What is the #1 biggest challenge SEOs face in 2022?
“A lack of originality. At this point, everyone has the same information about SEO. There are millions of YouTube channels, podcasts… Content from key opinion leaders is available on multiple social media platforms. 10 years ago, there weren’t as many SEO experts, but now everyone’s working on the same thing. What sets you apart should be different micro details in these exact same guides. That’s what makes you unique in the market.”
Jakub Rudnik is an experienced journalist, professor, SEO consultant, content strategist, writer and team leader, currently working as the Head of Content at Scribe. Jakub started his career in sports journalism and switched to a 9-5 lifestyle at G2 Crowd, where he built research and content writing expertise. Changing his career path was a pivotal decision that catapulted Jakub’s influence in SEO and content marketing.
JOIN OUR HOST RUSS MACUMBER IN CONVERSATION WITH JAKUB RUDNIK ON BUILDING CONTENT FOR BETTER SITE PERFORMANCE.
When Jakub started delving into digital marketing, he had to switch from the rigid and conventional writing styles in journalism to a more creative-based and flexible approach in content marketing. Although the topics in digital marketing were less exciting than in his previous industry, Jakub challenged himself to find compelling points he could explore.
With a focus on combining SEO tools and quality content with leading conversion, Russ Macumber chats with Jakub about generating strategies that could improve the organic growth of a website.
“I changed from an editor who kinda knew SEO to someone who needed to change my content strategy overnight using different SEO tools. [Switching from the traditional approaches] was a big challenge for the business, but it also provided opportunities for me to grow in my career.” – Jakub Rudnik, on understanding the changing nature of SEO.
The conversation covers:
Jakub’s non-linear journey in digital marketing (3:53)
Jakub’s first agency experience (5:50)
Transferring skills and perspectives from journalism to content marketing (7:20)
The shift from sports to the B2B software industry (9:25)
The algorithm journey with G2 (10:07)
Implementing SEO templates by labeling and creating categories (10:38)
Challenges that changed the business (12:00)
The SEO situation at Scribe (13:51)
Having a strong backlink profile (15:18)
Using organic focused strategies (16:50)
Using how-to guides to encourage growth on your website (17:50)
The benefits of content building strategies (18:50)
How Scribe implemented tactics that improved conversion rates and ROI (19:18)
Overcoming the challenges of optimizing content that leads to conversion (20:50)
22:03 Jakub’s thoughts on the philosophy and landscape at the moment
How to use dark social and demand capture tactics successfully (22:45)
Content planning and production process (24:55)
Projecting expectations and results for a reliable forecast(27:15)
How to produce large volumes of content (28:00)
Challenges with content migration on CMS (29:50)
Generating successful organic results (31:57)
LinkedIn as a platform for personal branding (34:45)
Quickfire Vox Pop Q&A
Which previous Google algorithm change still keeps you up at night?
We did a site migration for G2 and lost about 35% of 2 months’ results.
Gun to your head… which do you prefer: content or links?
Content.
What’s the most effective link-building technique you have used?
Build relationships and Slack communities.
Is the skyscraper technique still relevant today?
Not really.
What do you love most about SEO?
Showing people that you know how to make quick changes on google.
How do you apply SEO principles to your daily life?
Showing my wife (or other people in my life) how they’re being manipulated by marketers like me.
WFH life or Office life or Hybrid life?
Hybrid.
SEMrush or Ahrefs?
Ahrefs.
Agency or In-house or Combo?
In-house.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of our podcast! Please tune in for more SEO success stories by hitting “subscribe.”
