How Sophisticated Brands Move Beyond Commoditized SEO
Your SEO agency may be selling you corn.
Okay, not like actual corn (or if they are, that’s certainly a unique business model). But corn is a commodity; it’s the same no matter where you buy it from. Unfortunately, SEO has also become a bit of a commodity, with many agencies offering similar pre-packaged approaches to retainer models so marketers and business owners can simply “check the box” on their SEO investment.
Selling SEO to the Masses
In the early 2000s and 2010s, brands began to realize that investing in SEO could be a solid move. Ironically, at the same time, many marketers and business owners didn’t totally understand how SEO worked, or how to tell a good strategy from a bad one.
This new interest in SEO opened the door for agencies to begin peddling retainers with a low barrier of entry and maintain profitability by staffing these retainers with entry-level talent–– talent that could execute, but wasn’t relied upon to bring any real sophistication to the table.
In other words, agencies started popping up to sell corn to the masses.
The Industry is Learning
We’re now in an era where showing up in AI results is a key area of interest, SEO strategies are more user-focused (not just trying to find loopholes in algorithms), and investments in SEO are justified by returns–– or they should be, at least.
And brands are starting to catch on. But these corn-peddling agencies still exist, and not everyone is equipped to sniff out if they’re being swindled or if they’re investing in a sound strategy.
Do you Smell Corn?
Here are some signs to tell if you’re investing in corn or in an SEO strategy fit for 2026.
1. Your SEO plan is pre-packaged.
Real plans don’t come in a box. If you’re a small or mid-sized business, you may not even need a steady SEO line-item, and could potentially get more value out of a flexible execution retainer–– something that’d have SEO involved when and where it makes sense, and pull in other channel expertise when it can be more profitable.
2. There isn’t a connection between SEO KPIs and business goals
Rankings aren’t a KPI. ‘nuff said. SEO leads should be constantly advocating for ways to show bottom-line impact. That doesn’t come easily or quickly, and it’s usually imperfect, but it’s so, so important.
3. Reactive approach
If they’re just throwing keywords at existing content, something’s off. The bummer here is that SEO agencies are totally capable of taking credit for numbers being up even if they didn’t do anything (i.e., if there was a surge in demand). Real ones will tie specific actions to specific impacts.
What SEO Investments Should Feel Like
SEO isn’t rocket science. It’s mostly just good old-fashioned marketing, but in a new playing field, especially with AI search.
1. Be considerate of the big picture
AI draws results from across the web, not just from your website. That means your SEO strategy needs to be connected to your broader comms strategy, being mindful of how and where your brand is positioned across the web.
2. Include some creative thinking
The most profitable SEO investments are going to have impacts beyond just SEO. Creating a new user experience or investing in a new type of content can have significant SEO benefits, but also positively impact user experience and other traffic channels.
3. Raise all ships
At the end of the day, agency SEO leaders are responsible for making sure their client teams have something meaningful to show their leaders to justify the costs. If SEO is tied into the big picture and has some creative and proactive execution, there should be some great storytelling for the C-suite to latch onto.
Boring Agency Model Sound Familiar? Join the Mutiny.
Mutiny exists to overthrow the boring, commoditized plans. We’re pattern-breakers at heart, and have a knack for creating focused, lean plans executed by experienced leads to help internal marketing teams perform at the highest level.
Give us a ring if that sounds like your bag.
