Seth Besmertnik’s Post

I'll take an 'agree' or a 'disagree' any day over a 'don't disagree.' Agree?

Why I never end an email 'Thanks, Seth'.... In a conversation (in-person/phone/text), it's natural to ask someone for help, receive a response, and then say 'thank you.' This is good etiquette and good business practice. Yet an email is not a conversation. Saying 'thanks' before the person has consented or acknowledged you, in my humble opinion, is presumptuous. You are essentially implying that the person has already agreed, which suggests a sense of superiority on your part or a sense of subordination on theirs. In fact, the only very rare times when I do say 'Thanks' at the end of an email, is when I'm a) emailing people who work for Conductor and b) it's something that is not negotiable where it has to get done; and even then, I avoid it and go with something more grateful. Am I overthinking this? Perhaps. But it reminds me of a book I read when I was an SDR for a small software company called Sales Scripts That Sell. One piece of advice stood out: never say 'allow,' instead say 'make possible.' 'Allow' implies giving permission, which can come across as patronizing, while 'make possible' is more empowering. What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree or are you a 'thanks' email closer? Leave a comment below - THANKS! 😁

The Brain Meets the Body. 🧠💡 This is how I think about Conductor’s new integration with the Drupal platform as part of our partnership with Acquia. Will Potts provides a great demo below. Creators can now receive insights into the value of their content against their desired topics directly within their CMS platform. As we continue to emphasize here at Conductor, SEO is about delivering value to customers. Content is one of the primary ways to achieve this. Many of our product's insights focus on improving value by better addressing key questions around a topic or catering specifically to the unique needs of your audience. When content delivers value (against one's intent), it drives conversions, attracts visitors from search, and gains new customers. Now, Conductor & Drupal/Acquia users can achieve this within their system of record—their CMS . Can't wait for you to see what our engineers cooked up for our customers next week...

Entrepreneur starts a company. Company needs more cash. Entrepreneur saves the company from bankruptcy by putting his net worth into the business. Tells shareholders he’ll work for free and only get compensated if shareholders get great returns. The board agrees. Delivers 1000%+ returns and many people make many billions. Then, years later, courts say that his agreement wasnt fair. So then shareholders vote to take it back or not. They vote in favor of the entrepreneur when they could have ‘saved’ the money. The system worked. Like Elon or not, one cannot argue with the notion of putting skin in the game and riding high only when others ride high too. I much prefer this outcome compared to the many stories we read of failed CEOs taking home huge pay packages while their shareholders (and employees) take a loss.

Understandably, some people may have read this post differently than I intended. My point is that your entire website effort is SEO because SEO encompasses everything you need to do with your tech stack, content, and product to deliver value to the customer throughout their entire journey. The person in your company who knows your customers, understands what they are intent/needs are, and knows how to deliver value to them is likely your SEO team. This is why these folks are being promoted, leading digital teams, and will be the future CMOs/CDOs of businesses.

There is no more “SEO." Just great websites with great content. Google Search’s API Leak only further validates this… Regardless of what Google says they use and how they use it, it should be obvious by now that they look at EVERYTHING in order to understand a website’s value. There’s no hiding. Data from people’s browsers? ✅  Data from Google Analytics? ✅  Chrome extensions? ✅ It’s all part of the system. Yes, what Google says and does are not always the same. It isn’t in Google’s best interest to communicate exactly how their system works. This shouldn’t be surprising...it should be expected. In fact, I’m shocked by how many people took Google at their word for so long. So, what does this mean for your business and how should you alter your website/content strategy based on the leak? For starters, if you had the right strategy to begin with, it shouldn’t be changing much. The leaked docs make it very clear: Google wants to rank the best content, not the company that is best at “SEO.” The base of your strategy should be centered around your *customers*. Create quality content that is authentic to your brand and resonates with the need of your customers. Your customer’s heart & mind is the only algorithm that matters. Do this, and you will sustainably perform in search results. The other factor here is a bit more tactical: Website Technical Health Matters (a lot). Is your website fast? Is it accessible? Does it break often? Is your navigation easy to use? If you don’t upkeep your site, Google will punish you with fewer “free” visitors because they can’t afford to give you 2nd and 3rd chances for having a low quality website. You need real-time data on your site’s health and a quick triage response to address these insights. Otherwise, you'll be in the 'digital jail' which is not fun. 🔨 Hammer home point: There is no SEO; there is only great websites that deliver content and experiences that best meet the needs & intent of your customers. Do this - and all the organic love will follow.

Good morning successful customers! No better way to start the day...

Wei Zheng (Conductor's CPO) laying down the truth on helping our customers get new insights on AIO (AI Overview) that Google just introduced...

Amazing insight into website dysfunction and error resolution in companies. On average, it takes over 2 weeks for businesses to address website issues! Identifying these problems can be challenging as they often go unnoticed until they impact results. Real-time monitoring of critical pages is crucial to stay ahead. However, that's only half the battle. The rest lies in swiftly triaging and resolving issues. Websites must be treated with the same urgency as SaaS applications. Don't wait for things to break – prioritize maintenance and enhancements. Neglecting this can lead search engines to view your site as outdated, causing a long term loss in visibility. Your SEO leader is likely fully in the know here - they just need some support. (Link to free trial of Conductor’s Website Monitoring product in comments)