Graphite

IE Business School // Growth Marketing Ethan Smith was a visiting professor at IE Business School teaching SEO and growth marketing. The agenda borrows from the most impactful strategies working at Graphite. 1. Introduction to SEO 2. Editorial SEO 3. Programmatic SEO 4. Topical Authority 5. Activation 6. Forecasting & Measurement 7. Case Studies Learnings * The students at IE Business School are some of the best, but few people in the US know of this school or recruit from schools like this in Europe * IE is one of the top business schools in the world: https://lnkd.in/dSpgbPuy * We highly encourage US companies to recruit students from IE (please contact Ethan Smith if interested) Special thanks to Yumo Liu and Tiana Krstajic for helping prepare this course! ?? Special thanks to Irma Papaleo ??

Loved this blog by Anthropic (the company behind Claude) on their insights and recommendations for developers building AI agents. Some takeaways and my opinion: * Anthropic categorizes agentic systems into two types: 1/ Agents: Autonomous systems with a set of tools that operate in a less deterministic way. They adapt, reason, and take action without predefined step-by-step instructions. Perfect for complex, unpredictable scenarios. 2/ Workflows – Structured, rule-based systems for automating repeatable tasks. Ideal for standard, well-defined processes where consistency matters. * You don’t need an AI agent for every task. Often, workflows are a better fit for repetitive, structured processes. * Don’t overcomplicate things. Start with direct LLM APIs instead of diving into frameworks like LangChain too early. Simpler setups are easier to scale, debug, and refine. * Start small, gather data from real-world performance, and refine as you go. Overbuilding upfront can create more headaches than results. This is actually in line with Gall's law: "A complex system that works is found to have evolved from a simple system that works." There’s a lot of confusion about what qualifies as an agent. Anthropic is probably the first major player that has attempted to clarify the distinction. But more than the definitions, I’m excited about how much you can achieve by integrating LLMs into traditional workflows. I've been following companies like StackAI (Bernard Aceituno) and n8n (Luis Guzmán), and impressed by how many automation use cases they’re tackling (via workflows or agents). Even traditional tools like Zapier and Make are integrating AI into their products. At Graphite, we’ve worked with LLMs, workflows, and even traditional ML algorithms to build our SEO platform. We are now exploring AI agents in cases where autonomy and the ability to process unstructured data could unlock big time savings. The key is using the right approach for the right task.

Webflow SEO Ebook? * We collaborated on a Weblfow e-book about how to build a revenue-generating website.? * Free e-book: bit.ly/webflow-e-book Here’s what the SEO section covers: *Opportunity Sizing Determine the SEO opportunity size by analyzing competitors' observed traffic using a top-down approach, minimizing risky assumptions *Topic-Focused Content? Prioritize creating content around topics or keyword clusters that share the same user intent, rather than targeting individual keywords *Topical Authority Build and leverage your site's specific topical authority to outrank competitors, even those with higher domain authority *User Intent Matching Align content types with different stages of the customer journey, ensuring the page type fits the user's search intent *Performance Analysis Continuously track and report on SEO performance using relevant metrics to guide future investments and secure long-term buy-in

“Answer engines” are redefining how people search. AI-based search queries are longer, more specific, and much more conversational. Instead of “best plush toy,” users now ask questions like, “Where can I find a hand-stitched plush puppy with premium stuffing that doesn’t fall apart?” We’ve also seen these question queries create feedback loops: a user asks a question, sees an answer, and then fires off a follow-up. How does this change our search optimization? The traditional search funnel is becoming a conversation, but the journey remains the same. Hence, I think we can use the same model as our topical SEO strategy, with these changes: * Keywords → Questions * Topics (i.e., keyword clusters) → Question Clusters * Keyword Variants → Question Variants * Subtopics → Question Refinements (these go inside the content) The process also remains similar to topical SEO: 1/ Think in question clusters: Topical SEO is the go-to strategy for addressing question variants with the same user intent. These variants are growing in number; strategically covering them in your content can address user intent more effectively. 2/ Understand user intent by analyzing subtopics: Analyze how responses to questions are structured to identify the subtopics that make up user intent. You’ll likely see these appear as follow-up questions. 3/ Match and improve: Add depth and comprehensive answers. Including your unique angle (i.e., information gain) can help you outrank competitors and get cited more often.

It looks like the recording from our group chat with Ethan Smith is taking off on YouTube. This is a group chat I highly recommend watching if you're looking to learn more about SEO for marketplaces.

Our team contributed to Webflow's E-book about building a best-in-class revenue-generating website. We covered the following topics: ??Sizing your SEO opportunity ??Leveraging your topical authority ??Producing rank-worthy content ??Matching user intent to page types ??Analyzing performance Here’s the link to download it (for free): https://lnkd.in/d3aRhJvZ

Our CEO, Ethan Smith, participated in an Everything Marketplaces chat with Mike Williams. Here are some key takeaways: Unique Positioning of Marketplaces for SEO ??What makes a Marketplace uniquely positioned is that the addressable market is usually very large, so SEO can be a substantial opportunity for driving growth Different Types of SEO and Content Strategy ??Traditional SEO categories (programmatic, editorial, and technical) should be rethought. ??Strategy and content should be aligned with page types (e.g., browse pages, listicles, product reviews) rather than strict content categories. Programmatic SEO for Early-Stage Companies ??Start with high-intent pages like listicles before scaling. ??Manual content creation can scale cost-effectively when done strategically. SEO ROI Measurement Framework ??Measure success in stages: indexing, initial traffic, scaling traffic, and conversion. ??Address each stage with specific interventions based on where the drop-off occurs. Common SEO Mistakes in Marketplaces ??Avoid overbuilding backend infrastructure early on; test with a few pages first. ??Do not over-rely on AI-generated content without customization or human review. Link in the comments for the full video.

For businesses in industries like e-commerce, marketplaces, and local services, programmatic SEO offers a systematic approach to scaling search visibility. I contributed to this guide written by Branko Kral - daydream: bit.ly/pseo-guide Key takeaways: *Indexation Strategy: Regularly compare your indexed pages to traffic metrics. Aim for weekly crawls with a 95% indexation rate. Low-value pages, such as duplicates or thin content, can harm your overall SEO performance if left unchecked. *Site Hygiene: Regular site hygiene audits are crucial to maintaining high-quality indexed pages and preventing SEO decay. *Competitor Gap Analysis: Programmatic SEO also offers a way to strategically assess competitors’ content. Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to identify keyword gaps where your content could offer more value. Mapping out these opportunities helps focus efforts where they’re most impactful. *Internal Link Structure: Effective pSEO also depends on an even internal linking strategy. Distribute internal links across pages instead of concentrating them on popular content to help search engines recognize the relevance of all your pages.

We teamed up with Webflow and Finsweet, to create a free Webflow app designed to improve your website's SEO and content management. Here's what the app offers: ??Bulk Meta Editor: Streamline your SEO management with bulk editing capabilities. This feature lets you update meta tags across multiple pages simultaneously or focus on individual pages when needed. You can customize Open Graph titles, descriptions, and images with a straightforward interface similar to what you're used to in Webflow. ??Schema Builder: Improve your search engine visibility by creating schema scripts. The app supports organization and article schemas, allowing you to customize fields, copy the JavaScript, and apply it directly to your pages, with dynamic content supported. ??Robots Builder: Easily manage your robots.txt file. The tool lets you decide which pages are crawled, whether static, dynamic, or utility pages. Simply copy the generated script and paste it into your site settings. This app is designed to simplify your workflow while improving your Webflow site's SEO performance. Link to the app in the comments. We're eager to hear your thoughts on how this new tool can support your Webflow projects. What else would you like to see our Webflow app do to help boost SEO? Let us know in the comments!?

?? LAST CHANCE TO SIGN UP FOR Ethan Smith's REFORGE COURSE ?? Today's the last day to sign up for the Search & AI Optimization Reforge course. Below, you will find a little teaser of what to expect. Sign up link:?bit.ly/seo-ai-course