For years, the SEO formula felt straightforward: find the right keywords, create good content, get links, and watch your traffic grow. But many businesses have followed that formula perfectly, only to ask, "Our traffic is up, but where's the revenue?"
The digital landscape is evolving. Traffic alone is a vanity metric if it doesn't impact your bottom line. The rise of AI-powered search (like ChatGPT) has introduced a new dynamic, demanding a more sophisticated approach.
The good news? This shift provides a clear pathway from keywords to actual revenue. It requires adding a new "superpower" to your arsenal: LLM optimisation.
At Pathway, we believe that modern SEO is a two-part mission. First, build a foundation focused on profitable keywords. Second, amplify your results with LMO to become the definitive authority in your space. Here’s how it works
Part 1: The Foundation - Engineering SEO for Profit, Not Just Traffic
Before we can even think about LLM optimisation, we need a rock-solid foundation. But foundations aren't built on guesswork or chasing high-traffic keywords that don't convert. It's built on data that points directly to commercial opportunity.
Step 1: Uncovering High-Intent Keywords with Google Keyword Planner
We start at the source to map the entire customer search journey. The Google Keyword Planner is crucial for unearthing two things:
Reliable Traffic Data: We see exactly how many people are looking for your solutions.
The Language of Your Customer: We get a comprehensive list of synonyms and related terms, revealing the precise phrasing your ideal customers use when they're ready to buy. This isn't just about finding keywords; it's about understanding commercial intent.
Step 2: Pinpointing Opportunity with Ahrefs
With a map of potential keywords, we use a tool like Ahrefs to act as our strategic advisor. We analyse the competitive landscape to answer one critical question: Where can we win?
Ahrefs gives us the Keyword Difficulty score, telling us how much authority and effort it will take to rank. This stops us from wasting resources on battles we can't win and focuses our energy on the most valuable targets.
Step 3: The 'Growth Triangle': Where Relevance, Traffic, and Difficulty Meet
This is where data becomes revenue. We synthesise everything we've learned by balancing three pillars to find the keywords that will drive growth:
- Relevance: How perfectly does this keyword match your most profitable service or product?
- Traffic: Is there enough search volume to generate a significant return on investment?
- Difficulty: Can we achieve a top ranking and start seeing results in a timeframe that makes sense for your business?
The keywords that sit in the sweet spot of this triangle are the ones that don't just bring visitors—they bring future customers.
Part 2: Your Superpower - Winning with LLM Optimisation or LMO
If your data-driven keyword strategy gets you in the game, LMO is the superpower that lets you dominate it.
AI language models, which power the new search experiences, don't just scan for keywords. They read, comprehend, and synthesise information to provide users with a single, trusted answer.
Your goal is no longer just to be one of ten blue links. Your goal is to be the definitive source the AI model quotes and trusts.
When AI features your content, you're not just a link; you're the answer. This builds unparalleled trust and drives highly qualified, ready-to-convert traffic directly to your site. This is the most direct path from a search query to a new customer.
How to Activate Your LLM Optimisation Superpower:
While SEO and LMO are partners, LMO requires specific techniques designed to prove your deep expertise.
- Build Topic Clusters: Don't just write blog posts; build a library. Create a central, authoritative "Pillar Page" on a broad revenue-driving topic (e.g., "Growth Marketing for SaaS") and surround it with in-depth "Cluster Pages" on specific sub-topics (e.g., "Calculating SaaS Customer LTV," "Reducing Churn with Email Marketing"). This structure proves your comprehensive knowledge to AI.
- Answer Questions Directly: Structure your content to answer the questions your customers are asking. Use clear, conversational headings (H2s, H3s) like "What is the Main Benefit of LMO?" or "How Do I Start Building a Topic Cluster?". This makes you an ideal source for the direct answers AI looks for. FAQ style content is important here, even if you're using your blog page as the channel.
- Double Down on E-E-A-T: Google’s principle of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness is the bedrock of LMO. Prove you're a credible source by including author bios, citing original data, showcasing case studies, and ensuring your site is secure and professional. AI is programmed to prioritize trust.
- Use Structured Data (Schema Markup): This is technical code that acts as a translator for AI. It explicitly labels your content, telling Google, "This is a how-to guide," "This is a product review," or "This is an FAQ section." This clarity helps AI understand and trust your content, making it more likely to be featured.
From Keywords to Revenue: The Complete Picture
The future of search isn't about abandoning SEO. It's about elevating it.
By building a strategic foundation on keywords that signal real commercial intent, and then amplifying it with an LMO strategy that establishes you as a trusted authority, you create a direct, defensible pathway from a Google or AI search to your bottom line. You stop chasing traffic and start generating revenue.
Ready to turn your SEO into a revenue-generating superpower? Dive deeper by downloading our SEO and LMO eBook or by booking a quick free consult.
