Ticketmaster

Comprehension Over Friction

Removing friction only helps when intent is high; for most of your product the real problem is comprehension

Communication4 steps

Don't Make Me Think (Reduce Thinking, Not Clicks)

Optimize for the fewest decisions, not the fewest clicks — eight trivial taps beat two fraught ones

Editorial SEO Operating Model

Split the work: SEO manager picks topics and outlines, a domain-expert writer writes, then analyze.

Strategy4 steps

Expected-Conversions Prioritization

Rank topics by search volume x topical authority x conversion intent, not by volume alone.

Leadership4 steps

Hyperrealistic Work-Like Activities

As orgs grow, work supply runs out and people fill the gap with fake work that looks exactly like real work

Hypothesis-Driven SEO

Generate hypotheses by analyzing sites (and asking their SEO managers), then test to validate.

Internal Link Spread Optimization

Most sites starve their own pages of internal links; fixing spread is SEO's biggest quick win.

Strategy4 steps

SEO Readiness Assessment

Two questions decide if SEO is worth investing in: is the market big, and do you have authority?

SERP Reverse-Engineering

To learn what page to build, read what Google already ranks for your target keywords.

Entrepreneurship4 steps

The Coldly Rational Pivot Decision

Pivot only after you've exhausted the good ideas — and force emotional distance so the call is rational, not humiliating

Mindset3 steps

The Owner's Delusion (and the Audience's Illusion)

You overrate your own product because you built it; your users arrive distracted, barely-intending, and ready to bounce

The Three Types of SEO

Programmatic, editorial and technical SEO are different games; pick the one your queries reward.

Innovation4 steps

The Utility Curve

Use the S-curve of effort-to-value to decide whether a feature is under-invested or already maxed out

Topical Authority Adjacency

Rank by starting where you're already known, then expand into semantically adjacent topics.

Topics Over Keywords

Modern Google ranks one page for a cluster of 200-2,000 keywords; target the topic, not the keyword.

We Don't Sell Saddles Here (Sell the Outcome, Create the Market)

Don't sell the product — instill the yearning for what it makes possible, and build the market as you build the product