Product priorities identified from search behavior
At a Glance
Client
The Home Depot Rental
Engagement
Content Strategy, SEO, SEM
Focus
Align content timing and priorities with DIY homeowner search behavior
Overview
Knowing what homeowners wanted wasn’t enough — we needed to know when they wanted it.
The Home Depot Rental needed a sharper read on DIY homeowner behavior so its content could meet people at the right moment, with the right message.
Knowing what homeowners wanted wasn’t enough — we needed to know when they wanted it.
We connected content marketing, SEO, and SEM to read search behavior as one system instead of three disconnected data sets.
The Proof
We identified 35 product priorities based on search behavior and opportunity, and 24 DIY projects based on trends and homeowner search behavior, then turned those into content that could support the brand throughout the year.
24
DIY projects identified
1
User-centric content strategy
The Goal
The Home Depot Rental wanted a content strategy grounded in real homeowner search behavior rather than assumptions.
Timing
Understand when DIY homeowners plan vs. when they start projects
Trends
Spot trending DIY projects and the moments search interest peaks
The Challenge
The challenge was timing. The Home Depot Rental needed to know not just what DIY audiences cared about, but when they cared about it. Without that, content could miss the planning window, the project window, or both. The team also needed a way to turn search trends into something usable across content, PR, influencer, and web efforts.
The Solution
Our content marketing, SEO, and SEM teams worked together to read homeowner search behavior from the same system. We reviewed impression volume for the brand’s tools and equipment using SEM data to define product priorities.
Then we layered in Pinterest Trends, Google Trends, and SEO keywords to identify trending DIY projects, spot search spikes, and find the right moments for campaign flighting. That connected view gave The Home Depot Rental a content strategy grounded in proof, not guesswork.
We created one content strategy that fed integrated marketing efforts across PR, influencer, and website work, plus one annual content production calendar to map cross-channel topics and efforts across the year.
Increase organic visibility for high-value, transaction-focused keywords
Overview
We treated technical SEO and content SEO as one connected system, because that’s how search actually works.
Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US (METUS) already had solid organic visibility. But the site’s own code was holding it back. JavaScript barriers kept search engines from fully reading key product pages, capping how far that visibility could grow.
The Proof
Removing technical barriers and strengthening content signals moved the needle across the board. Over time, that showed up in the numbers:
+51%
Increase in non-branded search visits from high-value terms
+29%
YoY lift in top 10 keyword rankings
+24%
YoY lift in top 3 keyword rankings
That’s what happens when technical access and content signals work from the same plan.
The Goal
METUS wanted to win more share of voice for high-value, transaction-focused searches, while also reaching prospects earlier in their journey.
Visibility
Increase organic visibility for high-value, transaction-focused keywords
Reach
Expand to connect with prospects earlier in their consideration
The Challenge
Our content marketing, SEO, and SEM teams worked together to read homeowner search behavior from the same system. We reviewed impression volume for the brand’s tools and equipment using SEM data to define product priorities.
Search engines also had trouble discovering and parsing some product-page content because of JavaScript roadblocks, which limited how fully the site could show up in search. We needed technical access and stronger content signals working together — not as separate fixes.
The Solution
We built a connected system across technical SEO, internal linking, and content:
Technical SEO
Worked with METUS developers to remove JavaScript barriers so crawlers could find and read product-page content on mitsubishicomfort.com.
Internal Linking
Strengthened the site’s internal linking so Google could better discover, index, and understand the full page set.
Content & Metadata
Refined metadata, webpage elements, and site copy with the METUS marketing team to improve priority pages for valuable search terms across informational and product-focused content.
One connected system, built for search visibility, and the numbers that followed weren’t luck. They were structure.
Dairyland needed a full website revamp to match a tough non-standard auto insurance market. We designed them a faster site, rooted in strategy and built for growth.
UX & Web Design, Web Development, Content Strategy, SEO
Project
Website Redesign
Focus
Improve speed, ease of use, and content education
Overview
In a category where every second matters, the old site needed more than a visual refresh. It needed a new system.
Dairyland came to us with a clear need: rebuild the website around speed, content, and a better user experience.
We started with the truth in the market, connected strategy, content, UX, and technical architecture into one plan, and gave Dairyland a stronger foundation for growth.
The Proof
The redesigned site launched on time and on budget, driving a 35% growth in YoY conversions. That momentum led to additional projects with their parent company, Sentry, in B2B insurance. Clear architecture. Measurable lift. Repeatable value.
On Time
Launch timing
On Budget
Budget Status
The Goal
Dairyland wanted a complete website revamp that would improve speed, content delivery, user experience, and brand presentation in a competitive insurance category.
The Challenge
The new website had to perform in the high-pressure, non-standard auto-insurance space, where speed and content delivery matter. Dairyland also needed the work to cover content, technical architecture, UX, and branding at once, without losing momentum or control.
The Solution
We started with strategy, completing competitive, content, SEO, and UX audits, then worked with Dairyland’s marketing and IT teams to design a composable architecture and built the site using Contentful CMS, a static site generator, and the Uniform content editor. We shaped the content model around SEO, tuned the experience around usability, and built a flexible system that could support the new site and future work.
Potential customers searching for banking and mortgage keywords were not discovering WesBanco as the leader in the space that they are.
WesBanco had the products. They had the expertise. What they didn’t have was visibility. And in search, invisibility is indistinguishable from absence.
The website had almost no content targeting the keywords their customers were actually using. One mortgage page. No landing page architecture. No path for search engines to follow.
Three years of disciplined SEO and content work built that path. And the results compounded from there.
The Proof
Three years in. The organic visibility WesBanco deserved finally matched the market position they’d already earned.
2x+
YoY increase in organic traffic to mortgage web pages
50
Position improvement in targeted keywords within six months
36
Terms onto page 1 within six months
The Goal
WesBanco was invisible for the keywords their customers were searching. The goal was to fix that, and turn organic search into a real driver of mortgage product awareness and application starts.
Visibility
Rank for high-value non-branded banking and mortgage keywords in major search engines
Conversions
Drive measurable growth in mortgage product awareness and application starts
The Challenge
In search, WesBanco wasn’t ranking for non-branded keywords. That meant potential customers were finding competitors first and never discovering WesBanco at all. The website compounded the problem. Almost no content existed beyond a single mortgage page.
We needed more content that spoke to WesBanco's unique product offerings, built to rank, and designed to move a potential customer toward an application.
The Solution
Our SEO and content teams built the work in stages.
Year 1
In year one, we created SEO-optimized content pages around core products and expanded one mortgage page into 10 targeted landing pages to widen keyword reach and audience coverage.
Year 2
In year two, we added long-form pages to support SEO and link back to key product pages, while revising blog content for stronger performance.
Year 3
In year three, we refined site optimizations around specific audiences and needs, building new content and improving user experience to strengthen internal linking and external awareness.
UX & Web Design, Content Strategy, Content Creation, SEO
Project
Website Redesign
Focus
Informative, easy-to-use website for prospective students
Overview
Indiana University of Pennsylvania had a content problem. They had too much of it, it was poorly organized, and it came from a professor’s point of view — not what prospective students and their parents were looking for.
They needed a new website that would give clear, engaging academic program copy, and help those pages show up in search.
The Goal
IUP wanted a website that made it easy for prospective students to discover learn about their programs. It needed to be on their level and perform better in search engines like Google and Bing.
Clarity
Similar program names, inconsistent page structures, upper-level jargon and a confusing site architecture made it hard to find the right information.
Findability
IUP wasn't showing up for Organic searches for priority programs potential students were looking for.
The Challenge
The university had to turn 150+ academic programs into compelling web content during a relaunch, while keeping the writing accurate, searchable, and aligned with input from multiple departments and faculty members.
The Solution
We analyzed web traffic and user experience to redesign the site navigation and web page templates to focus on prospective students while leaving room for academic input and improving way-finding for site users.
Working with the IUP team, SEO research shaped program titles, keywords and metadata, and a nine-writer, four-editor content team worked with stakeholders to get everything right before launch. That connected process kept the content useful for people and legible for search, giving IUP a stronger content foundation for discovery and engagement, not just prettier pages.
The Proof
Across academic program pages, SEO findability improved and it led to new site sessions.
71/109
Pages saw initial keyword ranking increases
41
Pages began ranking when they hadn't before
+33%
YoY increase user sessions
+63%
YoY increase in new users
But it wasn’t just more traffic — the users finding the site were more engaged, staying longer and completing more critical site actions.
YellaWood® needed more site traffic and more DIY project plan downloads. We rebuilt project plan landing pages around search intent and user value. Each new batch of optimized plans helped drive measurable YoY growth.
YellaWood® DIY project plans already had a clear role in the purchase journey. When people downloaded a plan, they were showing intent that could lead to product use and, ultimately, a sale.
The problem was simple: traffic was soft, and downloads had fallen.
We responded with a search-first system that made the pages easier to find and more useful. When the content answers the question faster, users move faster too.
The Proof
Ongoing SEO revisions drove new users to DIY project plans and increased downloads. Each new batch of revisions drove incremental traffic and engagement.
+40%
Month-one traffic growth, Batch 1
+194%
YoY traffic growth in six months, Batch 2
+97%
YoY traffic growth after two months, Batch 3
+35%
YoY increase in plan downloads after just one month
The Goal
Increase traffic to YellaWood® DIY project plan pages and drive more plan downloads from Organic search.
Traffic
Increased rankings for plans people wanted to complete would drive them to the site.
Downloads
Helping people understand what was inside the gated content encouraged interaction.
The Challenge
Project plans encourage smaller scale, but more frequent in-store purchases. The client has seen a correlation between volume of downloads, dealer searches, and in-store foot traffic. But project plan traffic had fallen, and downloads were down in 2020.
The pages need to rank better, answer search intent more clearly, and give users a stronger reason to download.
The Solution
We used keyword research to shape project ideas, optimizing the project plan landing page and six individual plan pages. Then, we expanded the effort across three additional batches of project plans.
Copy Edits
Tightened page copy to help users get the more impactful information up front ― so they knew they wanted the plan ― and used keyword research to guide optimization based on what users were looking for in a plan.
Design Improvements
Improved the design so users could see more of the project in the hero image, and more of the content before they got started – including adding a Plan Preview function so they knew what cuts and materials they would need, seeing the value before they committed to a download.
New Plans
Created new plans based on search intent. Keyword research identified a gap in the market – users wantaed plans they could build with YellaWood® that they weren’t offering yet. We worked with YellaWood® to build new plans that captured user interest, traffic and downloads.
The result was steady traffic gain, stronger download volume, and a clearer connection between search performance and user action. Data and creative worked as one system: search intent shaped the content, and the content and design updates made the pages more useful. Ongoing SEO revisions kept the momentum going.
How the Ever-Evolving Landscape of Generative Search Impacts Your Brand
AI seems to dominate every conversation around technological innovation, and for good reason.
AI is reshaping industries across the board, including yours. From a marketing standpoint, AI tools have already helped streamline workflows and drive efficiency. But one particular advance is creating real disruption in the marketing landscape: generative search.
Generative search is a new kind of search experience powered by generative AI. Instead of simply returning a list of links like traditional search engines, it delivers direct, curated answers and insights by synthesizing information from multiple sources. Popular platforms to which searchers are turning for generative responses to their prompts and queries include ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini (including AI Overviews and AI Mode), Perplexity AI, among others.
ChatGPT and other engines are changing the way users interact with search. Queries become more iterative and results more personalized.
This approach goes beyond keyword-based search. Large language models (LLMs) are generating text, code, images, and more, providing users with rich, contextualized responses in real time.
And it’s changing how users interact with search.
According to the Pew Research Center, users who receive AI-generated summaries from Google are significantly less likely to click through to external websites. Only 8% of users who see an AI summary click on a link, compared to 15% of users who do not receive a summary.
8%
of users who see an AI summary click on a link
What does this mean for your brand?
First—don’t panic, don’t ignore, but do prepare. Generative search is an evolution, not a revolution. While its immediate impact includes a noticeable decline in direct traffic from traditional search results, it also presents new opportunities to influence how your brand is discovered and represented.
Generative search is an evolution, not a revolution.
In this new landscape, AI is doing the searching. It’s gathering sources and presenting information in a clear, synthesized format. The good news? The same trust signals that drive success in traditional search are exactly what generative engines prioritize. These systems rely on high-quality owned and earned content to determine which brands are authoritative and trustworthy.
Google’s AI Overviews is changing the SERP (search engine results page) landscape and how users interact with answers.
To earn that recognition, your brand needs strong owned content—on your website and across external channels. But equally important is validation from third-party sources, such as partner websites, consumer reviews, and reputable publications. Ultimately, success in generative search comes down to creating better content that performs across all search environments and positions your brand as a credible, expert voice.
Up next, we’ll explore practical ways to adapt your content strategy to influence how AI presents your brand.
How do you start adjusting?
Despite some of the noise from service providers, there are no shortcuts to enhancing generative search performance. It all begins with a strong content strategy. That means identifying gaps in your current content, filling those gaps with high-quality, relevant material, and securing third-party validation to reinforce your brand’s credibility.
This foundational work ensures your content is not only discoverable but also trusted—by both users and AI systems.
Auditing your content
Before creating content for AI-driven search, it’s essential to establish a strong foundation. That starts with addressing any quality issues, ensuring your brand:
Demonstrates genuine expertise and shares firsthand experience
Conveys trustworthiness, credibility, and authority
Is transparent in authorship and data collection methodology
Offers unique information and answers that resonate with audiences to build notoriety and notability
To help AI systems understand and prioritize your content, focus on:
Clear formatting
Direct, concise answers
Coverage of meaningful, relevant topics
A well-rounded strategy also includes delivering consistent messaging across multiple formats, like text, video, images, infographics, and audio. This makes your content not only more engaging for users but also easier for AI to recognize, interpret, and surface in search results.
Establish original content and thought leadership
LLMs increasingly prioritize content that offers original insights, introduces new data, and demonstrates thought leadership. Regularly updating existing content and publishing fresh material signals to AI systems that your organization is committed to providing timely, relevant information—and reinforces your brand’s authority in its space.
To stay visible and influential in AI-driven search environments, focus on creating content that delivers real value:
Share original insights through proprietary surveys, studies, or data, and highlight newsworthy updates like company milestones or events.
Monitor trending topics and search patterns to offer timely, fresh perspectives that align with current user interests.
Engage with media and industry experts by responding to journalists’ requests and building relationships with trusted organizations.
Identify gaps in competitor content and use those insights to inform your outreach and content strategy—positioning your brand where others fall short.
Understand how users search patterns are changing and where you’re currently positioned.Create a strategic roadmap to capture share of voice across a wider variety of platforms.
Stay ahead of emerging topics
With advanced AI tools now capable of tracking and analyzing user search behavior, brands have a powerful opportunity to stay ahead of trending topics. By integrating insights across all search and brand visibility channels, not just keyword rankings, you can pinpoint the topics that truly resonate with your audience.
This enables the creation of timely, relevant content that not only connects with consumers but also positions your brand as a trusted authority. When your content reflects expertise and credibility, AI systems are more likely to surface and prioritize it.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on generative search and explore how your brand can adapt and thrive in this evolving landscape. Feel free to reach out anytime—we’re here to connect and collaborate.
Brunner team members from across the agency contribute to blog content through their storytelling expertise, from writing and editing to visual design, illustration, and video.
The Secret to Powerful Content Audits Is SEO + Content Collaboration
Content Gaps, Missed Clicks, and SEO Wins: What a Content Audit Reveals
Customers expect relevant, helpful content—anytime, anywhere. For brands, this means that knowing exactly what content they have (and don’t have) is more than just good housekeeping—it’s a strategic advantage. That’s where a content audit comes in.
Working together creates content optimized for better performance – no silos here – two teams working in harmony for a better product.
What is a content audit?
A content audit is a comprehensive assessment of your existing content, typically across your website. It’s an opportunity to take a step back, evaluate what’s working, identify what’s not, and uncover opportunities to improve. Think of it as a content inventory paired with expert analysis and actionable recommendations.
At its core, a content audit answers key questions:
What content do we have?
Who is it for?
Is it performing?
Does it align with our brand voice and business goals?
What content don’t we have?
What content do we need?
Why SEO and content audits go hand-in-hand
Performing a content audit is a collaborative effort between the SEO and Content teams, each bringing their unique expertise to the table. The SEO team will lead keyword research, while the Content team will analyze competitors’ websites and identify content opportunities that align with the brand’s current audience personas.
Collaborating with an SEO team for a content audit can provide a powerful lens through which to evaluate content for your brand. It helps uncover:
Underperforming Content: By analyzing keyword rankings, traffic, and bounce rates, SEO tools highlight pages that need updating, rewriting, or removal.
Content Gaps: Keyword research and competitive analysis reveal what your audience is searching for—and what your site might be missing. With tools like Ahrefs, we can benchmark your content against your competitors’ and identify opportunities to better serve your target audience.
The SEO and Content teams collaborate to create smarter content that works for your brand.
What a content audit delivers
A well-executed audit provides:
A clear inventory of your top-performing pages (e.g., top 250)
Recommendations to revise, retain, or retire content
Persona alignment analysis
Insights into tone, imagery, and brand voice consistency
A roadmap for future content creation
It also helps answer strategic questions like:
Are we meeting the needs of our total addressable market (TAM)?
Do we have the right resources, processes, and tech to scale?
Is our site mobile-first and easy to maintain?
A real-world example: Dairyland
When we conducted a content audit for a car insurance client, we discovered that over 60% of their content was geared toward just one of their four key personas. While that content was strong, it left major gaps in terms of the other three audiences—gaps that were limiting engagement and growth.
60%
of their content was geared toward 1/4 key personas
Our audit helped the brand:
Rebalance their content strategy to better serve all personas
Identify which pages to revise, keep, or remove
Understand how their content aligned with business goals and user needs
We also categorized their content—educational, marketing, lifestyle—to ensure a well-rounded mix that supports both brand awareness and conversion.
The end goal is smarter, stronger content
Ultimately, a content audit is about building a smarter, more strategic content ecosystem—one that’s optimized for SEO, aligned with your brand, and designed to meet the evolving needs of your audience.
Whether you’re planning a website redesign, launching a new campaign, or you want to improve performance, a content audit is the first step toward creating content that truly works.
Ready to identify gaps and opportunities with a content audit?
We’d love to learn more about your goals and the challenges you’re navigating. Let’s connect and explore how smarter content can help you get there. Reach out anytime—we’re here to help!
Brunner team members from across the agency contribute to blog content through their storytelling expertise, from writing and editing to visual design, illustration, and video.
