Voices of Search Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Training Clients On Using AI In Their Content Workflow
Host: Tyson Stockton
Guest: Catherine Watier Ong, Founder at WO Strategies
Release Date: January 2, 2025

1. Introduction

In this episode of Voices of Search, host Tyson Stockton welcomes Catherine Watier Ong, founder of WO Strategies, to discuss the pivotal role of training clients in integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) within their content workflows. Catherine brings her extensive experience from building the online marketing and analytics team at Ketchum, a global PR firm, to support science-based organizations in enhancing their organic traffic.

2. The Importance of Education in SEO

Timestamp [02:49]: Catherine emphasizes the foundational role of education in empowering clients with SEO skills. She shares her belief that organizations, especially those publishing extensive academic content, should have in-house SEO experts.

"I firmly believe they need to have somebody internally that can troubleshoot stuff." — Catherine Watier Ong [03:25]

Catherine highlights her work training clients on technical SEO, enabling them to manage crawling, ticketing technical issues, and adapting to platform updates. She underscores the necessity of internal expertise to maintain and optimize content effectively.

3. Integrating AI into Content Workflows

Timestamp [07:14]: The conversation shifts to the integration of AI into content workflows. Catherine recounts her initial foray into AI by pitching herself to speak at a nonprofit digital strategy show, aiming to explore AI's role in content creation and optimization.

"Most of the time they're like, how much is Ahrefs?” — Catherine Watier Ong [05:37]

Catherine discusses how clients, often new to SEO, are excited about using AI for tasks like summarizing content, brainstorming ideas, and generating meta descriptions. She shares practical examples, such as using GPT in Google Sheets to create meta descriptions for blog posts, improving content discoverability.

4. Tools and Techniques for AI-Driven SEO

Timestamp [10:44]: Catherine elaborates on the specific tools and prompts she employs to streamline SEO processes using AI. She mentions "Dr. Keyword," a custom GPT tool leveraging the Ahrefs API, which guides users through the SEO workflow.

"Everyone new to SEO is super confused about search intent." — Catherine Watier Ong [10:44]

She stresses the importance of understanding search intent and aligning content with user queries. Catherine also shares her approach to training clients on creating content briefs and optimizing internal links, ensuring that content is both strategic and data-driven.

5. Overcoming Common Barriers in SEO Training

Timestamp [11:34]: Catherine identifies several common challenges clients face when adopting SEO practices:

• Understanding Brand Voice and Value: Many clients struggle to define their unique brand voice and value proposition.

  "How many of them cannot answer that question? They absolutely have never done that work." — Catherine Watier Ong [11:48]

• Identifying Target Audiences: Clients often lack clarity about their target personas, leading to misaligned content strategies.

• Adapting to AI Overviews: Integrating content into AI-generated overviews adds another layer of complexity.

Catherine illustrates these points by sharing experiences with clients who had misaligned personas or inadequate brand definitions, emphasizing the need for comprehensive brand workshops to develop a distinctive and effective brand voice.

6. The Impact of AI and SEO on Academic Journals

Timestamp [16:57]: The discussion delves into the specific impacts of AI on SEO for academic journals. Catherine expresses concerns over AI scraping content from academic sites without proper attribution, leading to unauthorized use and potential loss of traffic.

"They're all pissed that their stuff's been stolen." — Catherine Watier Ong [17:27]

She highlights the dilemma academic journals face:

• Knowledge Graph Exclusion: Many journals struggle to appear in AI-generated knowledge graphs, reducing their visibility.

• Traffic vs. Citations: Reduced website traffic can lead to fewer citations, directly impacting journals' impact factors.

Catherine shares strategies to mitigate these issues, such as ensuring proper redirection during site migrations to preserve citations and working on improving brand visibility within AI overviews to maintain traffic and authority.

7. Future Considerations and Closing Remarks

Timestamp [20:00]: The conversation touches on the broader business impacts of SEO and AI integration. Catherine discusses the lagging effects of decreased discoverability on impact factors and the importance of maintaining SEO efforts to sustain long-term authority and traffic.

"It's a delayed, like a lagging factor." — Tyson Stockton [21:50]

As the episode concludes, Tyson hints at a follow-up discussion focused on SEO strategies tailored for academic journals, promising deeper insights into this niche area.

Key Takeaways

• Education is Crucial: Building in-house SEO expertise empowers organizations to manage and optimize their content effectively.

• AI Integration: AI tools can significantly enhance content workflows, from brainstorming to meta description generation, but require proper training and understanding.

• Common Challenges: Defining brand voice, identifying target audiences, and adapting to AI overviews are critical hurdles in SEO training.

• Academic Journals: The academic sector faces unique SEO challenges, including unauthorized content scraping by AI and maintaining visibility in knowledge graphs, which directly affect their impact factors.

Notable Quotes

• "I firmly believe they need to have somebody internally that can troubleshoot stuff." — Catherine Watier Ong [03:25]

• "Everyone new to SEO is super confused about search intent." — Catherine Watier Ong [10:44]

• "How many of them cannot answer that question? They absolutely have never done that work." — Catherine Watier Ong [11:48]

• "They're all pissed that their stuff's been stolen." — Catherine Watier Ong [17:27]

For more insights and detailed strategies on integrating AI into your SEO workflows, tune in to the next episode where Tyson and Catherine will explore SEO for academic journals in greater depth.