Why Strategy Needs to Come Before Copy, Content, SEO, and Conversions

Tired of marketing tactics that don't deliver? Here's the truth: updating your website copy, creating more content, or "optimizing" for SEO won't fix anything if you don't have the right strategy behind it. 

In this episode, I'm breaking down why strategy needs to come first (and what that actually means for your business). Plus, I'm sharing real examples of how small strategic shifts can outperform years of tactical busy work.

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EPISODE 150.
Read the show notes and view the full transcript here:

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Here's info on your host, Erin Ollila
Erin Ollila believes in the power of words and how a message can inform – and even transform – its intended audience. She graduated from Fairfield University with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and went on to co-found Spry, an award-winning online literary journal.

When Erin’s not helping her clients understand their website data or improve their website copy, you can catch her hosting the Talk Copy to Me podcast and guesting on shows such as Profit is a Choice, Mindful Marketing, The Power in Purpose, and Business-First Creatives.

Stay in touch with Erin Ollila, SEO website copywriter:
• Learn more about my VIP intensive options or just book a strategy session right away
• Visit Erin's website to learn more about her business, services, and products
• Come chat with Erin on Threads, Instagram, or LinkedIn

Transcript

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Hey friend, you know how sometimes you have those moments in business where everything just clicks? Well, I've been fortunate to be having a lot of those moments lately, especially around how I want to show up and serve my clients. If you listened to last week's 2025 planning episode, you may have heard me mention that I'm restructuring all of my services so I can make sure to lead with strategy first. Today, we're going to talk about why that matters. Not just for me, but for you too. Here's what I notice after working with clients. And honestly, after making my own marketing mistakes, we often jump straight into tactics before we have a strategy. I see it all the time. People want to update their website copy without really knowing what they're trying to say. Others want to create content without a clear plan for where it's going and how much mileage it will give in regard to ROI, let's say. SEO gets chased without thinking about what we'll do with the traffic once we already get it. If that sounds familiar, you know, don't worry, you're not alone. I've, I've made those mistakes. My clients have made those mistakes. But today we're going to talk about why this happens and more importantly than that, though, what to do about it. So, we'll break this down into four different sections. There's the copy first mistake, the content first mistake, the SEO first mistake, and the conversion first mistake. Starting with copy. You know the feeling, , when you have someone, , recommend you for services or maybe they tag you in a social media post and as much as you want to respond and as excited as you would be to work with that individual, you're embarrassed to show your website. I hear this all the time. So, it, whether it's that your messaging feels off or, you know, you see other people updating their copy and you want that too, it's easy to get excited about updating copy because words feel like a quick fix. But what's actually happening when you jump straight into copy is that you're trying to solve a clarity problem. It's kind of like trying to give directions to someone when you don't even know where they're going. What's missing is the foundational understanding of who you're talking to, what you're offering, how your clients move through their journey and, , their lead journey and even customer life cycle with you. I recently had a client who wanted to update their service page copy. They were someone that I've already worked with, and they just came back saying, you know, like, This just needs to get freshened up. I've got this, little adjustment here. I'm very clear on what we need to do. You know, can you update the copy? But through our strategy session, before I did any copywriting, when we dug deeper into what was happening, we realized that this client wasn't even sure if the current service packages that they had were actually even aligned with what their ideal clients were looking for. In this time, you know, the last time we had done their service page was actually either right before or during the pandemic and the pain points, the aspirations have shifted within their audience. So they said that they love the copy. It sounds like them, you know, there was a couple of tweaks they thought needed to be made. But when, when we really kind of like talked more about it, it wasn't tiny tweaks, it was the way that they were positioning themselves. didn't really match where they wanted to meet their clients at. So instead of just jumping straight into the copywriting, we took a step back we interviewed clients that, , That represented a larger part of their client group, we analyzed how projects went and where there was any friction within the client relationship or even especially that like lead relationship before signing on. And then we just mapped out where people were getting stuck. What we found was that the clients that, that worked with her actually needed more strategic support at the beginning of the projects. So there was a gap in, in the actual service that she had provided. All she needed to do was to, again, and you know, get this insight on clients and realize that the packages, the way that she had presented things just needed some slight revision in order to sell better. So, by restructuring that offer and how it was presented, you know, we were, and including those strategy sessions, sorry, I should have said that, we were able to, , update the copy so much easier because we knew what we were selling and why it mattered to the people who had worked with her before, that she wanted to continue working with. This is why that every client project I take on starts with strategy first. Though what that looks like can vary between projects and client needs. You know, for website copy, we do things like diving into their business foundations, look at their brand messaging, map out site structure for the new site., and that's based on their goals and their clients needs. Only then, When we understand the full picture, do we start thinking about the actual words on the page? Because great website copy is not just about writing well, it's about writing with purpose and direction. So before you touch a single word on your website, whether you're writing it for the first time, making updates on your own, or copywriter like me who can come in and either Do, , a VIP day where we're updating your copy or a completely new, , website copy project. I suggest making sure you have those clear brand messaging foundations, a mapped out customer journey, your offers are aligned and they make sense for your audience, , and that you know your specific conversion goals for the pages. Okay, we could stay talking about copy for a while, but let's move into the content first mistake. Everyone loves content creation. Even if they hate content creation, I think they still love content creation. Because the pressure to just create more and more and more and more content is out there everywhere. You need to blog more, you need to show up more, you need a podcast, a YouTube channel, just be visible. You need to be visible. But you know what I notice? It's just so easy to fall into the creation trap without actually taking a moment to realize why you're creating in the first place. So let me ask you. Why are you creating content? Like seriously, please, take a moment right now and think about it. Because I have worked with countless business owners who jump straight into content creation without a game plan. And here's the truth. Being busy creating content does not mean you are being strategic with the content you create. When we jump into content creation without strategy, we end up with a lot of disconnected pieces that don't serve business goals. It is the saying that you will hear anyone in marketing say time and time again. I love it and I hate it. It's like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. It is messy and it is inefficient. However, when you have a strategic content plan, whether it's for a blog, a podcast, YouTube channel, anything else, it needs several key elements. You need to understand your content pillars, your audience's journey, and how each piece of content leads to, leads to, or connects with the rest. You need clear calls to action, , that makes sense for where your audience is at in their journey with you based on the type of content you're creating. And you need a sustainable plan that actually works with your capacity and resources. This is why I always do either an audit or a planning strategy session before, you know, any of my content strategy client calls or content retainers. We look at the content they already have, what's working, what's not, and most importantly what their audience needs at that exact stage of their journey. And stages is something that's very, I'm very particular about with my clients. If you are, um, let's say an interior designer that sells to luxury clients, you do not, you should not, create content for DIYers who are looking to decorate their house. Because they are not hiring interior designers to completely like tear out their, their, their decor and, you know, start fresh or, or have a new build, let's say, if that's the clientele you want, you need to create content that they're seeking. Like, you know, how do architects and designers work together? You know, what step in the process of, of a new build home does a designer get involved in? And it's a lot, it's, it's most of the steps, actually, it's not the end. So those are the kinds of things you want to consider when it comes to Journey. Only when we know all of that do we actually start planning the content pieces. I had a client come to me recently who we actually had never worked together before., they had worked with someone else in the past and they were publishing weekly blog posts but they could not understand, you know, with as efficient and consistent as they were, why they weren't getting results from the effort that they were putting in. So when we took a step back and we did a strategic review of Their efforts or their previous strategy, you could call it. We realized that they were only really creating basic content that attracted the DIYers that would never hire them. This is not my, my, my example that I just gave with the interior designer. This is a different client, but what was happening is they were creating great helpful educational content, but they were telling people how to do the service that they provided. There was never a connection piece to, like talk about the service overall and explain why they are the right one to give the service. It was literally just training DIYers how to do what they do. So while, you know, in their actual client base, they were more advanced and they were looking maybe for some in depth expertise, but they were really more of seeking out individuals that could do it for them. So before you, you know, write your next blog post, plan another podcast episode, I suggest knowing what your specific goals that this piece of content, content will serve, how it connects to your business objectives, , what your audience actually needs, not what you think that they need. So important to know the difference between the two and how you can actually sustain the content creation longterm. I don't talk about, you know, content strategy as much as I probably should in my business. And it is something that I love helping small business owners do, because I firmly believe that people can create their own content. There's a ton of great writers out there. And there's also a lot of businesses who like to write for their business, but they don't have that marketing strategy background. So one way I work with my clients very often in this regard is to do things like content strategy planning, tying it into SEO, which I'm about to talk about in a second. So I won't go too far into SEO here, but what I will do is I will strategize with them and then I will plan giving them content briefs that fully explain, you know, what their, what their SEO keyword goals are, , what their actual like outline is for whatever they're writing, let's say it's a blog post. And. Let me explain that slightly. Like a brief, what I'm doing is I'm suggesting, like, these are the key things that need to be said. This is the order that you need to say that so that people can, you know,, conceptualize or, you know, move through that actual conversion journey by the time they get to the end of the post. So. It's a done with me type of project and I love doing it. And I think that if you're even considering hosting a podcast where you absolutely need to be strategic about your episodes, especially if it relates to business or creating content on your website, that's a smart investment for you this year. I could talk about that for a while. So let's move on and talk about SEO. And this is the SEO first mistake. Everyone pours their money into SEO because they have been told that they need to. And I get it, the promise of organic traffic is very appealing, but here's what I see , happening all the time, and it drives me absolutely bananas. Business owners heavily invest in SEO without understanding what drives their search rankings, or more importantly, how it fits into their overall business strategy. They are sold packages by SEO. SEO companies that are manipulative. Now, this is not to say everyone who does SEO is manipulative. I'm not. I know a handful of other people who do the same work that I do, who are lovely and absolutely would recommend them. But many companies, many SEO companies are predatory, in my opinion. And they take the money from small businesses and, , run. Painfully easy campaigns, I would say. So the truth, I won't go too far down that, but the truth about SEO is that it's not just the words you use or the content you create. It is about your technical setup, your website structure, your site speed. So many elements work together to make an SEO journey successful. And if you get all of those pieces right, then the bigger question is, Is your SEO strategy attracting the right people? You know, you see how strategy just plays so many roles in SEO? Like it plays design roles. It plays tech roles. It plays writing roles, but it also plays like, , lead acquisition, you know, , customer conversion roles. And if you don't have a strategy behind it, it's so simple to just waste money guessing at things. You know, SEO is great, I love it. It's one of my favorite things that I do for clients, whether it's copy or content. But ranking for a keyword in the first place does not matter if it is bringing you leads who are a poor fit to your business. Another issue I see is that people mostly fixate only on on site SEO, completely missing the opportunity of off site SEO and borrowed SEO authority. They're forgetting that a strategic approach to SEO means looking at how all of these elements work together. Your own website optimization, guest posting opportunities, strategic partnerships, and leveraging other platforms existing opportunity. Plus things like social media that we didn't have an SEO opportunity in years past, and now we do. So before you make any SEO adjustments or, you know, jump right into an SEO campaign, ask yourself, is my business actually ready for more traffic? Do you have the patience to allow that traffic and that strategy that is built, , time to grow? Are you attracting the right visitors or are you aware how to attract the right visitors? Do you have high quality content for them when they get to your site? Because you always want to make sure that search intent matches what you give them. This is where conversions falter. The second, like, SEO can win and conversions can falter. Because people click a link expecting one thing. They land on your site and they realize you're not, you're not holding your end of the bargain and giving them what they expect. And in that, they leave. They don't even give you the chance for conversion., And then finally, is your website set up to convert, you know, for this type of traffic and for the type of person you're speaking with? I actually worked with a client who had spent two years with an SEO agency that was charging them thousands of dollars per month, basically just sending them traffic reports without any real strategy or analysis of what was working. Oh gosh, I just wanted to rant and rave about SEO agencies., what, so, what the reports, I saw the reports. They're beautiful, , very well typed up, but also something that could have been done individually by using a tool like,, SEMrush so they were, they were presenting a pretty package and not really doing any work behind the scenes. And obviously there's no growth, there's no changing and it was right for them to feel frustrated that after two years worth of time they weren't getting any return on, or much return on their, , return on investment. So, we worked together in an SEO VIP day, which cost about one tenth of what they spent in just one year's contract, by the way. And we made some strategic tweaks that drove better results than they'd seen in the past two years. Granted, it was for a, you know, limited amount of content that they already had created, but that's fine, right? Because that stuff lives on the internet. That stuff already has the ability to rank, so we want to capitalize on what's already created and make improvements., because we actually analyzed their data and created a strategy before we made changes, that's why they were able to see the success take place a lot quicker, you know, than they might have even thought it would. Alright, let's finish up talking about the conversion first mistake. This usually sounds like, I just need more sales, my funnel isn't working, or, you know, my personal favorite, which, yes, I actually hear more than I would have expected. I just need a few more conversion hacks, like, what tactics can we actually get people to, like, make the sale? Because, my friends If there was a magic list of conversion hacks out there that worked for everyone, would, wouldn't we all be using them by now? Like, I get it. We're in business to make money. We should be making money. But jumping straight to conversion tactics without the right foundation is like asking someone to marry you on the first date. Lovely! Like, if you, if you think it's gonna be a long lasting relationship, wonderful, I can see why you'd want to like capitalize on that. But there are really some important first steps that need to happen first before just jumping into a marriage. And that is exactly why every conversion project starts with a thorough audit. We need to understand what's actually happening on your site or in different marketing aspects, let's say email, , now. So where are people coming from? Where are they going? Where are they getting stuck? And Sometimes what looks like a conversion problem is actually a traffic problem. Like getting the wrong people to your site, as I mentioned before. Other times, it's a clarity problem. Your messaging doesn't resonate. And that's not even it. It could be a design problem. You can't get a conversion if there aren't, like, buttons or links that lead you into a sale. So, once we have that data, we've collected it from our audit. We move on to the strategic planning. And this is where we map out the entire customer journey, from the first touchpoint all the way through the sale. We look at every milestone along the way. You know, what information does someone need at each step? What objections do they have? What trust elements need to be in place? And then we can begin to implement those specific conversion tactics. No, not the ones that will miraculously make all the sales in the world, but like true conversion efforts like asking for a sale or having a button in a specific area on the page., You know, and those, I forgot what I was just saying, but those tactics can help actually make the sale. But, but when it's done right and when there's strategy behind it. So what's often missing in this conversion? First approach is trust building. You know, why should people believe in you? Value, , demonstrating what makes your solution unique. Understanding customer objections, what's holding them back, multiple touch points, you know, how do they get to know you, or like multiple touch points even from like making them click way too many times to get to that initial purchase phase. So, One thing I always have people do here is to think about their own buying habits. When was the last time that you made a significant purchase without some form of research or trust building? Focusing on strategy, thinking of yourself as a consumer, can help you make better conversions. And that's it. Those are the four big traps, I would say, where strategy is key for marketing. And if I could have you take anything away from this episode, it would be this. Strategy is not just a corporate buzzword. It's not another task to add to your to do list. It is Completely the foundation that makes everything else work. When I say I'm moving to a strategy first business model, what I really mean is I am refusing to let my clients or even myself skip the crucial planning steps that make marketing actually work. Think about it this way. Copy, Content, SEO, Conversions, they're all connected. Your copy feeds your SEO efforts. Your content supports your conversions. Your SEO drives traffic to your content. When you start with strategy, you're not just fixing one piece of the puzzle. You're creating a complete picture where every element supports the other. So that's why I am restructuring my services to lead with a strategy. Because I've seen firsthand how much time, money, and frustration it saves in the long run. You know, whether you're planning to update your website, or create new content, improve SEO, or boost conversions from something that's actually, like, pretty well created in the first place, pause and ask yourself, Do I have a strategy to support this? Do I know exactly why I'm doing this and how it connects to my bigger business goals? And if you don't, nudge, nudge, I'd love to work with you to help you do that. Book a one hour strategy session with me and we will map out your goals. We'll create a clear game plan and we will, you know, prioritize the next steps to get you to where you need to be together. We can make sure that your marketing efforts actually move you forward. See you next week, where we'll keep talking copy.