I’ve been in SEO for 17 years, and have recently been interviewing SEOs and SMBs/Startups, & SaaS & wanted to share some unique practical SEO insights from 3 recent interviews that give actionable advice you can implement this week to improve your SEO efforts.

I recently had an enlightening conversation with Mark Williams-Cook, director of Candour SEO agency and creator of Also Asked, a search intent research tool. While our discussion covered advanced technical concepts, I wanted to distill three key actionable insights that small business owners in Johnson City, TN or really anywhere can implement today to improve their online presence in a way that moves the needle on revenue.

Creating Content? Go For Video & Repurpose It

One of the most valuable insights from our discussion was about content creation. Many small business owners struggle with consistently creating high-quality content for their websites.

The solution?

Start with video.

As Mark explained, modern tools can instantly transcribe video content, which can then be transformed into written articles and blog posts.

For local business owners, this means you can simply record yourself talking about your expertise, products, or services. This can be as simple as jumping on a Zoom call, it doesn’t HAVE to be a full flown commercial video shoot to generate the content you need.

“If you’re in content, what I’ve been doing now is actually starting at video and working backwards because there’s tools now that can basically instantly transcribe your video. And then that’s a fantastic use of LLMs, which is to write an article. -Mark Williams Cook

The reality too is that it doesn’t stop at just generating an article! Take this input from Shannon Lavenia of BrandBuilder Ai,

“One article, if we think about this, like you can create about 40 different pieces of content. You can take one article… turn it into a blog post, then you can turn it into a long story post on Facebook. You can turn it into a LinkedIn post. You can turn it into an Instagram post. Then you can take that and you can put it into one of these AIs and you can make video with it for every other one of the channels.”

To put that into actionable context, if you were promoting a recovery program, then just 1 interview with your clinical director who might have tons of credentials and authority like a phd, LCP, or ACS, and generate an article, linked-in post, instagram and threads post too.

They’re not the only SEOs I’ve talked to recently who recommends turning to video content as the FIRST step of your content creation process. Matt Brooks of SEOteric, has even found that you can repurpose content for internal meetings, when you’re discussing your product or service value. You will often find in your internal discussions, some very valuable concepts and ideas to apply, so take advantage of those Ai note-taker programs if you’re finding it hard to get your owner/founder or team-leader to make time for a full-on interview.

Understanding User Knowledge Levels

Google’s patents reveal they assess user expertise through search patterns – when someone searches basic Linux terms versus specific bash commands, Google adapts results accordingly. This creates opportunities for businesses to better serve their audience.

Mark Williams-Cook highlighted how this manifests in People Also Ask (PAA) results. The initial PAA questions shown differ based on perceived user knowledge, creating distinct pathways for beginners versus experts. For instance, an arborist who specifically does box tree care in leander, tx, might see:

• Novice queries: “How much do you water a boxwood?”
• Intermediate: “Why is my boxwood tree turning brown?”
• Expert: “What is the best treatment for box tree moths?”

This understanding should shape your content strategy. Rather than just following keyword volume, consider creating content that matches these different expertise levels. This helps capture users across the knowledge spectrum while potentially identifying which customer segments convert best for your business.

“If Google literally has patents to understand the knowledge journey depth level in an industry, then we should be thinking about the knowledge level depth…as we map out the content.” – Mark Williams-Cook

As Sarasota SEO consultant Michael Mcdougald pointed out in a conversation we had on Twitter, if we understand the audience of our content, then we incidentally create more effective content that is much more effective at driving them toward the purchase. How much more likely are they to click the “Contact” button if you’re already meeting them “on their level”.

Heres an in-depth recap of the whole interview, you can watch the interview or get the podcast here.