondents were from Portugal, 33.3% were from Brazil, and the remainder were from Serbia.

Sidenote.

We didn’t get many respondents for the SEO Analyst role—so take these results with a pinch of salt.

Final thoughts

SEO salaries aren’t often discussed in detail within the industry, so getting a snapshot of their current state from one of the biggest SEO conferences in the UK was insightful.

For our next salary survey, we’ll be opening it up to all SEOs. If you’d like to take part—you can enter here.

Got questions? Ping me on X (formerly known as Twitter)



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SEO

4 Tactics for High-Quality Backlinks That Move the Needle [+ Examples]

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Many popular link building tactics produce low-quality links that don’t improve SEO performance.

Even if these techniques make an impact, it’s often for a short time, and Google can easily devalue them down the line. 

Here are four tactics for building high-quality links that help you stay ahead of your competition, expose your brand to new audiences, and are less likely to be devalued in future algorithm updates. 

Digital PR is the process of creating content that appeals to journalists and promoting it to them. 

If they like the content, they’ll write a feature about it or include it in a piece they’re writing. This can land you many high-quality backlinks from big sites and news publications for free.

Examples

In the months following ChatGPT’s release, Fery Kaszoni and his team at Search Intelligence compiled statistics about Open AI’s popularity since launching ChatGPT and compared it to other popular platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 

The result? 60+ free link placements, including mentions on Yahoo News (DR 92), The Wrap (DR 84), and Time magazine (DR 92). 

A few examples of backlinks earned by a piece of content about Open AI’s popularity since launching ChatGPT

In another campaign, Fery and his team calculated how much money beloved video characters would earn in real life. This campaign earned 20+ free links including a DR89 link from British newspaper, The Daily Express. 

Example of a high-DR like from Daily ExpressExample of a high-DR like from Daily Express

How to do it 

Successful Digital PR requires some creativity, but this is the process in a nutshell: 

  1. Find a trending topic 
  2. Create relevant newsworthy content around that topic 
  3. Tell journalists about it 

For example, AI has been a major topic of conversation in all industries since it launched. Any new data or insights about it would go well in news cycles while it remains a topic of interest. 

Once you have a topic, you need to come up with interesting content ideas that are relevant to your business.

The best topics for digital PRThe best topics for digital PR

This is the hard part. It’s really a case of brainstorming ideas until you land on something you think could be interesting. 

For example, here are a few random content ideas for a company that sells furniture online: 

  • Have AI refurnish rooms from popular TV shows in new styles. 
  • Have AI design a new item of furniture, create it, and sell it. 
  • Ask 100 interior designers if they’re worried about AI taking their jobs, share the data. 

After you find your winning idea, create the content, give it an attention-grabbing headline, and write a press release about the most interesting insights. 

Then, promote your content to journalists. You can try services like Roxhill or Muck Rack to find journalists who might be interested in your content. 

You can also use a tool like Ahrefs’ Content Explorer to find sites that have recently published content about your topic and reach out to them. 

Here’s how to do that: 

  1. Enter your topic into Content Explorer 
  2. Filter for pages published in the last 90 days 
  3. Filter for pages on DR70+ websites (big sites that you probably want links from) 

For example, if we do this for the topic of “chatgpt,” we see thousands of well-known websites that have recently published about ChatGPT including Business Insider, Tech Republic, and Wired. 

Finding websites that recently published about a topic with Content ExplorerFinding websites that recently published about a topic with Content Explorer

Data journalism is a way of enhancing or creating newsworthy content by analyzing unique data sets. It can fall under digital PR, though it typically requires more detailed research. 

This technique works because reporters love a good statistic they can either quote or write an opinion piece about. Be the source of such data, and you can earn many high-quality links anytime your data becomes relevant to trending news topics. 

Examples

Data journalism can be quite simple. For example, in another case study from Search Intelligence, Fery’s team used Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer as a data source for a cybersecurity PR campaign. 

The study reveals the top UK banks where customers seek help with fraud, allowing journalists to report on which banks are more secure than others. 

The data fuelling these insights is keyword search volume. That’s it. 

Ahrefs' data that fuelled a cybersecurity PR campaignAhrefs' data that fuelled a cybersecurity PR campaign

This method doesn’t take very long, doesn’t need a data scientist and can very easily be replicated in other industries where search popularity can unearth interesting insights. 

In another example (and perhaps one of our all time favorites), marketing firm Yard created a data study comparing the CO2 emissions of various celebrities and ranking the worst offenders. 

Data study on the C02 emissions of celebritiesData study on the C02 emissions of celebrities

If you follow celebrity news, there’s no way you missed reports of Taylor Swift’s private jet emissions being among the highest compared to other celebrities. 

Just a few of the thousands of posts about Taylor Swift's jet emissions following a successful data journalism campaignJust a few of the thousands of posts about Taylor Swift's jet emissions following a successful data journalism campaign

Every single one of these news stories originated from the data study. 

When the study was first released, it went viral and earned links from almost 2,000 referring domains within the first month. 

But that’s not all. 

This topic trended in news cycles again when rumours spread that Taylor Swift attended a Jets game to bury the original negative publicity about her private jet usage, earning Yard a well-deserved second round of links. 

Google Trends data for "taylor swift jet" Google Trends data for "taylor swift jet"

Today, this post has 1,861 links from 1,155 referring domains, 77% of them are dofollow, and 38.4% are higher than DR 60. 

DR distribution of backlinks to the celebrity C02 emissions content pieceDR distribution of backlinks to the celebrity C02 emissions content piece

Talk about drool-worthy results! That’s high-quality link building done right. 

How to do it 

Successful data journalism is similar to digital PR but relies on the intriguing, data-backed insights you can unearth. 

In a nutshell, the process looks like this: 

  1. Find a data-driven content angle that gets links and media attention 
  2. Gather data to provide new or updated insights on the topic 
  3. Tell journalists about your findings 

Start by considering “your money or your life” content angles that everyday folk care about. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking too narrow or pitching ideas only a small demographic may understand. 

For instance, cybersecurity is not a sexy topic journalists or their readers will likely care about. There’s also not a high degree of literacy about the topic among the general population. 

But everyone cares about whether their bank is secure and how safe their money is. 

This concept needs no explanation and that’s exactly why data that helps answer the question “how safe is your bank?” worked exceptionally well as a link building tactic in the example above. 

You can also use Content Explorer to gather more ideas like: 

  • Evergreen yet stale topics that you can update with more recent data 
  • Data you can visualize better or repurpose into a different content format 
  • Trending angles in other industries you can apply to your industry 

For example, on the topic of ChatGPT, we found Rand Fishkin’s post claiming usage has declined 29% between May and August 2023 and that 30% of its usage is by programmers. 

Finding content ideas in Content ExplorerFinding content ideas in Content Explorer

You don’t need original ideas to succeed. If you’ve got the data to back it up, you can easily take the angles of a “useage patterns” or “most popular audience segments” and apply them to popular tools in your industry. 

Some decent data sources you can start with include: 

  • Search data: Like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer for uncovering interesting search patterns. 
  • Historical data: Like Google Trends for highlighting growth or decline patterns over time. 
  • Scientific research: Like on Google Scholar or in specific research journals. 
  • Public niche data: For instance, Yard’s study used the CelebrityJets Twitter page. 
  • Proprietary data: From within your (or your client’s) organization. 

When you find an interesting insight or pattern worth sharing, write a press release about it and share it with journalists who frequently report on the topic. 

Statistics pages are curated lists of facts and figures in a particular industry. These pages attract evergreen links for as long as the statistics remain relevant. 

It’s one of our favorite link building tactics. Here’s how we’ve used it quite successfully over the years. 

Example

We first launched a detailed list of SEO statistics in 2020 and it has been naturally earning high-quality links ever since. 

Backlinks over time to our SEO statistics pageBacklinks over time to our SEO statistics page

Currently, the page has: 

  • 5,787 backlinks
  • 2,282 referring domains 
  • 82% “dofollow” links 
  • 37.7% from DR 60+ websites

While we used some outreach techniques in the early days, most of the success has come from the page’s ability to maintain top position rankings for competitive keywords.

Rankings for our SEO statistics pageRankings for our SEO statistics page

Do it right, and this tactic remains wildly effective for earning links naturally for many years. 

How to do it 

Start by entering a few broad topics related to your website into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer. For example, we might enter the following for Ahrefs: 

  • SEO
  • Content marketing
  • Link building

Then navigate to the Matching Terms report and apply the inclusion filter for things like stats, statistics, facts, or figures. Make sure your filter is set to include any of these phrases. 

Then it’s just a matter of checking out the results to find a relevant topic you want to write about. 

We went for “SEO statistics”: 

Finding statistics keywords in Ahrefs' Keywords ExplorerFinding statistics keywords in Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

Once you pick your topic, it’s a just matter of curating linkworthy stats and publishing them on a page. 

While you can earn some seed links with early outreach efforts, long term success comes down to keeping your content updated with the latest data. That’s the best way to compound performance year on year, earning many high-quality links with no ongoing outreach needed. 

Relationship-based link building prioritizes long-term relationships with journalists, writers, and editors. 

It is an effective addition to digital PR campaigns as you can shortcut the time it takes to find the right people to distribute your content. 

Better yet, you can be a journalist’s first point of call when they write a story on topics you or your clients are experts in. 

Example

Imagine having journalists contact you asking to feature your clients in upcoming stories. That’s exactly what growth marketing firm, EngineRoom, has achieved.

A journalist from Mamamia (DR 78) made a call out on Sourcebottle, the Australian equivalent of HARO, seeking expert advice on immigration law. EngineRoom’s link building expert, Don Milne, responded and won the story along with a high-quality link. 

Example of a backlink built with relationship-based link buildingExample of a backlink built with relationship-based link building

Then, the real magic started. 

Instead of ending things there, Don also shared a client list with the journalist in case they ever wanted to collaborate on future stories again. 

Sure enough, a few weeks later, the journalist reached out, asking to connect with another client in the drug rehab space to develop a story on heroin addiction. The client is featured in about 30% of the completed article with detailed quotes from the founder and (of course) a link back to their website. 

Example of a backlink built with relationship-based link buildingExample of a backlink built with relationship-based link building

No pitching. No outreach. Just a genuine partnership and collaboration now earning multiple high-quality links for their clients. 

How to do it 

This technique is all about the follow-up after you collaborate on your first story with a journalist. 

If getting the first foot in the door is where you’re stuck, you can check out our detailed guide on relationship-based link building by Irina Maltseva, the former Head of Marketing at Hunter. 

Once you get that first story, make sure you keep the relationship going. 

If you have a list of websites or clients you represent, create a professional document with a mini bio about each client. Make sure it’s also easily searchable for writers in a hurry and makes your contact details clear and easy to access. 

Then, share it with journalists, writers, and editors you collaborate with so they can refer to it in the future if they need an expert on a specific topic for their content. 

Final thoughts

Earning high-quality backlinks can be much easier than many people realize and cheaper too! All the examples shared in this post earned free link placements on high-authority websites and with minimal outreach. 

These techniques have more staying power. They are also far less likely to be seen as “link manipulation” or devalued in future Google updates. 

And, if you get your content angle just right, they also have the potential to be earning links many months, if not years, down the track! 

Got questions? Ping me on LinkedIn.

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