GTM 116: The Future of SEO and AI's Impact, with a $100M+ Product-Led SEO Framework with Eli Schwartz

The GTM Podcast

Eli Schwartz is an SEO expert and consultant with over a decade of experience driving successful SEO and growth programs for both B2B and B2C companies. He has worked with major brands like Shutterstock, Gusto, WordPress, Quora, Mixpanel, and Zendesk to build and execute global SEO strategies that dramatically increase their visibility at scale. Previously, Eli led the SEO team at SurveyMonkey, growing organic search from nearly zero to one of the largest growth channels at the company.

Discussed in this Episode:

• The product-led SEO framework Eli used to drive SurveyMonkey from 0 to $100M+ in revenue.
• Why the old model of churning out SEO content is dead and how AI is disrupting the space.
• Eli's journey from getting rejected at top tech companies to becoming a thriving consultant.
• The power of deeply understanding your target user and building products for their needs.
• Actionable advice for making the transition from operator to successful consultant.

Highlights:
(4:14) Building SEO products tailored to the user intent, not just keywords.
(8:19) How Zapier unlocked massive growth with a product-led SEO approach
(17:15) Why AI content generation is not a silver bullet - it still requires a purposeful strategy.
(22:54) Examples of Eli's product-led SEO wins at SurveyMonkey, Tinder, and Coinbase.
(29:31) The biggest mistake people make with SEO is having a diminished understanding of what it can accomplish.
(41:28) Eli's best consulting gigs came from job interviews where he got rejected.
(44:33) To succeed as a consultant, develop a niche specialty and have customer success stories.
(52:23) One thing revenue leaders believe to be true that Eli thinks is bull$***.
(54:49) One thing that is working for Eli in go-to-market right now.
Guest Speaker Links (Eli Schwartz):
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwartze/
Host Speaker Links (Scott Barker):
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ssbarker/
Newsletter: thegtmnewsletter.substack.com/
Sponsors:

• HG Insights. Feeling that AI FOMO? You’re not alone. That’s why HG Insights created The Next Generation of Sales AI report — to calm the FOMO and help you bring AI to your GTM teams. It includes a breakdown of the Sales AI landscape, adoption of GenAI and Sales software across buyer groups. Plus, an analysis of the top 75 trending sales AI tools. Why HG Insights? Simple. They’ve been writing market reports for years as the pioneer of tech adoption and market insights. Trusted by GTM leaders at the likes of Snowflake Five9 and Google Cloud to improve GTM efficiency. Thinking about AI for your sales team but unsure where to start? This free and ungated report has you covered.

The GTM Podcast
Features conversations with the top 1% of tech executives, VCs, and founders - the experts who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Scott Barker to dissect their stories - revealing what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.
This podcast is produced by GTMnow, the media brand of VC firm GTMfund.
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