SEO Lessons from Top Brands: What You Can Learn and Apply

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a vital strategy for businesses aiming to establish a strong online presence, increase their visibility, and attract potential customers. While startups and small businesses may face challenges in executing effective SEO strategies, many top brands have set a benchmark on how to do it right—and they didn’t get there by luck. Global giants like Amazon, HubSpot, and Nike have developed data-backed, innovative SEO practices to dominate search results. The best part? These strategies aren’t exclusive to large corporations. Whether you run a small business, an e-commerce store, or a personal blog, you can learn and apply these lessons for your own SEO success. Here’s how top-performing brands have leveraged SEO and what valuable SEO lessons you can take away from them.

SEO Lessons: Focus on User Intent

One of the most essential lessons from top brands like Google, Amazon, and HubSpot is to align SEO efforts with user intent. These brands don’t just optimize for keywords; they create content that answers questions, addresses challenges, and fulfills the exact needs of their audience.

Google, for instance, has continually evolved its algorithm to prioritize delivering the most valuable and relevant content to users. Meanwhile, HubSpot, known for its exemplary content marketing strategy, tailors blog posts, guides, and videos to match what users are actively searching for.

What You Can Do

• Conduct in-depth keyword research: Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs to understand what users are looking for. Target long-tail keywords that directly reflect common questions or phrases users might type into search engines.
• Answer specific questions: Structure your content to address user queries comprehensively. For example, a search for “how to fix a slow website” should lead to actionable tips, not vague information.
• Utilize the FAQ format: Recent trends show that FAQs improve discoverability, especially for voice searches.

By focusing on intent over sheer keyword density, you can create content that genuinely adds value, keeping readers engaged and improving search engine rankings.

SEO Lessons: Leverage Long-Form, Quality Content

Top brands like Shopify and Moz prove that high-quality, long-form content wins when it comes to SEO. Rather than creating numerous short, fluffy blog posts, these brands focus on publishing in-depth, evergreen content that serves as a one-stop resource for their audience.

For example, Moz’s comprehensive beginner’s guide to SEO has become a go-to resource for anyone hoping to understand the subject. Shopify’s detailed guides on starting an online business consistently rank because they go above and beyond in providing information.

What You Can Do

• Go beyond basics: When covering a topic, address every angle. Anticipate what additional information your audience may need and include it within your content.
• Structure for readability: Break your content into manageable sections with compelling headings, use bullet points where necessary, and include visuals like infographics.
• Update regularly: Refresh older blog posts with new data, examples, and strategies to keep them relevant. This improves their chances of maintaining strong rankings over time.

Long-form content shows search engines that you provide true value, resulting in higher rankings, increased site traffic, and longer user sessions.

SEO Lessons: Build a Strong Internal Linking Strategy

Internal linking is often underestimated by newer SEO practitioners. Big brands like Wikipedia, Adobe, and Nike prove just how powerful internal linking can be—not just for SEO, but also for creating a seamless user experience.

Why do Wikipedia’s pages consistently rank at the top of Google? Apart from immense domain authority, their comprehensive internal linking system keeps users navigating from one valuable page to another.

What You Can Do

• Link to relevant pages: For every piece of new content, find opportunities to link to related existing posts or product pages on your site. These connections guide users naturally through your site while signaling to Google the importance of linked content.
• Use descriptive anchor text: Avoid vague phrases like “click here” or “read this.” Instead, use specific anchor text like “SEO checklist for beginners” or “best practices for e-commerce websites.”
• Create a sitemap: A well-structured sitemap can help search engines crawl and index your website more effectively, which in turn boosts your visibility.

Done correctly, internal linking not only enhances user engagement but also helps search engines better understand the structure and context of your site.

SEO Lessons: Optimize for Visual Search

Visual content is no longer just a complement to text-based content—it’s integral to SEO in its own right. Brands like Pinterest, IKEA, and even platforms like Instagram use visual search optimization to capitalize on the increasing popularity of image-based queries.

Pinterest, in particular, uses advanced visual search tools that allow users to search using an image instead of text. IKEA has adopted similar technology in its app, offering search-by-photo features that lead customers directly to product pages.

What You Can Do

• Use descriptive file names: Instead of saving an image as “image1.jpg,” rename it with a relevant description like “modern-gray-sofa.jpg.”
• Add alt text to images: Alt text helps search engines understand what your visuals depict. It also makes your website more accessible for users with visual disabilities.
• Compress images: High-quality images can slow down your website. Use tools like TinyPNG to compress your visuals without compromising quality.

By optimizing for visual searches, you can attract audiences who use platforms like Google Lens or Pinterest to search for products and solutions.

Prioritize Page Speed and Mobile Optimization

Have you noticed how fast Amazon loads, even when browsing a product-heavy page? That’s no accident. Speed plays a crucial role in SEO, particularly as Google emphasizes Core Web Vitals.

Nike has also optimized its website for mobile users, ensuring smooth navigation and fast load times. This mobile-first approach is essential in meeting both search engine and user expectations today.

What You Can Do

• Reduce server response times: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to check your site speed and identify improvements. Compress scripts, optimize images, and remove unnecessary plugins.
• Use a responsive design: This ensures your site looks great on screens of different sizes, from desktops to smartphones.
• Enable browser caching: Minimize the load time for returning visitors by storing site elements in their browser cache.

A slow-loading website frustrates users and negatively impacts rankings. By prioritizing speed and mobile optimization, you’ll protect your search visibility and create a better user experience.

Earning Backlinks Organically

Finally, top brands understand the value of backlinks for building authority. Prestigious brands like Forbes and Entrepreneur consistently rank high for competitive keywords because they have high-quality websites naturally linking back to their content. These backlinks act as a virtual “vote of confidence,” bolstering their authority in the eyes of search engines.

What You Can Do

• Create link-worthy content: Publish original case studies, research, and thought leadership pieces that others want to share.
• Build relationships: Network with industry influencers and bloggers within your niche—collaborative partnerships could mean more backlinks.
• Submit guest posts: Write for reputable websites, providing value to their audience while generating backlinks to your site.

Earning backlinks isn’t about shortcuts like buying links or link spamming—it’s about consistently producing quality content that others deem valuable enough to reference.

Apply These SEO Lessons to Scale Your Business Growth

SEO is no longer just an optional marketing strategy; it’s a necessity for survival and growth in a competitive digital landscape. By learning from the best practices of top-performing brands, you’ll not only create a stronger online presence but also improve customer satisfaction and drive meaningful traffic to your website.

Take your first steps by evaluating which of these lessons resonate most with your current goals. Integrate them consistently, monitor your performance, and iterate as needed to stay ahead of the curve.

If your team could use a helping hand with content creation to boost your SEO strategy, explore AI writing assistants like Jasper—a tool designed to make professional, optimized content creation easier and faster.