The document discusses the high cost of free traffic and organic search engine optimization. It argues that well-executed organic content is still costly and takes a significant time investment to produce high-quality content that provides value to users. Marketers should focus less on quick content outputs and link building solely for the purpose of rankings, and instead focus on understanding audiences and creating content that truly helps and improves people in a way that would be worth paying to access.

2. The High Cost of
Free Traffic
- Wil Reynolds

3. Tricked…

4. Tricked…

5. Tricked…

6. Guess the CTR of that #1 spot?
http://bit.ly/CTRisbroken

7. Diminishing marginal utility

9. Paid

11. Tricked…

12. YOUR TRAFFIC ISN’T FREE!

13. YOU JUST GOT TRICKED!

14. IS IT TIME TO FLOCK TO PAID??

15. WRONG QUESTION!

16. What are you building that
is worth PAYING for people to see?

17. The Total audience for your content is
Greater Than
The searching audience for your content
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kjten22

18. What does that mean for the
marketer/seo focusing on
organic only?

19. WELL EXECUTED ORGANIC IS COSTLY!

20. Vegas, lets talk Steak!

26. https://www.flickr.com/photos/abradyb/3604783784/

27. Fight the good fight

28. Pivot

29. What is GREAT Content?

38. How do you feel about seriouseats.com?
Would you ever go there again?
Why?

40. Does the content level you up?
If you made better steaks, might you get more
compliments?
How do you feel when you get compliments?
Is YOUR content Leveling People Up?

41. People don’t buy products, they
buy better versions of
themselves…
http://bitly.com/why-people-buy
@buffer

42. What else is ranking?

43. MEDIOORBITAL FRONTAL CORETEX

44. MEDIOORBITAL FRONTAL CORETEX
IT’S WIKIHOW!!

45. HOW MUCH TIME HAVE YOU SPENT ON WHAT
MAKES PEOPLE BUY?

46. ALGO’S VS AUDIENCES

47. MEDIAL ORBITAL FRONTAL CORTEX

49. Does it level you up?
Does it make you look smarter?

50. Wait?!! My
old content
is my highest
performing
content?

52. @kieranbass

53. @wilreynolds

54. The Year is 1900

55. Job: To build links
Job: To get 3 posts out
Job: Increase Rankings

56. Job: Sell more tires with
Content

57. @wilreynolds https://www.flickr.com/photos/125261545@N03/
Worn Tires

58. @wilreynolds https://www.flickr.com/photos/125261545@N03/
How can I increase
Tire Wear?

59. @wilreynolds https://www.flickr.com/photos/anacronicos
How can I, the content marketer, get him to
DRIVE

60. @wilreynolds https://www.flickr.com/photos/125261545@N03/
Driver + Guide = Well Fed, Happy Clients = Repeat Biz

62. @wilreynolds
Still doingit today, “Goodfor the brand”
Serendipity…

63. @wilreynolds
20% of our budget is
NOT tied to ROI

64. @wilreynolds
The Serendipity Multiplier

66. @wilreynolds
What’s the ROI of your mom??

67. @wilreynolds
ROI of “felt special”

68. Turned an empty room,
into free PR in Entrepreneur Magazine

70. Gets Friction

71. I’ll out “SEO” any of YOU

72. 74% Conversion Rate

73. © 2015 Seer Interactive • All Rights Reserved • Page ‹#›
The company’s analysis of Prime versus non-Prime members’ cross-shopping behaviors found that
less than 1% of Prime members are likely to consider other mass-market retail sites — Walmart.com
and Target.com, for example — during the same online session.

74. Take the easy solution
off the table

75. We hate this

76. He gave us this

77. X

78. Understand friction, address it, or remove it.
That is a Business Function, not a web function.

79. Make content worth Paying for people to see.

80. Go bigger

82. 1 piece of content,
11 people,
200-300 hours
$900 in promotion
0 link building
0 outreach

84. Be honest with yourself

85. In love
with
mycontent

87. Impact?

93. Did that email improve the ranking?

97. Question for you:
I searched for SEO 101
1- Name the companies you think show up

98. Question for you:
I searched for SEO 101
1- Name the companies you think show up
2– Which is the least likely to show you pop ups?

99. Question for you:
I searched for SEO 101
1- Name the companies you think show up
2– Which is the least likely to show you popups?
3– Who loves popups?

101. Serious eats, has the cow, they just gotta chop it up!!

106. Serious eats already had the beachhead
& FANS

110. Value, subsequent content gets easier

111. Commit to doing less content, reap the later organic benefits

112. Why are we paying to make
content like this?

113. What do you think the users signals look like?

114. © 2015 Seer Interactive • All Rights Reserved • Page ‹#›
We buy things we weren’t
searching for, right?
Who Google’d “SEO Conference”
to get here today?
Great content needs a nudge, social, paid social

115. Seek to understand the audience that would be “leveled up”
if they found your content.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kjten22

116. © 2015 Seer Interactive • All Rights Reserved • Page ‹#›

117. © 2015 Seer Interactive • All Rights Reserved • Page ‹#›
Exclude too (cut 80%)

118. Want an example?
Restless Leg Syndrome

120. Question:
If your content was removed from the web, would anyone miss it?