How Experienced Media Professionals Can Reach New Digital Audiences

This story was first published in Substack as part of Alexander Girardet's weekly newsletter.

Quality journalism and expert storytelling are being drowned out in the digital landscape - not because they lack value, but because they're missing a critical connection to how audiences discover content today.

At Global Geneva, we faced this challenge head-on. Our article about Geneva watches—well-researched and expertly crafted—was barely reaching readers. By applying a straightforward content discovery method, we increased its readership by 400% while maintaining our journalistic standards. This experience revealed a systematic approach to ensuring substantive content finds its audience in today's algorithm-driven world.

The Content Discovery Opportunity

The gap between what audiences search for and what quality content exists represents a massive opportunity for experienced journalists and media professionals.

Understanding How People Find Content Today

The internet is the world's foremost information provider, representing the collective knowledge of our species. Its users scour the web for access to information, products, and services. For many years, search engines such as Google and social media giants like Meta have been tracking the digital footprint left behind by our activities, accumulating massive amounts of data. This has allowed companies to provide increasingly personalised experiences that we've all become accustomed to.

Search intent comprises of 4 distinct categories

Google's prominence as a search engine stems from its ability to process enormous amounts of data and provide users with information that closely matches their search intent.

When people use Google, they're expressing a need or desire for specific information. This is what we call "search intent" - the real question behind their query. For example, when someone types "Geneva shoes," they could mean several things, but Google understands they're likely looking for shoe stores in Geneva, not a brand called Geneva Shoes or shoes manufactured in Geneva.

Search intent comprises of 4 distinct categories

Digital marketers have been using this understanding of search intent for years, while many traditional media professionals have focused solely on creating excellent content without considering how audiences will find it. Today's readers primarily discover information through search, not by directly visiting publications. This creates a disconnect between valuable expertise and the people who could benefit from it.

Thankfully, you don't need to become a digital marketer to bridge this gap. Modern tools make it possible to uncover exactly what your potential audience is looking for.

How We Found Our Content Opportunity

Our experiment with Global Geneva began with Google's Keyword Planner—a free tool showing what people are searching for.

We discovered "Geneva watches" represented a significant opportunity:

• Thousands of monthly searches (high traffic potential)
• Relatively few high-quality articles addressing the topic (low competition)

This combination of high interest and low competition creates the perfect opening for quality journalism.

Understanding the Questions Behind the Keywords

After identifying this opportunity, we needed to understand what specific questions people had about Geneva watches.

We used this enhanced ChatGPT prompt, feel free to use it yourself:

The response revealed people weren't just searching for "Geneva watches brands" as a generic term. They wanted to understand:

• The heritage of watchmaking in Geneva
• What distinguishes these timepieces from others
• Their historical significance
• How they compare to other luxury watches

This two-step process gave us a clear roadmap for creating content that would both reach and satisfy our audience while maintaining our journalistic standards.

Creating Content That Connects

Once you know what your audience wants, you can structure your content to meet their needs while preserving your quality standards.

Focus on Authentic Storytelling, Not Keyword Stuffing

With our research complete, we assigned an experienced journalist to write an article addressing these specific interests while maintaining Global Geneva's quality standards.

Here's the key insight: Google rewards authentic, human-centered content—not keyword stuffing or formulaic writing.

This represents a major opportunity for journalists. Your ability to create unmatched high-quality content, combined with addressing proven user search demand, allows you to quickly outcompete other content.

Lead With Story, Not Stats

We discovered people wanted to learn about Geneva watches' history. The story behind a product matters as much as the product itself.

This insight shaped our approach. We used storytelling to engage readers from the opening paragraph, drawing them into Geneva's watchmaking heritage before addressing specific questions.

This approach honors both journalistic principles and audience needs.

Structure Content for the 7-Second Decision

Our analytics revealed a critical insight: readers typically decide whether to read an article in just 6-7 seconds.

In these crucial seconds, they:

• Scan the headline
• Read the opening hook
• Scroll down to view subheadings

This video shows one of our readers quickly glancing through our article.

Your content structure needs to communicate value within this brief window. A quick scan should reveal exactly what your reader will gain.

Use Subheadings as Signposts

We structured our article with clear, informative subheadings that directly addressed the questions from our research. Each subheading served as:

• A signpost for human readers
• A signal to search engines about content relevance

We included high-quality images that illustrated key points and broke up text for easier scanning.

Rather than awkwardly forcing keywords into the text, we focused on naturally addressing the underlying questions.

Results and Next Steps

Our experiment yielded impressive results—and revealed a straightforward process any media professional can replicate with their own expertise.

Once published, our article took approximately 28 days to start gaining significant traction—an important timeline to note when measuring success with articles on Google. After this initial period, Google recognized our content as high-quality and authoritative, featuring it prominently in search results, particularly in the "People also ask" section.

Our article ranking very high on google due to the people also ask section

Google specifically used our article to answer the query "Is Geneva watch a luxury brand?"—likely from people researching before making a purchase decision. The algorithm correctly identified that our article provided valuable context about Geneva's role in the luxury watch market, placing it at the top of the People also ask section and driving consistent traffic of around 400 clicks daily.

This traffic is particularly valuable because it comes from people actively seeking information on the topic, making them more likely to engage deeply with the content and explore other articles on our site. Unlike social media traffic that spikes and disappears, search-driven traffic provides a steady stream of engaged readers over time.

You can replicate this success using this simple framework:

1. Identify potential topics within your expertise that align with your publication's focus, by utilizing free tools such as Google Keyword Planner.
2. Research audience interest using the AI prompt we provided to uncover specific questions and search intent.
3. Structure your content to directly address these questions while maintaining your quality standards.
4. Publish and monitor performance, recognizing that results typically take 3-4 weeks to materialize.
5. Expand on successful content by creating related articles that address adjacent topics.

This approach doesn't require technical expertise—just a willingness to listen to what your audience is actively seeking and applying your professional skills to meet those needs.

The digital landscape doesn't have to be hostile territory for quality content. With this straightforward discovery method, your expertise can find its audience, ensuring that substance prevails over algorithm gaming. The key is building a bridge between your knowledge and the questions your audience is already asking.

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AI engineer turned content strategist. As the son of veteran journalist Edward Girardet, I bridge data science and storytelling to revolutionize content marketing. My newsletter delivers practical AI tools and frameworks that help brands and creators craft targeted stories that resonate with specific audiences and drive measurable engagement. Join me at the frontier where algorithms meet storytelling.

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AI engineer turned content strategist. I help brands and creators craft targeted stories that resonate with specific audiences and drive measurable engagement.