In the ever-evolving landscape of search engine optimization (SEO), businesses and marketers are facing a critical challenge: how to stand out in a digital space that is more crowded than ever. With the rise of AI-generated content, the sheer volume of information being produced has skyrocketed across industries, making it increasingly challenging to secure visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) on Google and others.
Of course, more content doesn’t always mean better results. In fact, an overabundance of low-quality content can actually harm SEO performance. A recent Search Engine Land article explored this concept, advocating for a more “minimalist” approach to SEO—one that prioritizes strategic, high-quality efforts over sheer volume in content production.
To dig deeper into this topic, we recently tapped Devon, GRIT’s Digital Marketing Manager, to discuss his thoughts about why a “less is more” approach can be the key to long-term SEO success and to provide some additional actionable insights into creating a well-structured, intentional SEO strategy that focuses on effectiveness.
Why is a “less is more” approach becoming essential in SEO in the era of AI-generated content?
One of the biggest mistakes businesses and organizations make is taking a tactical approach of producing a high volume of content without a clear strategy to back it up. Especially if your website doesn’t have a strong technical SEO foundation—meaning its core elements, like site speed, structured data, and internal linking, aren’t optimized—then adding more content won’t necessarily help. It could hurt your rankings. For a while now, Google and other search engines have prioritized content quality, relevance, and authority over sheer volume.
Additionally, as AI-generated content floods the web, Google is becoming ever more selective about what it indexes. High-quality, well-structured content is more likely to rank than a massive amount of generic AI-generated text. That said, this idea of “doing less,” as discussed in the Search Engine Land article mentioned at the top of this post, shouldn’t be an excuse to neglect SEO altogether—quality efforts still require consistency and ongoing optimization.
What are the key elements of a high-impact SEO strategy that prioritizes quality over quantity/volume?
The foundation of a strong SEO strategy includes several vital elements, including a clear keyword strategy, in addition to the technical foundation details I mentioned previously—all with solid knowledge about who’s viewing your content. At the heart of a successful SEO strategy is a deep understanding of your audience and the search queries they are using. Conducting thorough keyword research ensures that the content you create aligns with what people are actually searching for. Targeting relevant, high-intent keywords helps your content appear in front of the right users, improving your chances of driving meaningful traffic and conversions. And there are many tools out there that can help with this, like SEMrush and Moz, to name some of the most robust ones.
And it doesn’t stop there. Content strategy plays a crucial role in this quality-first approach. Instead of overwhelming users with page after page of redundant or shallow information, businesses should focus on creating fewer, more intentional pieces that clearly address user intent. A well-structured content journey guides visitors through your website, improving user experience and supporting conversion goals. When visitors encounter focused, authoritative content, they’re more likely to trust your brand and take action.
Back to technical SEO for a moment, as it can’t be overstated how central it is to everything else. A healthy website structure, fast page load times, mobile responsiveness, and adequately optimized metadata—such as title tags, meta descriptions, and headings—all contribute to how search engines like Google evaluate and rank your site. And let’s not forget backlinking, either! Earning links from reputable, authoritative websites boosts your site’s credibility and signals to search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable.
By tying all these components together, businesses can create an SEO strategy that prioritizes quality and delivers long-term results. A well-rounded approach ensures that your SEO efforts are impactful and sustainable.
How can businesses and nonprofit orgs (like those GRIT serves) create high-quality content without producing massive amounts?
The key is intentionality. Instead of producing endless blog posts or replicating pages, businesses should start with solid keyword research and align their content with user intent, as we already talked a bit about. Every piece of content should have a clear purpose, be optimized with SEO best practices (titles, headings, meta descriptions), and contribute to an overarching content strategy.
Additionally, businesses should revisit and refresh existing content rather than always creating new pieces. Updating older, well-performing content with new insights, data, and internal links can help maintain or improve rankings with less effort than starting from scratch.
What SEO tactics are not impactful in today’s landscape?
We’ve been talking a lot about what works, but there are plenty of tactics that don’t—some of which used to, but the landscape has changed dramatically in recent times. A few outdated or ineffective SEO tactics include:
- Keyword “Stuffing” – This might sound like something related to Thanksgiving, but it refers to cramming keywords into content unnaturally in an attempt to manipulate rankings. Believe it or not, this used to be a legitimate practice many years ago, but Google’s algorithms are too sophisticated for this today, and it can lead to penalties.
- Low-Quality Backlinks – Building links from spammy or irrelevant sources won’t help improve your domain authority and could lead to penalties.
- Excessive AI-Generated Content – With careful human oversight, AI can be a useful tool for content generation. However, simply pumping out AI-written articles without reviewing, editing, and adding unique insights wastes effort. Search engines reward experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (known as E-E-A-T), which AI alone can’t always provide. At the end of the day, overloading content with AI-generated fluff that doesn’t offer new insights just isn’t worth it.
What’s one action businesses/organizations can take today to make their SEO efforts more effective?
Honestly, I would encourage business and organizational leaders to work with an SEO expert to ensure you’re making strategic moves rather than guessing—especially if your in-house digital marketing resources are limited. SEO is complex, and small mistakes can have long-term consequences. Whether you need help with organic search strategy, internal linking, or technical optimizations, a knowledgeable team can help you prioritize what really matters for your business goals.
Work with GRIT for High-Quality SEO
As SEO continues evolving, the “more is better” approach is being replaced by a more thoughtful, strategic mindset. Businesses focusing on high-quality, well-researched, and technically sound SEO efforts will see better long-term results than those relying on content volume alone. If you’re looking for expert guidance on SEO strategy, keyword research, and digital marketing solutions, GRIT can help you maximize impact with minimal waste for a great return on investment.
Let’s work together to build an SEO strategy that works smarter, not harder. Contact us today!