How We Became a Content Marketing Agency
Joel Conner • November 5, 2019
Our Story may Help You Figure Out How to Leverage Content Marketing for Your Business
How we became a content marketing agency and which type of content marketing is the best fit for your business.
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Before I jump into our story, I need to give you this insight, content marketing is a great long-term investment for any business. The extent of certain factors (competition, location, marketing budgets, time constraints…) will determine if you should or could do some content marketing
on your own, hire a small content marketing agency, or hire a large digital marketing firm. As you read our story, you should have a clearer understanding about the content marketing path your business should be on.
When I started out as a web designer almost a decade ago, I used simple content marketing to rank my services on google. This included writing an occasional blog post, sharing a few things on Facebook, and listing my business with local directories. Over the years my web design firm grew and we became more of a typical “we do everything under the sun” digital marketing agency. This came about because our client’s pretty websites on a brand-new domain were often lost in vast ocean of the world wide web.
So, since we care, we began helping our clients grow their web presence. We often provided these services without extra fees. Another reason that we ended up doing this was because of some of the astronomical fees that agencies would quote them for “SEO.” Paying a thousand dollars a month for content marketing make perfect sense if you have product or service that may bring in several thousand dollars a month per new client/sale, but not if your product is $10-$50 and you’re not currently being found online.
So, after learning and testing PPC, Social Media Marketing, SEO, Backlink building, blogging, Video marketing and just about every other element of the digital marketing footprint, I have found that “Content Marketing,” was by far one of the best investments for business when done properly. SEO becomes the complimentary partner when more competitive keywords or locations are involved.
Don’t get me wrong, all those other pieces have their place, but providing answers to people’s questions and pain-points and understanding what a person is most likely to type into a search box in order to get a relevant answer via blog or video works wonders for getting your business in front of potential clients or buyers.
On a national or international level, content marketing can really difficult, but for local businesses, it can and does work wonders. This is why our agency made the decision to put our main focus on content marketing. We still provide all of those other marketing services, but they are not the backbone foundational piece.
Making Content Is Hard Work
Here’s the thing about content. It’s really, really hard to get it from business owners. Even larger businesses who could delegate blog writing, don’t, because nobody wants to do the hard work of writing quality original content.
So here are a couple of key points before I lose you…
1. You say you are going write a blog but, most likely, you won’t.
2. A content marketing agency will do a better job because they have insight about content keywords, article structure, plagiarism checking, URL structure, and other factors that will make a difference.
3. Media Agencies have the software to assess your competitors and thus provide a viable strategy to compete. Our agency spends thousands on software that provides us with insight in content development strategies.
4. Agencies have the tools to monitor and make adjustments to blog posts and webpages on your website.
5. Content marketing companies also know how to layer on other digital marketing factors such as video marketing and social signals to magnify the effects of your original content.
So, let’s unpack your options for doing content marketing.
1. Do it yourself.
Pros: Free. Rewarding. More personalized.
Cons: Lots of work. You have to schedule it into your daily life. You must be consistent and patient for it to work.
2. Small Content Marketing Agency
Pros:
• Happens on Autopilot.
• Agencies have more insight on what works (target keywords research - word count – SEO)
• Smaller agencies are much cheaper than large Marketing Agencies because they are typically leaner and have much less overhead and also less likely to outsource operations.
• More likely to have access to agencies founder or top minds.
Cons:
• Cost
• Content won’t be as personalized.
3. Large Marketing Agency
(These may vary from one agency to the next)
Pros:
• Typically have access to more resources and connections
• May have more experience in multiple industries
• More man-power for monitoring and managing projects. (a smaller agency typically has to do more multi-tasking)
Cons:
• Cost: These larger operations can cost up to double or triple what smaller content agencies charge.
• Outsourcing certain tasks to overseas virtual assistants has become common to offset overhead such as office space, larger staff, and leadership salaries.
• Stability: Many agencies never grow out of start-up mode and borrow insane amounts of money to get up and running. Smaller firms are usually cash-flow positive from the beginning, thus less likely to go out of business due to financial reasons.
• Access: Your support personal are likely not going to be seasoned experts at SEO and content marketing.
Disclaimer: These are general observations from an industry insider, but there are going to be media agencies that break the mold and to which these observations don’t apply. The account that I have given if born of my experiences, conversations, and research in trying to help businesses grow.
If I had to sum up Content Marketing in one word it would be RELEVANCY. You create the content that delivers relevant answers to what people are looking for. If you do that well, people will stay on your website and devour your content and what’s more they will know you are the “go to” resource when they need help and the goal of search engines is to put the right piece of content in front of the right person.
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Discover proven strategies for real estate agents to optimize their content and websites for AI search platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. Learn how to dominate AI-powered search results and attract more qualified leads in 2026.
A lot has changed since I published Digital Marketing with Tortoise & Hare in 2017. Back then, the digital marketing conversation was heavily centered on websites, search rankings, social media consistency, and building momentum over time. Those principles still matter, but the landscape has shifted in a big way. Even the way people discover businesses and consume information has changed. My book was published on June 12, 2017, and in many ways, that feels like a different era of digital marketing. One of the newer terms getting a lot of attention right now is GEO , which stands for Generative Engine Optimization . If you’ve been hearing people throw that term around and wondering whether it’s just another buzzword, you’re not alone. But there is something real behind it, and it’s worth understanding. So, What Is GEO? GEO is essentially the practice of optimizing your business, website, and content so that AI-driven search experiences can find, understand, trust, and reference you. Traditional SEO has focused on helping your website rank in search engine results. GEO is more about helping your brand show up in AI-generated answers , summaries, recommendations, and citations. In simple terms: SEO helps you rank. GEO helps you get referenced. That’s a meaningful distinction. Today, people are no longer just typing a keyword into Google and clicking through ten blue links. More and more, they are asking full questions and receiving summarized answers from AI tools. That means your content is not only competing for rankings anymore. It is also competing to become part of the answer itself. Has SEO Been Replaced? No. Let me say that clearly: GEO does not replace SEO. It builds on it. If your website is poorly structured, your content is thin, your service pages are weak, and your business has little authority online, then GEO is not going to magically fix that. The same foundational principles still matter: a technically sound website strong service and location pages clear messaging helpful content consistent brand signals trust and authority In other words, the tortoise still matters. Steady, strategic digital marketing still wins over hype, shortcuts, and shiny-object syndrome. That hasn’t changed. What has changed is that now your content needs to be useful not just for human readers and search crawlers, but also for AI systems trying to summarize the web. Why GEO Matters If AI-powered search experiences continue to grow, businesses that are easiest to understand and trust will have an advantage. That means the question is no longer just: “How do I rank for this keyword?” It’s also: “How do I become the kind of source that AI tools want to cite, summarize, and recommend?” That changes the strategy. Businesses that win in this next phase will likely have content that is: clear direct well-structured specific trustworthy supported by real-world authority The businesses that struggle will often be the ones still publishing vague, bloated, keyword-stuffed content that says a lot without really answering anything.
Most People Think They Understand AI Search. They Don’t. And that misunderstanding is exactly why they’re not showing up in: Perplexity Google AI Overviews (Gemini) ChatGPT web results Let’s break something open that most churches and ministries haven’t realized yet. The Assumption That’s Costing You Visibility You search for: “churches near me” You check Google. You see the top results—maybe even your church is listed. So logically… 👉 Those should be the churches AI recommends, right? Wrong. The Strange Reality of AI Search In many cases, AI-generated answers (especially in Google AI Overviews or Perplexity) recommend churches that: Aren’t at the very top of Google Sometimes aren’t even the most obvious local options At first glance, it feels random. It’s not. It’s a pattern. “Wait… Doesn’t Local SEO Still Matter?” Yes. It absolutely does. Showing up in Google Maps, having reviews, and optimizing your website are still critical foundations . But here’s the shift most churches don’t see: 👉 Your keyword is just the starting point. Not the final query. What AI Is Actually Doing Behind the Scenes AI doesn’t just take “churches near me” at face value. It reinterprets the intent. Inside tools like Google’s Gemini, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll notice something like this: “The user wants a church… but what kind? Maybe they want a family-friendly church… or a Bible-based church… or something with kids programs… I should search for: family-friendly churches near me with kids ministry” 💥 That’s the turning point. Why Your Church Isn’t Showing Up Here’s what happens next: AI rewrites the query It searches using its version of the intent It pulls churches that match that refined query So now… 👉 The churches being recommended are NOT just optimized for “churches near me.” They’re aligned with something like: “family-friendly church near me” “church with strong kids ministry near me” “non-denominational church with modern worship near me” Proof in Action If you take one of those rewritten queries, like: “family-friendly church near me with kids ministry” …and search it yourself… You’ll often see: 👉 The same churches AI is recommending. This pattern shows up across: Gemini (Google AI Overviews) ChatGPT search Perplexity And it’s consistent. The Hard Truth No One Is Talking About Let’s be clear: ❌ Your church isn’t being ignored ❌ SEO isn’t broken 👉 You’re losing interpretation battles. The New Game: AI Search for Churches If you want your church to show up in AI-driven results, here’s what actually works: 1. Start with the Core Search Think: “churches near me” “church in [your city]” 2. Identify How AI Expands It Ask: What kind of church is someone looking for? What concerns or needs might they have? Examples: Families with kids Young adults Spanish-speaking communities Bible-teaching focus 3. Discover the Rewritten Queries These might look like: “family-friendly church in [city]” “Christian church with youth group near me” “church with Spanish service near me” “small church with strong community near me” 4. Create Content That Matches Not just a generic homepage. But pages or sections that clearly communicate: Kids ministry Youth programs Worship style Beliefs Community life 5. Align With How AI Thinks When your church clearly answers those deeper needs… 👉 AI starts including you in its recommendations. This Isn’t About Doing More. It’s About Being Clearer. You don’t need: More complicated SEO strategies More technical tricks You need: 👉 Clear alignment with real human intent—through the lens of AI. Final Thought AI search is changing how people find a church. They’re not just searching… 👉 They’re asking. And AI is answering based on interpreted needs , not just keywords. The churches that will grow in this new landscape aren’t just visible. They’re understood.