--- title: Turn Clicks Into Customers With the VIP of SEO and CRO Duane Forrester description: The future of SEO is bright says CRO expert Duane Forrester who has spent 20 years writing and working on SEO for companies such as Search Engine Land, Microsoft, Bing, and now Yext. While SEO is still important, it is more of a tactic now. Hear his strategies for ranking and selling today. image: https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-36377058.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duane-forrester-seo-cro#main-content) [![Wes Schaeffer is The Sales Whisperer®](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/wes-header-lockup.png?width=1560&height=360&name=wes-header-lockup.png)](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/) - Work With Me Show submenu for Work With Me - [Fix Your Follow-Up](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/follow-up) - [Best Day Ever](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-day-ever) - [HANK The AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank) - [12 Weeks To Peak™](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak) - [48-Hour Fix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/48-hour-fix) - [Start](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/start) - [Blog](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog) - [The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) - [Speaking](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/sales-keynote-speaker) - [Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) Show submenu for Podcast - [Podcast Guests](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast-guests) - [About](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Work With Me Show submenu for Work With Me - [Fix Your Follow-Up](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/follow-up) - [Best Day Ever](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/best-day-ever) - [HANK The AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hank) - [12 Weeks To Peak™](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/12-weeks-to-peak) - [48-Hour Fix](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/48-hour-fix) - [Start](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/start) - [Blog](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog) - [The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) - [Speaking](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/sales-keynote-speaker) - [Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) Show submenu for Podcast - [Podcast Guests](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast-guests) - [About](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about) - [Get The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) [Get The Daily](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) Aug 27, 2018 # Turn Clicks Into Customers With the VIP of SEO and CRO Duane Forrester ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duane-forrester-seo-cro) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duane-forrester-seo-cro) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duane-forrester-seo-cro) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duane-forrester-seo-cro) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duane-forrester-seo-cro) ## SEO is alive and well but DKM is taking over. Learn how the two work together to make every sale. **.**  --- --- ***[\[ LISTEN NOW ON APPLE PODCASTS \]](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sales-whisperer-wes-schaeffer-hosts-the-sales-podcast/id655310847?mt=2)*** ## [Sales Tips](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/daily) you'll learn today on [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast)... - Owns 160 domains - His parents ran a small motel so he understands being an entrepreneur - Focus on the customer's actions and intentions - "Customer Journey" - Focus on discovering their needs and what they do at the moment of need - This is the strategy - Everything else is tactical and supports the strategy - Early SEO work took advantage of holes in the search engines - Personalized, actual answers that are contextually relevant is what SEO is now - Keywords and keyword phrases are not how we speak - Voice search is growing in importance - The nouns and verbs of just five years ago need to be listed as a question on your site - Get more reviews - Third party, independent validation is critical - Parents don't matter - Surprise my friends - Search engines want users to be satisfied - Other concerns - Digital knowledge management—DKM. Curate your digital assets. - Load speed - Responsive - Security - SEO has become more of a tactic rather than a strategy so get good at DKM. - SEO has become commoditized - The next generation is more complex - Structured data - Load speed - Etc. - Consumer brand loyalty is dying - Millennials and GenZ - Will trade brand for price - So prove your value when the consumer is making a decision a few times, then they'll trust you. - Voice search is growing in importance - Using voice builds a stronger connection in our brain - Amazon's Echo Dot was the top-selling item this past Christmas - You need to do the technical work to be the featured snippet - Structured data is a language that allows you to wrap key information correctly on your site - Facebook has [Open Graph](http://ogp.me/) - This tells search engines you are real - This is manageable for the small business - Install some plugins and get your stuff marked up properly - Smaller companies can move faster - The future for SEO is bright - AMP is accelerated mobile pages - Most websites are "heavy" - AMP creates a more lightweight code base so pages load faster and the visitors have a better experience - Check your page load speeds weekly - Compare your page load speeds to your competitors monthly - Pick up a paper and pen and write out in detail what you believe your Customer's Journey looks like - Map out the decisions they must make to find you and buy from you - Organize some focus groups and find out if you're even in the ballpark with your offering - Take the Alexa app on your smartphone and say "Hey Alexa, let's chat." - Learn what the future of engagement looks like - It will go on forever - You will get creatively engaged in thinking **Related Articles:** - [Brian Dean of Backlinko on Creating Inbound Leads With Search Engine Optimization](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/brian-dean-search-engine-optimization/) - [SEO Expert Danny Star On How To Do SEO Right](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/seo-expert-tips-danny-star) - [SEO Expert Jason Dulay on How To Do SEO The Right Way](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/do-seo-right-jason-dulay) - [Phil Singleton Explains Google & SEO Basics (For Mere Mortals)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/phil-singleton-seo-basics) - [SEO Basics: What You Need To Know Today](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/seo-basics-today) ### Listen To Previous Episodes of [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) ## Links Mentioned In [The Sales Podcast](https://www.thesaleswhisperer.com/podcast) - Visit [Yext](https://www.yext.ca/) to control your brand experience across the digital universe - Follow [Duane Forrester on X](https://twitter.com/DuaneForrester) - Get Duane's Books - "[Turn Clicks Into Customers: Proven Marketing Techniques for Converting Online Traffic into Revenue](https://amzn.to/2LyWkpH)" - "[How to Make Money with Your Blog: The Ultimate Reference Guide for Building, Optimizing, and Monetizing Your Blog](https://amzn.to/2Kb50Nl)" - "[The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business](https://amzn.to/2LM7UNl)" by Charles Duhigg - Google and Bing support [Schema.org](https://schema.org/) - Start your [Process Before Login](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/process-before-login) [![Twelve weeks. Live deals. We start in 48 hours. Book The Fit Call](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/443614/interactive-184500196010.png)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJ1oAhQsZPLdOTwrccAWjmpITrSGhSuS3D5ZUDjTZWDPL6jeJ7eWJ6Y3YE2lMicwnciRo39CRYEEzFOhqgESsnY0EBGszUJh%2FkaiFRpgtWykFS0BIBoAiOVd8WYvUTL2BFyaKJORDoSXo3ibo14pdwugZHsreHyQZTmMTaEeKhgSULCw10iG0pNz5V024pJ3MqBpz%2F9bw8wYM0bWaGjTgHP&webInteractiveContentId=184500196010&portalId=443614) [The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast) ## Related posts [![](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/green_phone_google_local.jpg?height=200&name=green_phone_google_local.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/goodbye-yellow-pages-forever) [custom AI solution development](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/custom-ai-solution-development), [Sales Training](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/sales-training), [ROI of AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/roi-of-ai) ## [Goodbye Yellow Pages...FOREVER!](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/goodbye-yellow-pages-forever) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Jun 13, 2025 Where are your Yellow Pages? [Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/goodbye-yellow-pages-forever) [![1/12th of the Year is Done. Do you know where your sales are? — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisp](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-7054385.jpg?height=200&name=pexels-7054385.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/112th-year-done-know-sales) [custom AI solution development](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/custom-ai-solution-development), [Sales Training](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/sales-training), [ROI of AI](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/roi-of-ai) ## [1/12th of the Year is Done. Do you know where your sales are?](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/112th-year-done-know-sales) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Jun 13, 2025 1/12th of the year is done. Do you know where your sales are? It's January 29, 2017. The Super Bowl... [Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/112th-year-done-know-sales) [![B2B Sales Is Still Person to Person Says Jeff White — AI-powered sales insights from Wes Schaeffer, The Sales Whisperer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-327540.jpg?height=200&name=pexels-327540.jpg)](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jeff-white) [The Sales Podcast](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/topic/the-sales-podcast) ## [B2B Sales Is Still Person to Person Says Jeff White](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jeff-white) ![Picture of Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png?width=50&name=Wes%20Schaeffer%2c%20The%20Sales%20Whisperer%20black%20white.png) [Wes Schaeffer](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer) Apr 15, 2020 Specialize to diagnose and prescribe with speed . [Read more](https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/jeff-white) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Wes Schaeffer", "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/author/wes-schaeffer" }, "dateModified" : "2026-07-03T07:34:10.813Z", "datePublished" : "2018-08-27T12:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Turn Clicks Into Customers With the VIP of SEO and CRO Duane Forrester", "image" : [ "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/Blog_Featured_Images/pexels-36377058.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/blog/duane-forrester-seo-cro", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/wes-header-lockup.png" }, "name" : "Fixer Wes" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#organization", "@type" : "Organization", "founder" : { "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#wes" }, "legalName" : "TSW Group, Inc.", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Wes%20Schaeffer%20The%20Business%20Fixer%20white.png" }, "name" : "The Sales Whisperer®", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.instagram.com/fixerwes", "https://x.com/fixerwes", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesaleswhisperer/", "https://www.youtube.com/@TheSalesWhispererWes" ], "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#website", "@type" : "WebSite", "name" : "The Sales Whisperer®", "potentialAction" : { "@type" : "SearchAction", "query-input" : "required name=search_term_string", "target" : { "@type" : "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hs-search-results?term={search_term_string}" } }, "publisher" : { "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#organization" }, "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#wes", "@type" : "Person", "alternateName" : "The Sales Whisperer", "image" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/hubfs/wes-suit-forward.jpeg", "jobTitle" : "Founder", "name" : "Wes Schaeffer", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.instagram.com/fixerwes", "https://x.com/fixerwes", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesaleswhisperer/", "https://www.youtube.com/@TheSalesWhispererWes" ], "url" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/about", "worksFor" : { "@id" : "https://thesaleswhisperer.com/#organization" } } ```