Anastasia Braitsik is recognized as a global leader in SEO, content marketing, and data analytics. With her expertise, she has transformed her agency’s approach to digital marketing strategies, particularly as AI-driven search experiences reshape the landscape. As the industry evolves, Anastasia shares her insights on transitioning from a PPC-centric model to embracing the long-term value of SEO.
Can you describe the initial stance your agency had towards SEO and why it was dismissed for so long?
At our agency, performance was the cornerstone, and SEO seemed like an unpredictable puzzle compared to the immediate impact offered by PPC. SEO felt slow, driven by vague timelines and uncertain results. For too long, we perceived SEO as an art rather than a science, which just didn’t align with our data-driven approach. It was always about getting measurable results quickly, and SEO felt like a long-term game with inconsistent payoff.
How did the rise of AI-driven search experiences in 2024 lead to a change in your approach to SEO?
The advent of AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews fundamentally altered how content is surfaced online, prompting us to reassess SEO’s potential. Suddenly, structured data and machine-readable signals became critical for organic visibility. It wasn’t just about optimizing for traditional search engines but preparing content for AI models that engage differently. This shift made SEO more technical and intent-driven, matching our agency’s capabilities and inclinations.
What were the primary challenges or misconceptions about traditional SEO that kept it from fitting into your agency’s model initially?
Vague timelines and soft metrics made SEO unappealing. In a performance-focused environment, “wait six months” did not resonate. The narrative around SEO seemed to lack the precision we associate with revenue-driving strategies. There was also a misconception that SEO relied heavily on gut feeling rather than systemic, repeatable processes, which made it unsuitable for our agency model aimed at instant results.
How did you address these challenges when developing your own SEO offering?
We reframed SEO to align with our performance ethos, focusing on measurable, immediate wins rather than undefined timelines. By hiring talent experienced in technical SEO and dev fluency, we integrated SEO with our PPC methodology, emphasizing clear conversion paths and structured data. We moved away from siloed operations, building a cohesive team that shares insights and strategies.
What specific changes did you make to transition from a PPC-only agency to one that embraces SEO?
The transition required us to rethink our processes, starting with hiring SEO professionals well-versed in performance. We also established pilot projects with select clients, ensuring data-supported outcomes. We applied the fundamentals of PPC to SEO, focusing on technical audits, page speed, and structured data as integral components. This ensured that our SEO evaluations were as robust and goal-oriented as our PPC processes.
How did you integrate your SEO team with the existing media team, and why was this integration important?
Collaboration was key; we integrated the SEO team with our media division to ensure continuous knowledge sharing and alignment with business outcomes. This synergy prevented compartmentalization and fostered a holistic approach to digital marketing. It allowed for quicker adaptations and more effective strategies as insights from both teams converged in common client projects.
What criteria did you use to select the pilot clients for your new SEO services, and why were these criteria important?
We chose clients based on their existing organic data and their readiness to experiment with iterative strategies. Leadership buy-in was crucial, as was their success in paid media, which indicated scope for long-term SEO wins. These clients served as incubators for our strategies, allowing us to test rigorously and demonstrate the efficacy of our new approach.
Can you outline the key fundamentals you focused on when implementing SEO strategies for your clients?
We concentrated on impactful fundamentals like deep technical audits, structured data, and keyword mapping aligned with business intent. On-page optimizations were tailored to different funnel stages, ensuring each client’s strategy supported their unique goals. Focused efforts on site architecture and linking delivered measurable performance boosts, allowing us to apply similar optimization ideologies from PPC to SEO.
How did treating structured data as a priority contribute to early wins in your SEO efforts?
Structured data was pivotal, elevating SEO from a supplementary strategy to a linchpin of success. By applying structured data schemas, like Product and FAQ schema, we increased rich snippets and improved rankings. These implementations effectively enhanced click-through rates and fed valuable signals to AI models, bridging SEO efforts with AI-powered results.
In what ways did you adapt your reporting approach for SEO to align with that of PPC?
We adopted a performance-driven reporting method, capturing page-level results and conversion lifts directly linked to SEO. Reports focused on meaningful metrics like crawl progress and structured data wins, aligning with the transparency expected in PPC reports. Clients appreciated seeing tangible data improvements rather than abstract rankings, which reinforced the credibility of our SEO efforts.
What new tools and strategies are you building to respond to the shift towards AI-driven search and visibility?
We’re developing tools for tracking visibility across LLM platforms like ChatGPT and constructing prompt-based SEO research instruments. Scalable schema enrichment and entity-centric content mapping ensure our strategies are aligned with AI-driven trends. These innovations are designed to resonate with the performance-driven mindset, ensuring adaptability to shifts in digital marketing.
How does your current SEO approach leverage the knowledge and practices you’ve honed through PPC?
Our SEO methodology draws heavily from PPC, focusing on immediate impact and measurable results. We translate principles of conversion paths, data-driven iterations, and systematic optimizations into our SEO practices. This performance-oriented mindset ensures that SEO strategies are not just long-term value propositions but also contribute to immediate business outcomes.
What advice would you give to other PPC-led agencies considering a similar transition into offering SEO services?
Embrace SEO with a performance-focused perspective. Translate the precision and immediacy of PPC processes into SEO strategies, emphasizing technology and structured data. Start small, testing with clients who appreciate experimentation and iteration. Building cohesive systems and hiring the right talent is crucial, as is maintaining commitment to impact and measurable success. SEO can be a powerful complement to PPC when approached with the same dedication to results.
