Recording of the Everything Marketplaces Group Chat #176 (11/12) with Ethan Smith. Ethan is the CEO of Graphite, which is a boutique growth & SEO agency. Ethan is one of the foremost experts on SEO for marketplaces and has advised leading marketplaces like MasterClass, Thumbtack, Upwork, and more on their SEO strategies. Ethan is also an instructor at Reforge, where he leads their SEO Strategy course.

0:06 Intro
‍1:23 Ethan's background
‍1:53 How marketplaces are uniquely positioned to leverage SEO
‍3:14 How to research the size of an addressable market
‍4:03 An overview of main types or buckets for SEO
‍6:11 Getting started with SEO
‍7:57 Building out listicles
‍8:23 SEO strategies & playbooks that marketplaces like Thumbtack have used
‍13:54 The timeline for starting to see SEO working
‍15:51 Common mistakes made when implementing SEO strategies
‍18:20 How AI is impacting SEO
‍24:23 Tools to use for SEO
‍24:57 When & how to hire for SEO
‍27:01 Group Q&A on how using a subdomain impacts SEO
‍28:37 Group Q&A on editorial & content tactics to compete with higher ranking competitors
‍32:20 Group Q&A on testing & experimentation with SEO
‍36:32 Group Q&A on page rendering
‍38:53 Group Q&A on prioritizing unique content
‍41:49 Parting SEO advice
‍
Ethan on Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/ethan_l_s
Ethan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanls
Graphite: https://www.graphite.io
Mike (Yoroomie) on Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/yoroomie
‍‍
You can also find this group chat in audio format as an episode on our Everything Marketplaces podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also connect with marketplace founders & leaders from our group chats in the Everything Marketplaces community.