Bridget Willard

Author: Bridget Willard

SEO for Product Companies — You (Still) Need Blog Posts
SEO best practices are still best practices. If you have a product company (digital or physical) don’t just rely on your product pages. You need a blog.

It’s tempting to think blog posts are so 2013. Although with companies relying upon ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI agents to write quick overviews and summary posts for (virtually) free, it’s surprising that product companies still don’t get it.

TL;DR: People searching for knowledge are sent to blog posts. People searching for action are sent to product pages.

Blogs Versus Short Video Dopamine Hits

Physical products like fashion and beauty heavily rely on influencers and affiliate marketing. Tech companies rely on affiliate marketing, too. Why? Other people market for you which means a lower cost for marketing and lower Customer Aquisiton Cost (CAC).

Relying on other people to do the work can be a good thing. Until TikTok shuts down and you have no content on your own website.

Snapchat introduced the short vertical video and TikTok capitalized on them – thanks to the pandemic. Short, vertical videos are now the new podcast. My Gen Z niece listens to TikTok videos with her earbuds for hours.

“Are you watching them?” I asked.

“Sometimes. I mostly listen when I vacuum and clean the apartment. Of course, you have to stop to swipe to see the next video.” (I’m surprised TikTok hasn’t changed that yet.)

Against biology (our eyes are made to scan right to left, left to right), every platform has this vertical, dopamine-inducing binge watch. Even LinkedIn has vertical video feeds now. (But that’s another rant.)

Relying upon third-party platforms for your marketing is a scary place to be.

If Amazon’s bid to buy TikTok is accepted, it’s going to become the modern Home Shopping Network. How’s that going to change the user experience? Want to binge on commercials? Unlikely. TikTok will become as annoying as over GIF-ed, loud MySpace pages.

If Amazon's bid to buy TikTok is approved, it's going to become the modern Home Shopping Network.
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) April 2, 2025

Do Blogs Still Work for Sales?

Yes. SEO best practices work as a whole to drive sales. Now, if your product pages aren’t optimized for PPC keywords, and you’re not running PPC ads, and you don’t have email marketing, and you don’t have blog posts to explain the why behind your products, then you have bigger problems.

This is a good time to say that unless you’re tracking your leads, you really don’t know how to attribute those leads. And, first-click leads? Those don’t exist.

“Google is still sending the lion’s share of traffic… but even when they — or most of the platforms, for that matter — do, we can’t even see that traffic because of the flaws in attribution.” Amanda Natividad

The Internet Runs on Words

Here’s another thing I say a lot: the internet is blind. Videos may have captions (or craptions if you don’t edit them) and photos may be beautiful, but search works from words.

You still need customers. And how do you get customers to find the thing you just built if they don’t even know it exists? There’s no keyword research for terms people aren’t using. Keyword research is mostly for PPC anyway.

I say this a lot on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and in videos. No one will search for you if they don’t know you exist. If you built a product no one knows exists yet (like the product by my new client Green Link), no one is searching for a baseboard for a chain-link fence. It just got patented, and the website went live in January 2025.

Do Blogs Still Work For Tech & SaaS Companies?

Yes, blogs still work for tech and SaaS companies. Now, if you’re a product company, you may be ignoring your blog in favor of product development, writing their pages and documentation. (I know you’re behind on documentation.)

You’re super excited about this new tool or feature you built. That’s awesome. Do you hear us saying, “but why” when we read your tweet? What use case does this apply to? What problem does this solve? Why do I want a project management tool inside of WordPress? But Why?

Well-written blog posts translate product pages into sales copy that answers the why. You can’t just post on X that you created a new tool with the link to the product page and expect sales (with or without lifetime deals).

Blog Posts:
- Establish authority (author bylines matter)
- Stay fresh with regular updates (keep publishing)
- Align with search intent (know or do?)
- Get backlinks and mentions across the web (the hardest part)
ChatGPT Backs Up Long-Standing SEO Best Practices

In a (not surprising) recent study analyzing which pages ChatGPT recommends (by AN Digital in German), blogs and editorial content were cited as top choices for informational queries.

The study by AN Digital found that if someone is looking for the best running shoes, they’ll be shown blog posts. If they’re looking for the best Nike running shoes, they’ll be shown a product page. What happens with Google also happens with ChatGPT.

SEO best practices haven’t changed. Modern SEO – being found in an AI search tool like ChatGPT – means you need to feed the machine. ChatGPT recommends real content by real experts. If you want to show up in AI-generated answers, an expertly-written blog post beats a static brochure site with product pages any day.

“Because ChatGPT relies both on pre-trained data and real-time web access, SEO becomes critical in ensuring a company’s content is visible and usable by the AI.” AN Digital

Get Marketing That Works

I’m a marketing specialist in the SaaS space. That means easy onboarding for you. Let’s translate the features and specs of your product into compelling marketing copy for your blog.

There are limited spots for my SaaS Marketing Plan.

I’m always open for a quick sales call to discuss your goals or get you on the waiting list.

Sources
- Thanks to Warren Laine-Naida and Joerg Geissler for bringing this German Study by AN Digital to my attention.
- AN Digital: Strategies to Optimize the Likelihood of Shops and Products Being Recommended by ChatGPT
- Special thanks to ChatGPT for the translation.
April 4, 2025
What is SWOT Analysis in Marketing and Why Should I Care?

Have you ever seen an image on social media that made you turn your head sideways? Or maybe a billboard or even a written post. There are whole accounts on Instagram dedicated to Photoshop fails and the like.

Sometimes a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor is appreciated by your audience. And sometimes good intentions get separated from the intended message. It could be your body language, word choice, or accessibility. (I can’t even get going on the PDF flyers I see on IG that no one over 40 can read.)

So this is why you need a professional to not just “manage” your social media. You need a social media marketer. You need a bit of pushback to make your ideas better. They should think about all of the possible outcomes.

This is why a good marketer always does some version of a SWOT analysis.

They don’t just post and hope things work out.

SWOT Analysis Basics

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. An experienced marketer just automatically thinks of these with each new idea they encounter. But you can definitely make a chart, especially if you’re presenting to an internal team or an external client.

“A SWOT analysis can help you to challenge risky assumptions, uncover dangerous blindspots, and reveal important new insights.” Mindtools

Many large agencies use focus groups as the research arm of a SWOT analysis. Politicians use opposition research. You have to really understand your audience. How they think and their values will determine their perception of your campaign.

Strengths

Before you post a photo on Instagram, think about what it says about your brand. What’s good about that social post? How does it make people feel about your brand? Does it have easy-to-read text, great captions, and a call to action? Do the colors evoke the feelings you’re hoping it would?

Weaknesses

What will people say about your brand if you do that? If you wear that? If you post an image of a QR code on a mobile ad? They’ll think you don’t know what you’re doing. You can’t scan a QR code on an image on your phone with your phone. Make sense?

Opportunities

How does this social post give you more opportunities? Does it make people think? Does it give them a tool? Does it encourage them? Do they want to see more of what you have to offer?

Threats

How could this image damage you? Do you think people will make negative comments? Will your competition use this against you? Will your hashtag come across wrong? Are there double entendres that you didn’t intend? Will women be offended? Men? Non-binary folks?

Example: Swot Analysis of Black Friday Deal by a WordPress Plugin

Strengths

A well-executed marketing plan around Black Friday/Cyber Monday including email marketing, social media, and PPC can bring in a bunch of new business and attention to a new WordPress plugin.

Weakness

Having a sale on Black Friday for a software company doesn’t make sense. Black Friday is for retail stores to shore up their finances before the end of the year. If you want to have an online sale after Thanksgiving, keep it at Cyber Monday.

Opportunity

The reason why so many WordPress plugins jump in on Black Friday is to get in front of people’s eyes. It does give you visibility and keeps your plugin top-of-mind.

Threat

A major threat of Black Friday deals is price integrity. Not only are you devaluing your plugin, but you’re training your customers to wait for predicted sales. Furthermore, if you have an annual license, all of your renewals will come back up at the same time next year. Essentially, you’d have to reverse engineer the cost you really want and charge that on Black Friday if you want a sustainable business.

Bertha.ai decided to skip Black Friday sales for this reason. I also talk about this in my book, “How to Market Your Plugin.”

Get Marketing That Works

If your marketer just says “yes” to your idea they aren’t doing their job.

Sometimes it seems offputting or even rude but it’s always better to let you know before you proceed. That way you can execute a well-thought-out campaign that achieves your business goals.

I’m always open for a quick sales call or you can just book a paid consult.

“She’ll tell you what she thinks is best regardless if it is what you think you want to hear, she’ll challenge you to think broadly about your vision and goals with social, and she’ll curate storytelling into each component of your content strategy.” Michelle Keefer, MA MBA

February 21, 2025
Social Media Marketing in the New Year
Start Your Year Strong with a Social Media Strategy That Works

New year, new goals, and—let’s be honest—a fresh chance to stop winging your social media.

If you’re reading this — this is your chance to stop winging your social media. Don’t wait for January 1.

If you’ve been posting sporadically and hoping for the best, now is the perfect time to get a real plan in place. That’s where I come in. My social media strategy services help businesses like yours build a sustainable, effective online presence without the stress and guesswork.

Why the New Year Is the Best Time to Reset Your Social Media

The start of the year is all about fresh starts and setting the tone for success. Whether you’re a small business owner, consultant, or nonprofit, your audience is actively searching for new solutions, fresh perspectives, and brands that stand out. A well-thought-out social media strategy ensures you’re positioned exactly where you need to be—front and center.

Plus, let’s face it: social media isn’t going anywhere. If anything, it’s more crowded than ever. The businesses that thrive? They have a plan. Let’s make sure yours does, too.

What My Social Media Strategy Service Includes

Forget cookie-cutter approaches. My service is tailored to your brand, goals, and audience. Here’s what you get:
- A full social media audit – What’s working? What’s not? We’ll figure it out.
- Customized content strategy – A plan that makes sense for your business, not just trends.
- Engagement tactics – Because posting and ghosting is not a strategy.
- A scheduling framework – No more scrambling for what to post.
If you want to see real results this year, it’s time to invest in a strategy that actually moves the needle. Learn more about my marketing strategy services here.

How to Get Started

You don’t have to spend another year feeling overwhelmed by social media. Let’s make it work for you. I’ll help you create a strategy that aligns with your business goals, attracts the right audience, and gives you peace of mind.

Ready to start the year with a solid plan? Contact me today, and let’s make this the year your social media finally works for you.

(This post was written by ChatGPT based upon January’s new AI prompt in the New (2025) Launch WIth Words Starter Pack.)
February 17, 2025
SEO: Fix It As You Find It

So many people want to wait for a full SEO audit before they fix internal links or update articles. I get it. It feels like that may be the most efficient way to tackle the beast.

But it’s like waiting to vacuum until professional cleaners do a move-out clean in your apartment. And this analogy is top-of-mind because I’m looking in the mirror here. I would love to get a deep clean done and reset my apartment.

But it’s still going to get dusty. I still need to wash my bedding. I still need to mop the floor. I still need to sweep and vacuum.

So, you want to wait for an SEO audit. Okay.

Most SEOs charge a fee for that audit (like my friend Warren Laine-Naida does) but the fee doesn’t include doing the work.

So, when is the work going to get done? How outdated will that article be?

And, by the way, also talking to myself here — don’t forget to look at Google Search Console to see your top ranking keywords. This will give you ideas on HOW to adjust those internal audits.

Because if you give the SEO consultant the wrong coordinates (content and business goal) that SEO ship will sail you in the wrong direction.

Watch Video

Notable Timestamps:

00:56 You still have to fix things that you’re linking to.

02:29 People who do SEO audits don’t do the work.

05:00 Your homepage shouldn’t attract every customer.

Full Transcript

(00:01):
Hey everybody. Sometimes you’re just cleaning and you’re doing stuff. You come up with a good idea.

(00:06):
And I was thinking about how as we’re cleaning vacuuming, we come across something and we’re like, Ooh, I need to dust this. Do you ignore it and wait for years? This is how people do SEO audits or, um, redoing their whole site. Like they come up with this idea that they have to have some person, some shiny salesperson come and tell ’em that they have a complete overhaul. That would be like, I’m not gonna vacuum anymore until the cleaning company comes in my apartment and does a move-out clean. And then I’ll have a fresh start. So everything I do from then will work out. That makes no sense. You still have to clean your apartment. You still have to vacuum. You still have to dust. You still have to do laundry.

(00:56):
And that’s the same way with SEO. You still have to fix things that you’re linking to.

(01:03):
Now, Pew Research came out with some findings that 40, 43% of all, um, links are broken on government sites and whatnot. And we link internally and we link out. So there’s checking for broken links on external sites, which is something I definitely need to do. I mean, I’m saying this as a reminder to myself, too. And then there’s internal.

(01:33):
And even though the link works, you may need to update some of that content. For example, the video I did the other day about Twitter still being super relevant in 2025, I linked to the text of my book ’cause you can get this Definitive Guide to Twitter Marketing book as a blog post. And I did some updates to that real quick.

(01:58):
But it’s, it’s the internet, it’s not print. So it’s very easy for us if you, if you have access to your own website, very easy to re redo that content. Um, I’m sure there’s articles that are published on bridgetwillard.com that I need to go through. And if I did a whole SEO audit and paid somebody five to two to $5,000, like 500 to $5,000 to do that SEO audit, I would still have to do the work.

(02:29):
People who do SEO audits don’t do the work. They just find out where the work needs to be done. It’s like a home inspector. They come in, they tell you all the things that are wrong and they give you a list to go get it done. So when you hire somebody like that, they’re not doing the SEO work for you. They’re just telling you where the SEO of work needs to be done.

(02:54):
Oh, Bob, this toilet needs to be fixed. Oh, there this room is isn’t level. It’s like that. It’s a list of tasks that somebody else needs to do. And that audit itself almost always comes up with a list of things that need to be done. Now, they also may for hire, like I said, I was in construction, so we would do building surveys and we would do ’em for a really good price in order to get the work that comes from the building survey. It’s a loss leader.

(03:29):
So instead, when you’re writing your content, um, for your website and you do notice that you’re linking to, um, an internal page, either a page or a post that you wrote, go ahead and make a note. Send yourself an email. Make it a to-do list on a kanban board, whatever it takes for you to spend five, 10 minutes on that one article to make sure that it’s, um, you know, done correctly or up to date with.

(04:08):
Um, it might not be wrong, wrong, but it still might say things that you don’t necessarily agree with. Um, so that’s a good time to update those.

(04:18):
Also, you may think, oh, I don’t really wanna do work with these kind of people anymore. So this language doesn’t make sense. Because sometimes when we’re writing pages, we’re experimenting with language to get that kind of traffic or to meet that person’s needs. Then you might wanna word it a different way.

(04:38):
For example, my homepage, um, is all about being a marketing manager’s best friend. Like, I got you. You need four articles more a month. You can’t do it. You have the budget to outsource. I’m your girl. Oh, you’re supposed to do Twitter and LinkedIn. You can’t focus on both. I’ll do one of ’em for you, no problem.

(05:00):
But then again, I also do a lot of white-labeled work for WordPress, uh, freelancers and agencies of one who do, who build the website, but maybe they’re not writing the page content. I don’t have a landing page for that. This is a good opportunity to have one.

(05:21):
And sometimes we forget that not everybody is our customer. And that’s why when you come across it, that’s a good time for you to go ahead and fix it. I was just vacuuming. I saw a big pile of paper as I moved from my table to under my tv. It’s all dusted. Do I just leave it all dusty? No. I am gonna go get the pledge and clean it up. Maybe the pile of paper comes in my office, but I do need to file those . But you see what I’m saying?

(05:56):
You don’t wait for. You can. You can wait until it’s a total mess. But then you have this giant overwhelming task. Instead of doing it as you come across it yourself on your site as you’re thinking of thanks to post on X Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, um, to share on a story link and Instagram, to pull content from to make those social posts. And you see something maybe you don’t agree with, or there’s a link to a vendor you don’t work with anymore, that’s a good time to just get in there and get it done.

(06:33):
What you’re working on today, let me know in the comments. Bye everybody.

January 12, 2025
Yes, X (Twitter) is Still Relevant in 2025.
If you’re thinking of jumping ship to Bluesky or something, I’d hesitate. People be out here randomly deleting accounts that took them forever to build. This is huge SEO no-no.

Yes, X (Twitter) is very relevant to 2025 B2B marketing.

Heck, it’s even relevant for B2C marketing.

How do you know?
- Google Alerts
- Leads (SEO)
- Google Analytics
Watch The Video

Google Alerts and X (Twitter)

To be honest, the easiest way to find out if X (Twitter) is working is to set up a Google Alert for your name, product, service and set it as an “as-it-happens” update.

You’ll get emails that show you exactly what’s going on and when Google Bots noticed it.

Search (Leads) On X (Twitter)

Any platform that has a search bar is a place for you to optimize how you’re displayed. So, yes, X is good for SEO for on site search. It’s also good for SEO as a result shown in Google for your name or topic. This is why we set up Google Alerts and/or pay attention to Google Analytics.

Dustin had an epiphany that, to be frank, inspired this post/video. He got a lead and did what all smart owners do, he asked where the lead came from. To his surprise, the client searched “WordPress” in the search bar on X (Twitter). That’s some SEO magic right there.

What Dustin did right (to be found on X) is posting about his area of expertise. You could do this for any industry.

“Apparently, I am feeding X properly.

I got a new client over the weekend and I couldn’t figure out where he came from. So, I asked him. This is what he said.

SEO for X is now a thing I guess.” Dustin Hyle

Apparently, I am feeding X properly.

I got a new client over the weekend and I couldn't figure out where he came from. So, I asked him. This is what he said.

SEO for X is now a thing I guess. pic.twitter.com/K0hQugb4w3
— Dustin Hyle (@dustinhyle) December 30, 2024

SEO on X (Twitter)

Check out your analytics on Google. I love real-time analytics. It tells me if someone clicked on a link I posted on X (Twitter). That is, of course, if you’re posting links to your website on X (Twitter).

Just to show you I posted a link to this blog post on X (so meta). You’ll see people on it.

Now, this only works if you’ve not published it elsewhere. Think scientific method.

The first result, for example, was a referral from mail.google.com. So someone subscribed to my blog clicked the link.

The Definitive Guide To Twitter Marketing Paperback

Hire Bridget Willard to Manage X (Twitter)

Yes, I also have plans to manage X for clients.

Custom Marketing Services

Full Transcript

(00:01):
Hi everyone, your friend Bridget Willard here. I wanna talk to you a little bit about the platform X, uh, formerly known as Twitter, which we all loved, uh, for a long time.

(00:14):
It’s 2025, January four, and I just want to remind you that this is a valid social network regardless of what you think about who owns it, who’s on it, the noise. I have many tips in a book called The Definitive Guide to Twitter Marketing.” It’s also a blog post on bridgetwillard.com. It’s like five or $7 on, uh, on Amazon. It’s a good way to support if you like this video. Thank you very much. Um, but also, this is what I do. I manage Twitter for clients.

(00:57):
It’s really important. It was important in 2004, 2003, 2007. Wait, when did it come out? I’m thinking of my miscarriage. Sorry. Uh, I think it was 2006, seven, whatever. I’ll fi I’ll fix it. It’s been, it’s more than 10 years. Okay? So anyway.

(01:18):
It’s funny because I came across this tweet. I’m gonna old school this like a Weekend Update News from Dustin. And he’s saying that like he couldn’t believe that, you know, SEO is a thing for Twitter. It is because there’s a search bar.

(01:35):
So, um, I know this sounds kind of like snicky and witty and kind of snippety, but. Anytime there’s a search bar, I want to remind you, anytime there’s a search bar, Reddit, Pinterest, Google Maps, Apple Maps, bing, Yahoo, Facebook. Anytime there’s a search bar, there’s an availability to optimize the search results, which is what SEO is.

(02:04):
So he says, apparently I’ve been getting X wrong or apparently, let me, how, how about if I turn around so I can read it? “Apparently I’m feeding X properly. I got a new client over the weekend and I couldn’t figure out where he came from. So I asked him.” Mad props for asking where your referrals come from. That’s a totally different video, but it is underdone. So this is what he said. And then Dustin said, “SEO for X is now a thing, I guess,” to which I replied. It’s always been a thing.

(02:36):
So the person who reached out to him on December 29th, 2024 through his website, said, “Thanks, Dustin, for the great work. I found you by looking up WordPress on Twitter, which is where I found your profile.” It cannot be understated that being online and being prolific and being available and like he said, “feeding the X properly.” Right? Feed me, Seymour.

(03:04):
So if you’re posting and publishing, you’ve probably seen my video about replying. Replying is the power move it always has been. It’s still the power move in 2025. But also there’s been, uh, conflicting data and opinions on whether or not Google, uh, indexes, tweets or posts on X. It does. And the simplest way for you to deal with this is by, um.

(03:35):
Is this mirrored? Is this not? This is, this isn’t mirrored. Oh my gosh, I think you, I think this is backwards, but Google Alerts are the best. It is backwards for you. I’m so sorry. Maybe I could flip this video.

(03:50):
Anyway, Google Alerts, google.com/alerts. You can set them up. I have ’em come to me as, as it happens. Um, this email I got, um, yesterday, maybe the day before from something that was posted on January two. So it, it will come to you. It was actually me, um, saying the social trend in 2025 is replying. So I was posting that. Um, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize this would be backwards, but you get, you get the picture. I didn’t wanna do a whole loom anyway.

(04:29):
Twitter X is super relevant. It’s super important, especially B2B, um, especially, um, for if you have professional services. Um, I, I always remind people that even newscasters are tweeting Carly from, um, the local news service in Corpus Christi tweets out the weather.

(04:55):
Uh, you gotta remember that posting on X is, is like a text message. So when things go down and you have bad storm issues and you wanna get um, kind of emergency things going out, Twitter x it’s the place to be. X marks the spot, it’s the place to be. It’s so important.

(05:18):
And the thing where business owners kind of get wrong is they’ll post something as they’re thinking about it, but they don’t keep up the regular publishing of things from their website to Twitter. Um, and the reason why they don’t do this is because they hop on when it’s convenient for them. Or they’re like, what’s going on in WordPress right now? What’s going on with the Green Bay Packers right now? And that is search, you know, going on there.

(05:51):
One of the main things I think is really important for um, X is super relevant in 2025 is actually knowing user’s intent. You can read their posts and find out exactly what they’re thinking about, exactly what they’re talking about, exactly where they’re, um, getting their who, what vendors they’re using. Are they using SEMrush? Are they using HubSpot, Mailchimp? Are they using BetterCloud? Are they using Dubsado? Are they using Xero? Are they using FreshBooks?

(06:29):
They’re posting about the things that they, like, they’re posting about the things that they don’t. Like. I was posting about hp, I thought that Hewlett Packer was like not letting me use my printer ’cause I didn’t sign up their ink. No, Bridget, you bought HP 64 cartridges instead of 67 because you had bronchitis and you shouldn’t have been ordering on the internet. Right? But I stopped myself before I posted that on Twitter, right?

(06:56):
So the thing is, it’s super relevant. If you want to learn how to use it for business, I have a totally free Twitter course on my website. I encourage you to literally do it in the order, do all the things that I say. I did go to college to be a teacher. I, it’s, it’s that way for a reason because a lot of times with platforms, we start using the app and then we think we know how to use it. So when you think about the strategy behind it and what you’re trying to accomplish, then how you use the program or the app is completely different. So I would encourage you to go get on that free course again.

(07:43):
I do have this book that came out in I think 2021, “The Definitive Guide to Twitter Marketing – I Double Dog Dare You To Try It.” 2021. Yeah, it’s on, it’s on as a free version is on my blog. Again, this is Kindle. This is paperback. This is your manual.

(08:03):
Or you can hire somebody like me. I’d be very happy to create a content calendar for you. Um, I, my, my contracts are an invoice. You pay me, I write your tweets. I can either post ’em for you or not and it’s prepaid. And if you don’t wanna do it any longer then you know, that’s fine. I have three different packages. Go to bridget willard.com/pricing. I’ll put a link, um, to it at the end of this video. Um, actually what I’ll put a link to at the end of this video, yeah, I’ll put a link to that at the end of this video.

(08:39):
But I really want you to know that Twitter is super relevant. And if you don’t trust me, you don’t have to take my word for it. Just go use it. Go use it. Set up Google Alerts and see what happens.

(08:54):
Your friend signing off up from Corpus Christi. Bye!
January 4, 2025