Why we do what we do.
The technical aspects of contemporary content marketing made simple.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It means making your website easier to find when someone searches on Google. Nothing more, nothing less.
When someone types "wholeness coaching" into Google, the results page shows a list of websites. SEO determines where your website appears in that list. Position 1 gets about 30% of all clicks. Position 10 gets about 2%. Position 20 gets almost nothing.
The goal is simple: be as high as possible for the searches that matter to your business.
Two types of search visibility
Google decides you deserve to be shown based on the quality and relevance of your content. You don't pay per click. Once you rank, traffic comes for free — for months or years. This is what most of SEO is about. It takes time to build but compounds over time.
You pay Google to appear at the top of results for specific keywords. Traffic starts immediately but stops the moment you stop paying. Useful as a test lab — spend a small amount to validate which keywords actually lead to sales before investing in organic content.
How Google decides who ranks
Google's algorithm considers hundreds of factors, but they boil down to three questions:
Does the page actually answer what the person searched for? If someone searches "what is wholeness coaching", does your page explain it clearly? Google reads your content and matches it to the search intent.
Do other websites link to you? How long has your site existed? Do you publish consistently? This is called "authority." It grows slowly over time as you publish quality content and other people reference your work.
When people click your result, do they stay and read? Or do they hit back immediately? Google tracks this. If people stay, your ranking improves. If they leave, it drops. Good content keeps people on the page.
Not all keywords are equal
A common mistake is targeting the biggest keywords. "Coaching" has millions of searches, but you'll never rank for it. Smart SEO focuses on the right keywords, not the biggest ones.
Specific searches with lower volume but high intent. "Is Core Transformation the same as IFS" or "wholeness coaching review." The person searching is already interested — they just need to find you. Competition is thin. You can rank within weeks.
Medium competition, medium volume. "Core transformation NLP" or "wholeness work meditation." Rankable within 6-12 months with consistent, quality content. This is where focused effort pays off.
High volume, high competition. "Parts work therapy" or "NLP training." Big platforms dominate. You write here for credibility and backlinks, not expecting quick results. As your Zone 3 and Zone 2 content builds authority, Zone 1 rankings follow naturally.
The strategy: Dominate Zone 3 first. Use that traffic and authority to climb into Zone 2. Zone 1 takes care of itself over time.
Using paid ads as a test lab
Before investing weeks of writing into a keyword, you can spend a small amount on Google Ads to test it. This tells you two things organic SEO can't:
A keyword might have search volume but zero interest in what you offer. Ads tell you within days.
The most important question. If 100 people click from this keyword and 0 buy a training, it's the wrong keyword — no matter how much search volume it has.
The rule: Test with ads (€5-10/day for a week). If the keyword converts, write organic content for it. If it doesn't, move on. Ads are the test lab. Organic content is the permanent asset.
Measuring what matters
You need two free tools from Google. Together, they tell you everything.
Answers: "How do people find me?"
- Which keywords bring people to your site
- Where you rank for each keyword
- How many people see you vs click through
- Which pages perform best in search
Answers: "What do people do on my site?"
- How many visitors, how long they stay
- Where they come from (Google, email, social)
- Which pages they visit before buying
- How many people actually buy (conversions)
Why GA4 is essential if you sell online
If you sell trainings, courses, coaching sessions, or any product online — you need GA4. Without it, you're flying blind.
Without GA4: "Our article on wholeness coaching got 200 clicks from Google last month."
With GA4: "Our article on wholeness coaching got 200 clicks from Google last month — and 4 of those people bought the training. That's €2,400 in revenue from one article."
That changes everything. You stop writing for traffic and start writing for revenue. The Content Tracker shows you which content actually sells — not just which content ranks.
The building blocks
SEO is not one big thing. It's a set of building blocks that stack on each other.
What you don't need
You don't need an SEO agency. The strategy is simple — find the right keywords, write great content, measure results. An agency charges €2,000-5,000/month for what The Content Tracker does for free.
You don't need expensive tools. Google Search Console and GA4 are free. Keyword research can be done with free tools like Ubersuggest or Google's own autocomplete suggestions.
You don't need technical knowledge. Modern websites handle the technical basics automatically. If your site loads fast and works on mobile, you're fine. Content is what moves the needle, not technical tweaks.
You don't need to write for Google. Write for the human who is searching. If the article genuinely helps them, Google will rank it. The algorithm rewards usefulness.
Schema markup — helping Google and AI understand your content
Schema markup is invisible code added to your pages that tells Google (and AI models) exactly what the content is about. It's like a label on a jar — the contents might be obvious to a human, but the label helps machines process it instantly.
Google shows a plain search result: blue link, short description. AI models have to guess who wrote it and what it's about.
Google shows rich results: FAQ dropdowns, author photo, star ratings. CTR increases 20-30%. AI models can identify the author and cite them by name.
The three types that matter most for thought leaders:
The Content Tracker checks: does Google actually display rich results for your pages? If you added schema markup but Google ignores it, something is wrong. The tool shows you which pages have rich results and which don't.
That's it.
SEO is not complicated. It's consistent. Write the right content for the right keywords, measure what works, and keep going. The Content Tracker handles the measurement and strategy. You handle the writing.
Back to The Content TrackerThe Content Tracker — by SuperStories BV — Substance matters.