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Unlocking SEO: Your Website's Key to Visibility in the Age of AI

Updated: Aug 29

There’s a phrase that echoes through the digital marketing world every couple of years: "SEO is dead." But if you were in our vibrant community call this week, you’d know nothing could be further from the truth.


This week, we were thrilled to host Velizara Tellalyan (Zara), a certified SEO consultant and Google Ads expert with over 13 years of experience, for a deep dive into SEO for Beginners. With over 20 members in attendance, the energy was electric, filled with fantastic questions and insightful answers.


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For those who couldn't make it or for anyone who wants a refresher, here’s a recap of the key takeaways that are already changing how our members think about their online presence.



SEO is Very Much Alive (And Evolving)

Zara kicked off the call by addressing the elephant in the room: the rise of AI chatbots like ChatGPT. Is SEO still worth the investment?


The resounding answer was yes.


"SEO is the visibility of your website," Zara explained. "Your organic visibility, which you capitalize on over time without investing every month in advertising, is your SEO."

While AI is a powerful new tool, studies show it still only holds a small fraction of the global search market compared to Google's billions of daily searches. The key insight?


AI and LLMs (Large Language Models) are trained on website content. This means that having a strong, well-optimized website is now more important than ever to be visible across all platforms, including in AI-generated responses.


"SEO will only become irrelevant when we stop using websites," Zara noted. And that future is nowhere in sight.


The Three Pillars of a Strong SEO Strategy


Many think SEO is just about keywords. Zara clarified that it’s a much more robust field built on three core pillars:


  1. Technical SEO: This is the foundation. It’s all about making sure search engine bots can easily crawl and understand your website. This includes site speed, mobile-friendliness, site architecture, and internal linking (like your menus and footers!).


  2. On-Page SEO: This is the content you control on your pages. It encompasses your target keywords, high-quality content, meta titles, and descriptions.


  3. Off-Page SEO: This is about your website’s reputation across the internet, primarily built through backlinks. When a reputable site links to yours, it’s seen as a "vote of confidence" by Google, significantly boosting your authority.


Your First Step: Don't Guess, Do Keyword Research

For any business owner feeling overwhelmed, Zara had one clear piece of advice: start with keyword research.


This is the absolute first step in any SEO strategy. It’s not about guessing what your customers might search for; it’s about using data to understand what they actually type into Google. Keyword research helps you:


  • Discover the exact phrases your potential clients use.

  • Gauge the monthly search volume for those terms.

  • Understand the competition ("keyword difficulty") so you can target realistic, high-impact keywords first.


This research informs everything else—from the pages you create on your site to the content you write and the links you build.


The Tools of the Trade

You can’t do SEO in the dark. Zara recommended starting with a robust tool suite like SEMrush or Ahrefs, which offer a full range of features from keyword research to site audits. For those targeting the Chinese market, she highlighted Dragon Metrics for Baidu SEO.


And for our members, she offered a pro-tip: Leverage the Women of Hong Kong Business Directory! Listing your business creates a valuable "backlink" from our authoritative site to yours, giving your SEO a helpful boost.


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A Huge Thank You to Zara!


We are so grateful to Zara for demystifying SEO and for her generous, expert advice. The conversation was so rich we only scratched the surface! The excitement was palpable, and we’re already planning a follow-up workshop to dive even deeper.


Want to connect with Zara?

She is a full-time consultant based in Hong Kong and is available for consultations. You can find her on LinkedIn, find her through her website here


Did you miss this call?

Don’t worry! We host expert-led community calls and workshops every month. Check out our upcoming events and join us to learn, connect, and grow your business alongside Hong Kong’s most supportive community of women.


Thank you to everyone who joined and asked such brilliant questions. Your engagement is what makes this community so special.


Your Partner in Growth,

The Women of Hong Kong Team

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