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Vibe Coding : coder sans savoir coder, mythe ou révolution pour les professionnels ?"Et si je n'avais pas besoin de savoir coder pour développer une application ?"C'est exactement la promesse du vibe coding, et elle est en train de changer la donne pour les marketeurs, les formateurs et les entrepreneurs.Qu'est-ce que le vibe coding ? Définition et originesDans ce 163 ème épisode, je décortique le vibe coding. Il a été popularisé début 2025 par Andrej Karpathy, co-fondateur d'OpenAI et ancien directeur de l'intelligence artificielle chez Tesla. Star incontestée de la Silicon Valley, quand Karpathy lance un concept, le secteur tech l'écoute.Son idée est simple mais radicale : laisser l'IA générer du code en se basant uniquement sur des instructions en langage naturel, sans nécessairement lire ni comprendre le code produit.En pratique, cela signifie que vous décrivez ce que vous voulez :une fonctionnalité, une interface, un outil, et l'IA génère le code correspondant. L'intention remplace la syntaxe.Exemple concret : au lieu d'apprendre JavaScript, vous écrivez dans votre outil : "Crée un minuteur de 10 minutes avec un fond violet qui émet un son quand il arrive à zéro." En quelques secondes, vous avez votre application. Pas besoin d'un développeur pour ça.Vibe coding vs no-code vs développement assisté : quelles différences ?Avant d'aller plus loin, clarifions les notions souvent confondues.Le no-code traditionnelDes outils comme Notion, Webflow ou Airtable proposent des interfaces graphiques avec des blocs prédéfinis. On assemble, on configure, mais on ne génère pas vraiment de code. C'est puissant, mais limité aux fonctionnalités prévues par l'outil.Le développement assisté par IAUn développeur qui utilise GitHub Copilot ou Cursor reste maître de son code : il lit les lignes, les valide, les corrige. L'IA est un copilote, pas un pilote automatique.Le vibe codingIci, le vibe coder peut délibérément choisir de ne pas comprendre le code généré. C'est à la fois libérateur, on obtient un résultat concret sans barrière technique , et potentiellement risqué, nous y reviendrons. Ce qui est généré est du vrai code : HTML, JavaScript, Python. Pas des blocs visuels, du vrai code fonctionnel.Les outils de vibe coding à connaître en 2025Le vibe coding est aujourd'hui accessible sur une grande variété de plateformes :Bolt : idéal pour débuter, version gratuite disponible, excellent pour des tests avec des apprenantsLovable : reconnu pour la qualité des interfaces généréesClaude (Cowork) : performant pour des projets plus structurésCodex sur ChatGPT : une option solide dans l'écosystème OpenAICanva : surprenant mais très accessible, avec des suggestions natives qui rendent l'expérience très naturelleCursor : plutôt destiné aux profils plus techniquesLors d'une session de formation, j'ai testé Bolt avec des apprenants : en moins de deux minutes, on avait co-généré une application de prise de rendez-vous complète : calendrier, visuels, interface, à partir d'un prompt relativement simple. Le résultat était bluffant.3 cas d'usage concrets pour les professionnels1. Prototyper un outil sans budget de développementC'est le cas de figure le plus fréquent pour les TPE, PME ou les porteurs de projets en grandes entreprises. Vous avez une idée : un calculateur de ROI, un auto-diagnostic, un formulaire interactif simplifié, mais pas le budget pour un développeur.Avec le vibe coding, vous pouvez prototyper en une heure. Pas pour mettre en production immédiatement, mais pour tester, valider l'idée, et montrer à un client ou à votre direction ce que ça pourrait donner. Quand on projette les parties prenantes dans la solution, la validation devient beaucoup plus fluide.2. Créer des supports de formation ou de conférence interactifsEn tant que formatrice ou facilitatrice, vous souhaitez animer une session avec des outils dynamiques : quiz interactif, persona simulé, jeu de rôle numérique. Tout cela est accessible via le vibe coding, sans aucune compétence technique préalable.Cela permet aux indépendants et aux formateurs de développer des outils hyper-interactifs avec très peu de moyens.3. Objectiver les décisions produit en équipeJ'ai entendu le témoignage de professionnels du marketing qui utilisent le vibe coding pour trancher des débats subjectifs sur le design d'une application. Plutôt que de débattre de "j'aime le bleu, pas le rouge", on brief l'IA qui analyse les meilleures pratiques ergonomiques du secteur et produit des préconisations argumentées. Le débat se déplace du goût vers les fonctionnalités et c'est là que devrait être l'énergie d'une équipe produit.Les limites du vibe coding : ce qu'il ne faut pas ignorerLe vibe coding est excellent pour démarrer vite. Mais il a des limites réelles qu'il faut connaître.La dette cognitiveÀ mesure qu'on empile des itérations avec l'IA, le code grossit sans être maîtrisé. L'IA elle-même peut avoir du mal à modifier la structure sans tout casser. Et si vous ne comprenez pas l'architecture de ce que vous avez construit, vous ne pouvez plus intervenir manuellement.J'ai eu ce cas avec une cliente qui avait créé son site en vibe coding, mais sans aucune connaissance technique du back-office. Elle ne savait plus comment gérer ou modifier son site en dehors de l'outil. À chaque tentative de modification, on risquait de casser d'autres parties du code. Très chronophage, très stressant.Ce n'est pas une solution de production "clé en main"Pour tout projet qui passera entre les mains d'utilisateurs réels, l'intervention d'un développeur reste nécessaire en fin de parcours. Le vibe coding est parfait pour la phase d'exploration, pas pour la mise en production finale.Ma recommandationUtilisez le vibe coding pour ce qu'il fait de mieux : rapidité, flexibilité, expérimentation. Sauvegardez du temps sur la maquette, l'ergonomie, les fonctionnalités à tester. Mais dès que le projet passe en production avec de vrais utilisateurs, impliquez un développeur.Et les développeurs dans tout ça ?Une question revient souvent : si tout le monde peut coder sans coder, les développeurs sont-ils menacés ?Ma conviction : non, on déplace la valeur.Les développeurs qui savent travailler avec l'IA et qui comprennent l'architecture du code deviennent encore plus précieux. Ce qui va disparaître, c'est la demande pour des tâches de développement très routinières. La vraie valeur d'un développeur a toujours été dans la capacité à auditer, tester, comprendre une architecture, pas à taper des lignes de code.Et pour aller plus loin sur ce sujet, je prépare un épisode dédié à la question de la co-création en équipe via le vibe coding.Ressources mentionnées dans cet épisodeBolt — bolt.newLovable — lovable.devCursor — cursor.shClaude Cowork — via claude.aiAndrej Karpathy sur le vibe coding — à chercher sur X/Twitter (@karpathy)
HTML All The Things - Web Development, Web Design, Small Business
In this edition of Web News, Matt and Mike debate whether AI coding agents are starting to reverse the no-code revolution. Inspired by a recent article about a company abandoning its no-code website and returning to code, the conversation explores how tools like OpenAI Sites, Cursor, and other agentic workflows are changing the way websites are built. Are platforms like Webflow, Wix, and Squarespace facing a new challenge, or will they evolve alongside AI? From agency workflows and client expectations to the future of frameworks like React and Next.js, this episode dives into one of the biggest shifts currently happening in web development. Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcast/ai-vs-no-code
#361 | In this episode, Matt Carnevale, Head of Community at Exit Five talks with three marketers doing impactful work in AEO. AI search is changing how buyers find products, and most B2B teams are still figuring out where to start. In this session, each marketer shares what's working and wins they've experienced — from earned media and technical audits to homepage fixes and tracking AI visibility. Whether you call it AEO, GEO, LLMO, or EIEIO – this one's for you. This session features guests Matt Dzugan, VP of Data Intelligence at Muckrack, Brett Bernath, Director of Product at Webflow, and Jess Joyce, Founder of Inbound Scope – an SEO and AI Search consultancy.Timestamps(00:00) - - - Why 80% of CMOs say AEO is a top priority — and most don't know where to start (02:48) - - - How Muckrack used original research to get cited in ChatGPT before their product launch (02:50) - - - Why top-of-funnel content is getting eaten by AI — and where to focus instead (02:53) - - - Quick win #3: authority — how to show up in Reddit and third-party platforms (02:56) - - - The sleeper tip: Bing Webmaster Tools is already giving you first-party AI data (03:07) - - - How to handle competitor comparison content without verifiable claims falling flat (03:23) - - - The four-bucket AEO maturity model: content, technical, authority, measurement (03:24) - - - Why your homepage is your worst-performing page for AI discoverability (03:27) - - - Quick win #1: technical hygiene — schema, meta descriptions, and structured data (03:28) - - - How to identify which journalists get cited most by AI in your niche (03:29) - - - Quick win #2: are you actually answering what your customers are asking? (03:34) - - - Why 1 in 3 B2B SaaS sites have technical blockers killing AI discoverability (03:36) - - - Why original research is the single best content type for earning AI citations Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by:Optimizely - A no-code AI platform where autonomous agents execute marketing work across webpages, email, SEO, and campaigns. Learn how to deploy agents on your marketing team at Agents in the Mix. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Vector - A contact-level ads platform that lets you build audiences from actual people on your site, clicking your ads, and checking out your competitors. Learn more at vector.co, and get their new MCP server by clicking here. Customer.io - An AI powered customer engagement platform that help marketers turn first-party data into engaging customer experiences across email, SMS, and push. Learn more at customer.io/exitfive.Join us in Stowe, Vermont for Drive 2026 - three days away from your desk to learn what's working in B2B marketing from the people who are actually doing it. Grab your ticket at exitfive.com/drive.***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more
Harry Duran, founder of Fullcast and creator of Podisphere, joins Jeff Mains to explore what it really takes to build a sustainable podcast, grow a content brand, and stay ahead in a rapidly AI-shaped media world.Harry shares his journey from corporate marketing at JPMorgan Chase and E-Trade, to launching his first podcast Podcast Junkies in 2014, to building Fullcast — a podcast production and marketing consultancy that has helped over 130 business owners launch and grow shows. He also dives deep into his newest ventures: Podisphere (a G2-style SaaS directory for podcast tools) and Podclaw (an agent-first podcast hosting platform built for AI agents, not humans).The conversation covers the seismic shift happening in content creation right now — from vibe coding and Claude Code to autonomous AI agents that market products while you sleep. Harry and Jeff also discuss why long-form human conversations are becoming more valuable in an era flooded with AI-generated content, the power of niche podcasting, and why the most important skill for the next decade may simply be learning how to talk to robots.Key Takeaways0:00 — Intro: What it takes to build a podcast and a business around it in an AI-driven content landscape4:40 — Recap of previous guests: Justin Trombold on AI strategy and Rick Delisi on The Effortless Experience6:10 — Welcoming Harry Duran — how he helped launch SaaS Fuel and what Fullcast does9:50 — Harry's origin story: From JPMorgan Chase and Unilever to electronic music, DJing, and discovering podcasting at New Media Expo in 201413:30 — Meeting Pat Flynn and Amy Porterfield; pivoting from a DJ podcast to Podcast Junkies; recognizing podcasting as your own personal stage17:10 — How Harry's first paying client (a $1,000 PayPal from John Livesay) launched Fullcast in 201522:10 — Introducing Podisphere: A G2.com-style directory for podcast tools — the inspiration, the build journey, and why traffic is the only metric that matters to sponsors27:30 — Building with no-code tools (Airtable, Webflow, Bubble), the frustrations of non-technical founding, and how vibe coding changed everything in 202531:30 — Claude Code, Agent OS, and spec-driven development: how Harry built more in six months than in five years combined37:50 — SEO strategy for Podisphere: Fathom Analytics, Ahrefs, programmatic blog posts, Google Search Console, and hitting 7,000 page views/month without a press release45:20 — The power of founder relationships: How 12 years of Podcast Junkies led to meeting Andrew Mason (Descript), the SquadCast acquisition, and building a network that fuels Podisphere51:00 — Why every founder should have a podcast: relationship-building, opening doors, and earning "street cred"54:40 — Introducing Podclaw: An agent-first podcast hosting platform built for AI agents, not humans1:01:30 — Moltbook: The AI agent social network, digital wallets for agents, and autonomous marketing via cron jobs1:08:00 — The "agent economy" and why SaaS companies that block agents are "dead men walking"1:15:30 — Why the most important future skill is learning how to talk to robots; parallels to the dot-com era of 19991:21:30 — The future of podcasting: AI-generated shows, long-form authentic conversation, niche doubling down, and why human voices are becoming more valuable1:28:00 — NotebookLM and the rise of AI podcast hosts; the disclosure debate1:33:20 — Harry's personal operating system: morning meditation, written intentions, strength training, and protecting attention before screens1:37:30 — Where to find Harry: fullcast.co, thepodisphere.com, podclaw.ioTweetable Quotes"The most important skill in the future is learning how to talk to robots." — Harry Duran"You can't speak to someone for an hour and forget their face. That's the magic of podcasting — it builds relationships that nothing else can replicate." — Harry Duran"The people who made money in the gold rush were the ones who sold the picks, the shovels, and Levi's." — Harry Duran"Companies that block agents are dead men walking. If agents can't get the data from you, someone else will build what they need." — Jeff Mains"It never feels done — you just have to ship it. Get it out there." — Harry Duran"AI is like having the vision in your head and finally being able to build at the speed of thought." — Harry DuranSaaS Leadership Lessons1. Build Your Distribution Before You Need ItHarry spent over a decade building Podcast Junkies before it became the foundation of Podisphere. His relationships with founders like Andrew Mason (Descript) and the SquadCast team weren't accidental — they were built over 500+ interviews. Leaders who invest in platforms, relationships, and audiences compounding quietly are the ones who have leverage when they need it.2. Sell Picks and Shovels — Build for the EcosystemRather than fighting for space in a crowded software category, Harry positioned Podisphere as the infrastructure layer (the G2 of podcasting). Great SaaS leaders ask: What does this entire ecosystem need that nobody is building? Being a connector and aggregator often outlasts being just another point solution.3. Non-Technical Founders Must Learn to Build at the Speed of ThoughtHarry's journey from Airtable → Bubble → Fiverr developers → Claude Code is a roadmap for any non-technical founder in 2025. The bottleneck is no longer code — it's vision and prompting. The founder who can articulate their product clearly to an AI builds faster, iterates faster, and maintains greater ownership of the product direction.4. Traffic Is the Only Metric That Converts to Revenue — Build for Discovery FirstPodisphere hit 7,000 page views/month organically before a single press release by treating every page as an SEO asset. Harry obsessed over internal links, programmatic blog posts, and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) for AI search. SaaS leaders building content or marketplace products should think like search engines think — not just build pretty interfaces.5. Agent-First Is the New Mobile-First — Design for It NowHarry didn't build Podclaw for human users. He built it for AI agents, complete with clean APIs, no unnecessary dashboards, and agent-friendly architecture. As agent economies emerge (complete with digital wallets and autonomous purchasing), SaaS products that block or ignore agents will be displaced. Build your API surface today like agents are your power users tomorrow.6. Protect Your Peak Performance Hours — Your Best Output Comes from Taking Care of Yourself FirstHarry meditates 20 minutes every morning, writes intentions in the present tense, and strength trains three days a week before opening a laptop. He's explicit: this is not a nice-to-have. The onslaught of screens, AI noise, and constant stimulation hijacks your nervous system. The leaders who perform at the highest level over the longest runway are the ones who treat personal maintenance as a non-negotiable operating system.Guest Resourceshttps://fullcast.co/hdbioEpisode SponsorThe Futureproof Series - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkXKUPZ5xuOqMPR7_gzGybncTtavyR1NThe Captain's KeysSmall Fish, Big Pond – https://smallfishbigpond.com/ Use the promo code ‘SaaSFuel'Champion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/SaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains
What's up everyone, today we have the pleasure of sitting down with Alex Halliday, Founder and CEO at AirOps.(00:00) - Intro (01:19) - In This Episode (01:54) - Sponsor: Attribution App (02:57) - Sponsor: GrowthLoop (04:19) - How AirOps Pivoted to AI Content Engineering (08:23) - The Real Definition of Content Engineering and Why It's Not About Publishing More (13:14) - What a Content Engineer Does That a Senior Content Marketer Does Not (27:31) - What It Actually Takes to Get AI Content Past a Human Editor (30:52) - Sponsor: Knak (32:00) - Sponsor: MoEngage (43:21) - Why Review Becomes the Bottleneck After You Automate Content Production (47:13) - Why Enterprise CMS Integration Is Harder Than the Content Quality Problem (51:07) - Why the Agent Runtime Is the Next Competitive Battleground for Content Teams (55:02) - What the Case Against Content Engineering Gets Wrong About the Role (58:08) - What a Content Engineering Team Looks Like in 3 Years (01:03:45) - How Alex Decides What Deserves His Energy Summary: Alex built AirOps to help teams access company data, then a conversation with Sam Altman and a cramped middle seat on a flight to Atlanta changed everything. In this episode, he breaks down what content engineering actually means — not just generating more AI content, but building the systems infrastructure to maintain quality, freshness, and brand accuracy across everything a company has ever put online. He makes the counterintuitive case that great content engineering puts more humans into the content process, and explains why 98% of AirOps's pilots convert to annual customers while most AI content pilots fail. If you think AI content is just a faster way to publish more, this episode will change how you think about it.About Alex HallidayAlex Halliday is the Founder and CEO of AirOps, where he leads the development of AI content engineering systems that help brands build visibility in AI search. Before founding AirOps in 2022, he served as Head of Product at MasterClass, where he was the company's first product hire and helped scale revenue 10x. As a Venture Partner at SparkLabs Global Accelerator, Alex has made early investments in OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, and Discord.How AirOps Pivoted to AI Content EngineeringIn early 2022, the LLM moment hadn't happened yet. Not publicly. GPT-3 existed but was barely on anyone's radar in marketing. Most "AI for marketing" conversations were still about sentiment analysis tools and basic chatbots. The prevailing assumption was that software had rules, rules had limits, and those limits were the floor you designed around.Alex Halliday had an unusual vantage point. As a venture partner at SparkLabs Global Accelerator with early investments in OpenAI and Anthropic, he was closer to what was actually happening than almost anyone in his world. He still wasn't ready for what came next.It started with a conversation. He was in San Francisco with Sam Altman, something he made a habit of — whenever they crossed paths, Alex asked the same question: what's sparking your imagination these days? On this particular occasion, Altman's answer was different. The AI stuff was getting really good, he said. When Alex pushed for specifics, Altman told him they were getting close to AI that could read all your emails and tell you what to do for the week. It sounded completely insane.Alex filed it away. Then, a few weeks later, he was on a flight to Atlanta, sandwiched in the middle seat between 2 large men with nowhere to go and nothing else to do. He finally opened an OpenAI account and started building.That experience in a cramped middle seat sent AirOps in a new direction. The company had been founded to help non-technical employees access company data — a broad, useful product with no obvious north star. Knowing the paradigm was shifting and knowing what your company should actually do about it are different problems. Alex had to translate that conviction into a focus, which meant making a hard call. When a space is growing as fast as LLM applications were in 2022 and 2023, trying to be everything to everyone is a trap.The answer came from the data, not from a whiteboard. When the team looked at their heat map of usage, 1 cluster burned hotter than anything else: technical CMOs, leaders of 50 to 100 person marketing orgs, working nights and weekends inside AirOps building ambitious content systems. High-taste users with strong opinions and no patience for tools that couldn't meet their standard. The market was doing what markets do when they find something they want — it was insisting.By mid-2023, AirOps had committed fully. The customer was the high-taste marketing professional who wanted to build content systems at scale, not just generate more content. Every decision since has been built around that person. The most important pivots rarely happen in planning sessions. They happen when you actually use the thing, look at the data honestly, and trust what the market is telling you over the story you had planned to tell.Key takeaway: Look at your usage data and find the cluster of users who are working hardest and complaining most specifically — they are telling you who your product is actually for. Make time to try the tools reshaping your industry with your own hands. Alex's pivot started in a cramped middle seat he couldn't escape. Any open hour will do.The Real Definition of Content Engineering and Why It's Not About Publishing MoreMarketing teams have been chasing the wrong metric since LLMs went mainstream. The race defaulted to volume: how many posts, how fast, how much can you automate. That framing made sense in an era where more content meant more crawlable pages, more keywords, more surface area for Google to index. The era has changed.AI agents now sit between buyers and brands. When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity a question about your product category, an agent synthesizes content from across the web — your owned pages, third-party publications, Reddit threads, review platforms — and returns a single answer. That agent is not counting pages. It's evaluating quality, depth, freshness, and what Alex describes as information gain: the degree to which any given piece of content adds something new to what the model already knows.That's a meaningfully different standard. A 2022 blog post with outdated product language, stale statistics, and broken links doesn't rank lower in AI search — it's absent from it entirely. Webflow, 1 of AirOps's customers, saw what investing in content refresh workflows does to those outcomes: 42% more traffic and AI-attributed conversions performing 6x better than standard organic. That's a maintenance story, not a content production story.There's also a conflation doing a lot of damage in this conversation. Content written with AI assistance gets lumped together with content generated by AI with no original grounding or context. The studies that say "AI content performs poorly" tend to define AI content as the second category, and the conflation goes unexamined in most LinkedIn commentary. The distinction matters enormously. Content that draws on real interviews, proprietary data, internal expertise, and company-specific context performs differently from content that's a model recombining what already exists on the internet.The brands performing well in AI search right now are treating their content library as a living system with real quality standards — a garden that requires ongoing maintenance rather than a publishing archive. They're building workflows to keep content fresh, surface internal knowledge that's been sitting in Google Drive unused, and maintain what...
#356 | Dave sits down with Brett Domeny, product lead at Webflow focused on AEO, to talk about what it actually takes to show up in AI search. Brett breaks down Webflow's AEO maturity model — four core areas that actually matter: content, technical structure, authority, and measurement — and why most of AEO is just good SEO done right. They get into how LLM crawlers work and what your site needs to do to be discoverable, why Reddit and community platforms have outsized influence on AI citations, and how to measure whether any of it is working.Check out Webflow's free AEO assessment here.Timestamps(00:00) - - Intro and Brett's background (02:00) - - The state of search and why CMOs are worried (04:00) - - Webflow's AEO maturity model (05:30) - - Why AEO is an evolution of SEO, not a replacement (06:30) - - Technical: how LLM crawlers work (16:00) - - Content: optimize for questions, not keywords (19:00) - - Does authentic content still win in an AI world? (26:00) - - Measurement: the three-bucket framework (30:00) - - How accurate are the prompt visibility tools? (37:00) - - How to show your boss AEO is working (40:00) - - Authority: why Reddit has outsized influence on AI citations (43:00) - - Why Brett has stayed at Webflow for six years
Most of us have run an event, watched the in-person conversations crackle, then sent the same templated follow-up to everyone on the lead list. The energy disappears the moment marketing hits send. That gap is what Dave Schools set out to close when he started Singulate, and it's what he and Mason Cosby get into on this episode of Scrappy ABM.ㅤDave breaks down why marketing ops keeps becoming the bottleneck on personalization, why data is now a commodity but messaging is not, and what it actually takes to send hyper-segmented email at scale without sounding like AI. He shares the four channels working for Singulate today, the 15% open-rate bump from a single hook rewrite, and the framework his team uses to keep humans in the loop while AI does the heavy lifting.ㅤIf you're a revenue leader running ABM with a limited budget and a database full of underused signals, this conversation gives you a clearer picture of what to do with what you already have.ㅤ
#352 | Dave sits down with Uzair Dada, CEO of Iron Horse, to talk about why most B2B companies are overcomplicating their marketing and what to do instead. Uzair breaks down his three-part growth framework — get discovered, get chosen, close — and explains why most companies are wasting the majority of their ad budget targeting the wrong audience entirely. He also gets into how to actually show up in AI search, why brand vs. demand is a false choice marketers invented to argue about, and how he blocks every Friday afternoon to build with AI. Then they get into what AI adoption really looks like inside enterprise companies, and why taste and judgment are becoming the only true differentiators left.Check out Webflow's free AEO assessment here. Timestamps(00:00) - - Intro (03:17) - - Running the same agency for 26 years and why AI makes it exciting again (06:19) - - Why Uzair blocks Friday afternoons from 2-7 to build with AI (11:13) - - How a personal prep tool became a company-wide account dossier app (15:34) - - The leadership meeting habit that drove AI adoption across the org (17:35) - - Are marketers going away? The case for taste and judgment (25:02) - - Why brand vs. demand is a false choice (26:29) - - Get discovered, get chosen, close: a simpler B2B growth framework (28:03) - - The company targeting a million people when their real audience was 20,000 (34:52) - - The real bottleneck to AI in enterprise isn't the tech, it's governance (41:46) - - AEO: start with your Gong call transcripts, not a new tool (44:28) - - Why the second query matters more than the first in AI search
The first episode of SaaS Class tackles one of the most pressing questions in B2B marketing: how do you win when your buyers are finding answers on ChatGPT and Perplexity instead of Google?Tye sits down with Nancy Harnett (Head of Affiliate & Offsite AEO at HubSpot) and Guy Yalif (Webflow, formerly CEO of Intellimize) to break down what's actually working in the race to become the most visible brand in AI search. Nancy reveals how HubSpot generated 200K+ AI citations in 6 months and became the #1 most visible CRM across AI search. Guy shares how Webflow appears in 67% of the AI answers they care about — more than any other CMS including WordPress.What you'll learn:Why AEO is a natural evolution of great SEO, not a replacementThe 4 pillars of AEO: Content, Technical, Authority & MeasurementWhy affiliate marketing is now the "new backlinks" — driving top and bottom-funnel AI impactHow HubSpot used Reddit to go from ~100 to 146K AI citations in 7 monthsContent depth and localization: what actually moves the needleHow to build a closed-loop measurement system to iterate fast
A/B testing your landing page with 12 visitors. Building a custom e-commerce platform when you haven't made your first sale. Redesigning your app three times before launch because it doesn't look like Apple. If any of this sounds familiar, Justin Abrams and Mike Rispoli, co-founders of Cause of a Kind, have some hard truths for you. Join hosts Nick Paladino and Chuck Moxley as we explore what happens when you have 12,000 visitors a month instead of 12 million. Justin and Mike introduce brilliant basics: stop trying to innovate and just play the greatest hits. Use Shopify templates, use Webflow, don't build custom solutions like you're a billion-dollar brand when you're not. They don't talk about failure, they talk about data collection. These two have been friends since they were 15, tried building software for a decade, failed a lot, before finally building an agency because their network kept asking them to do what they're actually good at. Justin's thesis: follow opportunity instead of your passions. Stop fighting the universe and listen to where opportunities come from. Mike's framework: marry the problem but date the solution. The founders who succeed stay flexible on how they solve it, not what they're solving. And they break down the maturation journey: certain businesses aren't mature enough for nuanced analytics. If you're just starting, measure session duration, page consumption, click paths and not tiny conversion funnel optimizations.Key Actionable Takeaways:Play the greatest hits until you have meaningful traffic - Use Shopify templates for e-commerce or Webflow for B2B sites rather than custom builds; you can't AB test landing pages with no traffic, and trying to innovate before validation wastes time and moneyFeatures are friction for startups - Each additional feature confuses your marketing story, elevator pitch, and user flows; solve one problem extremely well before adding capabilities, and resist the urge to redesign before you have user dataManually shepherd early users and measure different metrics - With low traffic, watch screen recordings, talk to individual users, measure session duration and click paths rather than conversion funnels; find your first-dollar metric (like Facebook's seven connections) and optimize getting users there fasterWant more tips and strategies about creating frictionless digital experiences? Subscribe to our newsletter! https://www.thefrictionlessexperience.com/frictionless/Download the Five Step Site Speed Target Playbook: http://bluetriangle.com/playbookCause of a Kind: https://causeofakind.com Strictly From Nowhere Podcast: https://www.causeofakind.com/strictly-from-nowhere Justin Abrams' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cuzzinjustin/ Mike Rispoli's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rispoli-cto/ Nick Paladino's LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/npaladino Chuck Moxley's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckmoxley/Chapters:(00:00) Introduction(03:10) Starting Cause of a Kind(05:26) Failed ventures (08:15) Failing fast(09:36) Enterprise vs. startup friction(11:20) Porsche on Toyota budget(13:14) Non-technical founder empathy(14:30) Every brand is a tech company(15:55) Marry problem date solution(17:15) Craigslist as UX example(18:16) Brilliant basics explained(22:00) Manual user validation process(24:43) When measurement matters(26:47) Onboarding flow friction(29:10) First dollar metric(30:00) Successful journeys beyond conversion(33:36) Home Depot mobile vs desktop(36:33) Attribution challenges(38:26) Vibe coding and AI tools(41:02) Discipline and resource deployment(44:15) Features are friction(46:17) Conclusion
Webflow CRO Adrian Rosenkranz breaks down how go-to-market teams are evolving in an AI-first world. From unifying PLG and enterprise motions to treating governance as a driver of growth, this episode explores how to design revenue systems that scale, without sacrificing control.
In this episode, we talk about whether tools like Webflow still make sense to use when AI can generate professional looking marketing sites for you.
On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall welcomes Sue Xu, Managing Partner at Amino Capital. Located in Palo Alto, California, Amino Capital is a global venture capital firm investing from seed through growth stage, with over $1 billion in assets under management and a track record that includes backing companies such as Chime, Webflow, Rippling, and Grail. Sue shares how the firm's name—drawn from "amino acids," the building blocks of life—reflects its mission to invest early, often at the pre-seed and seed stage, in founders within their trusted ecosystem. With a background as a Stanford-trained scientist, she brings a deeply technical lens to venture investing, focusing on AI, data infrastructure, and frontier technologies where long-term defensibility matters more than short-term hype. As Hall likes to say, it's not just about seeing deals—it's about knowing how to underwrite them. Amino Capital differentiates itself by emphasizing data moats, network effects, and true workflow ownership in an era where many AI startups are simply "wrappers" around large language models. Sue breaks down how to distinguish sustainable businesses from impressive demos, noting that the real winners are those that integrate deeply into user workflows and replace meaningful labor. The conversation also explores the evolution of AI investing—from infrastructure to copilots to today's agentic systems—and why durability comes from strong first principles rather than broad diversification. Along the way, Hall and Sue touch on global innovation ecosystems, the importance of resilience in founders, and why small, disciplined teams with high agency continue to outperform. Sue also shares how Amino Capital is leveraging AI internally, building its own data-driven investment systems to evaluate deals, support portfolio companies, and provide real-time insights to LPs. She emphasizes the importance of developing a clear investment thesis, staying humble yet decisive, and building systems that improve decision-making over time. Visit Amino Capital at www.aminocapital.com/ Reach out to at sue@aminocapital.com , and on www.linkedin.com/in/suexu/ _______________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/ For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/ For eGuides check out: https:/_/tencapital.group/education/ For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.
Jessica Fain is a product leader at Webflow and former Chief of Staff to the CPO at Slack, where she worked alongside April Underwood and many past podcast guests including Stewart Butterfield, Annie Pearl, Tamar Yehoshua, and Noah Weiss. She's spent her career learning how executives actually make decisions—and why most people completely misunderstand the process.We discuss:1. Why great ideas often don't get buy-in2. Why executive calendars are “like strobe lights” and why the first 30 seconds of a meeting matter so much3. Why executives are usually optimizing for a global maximum while you are often optimizing locally4. The best question Jessica uses when a leader says something that seems wrong: “That's so interesting. What led you to believe that?”5. Why you should go in to learn, not to convince6. Why showing only one option is a mistake7. Why AI will make influence more important, not less—Brought to you by:Omni—AI analytics your customers can trustLovable—Build apps by simply chatting with AIVanta—Automate compliance, manage risk, and accelerate trust with AI—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-art-of-influence-jessica-fain—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Jessica Fain:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-fain-79b8989—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Jessica Fain(03:53) Why influence is the highest-leverage skill in product(04:47) Why great ideas fail without executive buy-in(06:00) How executives actually think(09:05) The fundamentals: context-setting, communication, and empathy(10:22) Stop pitching for approval—start co-creating with execs(12:59) Influence vs. politics (and why people get it wrong)(15:44) How to disagree with execs without losing trust(17:20) Going in to learn, not to convince(19:08) How to present ideas(26:05) The Minto-style approach and tailoring your communication to each exec(28:22) Why Jessica doesn't like the question “What's top of mind for you?”(30:24) Understanding incentives to unlock buy-in(32:10) Aligning product work with company strategy(35:10) Quick summary(37:31) Disarming the executive(40:49) Speed matters: why fast follow-up builds momentum(43:32) How to run high-impact meetings (the 60-second rule)(47:00) Why influencing execs is part of your job(49:15) Asking for more resources and thinking in 10x bets(52:23) What to do when your idea gets rejected(54:18) Clarifying information(56:50) How to build trust and make ideas stick(58:30) Shrinking big ideas into experiments(01:02:27) Common mistakes people make when influencing leaders(01:06:00) How to grow into your next role(01:09:32) How AI is changing influence and product work(01:17:55) Using AI to simulate exec feedback and improve pitches(01:21:15) Protecting our brains from overwhelm(01:22:44) Lightning round and final thoughts—Referenced:• Box: https://www.box.com• Slack: https://slack.com• Brightwheel: https://mybrightwheel.com• Webflow: https://webflow.com• April Underwood on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilunderwood• Lessons in product leadership and AI strategy from Glean, Google, Amazon, and Slack | Tamar Yehoshua (Product at Glean, ex-Google and Slack): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/you-dont-need-to-be-a-well-run-company-to-win-tamar-yehoshua• Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com• Behind the scenes of Calendly's rapid growth | Annie Pearl (CPO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-scenes-of-calendlys-rapid• Calendly: https://calendly.com• Glassdoor: https://www.glassdoor.co.in/index.htm• The 10 traits of great PMs, how AI will impact your product, and Slack's product development process | Noah Weiss (Slack, Foursquare, Google): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-10-traits-of-great-pms-how-ai• Ethan Eismann on X: https://x.com/eeismann• Slack founder: Mental models for building products people love ft. Stewart Butterfield: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/slack-founder-stewart-butterfield• Ilan Frank on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilanfrank• Checkr: https://checkr.com• Ali Rayl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alirayl• Rachel Wolan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelwolan• How Webflow's CPO built an AI chief of staff to manage her calendar, prep for meetings, and drive AI adoption | Rachel Wolan: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-webflows-cpo-built-an-ai-chief• Barbara Minto's website: https://www.barbaraminto.com• How Slack invests in big little details through Customer Love Sprints: https://slack.design/articles/sweating-the-small-stuff• Building product at Stripe: craft, metrics, and customer obsession | Jeff Weinstein (Product lead): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-product-at-stripe-jeff-weinstein• The Enneagram Institute: https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions• The Pitt on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/The-Pitt-Season-1/dp/B0DNRR8QWD• Towel warmer: https://www.amazon.com/FLYHIT-Large-Towel-Warmer-Bathroom/dp/B0CB5K34L2• Casa: https://getcasa.com• Jimi Hendrix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix• Greek Theatre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Theatre_(Los_Angeles)—Recommended books:• Pachinko: https://www.amazon.com/Pachinko-National-Book-Award-Finalist/dp/1455563927• Homegoing: https://www.amazon.com/Homegoing-Yaa-Gyasi/dp/1101971061• A History of Burning: https://www.amazon.com/History-Burning-Janika-Oza/dp/1538724243• The Overstory: https://www.amazon.com/Overstory-Novel-Richard-Powers/dp/039335668X—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com
Bumble's new AI assistant Bee will move the dating app beyond the swipe by matching people based on compatibility and goals. Also, founded in 2024, Vidoso uses large language models to help organizations generate marketing collateral like images, presentations, video clips, blog posts, and social media content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Julian Tcherassi is the founder of Magiktea, the first USDA Organic & Wildlife Friendly certified palo azul tea brand in the world. Under his leadership, Magiktea has grown from a small independent startup into a nationally recognized wellness brand, now available in over 1,000 health food stores nationwide. Passionate about natural remedies and sustainability, Julian started Magiktea with the mission to share sustainably sourced palo azul so that everyone can enjoy Mother Nature's most magical tea. In This Conversation We Discuss: [00:00] Intro [02:06] Spotting an opportunity from personal experience [02:56] Starting a business through personal readings [05:06] Prioritizing retail over DTC for early traction [06:53] Offering consignment as visibility strategy [10:31] Callouts [10:41] Embracing rejection as early sales training [14:43] Sponsor: Klaviyo [16:49] Learning advertisement tactics from founders [18:41] Optimizing website to support conversions [26:46] Sponsor: Intelligems [25:46] Improving listings to outshine competitors [29:26] Leveraging Amazon for exposure and sales [33:25] Sponsor: Electric Eye [34:31] Analyzing your brand for the winning message Resources: Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube Fluorescent alkaline palo azul tea magiktea.com/ Follow Julian Tcherassi linkedin.com/in/julian-serrano-tcherassi-97a891156/ Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ Schedule an intro call with one of our experts electriceye.io/connect If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!
In this episode, Yannick Lorenz uncovers his remarkable transition from building Shadow Digital to leading Vesa Digital's aggressive M&A and growth strategy. He talks openly about the ups and downs of agency life, the importance of building a sellable business, and stepping into a strategic role in acquisitions—all fueled by lessons learned the hard way.Key Topics:How Yannick built Shadow Digital from a freelance side hustle into a successful agencyThe pivotal moment when he realized the value of making his business sellableThe lessons learned from hitting rock bottom during a major agency crisis in 2020The unique approach Vesa Digital takes to agency roll-ups and the concept of the VAN (Vesa Agency Network) strategyCreative deal structures and the importance of leaving chips on the table during acquisitionsHow Yannick is leveraging his CEO experience to now lead Vesa's inorganic & M&A effortsThe impact of self-sourcing deals and avoiding traditional private equity pathwaysNavigating culture fit, valuation, and deal negotiations with foundersPractical advice for founders about financial literacy, recurring revenue focus, and deal-making mindsetTimestamps:(0:13) The rapid evolution of Claude AI and setting up local coding interfaces(1:27) The magic of task stacking versus answer approximation in Claude(3:05) Introducing Yannick Lorenz and his entry into agency growth and exit(4:26) Yannick's background: from Germany to founder in California(6:10) Building Shadow Digital: from side hustle to agency(8:38) The turning point: landing a $20,000 deal and scaling(11:26) Navigating the 2020 crisis and the push toward specialization(12:24) Scaling rapidly with Webflow before the crash(13:47) A major realization: building a business to sell and the importance of cash flow(15:15) How Yannick connected with Vesa during a cold outreach mistake(17:19) The evaluation process: fit, culture, and professionalism(20:05) From lifestyle agency to a growth-focused exit plan(22:14) Strategies for leaving cash in the business before an exit(23:23) Reflecting on the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship(25:21) Learning the inorganic & M&A game from top experts(27:48) Vesa's current inorganic growth strategy and future plans(29:55) Creative deal structures in agency acquisitions ($500K–$1M range)(34:15) Lessons on being an empathetic versus aggressive acquirer(36:25) Why financial literacy and recurring revenue are vital for deals(38:35) How interested founders can connect with Yannick for opportunitiesConnect with Christian and AyeletAyelet's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.coIn/organic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InorganicPodcast/featuredConnect with Yannick Lorenz on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/shadowyaya/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We're getting in motion with Sera Tajima, as she joins us to talk about her lifelong relationship with movement. She explains how ballet taught her precision, control, and the ability to withstand "good pain”, creating a meditative practice of syncing mind and body, that continued to martial arts. Sera's athletic journey took a turn three years ago when she developed long COVID, forcing her to completely reassess her relationship with movement. Through her recovery process, she learned to listen to her body's needs rather than pushing through, discovering the importance of small daily movements. Sera continues to advocate for a cultural shift away from the tendency to treat the body as merely a vessel for the mind, and instead reconnect with it on a deeper level. Guest BioSera Tajima (she/her) is a product designer turned climate investor and advisor, bringing Silicon Valley growth expertise to founders solving our planet's biggest challenges. She's spent a decade driving growth at Y Combinator, Zendesk, and Webflow—achieving results like 200% acquisition increases. Through Conscious Tech Ventures, she guides climate startups scaling breakthrough solutions. Sera also has a course on sustainable growth. UC Berkeley-educated, Sera has spoken at Ikea, Uber, universities, and tech conferences worldwide, helping founders leverage product-market fit and product-led growth strategies. Her mission: Accelerate conscious tech that makes today's broken systems obsolete. We can't solve climate problems with the same thinking that created them.LinksSera's website: https://www.conscioustech.co/Sera on Spotify: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/seratajima/Sera on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seratajima/Sera on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seratajimaCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.
SEO expert Favour Obasi-ike, MBA, MS delivers an in-depth comparison of Shopify SEO and Squarespace SEO CMS platforms, focusing on their SEO and CRO capabilities and website development features. This discussion covers critical technical insights about theme management, URL structure optimization, metadata configuration, and platform-specific best practices.Favour shares actionable strategies for improving website visibility, including the importance of regular theme updates, proper sitemap configuration, and effective use of SEO metadata. The session also touches on comparisons with WordPress, Wix, and other CMS platforms, providing business owners with practical guidance for choosing and optimizing their e-commerce and content-driven websites in 2026.Book SEO Services | Quick Links for Social Business>> Book SEO Services with Favour Obasi-ike>> Visit Work and PLAY Entertainment website to learn about our digital marketing services>> Join our exclusive SEO Marketing community>> Read SEO Articles>> Subscribe to the We Don't PLAY Podcast>> Purchase Flaev Beatz Beats Online>> Favour Obasi-ike Quick LinksEpisode Key Learning Topics1. Shopify Platform Deep DiveShopify as a closed-source e-commerce CMS platformTheme Liquid customization and custom code implementationImportance of regular theme updates for algorithm visibilityPre-installed sitemap functionality and automated SEO featuresApp ecosystem vs WordPress pluginsMulti-currency and multi-language capabilitiesSchema.org integration for product pages2. Squarespace Platform OverviewUser-friendly, content-driven platform positioningComparison with Shopify for product-based vs content-based websitesQuick setup and on-the-go management capabilitiesIntegration capabilities and limitationsBest use cases for small businesses and content creators3. SEO Metadata OptimizationProper configuration of SEO meta titles and descriptionsOpen Graph (OG) tags for social media sharingURL structure best practices and character optimizationThe importance of unique metadata vs duplicated contentHow to edit SEO metadata in Shopify product pages4. URL Structure StrategyStrategic URL naming conventions for productsUsing numbers strategically in URLs (e.g., "red-roses-12-piece" vs "12-piece-red-roses")Pattern disruption for user attention and click-through optimizationShorter, more concentrated URLs for better visual scanningPre-purchase click optimization through URL clarity5. Technical SEO FundamentalsSitemap management across different platformsGoogle Search Console setup and sitemap submissionThe difference between Google Analytics and Google Search ConsoleNAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency for local SEORobots.txt configuration and indexing control6. Wix Platform InsightsHidden robots.txt settings affecting blog tag indexingHow to enable tag indexing in Wix SEO settings10-year evolution of the Wix platformCommon indexing issues and solutions7. WordPress vs Closed-Source PlatformsOpen-source flexibility vs closed-source constraintsPlugin management and sitemap conflictsThe analogy of "square footage" for platform capabilitiesWhen to choose WordPress over Shopify/Squarespace8. Content Strategy & Page ManagementThe power of compounding through content updatesUpdating old blog posts alongside publishing new onesFooter copyright year updates as ranking signalsOn-page SEO details that AI and search engines scanCreating and maintaining a content calendar9. Website Maintenance Best PracticesRegular theme updates and their impact on visibilityChecking and updating footer copyright yearsMonitoring broken links and slow page speedsPlatform-specific maintenance requirements (Shopify, Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Wix)10. Free Website Audit OfferFavour's offer for surface-level website auditsDeep dive capabilities for root problem identificationMulti-platform support (Shopify, Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Magento, Tilda, Duda)Email newsletter with SEO, marketing, and AI insightsEpisode Timestamps00:00 - Introduction: Shopify SEO vs Squarespace SEO comparison00:53 - Welcome and housekeeping (saving replays, accessing resources)02:36 - Shopify platform overview and e-commerce focus03:01 - Why Shopify stands out (price-friendly, brand-aware, aesthetically pleasing)03:43 - Shopify themes and purchasing considerations05:43 - Critical question: When did you last update your theme?06:40 - How theme updates affect algorithm visibility07:00 - Closed-source vs open-source platforms explained07:08 - Theme Liquid customization in Shopify08:00 - Shopify as your hosting platform08:10 - Apps in Shopify vs plugins in WordPress08:21 - Squarespace positioning and user-friendliness09:00 - Platform comparison analogy: Square footage (500 to 20,000 sq ft)09:33 - When aesthetics and ease-of-use matter most14:00 - Detailed Shopify theme management discussion18:00 - SEO metadata and URL structure fundamentals22:00 - The importance of page quantity and content strategy28:00 - Sitemap management and Google Search Console setup28:15 - Why Shopify pre-installs sitemaps (no conflicts)29:00 - WordPress sitemap conflicts and plugin management29:32 - The sitemap as "the brain of a website"30:00 - Content compounding strategy: updating old posts31:06 - Wix robots.txt issue: blog tags set to "no index" by default32:00 - How to fix Wix tag indexing in SEO settings33:00 - Tags as hashtags and their importance for visibility34:05 - Critical action item: Update your footer copyright year to 202635:00 - Why footer year matters for AI and search engine scanning36:01 - Shopify advantages for multi-language and multi-currency37:03 - Google Search Console vs Google Analytics confusion37:20 - The "reverse gear" moment in SEO audits42:00 - Deep dive into URL structure optimization45:00 - Strategic use of numbers in product URLs48:00 - Open Graph (OG) tags explained52:00 - Schema.org and structured data importance58:00 - Product page SEO metadata workflow in Shopify58:15 - How titles auto-generate URLs and the edit button59:00 - Example: "6-piece red rose bouquet" URL structure59:23 - Optimizing URL readability and pattern disruption60:00 - Pre-purchase click optimization through URL clarity61:00 - Character count optimization for URLs63:00 - Shopify vs Squarespace integration comparison63:16 - Schema.org as the "golden standard" for web documentation63:48 - NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency explained64:00 - "Dress how you want to be addressed" philosophy68:00 - Free website audit offer details70:00 - Platforms supported for audits72:00 - Newsletter signup for SEO, marketing, and AI insights74:00 - Surface-level vs deep-dive audit explanation75:00 - Closing remarks and call to actionFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs)Q1: What's the main difference between Shopify and Squarespace?A: Shopify is primarily an e-commerce platform optimized for product stores with extensive selling features (multi-currency, multi-language, robust app ecosystem), while Squarespace is more content-driven and user-friendly, ideal for portfolios, blogs, and smaller businesses that need quick setup without extensive product management.Q2: Why is updating my website theme important for SEO?A: Regular theme updates signal to search engine algorithms that your website has an updated setup and infrastructure. An outdated theme (e.g., last updated in August 2025 when we're in 2026) can cost you visibility because the algorithm may perceive your site as less maintained and current.Q3: What is Theme Liquid in Shopify?A: Theme Liquid is Shopify's templating language that allows you to customize code within the closed-source platform. It's where you would add custom elements like pop-ups, tracking codes, or other modifications that aren't available through standard theme settings.Q4: Do I need to create a sitemap for my Shopify store?A: No. Shopify automatically generates and maintains your sitemap as soon as you publish pages, products, collections, and posts. This is a major advantage over WordPress, where you need to install and configure sitemap plugins and ensure there are no conflicts.Q5: What's the difference between Google Search Console and Google Analytics?A: Google Search Console is for submitting your sitemap and monitoring how search engines crawl and index your site, while Google Analytics tracks visitor behavior and traffic sources. Both are important, but they serve different purposes. You must submit your sitemap to Search Console for proper SEO.Q6: How do I fix the Wix tag indexing problem?A: Go to your Wix dashboard, click Settings (bottom left corner), navigate to SEO Settings, find the Blog Tags section, and disable the "no index" robots.txt setting that's enabled by default. This allows your blog tags to be indexed by search engines.Q7: Why should I update my footer copyright year?A: The footer copyright year (e.g., "© 2026") is on-page text that AI and search engines scan. An outdated year (like "© 2023") signals that your site may not be actively maintained, even if you've updated content elsewhere. It's a simple but important ranking signal.Q8: How should I structure product URLs for better SEO?A: Use strategic placement of descriptive words and numbers. For example, "red-roses-12-piece" is better than "12-piece-red-roses" because users scanning search results will see "red roses" first, then the number variants (6, 12, 36), creating pattern disruption that draws attention and improves pre-purchase clicks.Q9: What is Open Graph (OG) and why does it matter?A: Open Graph tags control how your content appears when shared on social media, messaging apps, and other platforms. When you send a link via WhatsApp or iMessage and see a preview with title and image, that's Open Graph data. Properly configured OG tags ensure your content looks professional when shared.Q10: Should I choose Shopify, Squarespace, or WordPress for my business?A: Choose Shopify if you're running a product-based e-commerce store and need robust selling features. Choose Squarespace if you need a quick, aesthetically pleasing site for content, portfolios, or small-scale selling. Choose WordPress if you need maximum customization, flexibility, and control (open-source), but be prepared for more technical management.Q11: What is NAP and why is it important?A: NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. For websites, "address" includes your domain (www address). Consistent NAP information across your website and online directories is crucial for local SEO and helps search engines verify your business legitimacy.Q12: Can I get a free website audit from Favour?A: Yes! Favour offers surface-level website audits to help identify issues like broken links, slow pages, and basic SEO problems. The audit supports multiple platforms including Shopify, Squarespace, WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Magento, Tilda, and Duda. Links are available in the episode description or through the newsletter signup.About the Podcast HostFavour Obasi-ike, MBA, MS is an SEO and digital marketing expert who specializes in helping business owners optimize their websites for search visibility and conversion. Favour offers website audits, SEO consulting, and maintains a detailed email newsletter covering SEO, marketing, and AI insights. Visit our quick links above to get access.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
B2B Marketing shouldn't be boring. And if your brand isn't building a world people want to step into, you're already falling behind. Daniel talks with Marissa Kraines, VP and Head of Marketing at Webflow, about how world building, humor, and human-first storytelling are reshaping modern B2B Marketing. From creating Webflow's breakout “AI Guy” character, to why brand matters more than ever in an AI-powered search world, Marissa shares how B2B brands can stand out in feeds dominated by cats, babies, and memes. They also dive into measuring brand beyond clicks, using AI as a creative partner (not a shortcut), and why human-to-human Marketing is the hill Marissa would die on. If you're a Marketer who wants to push B2B beyond features and funnels (and actually make people care) this is the episode for YOU. Follow Marissa: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissakraines/ Follow Daniel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing/ Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter: www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com
Kevin Watkins is the Founder and Creative Director of Farewell, a web design and development agency based in Bend, Oregon, specializing in nonprofit, outdoor recreation, and sustainability organizations. In this episode of Pathmonk Presents, Kevin shares how Farewell helps organizations modernize outdated websites, reduce user friction, and empower lean marketing teams to do more with less. The conversation dives into Webflow's growing role as a flexible alternative to WordPress, the importance of seamless user journeys for member-based organizations, and why referrals and reputation still outperform most acquisition channels. Kevin also discusses adapting to changing SEO dynamics, embracing paid traffic optimization, and using emerging tools to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive web landscape
In this "WordPress SEO vs. Webflow SEO Comparisons: Website Development Tutorial + Checklist" podcast episode, host Favour Obasi-ike leads a detailed discussion comparing two popular website development platforms: WordPress and Webflow. The conversation delves into the critical aspects of choosing a content management system (CMS), including setup, design, maintenance, and search engine optimization (SEO). A key segment features a real-world account from a participant, Ryan, who shares his recent struggles with a significant Google algorithm update that drastically impacted his website's traffic and revenue. The episode provides a balanced view of both platforms, highlighting their respective strengths and weaknesses to help listeners make an informed decision based on their specific business needs, technical expertise, and long-term goals.Need to Book SEO Services for your Social Business?>> Book a Complimentary SEO Discovery Call with Favour Obasi-Ike>> Visit Work and PLAY Entertainment website to learn about our digital marketing services>> Join our exclusive SEO Marketing community>> Read SEO Articles>> Subscribe to the We Don't PLAY Podcast>> Purchase Flaev Beatz Beats Online>> Favour Obasi-ike Quick LinksKey Learning TopicsCMS Platform ComparisonAn in-depth analysis of WordPress and Webflow, covering ease of use, customization options, and built-in features. The discussion emphasizes that the best choice depends on the project's specific requirements and the user's technical comfort level.SEO Strategy and ImplementationThe episode explores how SEO is handled on both platforms, from WordPress plugins like Yoast and Rank Math to Webflow's integrated SEO tools. It stresses that while platforms provide tools, a successful SEO strategy relies on consistent effort and quality content.Impact of Google UpdatesListeners will learn about the real-world consequences of Google's algorithm changes, including the importance of continuous link building, content updates, and monitoring search engine results pages (SERPs).Website InfrastructureThe conversation covers the technical aspects of hosting and infrastructure, contrasting the self-hosted nature of WordPress with the managed hosting provided by Webflow. This includes considerations of scalability, performance, and DevOps.Analytics and TrackingThe importance of comprehensive analytics is highlighted, going beyond basic platform-specific metrics to include tracking AI mentions and utilizing tools like Google Search Console to gain a deeper understanding of website performance.Timestamps[00:00] Introduction: WordPress vs. Webflow[03:37] Google Algorithm Update Discussion with Ryan[07:00] SEO Strategy & The Importance of Backlinks[20:00] Comparing Platform-Specific Features[26:00] Hosting, Infrastructure, and Scalability[32:00] WordPress's Dominance in the Market[38:00] Technical Requirements and Maintenance[47:00] Integrating Email Marketing with Flowdesk[50:00] The Future of Analytics and AI Tracking[56:00] Best Practices for Website Development[72:30] Closing Remarks and Preview of Next EpisodeFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs)1. Which platform is better for a beginner with no coding experience?Webflow is generally considered more beginner-friendly due to its visual editor and managed hosting, which simplifies the setup and maintenance process. WordPress, while powerful, has a steeper learning curve and requires more hands-on management of hosting, plugins, and security.2. Can I achieve good SEO results on both WordPress and Webflow?Yes, both platforms offer robust tools to implement a strong SEO strategy. The key to success is not the platform itself, but the consistent application of SEO best practices, such as creating high-quality content, building quality backlinks, and optimizing for relevant keywords.3. How important are plugins for a WordPress site?Plugins are essential for extending the functionality of a WordPress site. They can add features for SEO, e-commerce, security, and more. However, it is crucial to use well-coded plugins from reputable sources, as an excessive number of plugins or poorly-coded ones can slow down your website and create security vulnerabilities.4. What are the main cost differences between WordPress and Webflow?Webflow operates on a subscription model with different pricing tiers based on features and traffic. WordPress is open-source and free to use, but you will incur costs for hosting, domain registration, premium themes, and plugins. The total cost for a WordPress site can vary widely depending on your specific needs.5. What was the key takeaway from Ryan's experience with the Google update?The main lesson from Ryan's story is that SEO is an ongoing process. Relying on past success without continuous effort in link building, content creation, and technical updates can leave a website vulnerable to algorithm changes. It highlights the importance of staying proactive and adaptable in your SEO strategy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
#324 | Dave is joined by three marketing leaders from different industries to talk on a live session about AI and SEO and what they've learned over the last year. Dave Steer (CMO at Webflow), Marcy Comer (CMO at EagleView) and Clare Schmitt (VP, Marketing & Communications at Piedmont Global) break down how buyers are learning about products through ChatGPT and why traditional SEO fundamentals still matter. The group shares real examples of how they're approaching content, prompt tracking, PR, and brand authority, plus advice for marketers on where to focus, what to ignore, and how to guide their teams through this search shift.Timestamps(01:06) - Why AI + SEO is the hottest (and most confusing) topic in B2B marketing right now (05:37) - Meet the panel: marketing leaders from Webflow, EagleView, and Piedmont Global (09:15) - How AI search is changing buyer behavior vs traditional Google search (12:58) - EagleView's real approach to AI search, greenfield opportunities, and prompt tracking (16:05) - What “black hat” vs “white hat” tactics look like in AI-driven search (20:12) - Webflow's take: integrated marketing, generosity, and building useful tools (29:33) - Getting past high-level advice and into real execution (34:33) - “Circle the buyer”: how content builds demand before buyers are in-market (38:16) - Why PR is back: long-form press, citations, and brand credibility in AI search (45:16) - What to do if you're a startup with no budget: focus on positioning first Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by:Optimizely - A no-code AI platform where autonomous agents execute marketing work across webpages, email, SEO, and campaigns. Get a free, personalized 45-minute AI workshop to help you identify the best AI use cases for your marketing team and map out where agents can save you time at optimizely.com/exitfive. AirOps - The content engineering platform that helps marketers create and maintain high-quality, on-brand content that wins AI search. Go to airops.com/exitfive to start creating content that reflects your expertise, stays true to your brand, and is engineered for performance across human and AI discovery.Visit exitfive.com/retreat to apply for Exit Five's first-ever, in-person Marketing Leadership Retreat, March 18–20, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Join 100 CMOs and VPs of Marketing from companies like like Zoom, Snowflake, Manychat, Bitly, G2, HP, and more for two days of thinking bigger around a trusted group of peers in marketing. ***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more
AI has collapsed the gap between idea and execution—but standing out in a flood of generative tools requires more than just speed. Product leaders now face a different kind of challenge: evaluating opportunities with sharper questions, building for users with evolving expectations, and navigating distribution channels that look nothing like they did a year ago.Rachel Wolan, CPO at Webflow, joins Hannah to unpack what it really takes to ship differentiated, production-ready AI products in a crowded market. Drawing from her experience leading product at Dropbox and now building an AI-native digital experience platform, Rachel shares how she approaches defensibility, user segmentation, AEO, and when to buy versus build.Resources from this episode:Subscribe to The CPO Club newsletterConnect with Rachel on LinkedIn and Twitter/XCheck out Webflow
On this episode I chatted with Matt Varughese about his business 8020 and his new hobbies, riding motorcycle off road, camping, fitness and vacations. His Agency 8020 helps companies and creators like Dr. Andrew Huberman, Hasan Minhaj, Ellen DeGeneres, Vanta, Circle, Pilot, and others move faster without code (mainly by building their websites on Webflow — the future of the web.) Previously, Matt ran Websterpeace (acquired by Tiny.com), and worked in design, development, e-commerce, and more for folks like Chance the Rapper, Good Company, and more.www.instagram.com/mattvaru https://www.8020.inc/ Huge thank you to our sponsors. The Oklahoma Hall of Fame at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum telling Oklahoma's story through its people since 1927. For more information go to www.oklahomahof.com and for daily updates go to www.instagram.com/oklahomahof The Chickasaw Nation is economically strong, culturally vibrant and full of energetic people dedicated to the preservation of family, community and heritage. www.chickasaw.net Dog House OKC - When it comes to furry four-legged care, our 24/7 supervised cage free play and overnight boarding services make The Dog House OKC in Oklahoma City the best place to be, at least, when they're not in their own backyard. With over 6,000 square feet of combined indoor/outdoor play areas our dog daycare enriches spirit, increases social skills, builds confidence, and offers hours of exercise and stimulation for your dog http://www.thedoghouseokc.com #ThisisOklahoma
In this episode of Scratch, Eric sits down with Adrian Rosenkranz, Chief Revenue Officer at Webflow, to explore how AI is fundamentally changing the way brands grow, compete and get discovered. As large language models reshape how people find and evaluate products, Adrian argues that marketing is shifting from a game of clicks and traffic to a game of relevance and answers, where your website, content and brand have to work for both humans and machines at the same time. We're effectively marketing to bots at this point! They dig into what this means in practice for CMOs, from how SEO and content strategies need to evolve, to why many AI initiatives stall inside large organisations. If you're currently trying to bring AI to your marketing team (Who isn't?) then Adrian has some practical guidance and perspectives to share to ensure that your AI initiatives actually deliver something valuable. The conversation also goes beyond tools and tactics into leadership, creativity and culture. Adrian reflects on lessons from Salesforce, the importance of narrative and design thinking, and why creativity, taste and speed of adaptation are becoming the true sources of differentiation in an AI-native world. It's a wide-ranging discussion about how marketing, growth and brand leadership need to evolve for the next era of the web.Watch the video version of this podcast on YouTube
In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia speaks with Rachel Wolan, CPO at Webflow, the visual development platform valued at $4 billion that empowers over 3.5 million designers worldwide. Rachel discusses Webflow's bold strategy to evolve into an AI-native experience platform with the launch of AppGen, a tool bridging the critical gap between AI prototyping and true production for enterprises like The New York Times and Spotify.What you'll learn:The ICCPO Framework: Why modern leaders must remain patient zero and use their own tools to understand the systems they build.From SEO to AEO: Why Product Managers must now own Answer Engine Optimization as a primary distribution channel.AppGen Strategy: How to move beyond simple wrappers to generate full-stack, on-brand web apps directly from prompts.Key Takeaways
Leandro Cartelli is a Talent Acquisition Executive focused on helping companies grow through exceptional people. Along the way we discuss – Buenos Aires (1:30), LANA Talent (8:15), Why Latin America (15:30), Trends, Remote Hire (19:30), and Final Thoughts (36:45). Note: Since this podcast was originally recorded in August of 2025, Leandro has left Lana Talent. He now works for WebFlow.com More about Leandro @ Lean Cartelli Media Kit This podcast is partnered with LukeLeaders1248, a nonprofit that provides scholarships for the children of military Veterans. Send a donation, large or small, through PayPal @LukeLeaders1248; Venmo @LukeLeaders1248; or our website @ www.lukeleaders1248.com. You can also donate your used vehicle @ this hyperlink – CARS donation to LL1248. Music intro and outro from the creative brilliance of Kenny Kilgore. Lowriders and Beautiful Rainy Day.
This Q&A episode covers three big concerns for photographers and small-business owners: whether to batch website changes or make them gradually, how to interpret drops in Google traffic in the age of AI and zero-click search, and how different website platforms (Pixieset, PhotoBiz, Webflow, WordPress, Wix) really stack up for SEO. You'll learn what to worry about, what to ignore, and when it's time to plan a platform migration.Timestamps[0:00] Holiday weekend intro and format change[0:45] Google's new AI shopping and gift-idea features[3:40] Should you batch website changes or make them slowly?[5:55] Why steady traffic declines are normal in the AI era[7:30] How zero-click search and AI change buyer behavior[8:25] Diagnosing sharp, sudden drops in traffic (forensic SEO)[9:35] Is Pixieset actually good for SEO?[11:30] Why PhotoBiz's SEO advice raises red flags[13:30] When to move off Squarespace or PhotoBiz[14:30] Webflow, Wix, WordPress, and hosting recommendations CONTACTLeave Feedback or Request Topics:https://forms.gle/bqxbwDWBySoiUYxL7 ---
Limelight is building the infrastructure layer for B2B creator marketing, processing payments and managing campaigns for companies spending six figures monthly on creator partnerships. With $2.1 million in funding from Signal to Noise Ratio, Ascend Ventures, Savion Ventures, and strategic angels including the head of AI at Amazon and the former Chief Product Officer at Lyft, Limelight powers creator programs for Clay, Webflow, ZoomInfo, and Bill.com. In this episode of BUILDERS, we sat down with David Walsh, Founder and CEO of Limelight, to learn how he validated the market by interviewing 100+ creators, why he deliberately chose not to build an agency despite customer demand, and how his platform tracks engagement data at scale to prove ROI for performance-focused buyers. Topics Discussed: The pivot from referral software to B2B creator infrastructure after 100+ creator interviews How creator attitudes shifted from refusing brand partnerships to actively monetizing Clay's playbook: building custom Clay tables for creators before asking them to post Why Limelight chose to power agencies rather than compete with them The data infrastructure required to justify $100K+ monthly creator budgets Tracking organic engagement, converting content to paid ads, and attributing pipeline The split between brand/social buyers and performance/demand gen buyers Launching social listening to challenge legacy social media management platforms GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Validate with 100+ user interviews before pivoting: David didn't just chat with a handful of potential users—he conducted and recorded over 100 interviews with B2B creators, asking detailed questions about monetization interest, partnership preferences, and content strategies. He then repeated this process with marketing leaders. This level of research rigor before committing to a pivot is rare but critical when entering emerging categories. The depth of qualitative research gave him conviction to make a contrarian bet when most creators were still refusing brand partnerships. Build where network effects are structural, not hoped for: David specifically chose a creator marketplace after a previous marketplace failure because the unit economics included built-in virality. When Limelight pays a creator $10,000, that creator has tens of thousands of followers who see the transaction result (the sponsored content). Every payment notification becomes inbound interest. He understood that in consumer marketplaces you compete on supply quality, but in creator marketplaces the supply actively markets your platform. Founders should identify whether their marketplace has structural network effects in the transaction itself, not just theoretical ones. Target micro-creators with niche audiences over vanity metrics: The counterintuitive insight: creators with 10,000-25,000 followers often outperform those with 100,000+ in B2B because deal sizes are $25K-$50K, not $100 sunglasses. Smaller creators have higher engagement rates, unsaturated audiences, authentic expertise in specific domains, and haven't been "bought and sold for" yet. When brands face the choice between a 100K-follower creator at $2,000 per post with 200 likes versus a 25K-follower creator at $1,000 per post with 300 likes, they irrationally choose the larger following. Founders should educate buyers that in B2B, targeted influence within specific buyer committees matters more than reach. Build data infrastructure to win performance buyers, not just brand buyers: Limelight tracks every piece of content in real-time (not waiting weeks for creator screenshots), monitors all engagement and segments it by ICP fit, provides self-reported attribution from demo forms, tracks website traffic spikes correlated to posting schedules, and generates qualified lead lists from content engagement. This comprehensive data layer is what allows demand gen leaders to reallocate spend from paid channels. The market is splitting 50/50 between brand/social buyers and performance/demand gen buyers—the latter has larger budgets and treats creator spend like paid media that requires attribution. Founders entering new marketing channels should build attribution infrastructure from day one, not as an afterthought. Deliberately choose infrastructure over services even when customers ask for help: Despite customers like Webflow, ZoomInfo, and Bill.com spending $100K+ monthly and requesting more hands-on support, David chose to build product and enable agencies rather than hire account managers and become a service business. His reasoning: people have tried to replace agencies in recruiting for decades and failed because buyers want the human in the middle. The bigger opportunity is being the infrastructure that powers all agencies, not competing with them. This fork-in-the-road decision—hire CSMs and influencer marketing managers versus build more product—defines whether you're building a scalable platform or a services business disguised as SaaS. Use your first customer to custom-build product, then scale it: Clay became Limelight's first customer when the platform was early. David essentially custom-built features for Clay's creator program, learning their workflow for building Clay tables for creators, their onboarding process, and their approach to creative freedom. This deep partnership gave Limelight the product foundation to scale from managing 20 creators to 200+ for Clay within nine months, then apply those learnings to other customers. Rather than building in a vacuum, founders should find a sophisticated first customer willing to co-develop the product, even if it means initially building something custom. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM
I'm sharing the replay of my recent Live Q&A session where we dug into all things client retention, communication, and keeping your web design business running smoothly… even when outages hit or the unexpected happens.You'll hear me break down some of the same strategies I taught at the recent Circle Summit — including how to set boundaries, create repeatable touchpoints, and turn one-time clients into long-term fans.And since we're heading into Black Friday, I also walk through this year's Web Designer Pro® deals, including some really solid bonuses to help you level up going into 2025.We cover:personal welcome videos that set the tonelaunch packs that turn go-live into referrals30-day post-launch buffers to reduce scope creepmonthly reports to stay top-of-mindA/B/C client segmentation for holiday outreachthe “website is never finished” mindsetSOS plans for Squarespace and Webflow clientscalm scripts for handling outages + tough conversationsshifting from designer → strategistwhat's new with Divi 5security basics and support plansBlack Friday offers worth sharing
The Topline team interview Ethan Smith, founder of Graphite, an San Fransico-based growth and SEO agency with clients like Notion, Webflow and Rippling. As well as Rahul Jain from Noble, a consultant who writes and speaks about AI. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Wednesday. Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Host Introductions 00:41 How Well Do You Know AI Search? 08:14 SEO vs. AI: The Changing Landscape 13:42 The Role of PR in AI Search 14:46 Get Cited By THESE Websites 18:13 SEO Strategies in the AI Era 25:07 Is SEO Actually Dead? 33:16 HubSpot's Message to The Market 34:27 SEO Evolution and Traffic Trends 34:54 The Future of Search and LLMs 36:34 Signs You Have The Wrong Product 40:01 Scaling AI Search Content 46:38 The Role of PR and AI in Marketing 01:01:42 What Have You Learned?
Mixergy - Startup Stories with 1000+ entrepreneurs and businesses
Ethan Smith runs Graphite, the SEO & AEO company that helps brands like Webflow show up on Google's page one and ChatGPT's first answer. This is how he does it Ethan Smith is the founder and CEO of Graphite, a growth and SEO firm that's now pioneering Answer Engine Optimization—helping brands rank inside AI-generated responses. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint
In this episode, Chetna explains how new automation strategies are evolving not only productivity, but the role of the CIO. Chetna emphasizes the importance of data quality and security when scaling a fast-growing company, as well as transparency and partnership in vendor relationships. About the Guest: Chetna is an award winning CIO, board member, and VC advisor with over 25 years of experience working in the Fortune 100 and serving as a 3X CIO for hyper-growth SaaS businesses. Chetna currently serves as CIO of Webflow, a hyper-growth Website Experience Platform SaaS company. Previously, she served as CDIO at Amplitude and ZoomInfo.Chetna is an advisor to prominent VC firms including Sequoia Capital, Accel, Ridge Ventures, and Mayfield and serves on the Customer Advisory Board (CAB) at Veza and, Productiv and was formerly at Snowflake and Google Cloud Platform CAB. She served on the Tech Committee with Carlyle and Thoma Bravo, and on the Advisory Board of Ninja Focus and Women & AI.She was a finalist and nominee for the Bay Area ORBIE, CIO award, a finalist for “2019 Markie's Cultivator Award for Best Lead Management Program,” a recipient of the Delta Dental Women in Business Stevie Award of Excellence in Healthcare Transformation, and a Boeing Spirit of Excellence Award recipient. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and skiing and has a passion for exploring different cultures.Timestamps:01:41 - About Chetna04:53 - Automation as a starting point07:16 - Employee productivity and the CIO11:25 - Discovering new AI tools13:44 - Evolving revenue systems22:47 - How will the CIO role evolve?28:37 - Lightning roundGuest Highlight:“ AI has really taken productivity at a whole different level now. It has really helped us drive the pace in productivity we couldn't have fathomed before the event of the content generation. It's not just content generation anymore. It's way beyond that. The velocity at which we are innovating on the product is huge.”Get Connected:Chetna Mahajan on LinkedInYousuf Kahn on LinkedInIan Faison on LinkedInHungry for more tech talk? Check out past episodes at ciopod.com: Ep 62 - Running IT Like a Growth EngineEp 61 - What Manufacturing Can Teach You About Scaling Enterprise AIEp 60 - Why the Smartest CIOs Are Becoming Business StrategistsLearn more about Caspian Studios: caspianstudios.comOur Sponsor:This episode was brought to you by Blitzy, the Enterprise Autonomous Software Development Platform with Infinite Code Context.Blitzy uses thousands of specialized AI agents that think for hours to understand enterprise scale codebases with millions of lines of code. Enterprise Engineering leaders start every development sprint with the Blitzy platform, bringing in their development requirements. The Blitzy platform provides a plan, then generates and pre-compiles code for each task. Blitzy delivers 80%+ of the development work autonomously, while providing a guide for the final 20% of human development work required to complete the sprint.Public companies are achieving a 5x engineering velocity increase when incorporating Blitzy as their Pre-IDE development tool, pairing it with their coding co-pilot of choice to bring an AI-Native SDLC into their org.Visit Blitzy.com and press book demo to learn how Blitzy transforms your SDLC from AI Assisted to AI Native. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
HTML All The Things - Web Development, Web Design, Small Business
In this Web News episode, Matt and Mike dive into the big question — is WordPress still relevant in 2025? With modern tools like Webflow, SvelteKit, and Next.js gaining traction, does WordPress still deserve its spot as the world's most popular CMS? The duo explore its staying power, the ecosystem that keeps it alive, and whether developers should still be learning it today. Show Notes: https://www.htmlallthethings.com/podcast/is-wordpress-still-relevant-in-2025
AI platform selection remains uncertain as frontier models rapidly evolve. Dave Steer, Chief Marketing Officer at Webflow, brings two decades of scaling experience at GitLab, Cloudflare, and other category-defining companies to discuss navigating the current AI landscape. He argues that context-aware platforms built on top of commodity frontier models will determine competitive advantage, with marketing workflow platforms like Webflow positioning to compete against developer-focused tools like GitHub and GitLab.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Revenue Generator Podcast: Sales + Marketing + Product + Customer Success = Revenue Growth
AI platform selection remains uncertain as frontier models rapidly evolve. Dave Steer, Chief Marketing Officer at Webflow, brings two decades of scaling experience at GitLab, Cloudflare, and other category-defining companies to discuss navigating the current AI landscape. He argues that context-aware platforms built on top of commodity frontier models will determine competitive advantage, with marketing workflow platforms like Webflow positioning to compete against developer-focused tools like GitHub and GitLab.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Marketers risk becoming lazy by blindly trusting AI outputs without critical thinking. Dave Steer, CMO at Webflow, explains how to maintain strategic judgment while leveraging artificial intelligence effectively. He demonstrates creating a custom "chief of staff" GPT trained on company context and decision-making frameworks to challenge thinking rather than replace it. Steer emphasizes treating AI as a strategic partner that asks probing questions instead of a tool that generates mindless outputs.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Revenue Generator Podcast: Sales + Marketing + Product + Customer Success = Revenue Growth
Marketers risk becoming lazy by blindly trusting AI outputs without critical thinking. Dave Steer, CMO at Webflow, explains how to maintain strategic judgment while leveraging artificial intelligence effectively. He demonstrates creating a custom "chief of staff" GPT trained on company context and decision-making frameworks to challenge thinking rather than replace it. Steer emphasizes treating AI as a strategic partner that asks probing questions instead of a tool that generates mindless outputs.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
B2B tech marketing requires constant adaptation to survive industry disruption. Dave Steer, Chief Marketing Officer at Webflow, brings two decades of scaling experience from GitLab, Cloudflare, and other category-defining companies. He explains why successful marketers treat their strategies like stock portfolios with both long-term anchors and rapid pivots. Steer outlines how experimentation frameworks help teams adapt quickly when market conditions shift unexpectedly.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Revenue Generator Podcast: Sales + Marketing + Product + Customer Success = Revenue Growth
B2B tech marketing requires constant adaptation to survive industry disruption. Dave Steer, Chief Marketing Officer at Webflow, brings two decades of scaling experience from GitLab, Cloudflare, and other category-defining companies. He explains why successful marketers treat their strategies like stock portfolios with both long-term anchors and rapid pivots. Steer outlines how experimentation frameworks help teams adapt quickly when market conditions shift unexpectedly.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Marketing teams now handle engineering workflows as AI tools blur traditional boundaries. Dave Steer, CMO at Webflow, explains how marketers are gaining developer superpowers while maintaining distinct responsibilities. He outlines how marketing owns vision creation while engineering ensures reliability and infrastructure. The discussion covers how no-code platforms enable marketers to build technical solutions while preserving the critical need for engineering expertise in enterprise environments.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Revenue Generator Podcast: Sales + Marketing + Product + Customer Success = Revenue Growth
Marketing teams now handle engineering workflows as AI tools blur traditional boundaries. Dave Steer, CMO at Webflow, explains how marketers are gaining developer superpowers while maintaining distinct responsibilities. He outlines how marketing owns vision creation while engineering ensures reliability and infrastructure. The discussion covers how no-code platforms enable marketers to build technical solutions while preserving the critical need for engineering expertise in enterprise environments.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Content generation is the most overhyped AI use case in marketing. Dave Steer, CMO at Webflow, argues that marketers are focusing too narrowly on AI as a content creation tool rather than exploring its broader strategic potential. He advocates for building agentic AI workflows that orchestrate customer experiences and automate complex marketing processes. Steer emphasizes creating sophisticated automation systems where marketers become editors of AI output rather than manual content creators.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Revenue Generator Podcast: Sales + Marketing + Product + Customer Success = Revenue Growth
Content generation is the most overhyped AI use case in marketing. Dave Steer, CMO at Webflow, argues that marketers are focusing too narrowly on AI as a content creation tool rather than exploring its broader strategic potential. He advocates for building agentic AI workflows that orchestrate customer experiences and automate complex marketing processes. Steer emphasizes creating sophisticated automation systems where marketers become editors of AI output rather than manual content creators.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Most marketers treat AI as a copywriting assistant instead of a customer experience transformation tool. Dave Steer is Chief Marketing Officer at Webflow, specializing in AI-driven website personalization and answer engine optimization for enterprise growth. He explains how to structure content for both human visitors and AI crawlers, implement automated multivariate testing at scale, and maintain strategic direction while experimenting with AI-powered optimization tools.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Renegade Thinkers Unite: #2 Podcast for CMOs & B2B Marketers
“How are we going to show up in LLMs?” That's the new CEO question keeping B2B CMOs on alert. As AI-powered search reshapes how buyers find answers, B2B brands need a new organic strategy—Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). In this episode, Drew Neisser brings together two AEO trailblazers: Guy Yalif (Webflow) and Omer Gottlieb (Salespeak). Together, they tackle what it really takes to earn your place in AI answers. Forget keyword stuffing—this is about understanding how LLMs ingest, rank, and cite information, and how B2B marketers can respond now. You'll learn how to earn placement in AI-generated answers by mastering the four pillars of AEO: Content: Answer real buyer questions clearly and concisely. Technical: Make your site machine-readable. Authority: Earn credibility where buyers AND models are looking. Measurement: Track share of voice across critical questions, then iterate. Also in this episode: What LLMs want—but often can't find—on B2B websites How to build a question-driven content strategy using sales calls, support tickets, and win-loss data. Why share of voice (across buyer questions) is the new metric for AI visibility. How to serve two audiences at once: humans and machines
Smart Agency Masterclass with Jason Swenk: Podcast for Digital Marketing Agencies
Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? https://www.agencymastery360.com/training Are you still thinking of AI as just “ChatGPT with a better prompt”? Or maybe you've played around with Zapier automations and thought, yeah, that's good enough. Today's featured guest knows that the agencies pulling ahead right now are building full-on AI agent networks that replace routine tasks, streamline data pipelines, and give their teams superpowers. She's re-engineering her agency around AI and will talk about where she finds top-tier talent and why you don't need to code to lead your agency into the future. Jennifer Bagley is the CEO and founder of CI Web Group, a fully virtual digital marketing agency registered in 22 U.S. states with clients across the United States and Canada. A former corporate operator turned entrepreneur, Jennifer started in real estate and mortgage brokerage before leaning into the marketing work she built to support those businesses. Today she runs a modern, tech-forward agency that's rebuilt its stack around AI, centralized data, and agentic networks, all while carrying the scars and lessons of scaling, pivoting, and re-founding a business from the ground up. In this episode, we'll discuss: Feeling trapped by the business. Hiring, firing, and the people reset AI, reskilling, and the end of “middle” roles What does this talent cost? Subscribe Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio Sponsors and Resources E2M Solutions: Today's episode of the Smart Agency Masterclass is sponsored by E2M Solutions, a web design, and development agency that has provided white-label services for the past 10 years to agencies all over the world. Check out e2msolutions.com/smartagency and get 10% off for the first three months of service. From Corporate Ladder to Accidental Agency Founder Jennifer came from an operations background, a self-proclaimed black belt in Six Sigma and certified project manager. Having built that corporate background, she had made a promise to herself (“by 30 I'll be an entrepreneur”), and started to build the side hustle that became the main event. She started in real estate and mortgage brokering where she had to learn marketing the hard way; not because she wanted to be a marketer, but because the survival of her businesses depended on it. Initially, Jennifer didn't set out to build a scalable agency; she built a team to support her broker network. When the market collapsed in 2008, the same team that did marketing for agents suddenly had a market outside real estate. That “we'll just help this painter or HVAC company” phase is where the web group was born: small, service-focused, and useful to people in her network. That accidental turn became a business by solving real, pressing problems for paying clients, then leaned into that. Trading Time for Freedom: The Hard Pivot For the first five years, Jennifer describes the business as a “lifestyle” operation, profitable maybe, but trapping her time. She was trading billable hours for income and was reaching her limit when she hired a coach that forced a reckoning: if entrepreneurship isn't buying you time, money, and freedom, what's the point? So she made the brutal choice of cutting consulting contracts and burning the bridge to the “safety” of hourly work, and effectively gave herself a mulligan. This is the classic founder pivot: you have to choose between growth that keeps you doing the work and growth that scales the business without you. Jennifer's reset wasn't pretty, for a while she lost everything and she and her son lived in an office for a while, but it bought her the permission to build something salable, not just sustainable. Agency owners who feel trapped in delivery need to remember that sometimes you have to give up short-term revenue to create long-term value. Feeling Trapped by the Agency and Becoming a CEO Those first five years, Jennifer continued to run a business that started as a supply chain consulting and eventually turned into a sales supply chain consulting. This change meant the business was now a good lead generator for the agency but it also meant Jennifer was essentially selling her image and her time. Until she ran out of time. Once she felt trapped by the business, Jennifer actually hired a business coach that helped her change the model from “selling Jennifer with marketing on the side” to an actual sustainable business. She had to go back to the basics and remember she, like every entrepreneur, started the business with the idea of having more time, money, and freedom. It took losing everything, but Jennifer knew she didn't want a lifestyle business, she wanted a sellable business. The antidote was delegation plus systems. If you want growth and a future exit, you need to own those CEO responsibilities and be comfortable with letting go of the day-to-day. Hiring, Firing, and Resetting the Team Jennifer's talent strategy has evolved with each stage of growth. Her early hires were the classic “friends, family, fools” bootstrap crew; later she invested in developers, content teams, project managers, and over time, more strategic hires like CFOs, chief of staff, BI teams, and AI engineers. Each five-year arc brought a new set of needs and a new level of sophistication in hiring. Now, she divides her time between promoting her agency's work in podcasts and content and thinking of ways to navigate her business in these volatile and exciting times. Her most recent addition to the team was a technology and transformation team that is revisiting all of the agency's processes, investments, and infrastructure. As a result, she has downsized her team from over 300 W2 employees and refocus the team. The takeaway for agency owners: be honest about whether your people are builders or maintainers, and hire accordingly. The workforce you need for growth is not the same as the workforce you need for stable operations. Building AI Agent Networks with Centralized Data Jennifer's agency shifted from WordPress to Webflow and built agentic networks: hundreds of AI agents that crawl competitors, do strategy homework, and automate tasks that humans used to do. More importantly, they rebuilt infrastructure into a hub-and-spoke model with a centralized min.io data layer and ETL pipelines feeding analytics and BI. Two big lessons here. One: invest in your tech stack deliberately so you're not a Frankenstein of five different platforms that don't talk to each other. Two: design your data architecture so your people (and your AI agents) have a single source of truth. That's how you get from fire-fighting in six dashboards to proactive, predictive signals that tell you when a client engagement needs attention. AI, Reskilling, and Shrinking Middle Roles Jennifer draws a hard line: the agency now tends to hire either very seasoned client-facing leaders or AI engineers; the middle is shrinking. With agentic networks giving junior staff “superpowers,” the agency can afford fewer mid-level “lever pullers.” At this level there's no room for slow execution or elementary work. That's a cultural and ethical challenge, both for hiring and for workforce development. For agency owners, this raises practical HR questions: do you reskill your people, or replace them? Jennifer suggests building agent-driven systems that augment humans, and being brutally honest about who can grow into that future. It's also a call to action for how we prepare the next generation: schools won't teach this; companies will need to. Playing with AI Platforms: Why Leaders Need to Just Know Enough to Be Dangerous Jennifer started like a lot of agency owners dipping into AI, playing around on tools like n8n, Make.com, Relevance, and Longchain. Her dev team laughed, calling her an “elementary school kid on a tricycle,” but here's the point: she didn't need to master the tech. She needed to know enough to point her team in the right direction. Instead of obsessing over code, she framed the problem differently: “Here's what I don't want a human doing anymore. Can you make that happen?” That mindset shift is key for agency owners. You don't need to be a full-stack AI engineer to lead an agency into the future; you just need to clearly define outcomes and invest in people who can deliver them. Find Real AI Talent in Unlikely Places This is where most agencies get stuck. You're not going to find your next AI architect on Upwork. Jennifer leaned on her network, starting with her cousin Chris, a hardcore developer who initially thought AI platforms were “rookie business.” Once Chris realized the power of agentic networks to scale his expertise, he became the backbone of CI Web Group's transformation. Now, she hunts talent in unconventional places: hackathons, LinkedIn, and especially YouTube. Forget the flashy “10x growth hack” videos — she looks for nerds with four views, geeking out about orchestrators and ETL pipelines. Those are the builders who care about solving real problems, not just building hype. Her tip: if you find one, reach out immediately. They don't want sales, they just want to build. Designing AI Agents Like an Agency Org Chart Jennifer compares AI agents to a company org chart. You don't hire one person to do everything, that's a recipe for burnout. Same thing with AI. Each agent should tightly focus on a single task, with checks, auditors, and orchestrators overseeing the system. The payoff was massive efficiency gains. Instead of six different platforms that don't talk, her agency built a centralized hub with min.io, ClickHouse, and AI layers on top. That's how you go from patchwork automation to true predictive intelligence. The Real Cost of AI Talent If you're wondering how much this all costs, the answer is… a lot. On the high end, seasoned AI engineers can run you a quarter million in salary. On the low end, Jennifer tests new hires on project-based sprints, maybe $6K for a 10-hour challenge. The point isn't to cut costs; it's to prove quickly who can deliver and who can't. Her recruiting process is brutal but effective: give candidates a project, a tight deadline, and see how they perform. If they stall, they're out. If they screen-share fast and solve problems live, they're in. No fluff, no endless interviews. Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset? Looking to dig deeper into your agency's potential? Check out our Agency Blueprint. Designed for agency owners like you, our Agency Blueprint helps you uncover growth opportunities, tackle obstacles, and craft a customized blueprint for your agency's success.
Margo is joined by Cassie McDaniel, Head of Design at Medium, where she leads product design, brand, and research. Cassie has also brought her design expertise to companies like Lattice, Webflow, Glitch, and Mozilla Foundation, and she's passionate about simplifying complex workflows while creating space for more meaningful design. Beyond her professional roles, Cassie is a painter, writer, DIY renovator, and environmental conservation group member—someone who embodies the importance of building a life rich with creativity both in and outside of work. In this conversation, Cassie and Margo explore what it means to be a well-rounded creative leader, how personal passions fuel professional innovation, and why design belongs at the leadership table. Cassie also gives us a peek behind the curtain at Medium's evolving design approach, including how her team thinks about content consumption, new UX navigation, and experiments with AI. Margo and Cassie discuss: The case for doing things outside your job and how hobbies unlock new creative potential How writing serves as “exercise for the brain” and a counterbalance to a busy design career Cassie's approach to mentorship, including hiring, coaching, and guiding designers at all levels A behind-the-scenes look at design at Medium, from flat minimalism to layered storytelling How a family legacy of persistence, from chicken farming to dentistry, shaped Cassie's approach to creativity and leadership Lessons from Cassie's career across Webflow, Glitch, Mozilla, and Medium, and why foundational creative skills translate to digital spaces What makes Medium unique as a platform for authentic stories, connection, and community The value of saying yes to new opportunities, co-designing with communities, and learning from every experience Balancing leadership, writing, and motherhood while still making time for passion projects at home Learn more about Cassie here: Website: cassiemcdaniel.com Medium: cassiebegins.medium.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cassiemc Instagram: @cassiebegins Connect with Margo: www.windowsillchats.com www.instagram.com/windowsillchats www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill https://www.yourtantaustudio.com/thefoundry Save the date for Medium Day 2025: https://medium.com/blog/save-the-date-for-medium-day-2025-50b1f15de07d Sign Up for the Sylva Solace Creative Resilience Retreat: https://www.bdi-create.today/sylva-retreat