Hello and happy Friday! This is the team at Boulder SEO Marketing. We know many local small businesses want to rank at the top of Google and other search engines, such as ChatGPT, to generate leads and increase sales from their online activities. That’s precisely what the agency does.

In today’s Friday SEO tip, the team will discuss how to get there. How to actually reach those top positions in Google and other search engines. Founder Chris Raulf is breaking down four critical elements that will help businesses achieve those rankings.

The Foundation: Two Critical Ranking Signals

Two of the most important ranking signals for achieving high positions in Google and other search engines work together to determine how effectively content can rank. These are domain authority (or domain trust) and personal E-E-A-T scores.

Factor #1: Domain Authority and Domain Trust

The first critical factor is the domain authority (or trust) of the website where the content is published. This is foundational to everything else that follows.

An easy way to assess domain trust is to use a tool like SE Ranking. Here’s the exact process the team uses:

Navigate to the competitive research section of SE Ranking. Plug in the website you want to analyze (in this demonstration, Chris uses boulderseomarketing.com). Hit the analyze button. The tool will display the domain trust score along with other valuable metrics.

Boulder SEO Marketing‘s domain trust currently stands at 23, which is relatively high compared to industry standards. Most websites that the BSM team works with typically fall in the single digits. Some make it into the teens. Occasionally, sites reach the 20s; very rarely do they reach the 30s or 40s.

Why does this matter? The higher a website’s domain trust, the easier it is to rank content published on that site. It’s like having a head start in a race. A higher domain trust means Google already views your site as more credible and authoritative.

The team implements a range of strategies within a comprehensive SEO plan to increase domain trust. This video doesn’t cover all those tactics (that would require an extensive workshop), but understanding that domain trust exists and significantly impacts rankings is the critical first step.

Think of domain trust as your website’s reputation score in Google’s eyes. Building it takes time, consistent effort, and the strategic implementation of tactics such as high-quality content, authoritative backlinks, positive user signals, and technical excellence.

Factor #2: Your Personal E-E-A-T Score

The second critical factor for getting content to rank as quickly as possible is your personal E-E-A-T score. E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

This is where things get really interesting. If businesses can prove to Google and other search engines that they’re the real deal, that they have genuine expertise and authority, it becomes significantly easier to get content to rank at the top. This allows them to connect with the right people who are actively searching for their products or services.

Chris demonstrates this concept using a BlitzMetrics tool. When he searches for his own name, the confidence score is 349. That’s exceptionally high.

Why is Chris’s E-E-A-T score so high? He’s been in the SEO game for about 30 years now. That’s not a typo, three decades of hands-on experience. He speaks at conferences globally. Boulder SEO Marketing publishes numerous press releases. The agency consistently demonstrates expertise through educational content, webinars, and thought leadership.

Basically, Google knows about Chris Raulf. When you review his knowledge graph, you can see that Google clearly understands who he is, what he does, and what he’s known for, and even recognizes his social media profiles.

The higher a person’s confidence score or E-E-A-T score, the easier it is to rank their website content. This isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s built systematically over months and years through:

• Speaking engagements at industry conferences
• Publishing high-quality, authoritative content
• Getting featured in industry publications
• Building a strong social media presence
• Earning mentions and citations from other authoritative sources
• Consistently demonstrating genuine expertise in your field

This takes time and dedication, but it’s one of the most valuable assets a business can build for long-term SEO success.

Factor #3: Creating Authoritative Long-Form Content

This brings us to the third critical factor, where the Boulder SEO Marketing team demonstrates the power of these strategies in action.

Earlier this week, the agency hosted a three-hour-long AI SEO & GEO Online Summit under Chris Raulf’s personal brand at chrisraulf.com. This brand focuses exclusively on AI and SEO, positioning Chris as a thought leader in these emerging areas.

The team was able to invite some of the most respected names in the industry. Many thanks to:

• Cyrus Shepard – Founder of Zyppy SEO
• Brett Schklar – Founder and CEO of AI-First Leadership
• Daniel Burns – COO & Digital Strategist at Boulder SEO Marketing
• Mike Korenugin – VP of Product at SE Ranking

If you missed this three-hour-long online summit (and over 600 people registered, so you’re not alone), the recording is now available on the Boulder SEO Marketing YouTube channel.

Here’s the key point: The agency created an incredible piece of content, a three-hour-long, authoritative video that provides genuine value to the audience. And guess what? It now ranks at the very top in Google when you search for “AI SEO Summit.”

The video already has over 400 views and 27 likes. More importantly, people genuinely appreciated the content. The comments and feedback demonstrate that viewers found real value in the presentations and insights shared.

The BSM Copilot Methodology

Viewers are particularly invited to learn about the updated BSM Copilot Version 2.0. Daniel Burns walked through this methodology in significant detail during the summit.

The agency is migrating all clients to BSM Copilot Version 2.0. With this upgraded system, the team can achieve significantly more with the same budget and deliver substantially better results for clients.

It’s a sophisticated AI SEO methodology that combines human expertise with AI capabilities. The system allows the agency to:

• Create more content in less time
• Maintain authentic client voice and expertise
• Optimize for both traditional search and AI-powered search engines
• Deliver content that’s 90% complete before client review
• Scale content production without sacrificing quality

Factor #4: Complete Search Result Domination

This brings us to the fourth critical factor: the most visually impressive when you see it in action: dominating search results for your target keywords across multiple touchpoints.

Obviously, the AI SEO Summit wasn’t designed as a sales event. It was genuinely educational, bringing together industry experts to share cutting-edge insights about AI and SEO. But the secondary benefit demonstrates the power of comprehensive content distribution.

When you do an incognito search for “AI SEO Summit” (incognito ensures you’re seeing unbiased results, not personalized to your search history), look at what happens:

Boulder SEO Marketing appears at the very top of the results. But it’s not just one listing. The agency has achieved what the team calls “search result domination.”

One video result is from a Friday SEO Tip (or AI SEO Tip) about the summit. Then there’s the direct link to the online summit recording itself. Check this out: There’s also a link to the landing page on Chris’s personal website at chrisraulf.com.

The team used Eventbrite for event registration, so it appears in the results too. There is also information published on the boulderseomarketing.com website. Chris published a post about this summit on his personal LinkedIn profile, which generated additional visibility. There are further links to other entities that discuss or promote the online summit.

Boulder SEO Marketing is completely dominating this keyword across multiple result types:

• Video results
• Organic website listings
• Event platform listings
• Social media presence
• Personal brand mentions
• Corporate website presence

This is the power of doing YouTube videos combined with a comprehensive content distribution strategy. When you create valuable content and distribute it strategically across multiple platforms, you don’t just rank, you dominate the entire first page of results.

This is critically important for any business serious about SEO and online visibility.

The Power of Educational Content Strategy

The agency’s content-creation approach focuses primarily on education rather than sales. This philosophy drives both the quality of content and the results it generates.

Local SEO Webinar

The next major initiative focuses on educational content for local service businesses. The team encourages anyone in the local services space to sign up for the upcoming local SEO webinar happening on January 20th. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mastering-local-seo-in-2026-strategies-tools-to-dominate-your-market-tickets-1816038141969?aff=oddtdtcreator

That’s just about a month away. The agency will share valuable local SEO tips that incorporate its latest AI SEO methodology. These aren’t generic tips you can find anywhere; they’re specific, actionable strategies based on what’s working for the agency’s clients right now.

Here’s the strategic point: Offering educational content on your website is one of the most potent ways to increase domain authority and trust. You’re demonstrating expertise, providing genuine value, and building authority simultaneously.

When you search “local SEO webinar,” you’ll see that people are actively searching for this keyword. There’s real demand.

Initially, searchers will see Google’s AI Overview at the top of the results. Boulder SEO Marketing gets listed as a top provider of local SEO webinars within the AI Overview. The agency is also listed near the top of Google’s traditional organic results.

This demonstrates the power of creating and promoting educational content on your website. There are tremendous benefits to this approach:

• Builds domain authority
• Demonstrates expertise
• Generates qualified leads (people attending webinars are actively interested in SEO)
• Creates opportunities for speaking and teaching
• Produces content assets that can be repurposed
• Strengthens brand positioning

Chris loves speaking and is an educator at heart. The team highly recommends that, if speaking and teaching resonate with a business, they should host webinars or educational events.

AI SEO Webinar

Then there’s the next AI SEO webinar. The team just updated the landing page for this event, and it’s scheduled for March 25th. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/geo-is-the-new-seo-how-to-adapt-your-strategy-for-ai-powered-search-tickets-1977484466271?aff=oddtdtcreator

So much is happening in the AI and SEO space right now. The landscape is evolving rapidly, and staying current requires continuous learning and adaptation.

Attendees will learn how to get listed in search engines, including ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and other emerging AI-powered search platforms. This is what the agency calls Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), optimizing for AI-powered search, not just traditional search engines.

Again, when you search for “AI SEO webinar,” you’ll see it’s a popular search term. There’s significant search volume and clear intent.

Boulder SEO Marketing appears right at the very top of the results. That listing shows the last webinar the agency hosted on this topic. The agency is also prominently featured in the video results section.

There’s tremendous benefit in both (A) providing educational content on your website and (B) uploading this content to your YouTube channel. These two platforms work together synergistically to boost visibility, authority, and rankings.

Why This Matters for Your Business Right Now

This was a very packed Friday SEO tip. Still, the team wanted to introduce and thoroughly explain the concept of creating educational content to boost domain authority and drive rankings.

Here’s a comprehensive recap of the four critical factors:

Factor #1 – Domain Trust/Authority: This is the foundation that determines how easily your content can rank. Higher domain trust means faster rankings, better positions, and more consistent results. It’s built over time through quality content, authoritative backlinks, positive user signals, and technical excellence.

Factor #2 – Personal E-E-A-T Score: Your individual reputation, expertise, and trustworthiness as recognized by Google and other search engines. This is built over months and years through speaking engagements, publishing authoritative content, earning media mentions, and consistently demonstrating genuine expertise in your field.

Factor #3 – Authoritative Long-Form Content: Creating comprehensive, valuable content, such as the three-hour AI SEO Summit, that delivers genuine value to the audience while demonstrating deep expertise. This type of content builds authority, naturally generates backlinks, and provides multiple opportunities for ranking.

Factor #4 – Search Result Domination: Appearing in multiple positions and formats (organic results, video results, different platforms, social media) for your target keywords. This creates compound visibility where potential customers encounter your brand multiple times in a single search session.

The BSM Systematic Approach

When Boulder SEO Marketing works with clients on implementing these strategies, the team takes a very systematic, methodical approach developed over years of experience:

First, they conduct a comprehensive audit of current domain trust and existing E-E-A-T signals. This baseline assessment shows the client’s current position and identifies the most significant opportunities for improvement.

Then they develop a content strategy focused specifically on topics where the client has genuine expertise. This is critical: you can’t fake expertise, and trying to do so is counterproductive. The strategy focuses on leveraging the client’s existing knowledge.

Next, the team creates and publishes authoritative content across multiple platforms. This isn’t about volume for volume’s sake; it’s about creating genuinely valuable content and distributing it strategically.

They build backlinks and citations through speaking opportunities, publishing on authoritative platforms, and strategic partnerships. These aren’t manipulative link schemes; they’re natural authority signals earned through genuine expertise.

Finally, they continuously monitor rankings and adjust the strategy based on what’s working. SEO isn’t set-it-and-forget-it. It requires ongoing optimization and refinement.

This isn’t a quick fix or a shortcut. It’s a long-term strategy that compounds over time. But the results are absolutely worth the investment: sustainable rankings that don’t disappear with algorithm updates, qualified traffic from people genuinely interested in your services, and genuine authority in your industry that opens doors beyond just SEO.

Join the Ongoing Conversation

The team at Boulder SEO Marketing is genuinely passionate about helping local service businesses succeed with SEO. These four factors, domain trust, E-E-A-T, authoritative content, and search result domination, form the foundation of everything the agency does for clients.

If you’re interested in learning more about implementing these strategies for your business, the team invites you to attend one of their upcoming educational events. There are no sales pitches, just valuable information shared by people who genuinely love teaching and helping businesses succeed online.

The agency’s philosophy is “no gatekeeping.” They share strategies openly because they believe that rising tides lift all boats. Plus, implementation is where the real work happens, and that’s where the agency adds tremendous value for clients seeking expert guidance and execution.

As always, stay safe and healthy, 

The Boulder SEO Marketing Team

P.S. If you want to dive deeper into these topics and see them demonstrated in action, definitely check out the three-hour AI SEO Summit recording. Daniel Burns’s presentation on BSM Copilot Version 2.0 alone is worth watching the entire summit. The agency is implementing this sophisticated methodology across all clients and seeing remarkable results. The combination of human expertise and AI capabilities is genuinely transforming what’s possible in SEO.