HeroGuest aimed to become a thought leader across multiple industries. However, the website’s content was restaurant industry-centric, and visibility into performance data was minimal, limiting our ability to grow into new markets.
I stepped in to build and execute an SEO strategy to unlock growth in new verticals, powered by data, automation, and AI.
Penetrate new markets through SEO-driven content
Build vertical-specific content at scale with automation
Turn SEO into a shared growth engine across teams (Sales, CS, Marketing)
Improve visibility, engagement, and lead quality
Hypothesis: A comprehensive SEO strategy—rooted in user search behavior and powered by AI—would drive discoverability in new verticals, increase qualified traffic, and fuel long-term market expansion.
Strategy: I implemented my “Growth Engine SEO” framework, structured in three phases:
Audit: Uncover and fix technical and content-based frictions.
Expansion: Build agile content systems integrated with AI to create high-intent content for new markets.
Scalability: Deploy analytics and reporting tools to track, iterate, and amplify what works.
Before I joined, the website had been handled by two different agencies. They left behind cluttered code, heavy images, and bad SEO practices that slowed everything down and hurt search visibility.
🚨 Uncovered heavy code, poor structure, and broken SEO from past agencies
Optimized images, metadata, and eliminated deadweight content to boost speed and clarity
The team created blog content based on what they thought would interest visitors—relying on instincts and assumptions rather than data.
🎯 Shifted from instinct-led to search-led content strategy
Ran keyword audits (SEMrush + Google Ads) to define themes based on real demand in hotel & retail to uncover exactly what our ICP was searching for: their pain points, needs, and the highest-traffic opportunities.
In 2024, the team had only managed to publish four new blog posts, all focused solely on the restaurant industry. Slow editorial cycles and manual bottlenecks kept us from expanding effectively. I changed that. I integrated AI-powered tools and a page redesign.
🤖 Trained GPT on product voice + SEO patterns to generate industry-relevant blogs
From 4 blogs/year to 10 blogs/month across 3 industries
📈 Set up GA4, GTM, and dashboards in Looker Studio
Tracked traffic by vertical, behavior by page, and button interactions
🧩 Enabled granular insight into performance and UX gaps
Refined pages and CTAs based on actual user actions
🧲 Ran experiments with lead magnets, banners, and CTA variants
Achieved up to 80% scroll depth by improving blog layout + readability
📹 Added AI-generated audio/video to blogs
Made posts richer and more engaging
To ensure every piece of content delivered long-term value, I built dashboards and reporting systems to track performance, share insights across teams, and double down on what worked.
🧠 Created keyword movement trackers in Sheets + dashboards in Looker
Saw weekly SERP evolution and traffic shifts in real time
🛠 Connected SEO outputs to Asana for use by Sales & CS
Turned content into lead nurturing + retention assets
📄 Created shareable PDF reports for stakeholders
Made SEO progress visible and cross-functional
This wasn’t just about rankings—it was about unlocking a new growth engine for Hero Guest. The initiative turned an underused SEO channel into a strategic system that fuels awareness, pipeline, and long-term market presence across industries.