SEO Strategy Example in 2025: It’s About Leads, Authority, and the Long Game (Not Just Rankings)

I want to share with you a tried and tested example of how the right SEO strategy can yeild great results and yet so many people get the basics wrong.

Let’s start at the begining. Search engine optimisation (SEO) has never been just about getting that #1 spot on Google. Sure, everyone loves seeing their website rank at the top for a big keyword – but a top ranking by itself doesn’t pay the bills. The real goal of SEO is to bring you business outcomes: more leads, enquiries, and conversions. A fancy ranking is great for the ego, but if it’s not generating phone calls or sales, what’s the point?

As an SEO Strategist myself having devised hundreds of successful campaigns for more than 15 years, I want to give you a simple example of how and why a modern effective SEO strategy today goes beyond keywords and rankings, and why it’s increasingly about building your authority and adapting to new changes (like AI in search). We’ll cover why some seemingly irrelevant queries can actually help establish your expertise, why SEO is a long-term game (and not a “set and forget” deal), and how emerging concepts like Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) fit into the picture. I’ll keep it straight and to the point – no fluff, just the important bits in plain language.

Rankings vs. Real Results: SEO’s True Goal

Let’s start by clearing up a common misconception: SEO success isn’t measured by how many #1 rankings you have. It’s measured by how many customers those rankings bring you. High Google positions are only valuable if the people clicking actually need what you offer. Would you rather rank #1 for a vanity keyword that brings in useless traffic, or rank #3 for a specific query that results in five new enquiries a week? I think the answer is obvious.

SEO is about visibility that converts. When someone searches for a solution you provide, you want them to find you, learn to trust you, and ultimately get in touch or purchase. This means we care about things like click-through rates, the content on the page meeting the user’s needs, and conversion optimisation (for those newcomers to my website, yes I am in the UK hence “optimisation” and not “optimization”) – not just the position on the results page. A lower-ranking result that speaks to the searcher can outperform a higher result that doesn’t. At the end of the day, I consider an SEO campaign successful when it’s generating tangible business growth (leads, sales, sign-ups), not just when it’s hitting a ranking milestone.

Building Authority with “Non-Core” Content (Yes, Those Odd Queries Matter)

A big part of modern SEO is establishing your website as an authority in your field. This is where covering more than just your core sales keywords comes in. You might wonder, “Why should I bother writing content about topics only loosely related to my services? Isn’t that a distraction from what I actually sell?” On the surface it might seem so, but here’s the deal: creating content around those broader questions in your industry is hugely valuable for SEO – and it has to do with how search engines judge expertise.

Google and other search engines have something called E-E-A-T – which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. In plain English, they want to promote websites that know their stuff and are trustworthy. One way they figure that out is by looking at the breadth and depth of your content. If your site only has a few pages targeting “money keywords” and nothing else, it doesn’t scream expert. But if you’ve taken the time to answer common questions, explain related concepts, and basically build a mini-library on your topic, you’re sending a strong signal that you genuinely understand your field.

Authority = better SEO, plain and simple. Plus, by helping people with genuine answers (not just sales pitches), you’re also building goodwill with potential customers. They remember who helped them out, and that pays off in inquiries and shares.

SEO is a Long Game (Why It Takes Time and Consistency)

Let’s address another reality: SEO takes time. It’s not a switch you flip or a one-time project you finish. It’s more like fitness – you don’t go to the gym once and come out with a six-pack. You commit to a routine and see results build up over months. In SEO, you’re dealing with a combination of factors: search engines need time to discover and index your changes, your content needs time to earn trust and possibly backlinks, and your audience itself might take time to find you. If anyone promises you “overnight” results in SEO, I’d be very skeptical.

In my own practice, I emphasize that SEO is a long-term investment and partnership. No honest agency can guarantee instant rankings, and SEO is a long play requiring committed partnership – but with sound strategy it yields significant returns over time. In other words, you’ve got to stick with it. Month after month of creating quality content, refining your site, and building your online reputation is what moves the needle in a sustainable way.

Importantly, SEO isn’t “set and forget.” You can’t just hit #1 and then coast. Competitors are always updating their sites, Google’s algorithm keeps evolving, and new content gets published every day. If you rest on your laurels, you will slip. The bottom line: patience and persistence pay off in SEO. Don’t be disheartened if you don’t see big jumps in the first few weeks. SEO builds on itself – small gains compound into big ones if you keep at it.

Local Searches, “Zero Volume” Keywords, and Real Enquiries

If your business serves a local area, you’ve probably wondered about those searches that include “near me” or specific neighbourhood names. SEO tools might tell you that a phrase like “plumber near [Small Suburb]” gets 0 searches per month – yet you just got a call from someone in that suburb who found you online. What’s going on?

The truth is, keyword volume tools are not perfect, especially for local and long-tail queries. Just because a tool shows “0” or “no data” for a search term doesn’t mean nobody is searching it. It might just mean the volume is low or not easily measured. But those low-volume searches can be high-intent – the people who do search them are often ready to act.

The takeaway here is: don’t dismiss those ultra-specific or seemingly obscure queries, especially in local SEO. Even if the numbers aren’t huge, each of those searches could be a person practically knocking on your door.

Staying on Top: Why SEO Requires Ongoing Effort

Achieving a top ranking is not the finish line, it’s the start of a new race – the race to keep that ranking. Many times I’ve seen businesses relax once they hit number one for a desired term. It’s a big achievement, no doubt! But SEO has no autopilot switch. If you let your content go stale or your competitors outpace you in creating fresh material, don’t be surprised when that #1 turns into #4 or #7 over time.

Competitors aside, Google’s algorithm changes constantly. The good news is that ongoing effort doesn’t mean you’re starting from scratch each time – think of it as continuous improvement. You’re building on the foundation you’ve laid. And your competitors who aren’t doing the same will gradually find themselves falling behind.

Enter the Era of AI in Search (and What It Means for SEO)

You’ve likely heard the buzz about AI chatbots and search – tools like ChatGPT or Google’s new AI-powered results. These technologies are changing how people find information. Instead of just seeing a list of links, users may get a direct answer synthesized by AI, sometimes with sources cited. This shift has profound implications for SEO. It’s not that traditional SEO is dead (it’s not), but we have an additional challenge: making sure our content is not only ranked but also referenced by these AI engines.

This is where Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) comes into play. Generative engines are basically the AI systems that generate answers. GEO is about optimising your content so that these AI systems recognize it as authoritative and worth quoting when they answer user questions. In other words, it’s an evolution of SEO for the age of AI: rather than just competing for one of ten blue links, you’re also competing to be the source an AI pulls information from.

Practically speaking, how do you optimise for AI-driven search results? Fortunately, a lot of the answer is “do what good SEO already teaches, and then some.” AI models love content that is clear, factual, and well-structured. Pages formatted in a logical way with headings, bullet points, or Q&A sections are easier for an AI to digest and pull from.

Another factor is authority and trust. AI systems, just like Google’s regular algorithm, don’t want to spread misinformation. They will favour sources that have expertise and reliability. That circles back to E-E-A-T and topical authority we discussed. If your site demonstrates strong authority in an area, it has a better chance of being the one an AI chooses to quote when someone asks a related question.

Becoming a Topical Authority with Content Clusters (Helps SEO and GEO)

By now, a lot of these ideas tie together into a strategy I champion: building structured, interlinked content clusters around your key topics. A content cluster typically involves a pillar page – a comprehensive guide on a core topic – and a bunch of supporting pages that each dive into subtopics, all interlinked with each other.

This structure creates a web of knowledge on your site that both users and search engines can easily navigate. For users, it’s great – if I’m reading your guide and want more detail on something, there’s a handy link. For search engines, it’s like you’ve pre-organised the information for them. This reduces the work the search engine has to do to figure your site out.

What’s really powerful is that this approach benefits both traditional SEO and the new AI-driven SEO (GEO). By covering a topic in a structured way, you build topical authority (which boosts your rankings broadly) and you create precisely the kind of organised content that AI systems love to reference. A well-crafted Q&A page in a cluster might rank well on Google and get quoted by an AI – a double win.

Finally, don’t forget the human element. Being the authoritative site isn’t just about appeasing algorithms. It’s about genuinely helping your audience. If you become known as the website that has all the answers about a certain topic, people will seek you out, recommend your site, and link to your content naturally. That creates a virtuous circle: your reputation grows, which boosts SEO, which brings more visitors, and so on. It’s a strategy built on trust and usefulness, which are things that never go out of style in marketing.

In summary, modern SEO success comes from looking beyond a single metric like rankings. It’s about driving real business results by marrying technical know-how with genuine authority building. That means being willing to answer the niche questions, sticking with your strategy for the long haul, and adapting as new technologies like AI reshape the search landscape. If you focus on becoming the most helpful, authoritative source in your corner of the market – through well-structured content and continuous optimisation – you’ll find that both Google and your prospective customers reward you for it.