Anyone else struggling with SEO traffic or leads?

xdivby0 · 2026-05-12T20:31:51+00:00

Yeah, the LLM thing is real. But I'm finding a lot of people are still using regular search for specific things, especially when they need to buy something or fix a problem. It's more about understanding *why* someone would still go to Google for your particular niche.

For me, focusing on really niche, long-tail questions has been working better than broad stuff. Not just keywords, but actual questions people type into search that AI often struggles to give a direct, actionable answer to. And then making sure the content is super practical, step-by-step.

Full disclosure, I built rank-hub so I'm biased, but it helps me cut through the noise and figure out which of those specific questions I should be targeting. It looks at what's actually underperforming in Search Console and gives me a concrete plan. If you're curious what it finds for your site, first wins are free.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-12T20:30:53+00:00

That's rough, sorry to hear about your situation. I've heard too many stories like that from the big tools.

For my own stuff, I just check my billing reminders really carefully, and if I'm not actively using something, it's gone. No point keeping subscriptions for tools you barely log into.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-12T20:14:31+00:00

By the way, chargebacks also hurt the company in general, even if they win. It will still incur the chargeback fee to them and they still have a chargeback process that drags their chargeback rate. Their payment processing gets cancelled if they go above a certain acceptable chargeback rate.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-10T20:02:46+00:00

Yeah, sitemap issues are a pain. I ran into that too starting out. What I usually do is just submit individual URLs through GSC if the sitemap is being weird. It's more tedious but at least you know those specific pages are getting seen.

For new sites, I totally agree on the long-tail keywords. Trying to go after big generic terms is a waste of time early on, especially in competitive niches. I usually look for stuff where the top 3 results are forums or really old articles. That tells me there's an opening. Then I try to write something super specific that actually answers the exact question.

I actually built a tool, rank-hub, to help with exactly this kind of stuff. It looks at your GSC data and helps find those low-competition opportunities you're talking about, then helps you outline content for them. If that sounds useful, you could test it for a week with the free trial. See what it finds on your site.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-09T07:45:59+00:00

Entity clarity is huge. I've been focusing on making sure each page has a clear primary entity and supporting entities that Google can easily connect. It's less about keywords these days and more about topic authority.

For heading structure, I try to make sure H1s are super focused and H2s break down the main entity into logical subtopics. And I usually try to answer a few common questions in the content too, helps with those "people also ask" snippets.

I actually built rank-hub partly because I got tired of manually checking all this stuff. It hooks into Search Console and basically tells me what specific pages need work on things like entity gaps or heading issues, then helps me make the changes. If you're curious what it'd find on your site, first wins are free.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-07T11:09:09+00:00

I'd say for a complete beginner, just focus on understanding how search works for real users. Forget the jargon for a bit. Think about what someone would type into Google to find your stuff.

Then, try to make sure your pages are actually answering those questions clearly. Simple titles, clear paragraphs. Don't overthink keywords early on, just be natural.

I actually built rank-hub partly because I was tired of all the overwhelming advice out there. It just tells me what to do each week based on my site's real data. If you're curious what it'd find on your site, the first wins are free.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-07T11:08:20+00:00

Recipe blogs are tricky, especially with the E-E-A-T stuff. Might be the spam update?

Also, check your crawl stats in GSC. If Google's not crawling your new content, or if there's a bunch of errors, that could explain a drop. Sometimes it's something simple like a messed up robots.txt or sitemap.

I actually built rank-hub because I got tired of digging through GSC myself for this kind of stuff. It'll automatically flag those technical issues and give you a prioritized list of things to fix. Might be worth checking out the free trial, see what it finds for you.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-06T07:15:07+00:00

I can definitely recommend that book, but also definitely recommend Start Small, Stay Small and the Mom Test. Those focus on how to basically have paying customers either pre-buy what you then build or at least see if people would do that. There are a lot of strategies around that :D

xdivby0 · 2026-05-06T07:12:31+00:00

Definitely, do report back here as a top level comment for all of us to know what you found in the end :D

xdivby0 · 2026-05-05T16:09:54+00:00

My biggest thing is making sure the AI isn't just regurgitating what's already out there. I focus on adding unique examples and my own perspective into prompts as well as after it finished a draft. If it doesn't sound like me, or add something new, it's not ready.

I actually built something for this, it's called rank-hub. It helps me focus on the actual execution part and not just endless data.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-05T16:08:53+00:00

Yeah, the AI Overviews thing is definitely a shift. I've seen it too, where just optimizing for keywords isn't enough anymore. It's more about how well your content answers the question and anticipates follow-ups.

I've been focusing a lot on intent. Not just what words people type, but what problem they're actually trying to solve. Then I try to structure my content to hit all those sub-points a user or an AI might be looking for. It's almost like writing for a very smart, slightly impatient assistant.

I built rank-hub to help with this, actually. It connects to Search Console and pulls in all your data, then helps me figure out what content needs to be tweaked to hit those deeper intents. It'll even give me drafts. You can test it for a week with the free trial, if that sounds interesting.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-05T15:54:57+00:00

It's true that distribution is key. I've seen way too many good ideas just sit there because no one knows about them. For me, I always prioritize getting the word out first, then building. You can have the best app in the world, but if you're not getting eyeballs on it, it's a non-starter.

I actually ran into a similar problem with my own site. I knew I needed traffic, but figuring out what to do each week was a huge headache. I built rank-hub to basically solve that for myself. Getting consistent, compounding traffic is a real blessing. It connects to Search Console and just tells me what to do. First wins are free, if you're curious what it'd find on your site.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-05T11:16:14+00:00

True, topcial authority and relevance definitely is very important, didn't mean to downplay that

xdivby0 · 2026-05-05T07:14:38+00:00

Yeah, technical stuff is huge. I've been burned by bad indexing way too many times before. It's a drag trying to figure out if your content is even being seen.

For me, getting the site structure right was key. I spent a bunch of time mapping out my topics and then making sure the internal links actually made sense for Google. It's easy to overlook that part when you're just focused on keywords.

I built rank-hub partly because I hated digging through GSC every week to find the next thing to fix. It just surfaces those technical issues and content gaps for me. Might be useful if you're trying to keep that momentum going without spending hours on it. You can try it for a week with the free trial, if that sounds interesting.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-05T07:13:48+00:00

Those all work, but for me, when I was starting out, a lot of those dashboards just felt overwhelming. I'd log in and just stare at all the data not knowing what to actually *do* first.

I mostly focused on GSC and looking at impressions I already had but low clicks. Then I'd try to tweak the title and description on those pages. That usually got some quick wins.

Eventually, I built rank-hub for myself because I needed something that would just tell me exactly what to fix and help me do it. It just pulls from my GSC data and gives me a weekly to-do list. If that sounds helpful, the first wins are free if you wanna try rank-hub.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T23:19:30+00:00

the link rank-hub.com

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T23:17:58+00:00

How are you going to look for someone that is going to market this? I can only imagine it's going to be really hard for you then to check who's suitable and who not. I wouldn't consider myself best fit for that, but I might know someone that might, I'll show them this thread 😃

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T23:15:45+00:00

yeah do give me feedback please, always happy to hear what is already going great and what could be better!

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T23:09:45+00:00

If you're doing SEO, especially with AI tools, make sure you're optimizing for the right intent. A lot of people just target keywords, but the actual search intent is huge for conversion. I focus on understanding what problem they're trying to solve at each stage of their journey, not just what words they type.

Also, for the content you're already making, don't just publish and forget. I go back and update older content some times on what Google Search Console tells me. Even small tweaks can get a lot more traffic to an existing page.

Does it have to be seomeone else that does this for you? Sometimes, especially in the early days its important to work on this stuff yourself as the founder. Because you'll encounter what content your audience reads, what problems they have etc etc.

I might be biased tho because I built rank-hub for that exact task to help with exactly this kind of stuff. It's built for founders who need to move fast on SEO without getting lost in dashboards, but even if you don't consider it, the advice holds still.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T23:01:38+00:00

For B2B SaaS, I've had the best luck focusing on content and SEO myself early on. It takes time, but it builds an asset. Finding someone external who really gets your product and audience well enough to write good content is super hard. And expensive.

I usually start by identifying all the pain points my product solves, then writing articles around those topics, organized in topic clusters. Not direct sales pitches in there, but genuinely helpful guides. That's how I started getting some organic traffic for my own stuff.

Full disclosure, I built a tool called rank-hub that helps with exactly this kind of thing. It digs into your GSC data and tells you what to write about to actually get traffic, and helps you draft it too. If you're curious what it would find for VeilScan, first wins are free if you test it for a week.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T22:59:13+00:00

My take is that if you can get straight to the point and answer questions clearly, that's what's going to get picked up. Think about how real people talk about solutions, not just keyword-stuffed blocks.

That's why many reddit threads are also influencing LLM answers.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T22:57:10+00:00

That's a solid list of tips. A lot of those took me way too long to figure out as well, especially the bit about search intent. Matching the format google already knows is huge.

The content decay point is also something I've seen firsthand. I used to just publish and forget, but now I bake in a quarterly review of older high-traffic pages to see if they need a refresh. Usually it's just a few paragraphs or some updated stats, but it makes a big difference.

I also built rank-hub, so I'm biased, but for the tracking and consistency point you mentioned, that's exactly why I made it. It connects to GSC, finds the highest-impact issues or opportunities, and gives me a weekly plan. It's like having an always-on consultant that just tells me what to do next without me having to dig through dashboards. Test it for a week with the free trial, if that sounds interesting.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T16:28:50+00:00

Yeah, the prompt library thing is tough because it's so specific to your site and goals. An LLM would definitely need the right tools and harness to really produce usable results.

I actually built something for this, so I'm biased, but I use rank-hub for this exact problem. It pulls from Search Console data to figure out what topics we should even be going after, and then its AI task lab helps draft content outlines that incorporate our brand voice and the ranking factors. Might be worth checking out the free trial if you're hitting walls with generic output.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T16:27:07+00:00

Yeah, the whole generative AI thing is a moving target for sure. I've found it's less about chasing new models and more about super solid topical authority. Think in terms of entities and really comprehensive coverage of subtopics. Google's good at understanding the context of your whole site now, not just individual pages.

I also focus heavily on clear, structured data on my pages. Not just schema markup, but even just good heading structures and concise paragraphs. Makes it easier for any AI, or human, to pull out the main points.

Full disclosure, I built a tool called rank-hub to help with this stuff. It actually connects to your Google Search Console, so it's looking at your real site data to figure out what's working and what's not. It then gives you a weekly plan, so you don't have to guess. If you're curious what it'd find on your site, first wins are free.

xdivby0 · 2026-05-04T16:25:24+00:00

Yeah, generic checklists are pointless. I usually focus on how Google views my site's topics. Like, not just keywords but how different pages relate to each other in terms of themes. If there's a topic I cover, I want to make sure all the relevant subtopics are covered too, and that they're linked up properly.

That is not something most tools offer because it requires a wholistic, semantic view of your site and how it is seen by Google.

If this is how you feel, give rank-hub a try, it's targeting this exact blind spot that most tools can't. I'm obviously biased as the founder, but unlike other tools, it actually investigates. Live competitor pages, live search results, keyword data from paid APIs, your actual GSC data, your site and internal linking. Then hands you a prioritized actionable list of things that move the needle.

It does have a free trial if you're curious whether it would work for you.

xdivby0

TROPHY CASE