Editorial strategy: steps and fundamentals to succeed in 2026

A high-performing editorial strategy has become an essential lever for any business looking to boost visibility, generate leads and establish a lasting digital presence. In a landscape where 87% of B2B marketers affirm that content marketing strengthens brand awareness and 77% consider it vital for lead generation, structuring your content production has become a strategic priority. Success no longer rests on intuition, but on a rational, data-driven approach and a precise understanding of your target audience's expectations.

What does this mean for your business?

Implementing a web content strategy means far more than simply producing articles or blog posts. It involves building a coherent framework, setting clear objectives and measuring the impact of every action.

94% of B2B companies use short articles or posts in their content plans, proving this format remains a cornerstone of digital engagement and acquisition. To be effective, your approach needs either a dedicated team (76% of B2B firms have one) or, failing that, cross-departmental collaboration.

Why is it essential for your digital communications?

Modern digital communication relies on creating value through targeted, web-optimised content tailored to each stage of the customer journey. In a competitive environment, a digital editorial strategy strengthens your presence, establishes your expertise and generates a steady flow of qualified leads. It forms part of a continuous improvement process, where every decision is guided by concrete data to maximise performance and return on investment.

The connection with your communication guidelines

Consistency between your editorial direction and your communication strategy is fundamental. Defining a clear editorial line means giving direction to your messages whilst ensuring they align with your brand's values and vision. This approach ensures recognition of your identity and facilitates audience loyalty, whilst reinforcing the impact of your communications across all digital channels.

The fundamentals of a data-driven approach

Definition and key principles

In editorial strategy and web content strategy, a data-driven approach means basing every stage of content creation on factual data. This involves identifying high-potential topics through demand and competitor analysis, segmenting your audience using precise personas, and adjusting your publications according to observed performance trends. The objective is to design a web editorial strategy where every action is measurable and optimised in real time.

The advantages of a data-led approach

Adopting a data-driven strategy delivers numerous benefits: time savings, resource optimisation, better trend anticipation and precise ROI management. Nearly half (49%) of B2B marketers consider content marketing the most effective channel for generating revenue. This demonstrates that a structured approach, enriched with data analysis, drives lead generation and conversion.

According to recent SEO trends, 57% of marketing managers judge content development to be the most effective tactic for improving search engine visibility. This figure justifies the importance of a structured, data-driven approach to maximise the performance of each publication.

Search intent: understanding your users' expectations

Search intent lies at the heart of a successful editorial strategy: understanding what users genuinely want enables you to create content that precisely meets their needs. Analysing queries and user behaviour allows you to adapt your editorial direction and anticipate high-potential topics, whether informational, comparative or transactional content.

Moreover, targeting long-tail keywords containing 10 to 15 words generates a significantly higher organic click-through rate than short terms. Data shows these longer queries receive 1.76 times more clicks in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), particularly in first position. Opting for titles with a positive tone also increases engagement (+4.1% CTR compared to neutral or negative titles). Focusing on creating content that addresses specific intent can therefore significantly boost qualified traffic.

Optimising resources and improving performance

A data-driven approach enables you to prioritise high-value actions, avoid wasted effort and concentrate resources on high-impact content. With efficient organisation, each topic benefits from strategic thinking and precise monitoring. The use of artificial intelligence in the editorial process is becoming increasingly prevalent: 51% of marketers use AI tools for content ideation. Automating analysis and generating optimised briefs are becoming genuine levers for operational efficiency.

The steps to designing an effective plan

How do you define a content strategy? Here are the critical steps.

1. Analysis and preparation

Technical audit: identifying priorities and areas for improvement

A thorough technical audit of your site is the first step to ensuring a solid foundation. The aim is to detect any barriers to indexing and natural search ranking: technical errors, loading times, page structure, mobile compatibility, etc. A dedicated audit module simplifies the identification and prioritisation of optimisations to implement.

Competitor analysis and strategic positioning

Analysing your competitors and your company's market positioning helps you spot untapped opportunities. Through examining keywords and competitor content, you can adapt your action plan to target high-potential niches or strengthen your authority on priority themes.

Profiling your target audience and deepening search intent understanding

Defining precise personas, based on demographic, behavioural and search intent data, ensures the relevance of every piece of content produced and forms an integral part of editorial strategy.

Setting SMART objectives and associated KPIs

Formulating SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) ensures effective management of your editorial plan (see our editorial calendar example). Each objective should be linked to relevant KPIs: conversion rate, traffic growth, number of leads generated, ranking for target keywords, etc. Rigorous monitoring of indicators facilitates rapid adjustment of actions when needed.

2. Planning and content creation

In-depth research and selection of strategic keywords

Keyword research, guided by analysis of search volume, competition and search intent, is a crucial step in ensuring your content's visibility. A good balance between "easy" and "strategic" keywords secures quick wins whilst aiming for leadership on high-value queries.

The semantic cluster principle: a main keyword like "garden furniture" (165,000 searches/month) actually conceals more than a million cumulative searches when you count all its variants: "wooden garden furniture", "metal garden furniture", "rattan garden furniture", etc. The challenge in SEO isn't simply to capture traffic from the main keyword, but to claim the entire traffic from all its facets. This requires creating hundreds of targeted pieces of content.

Integrating keywords into page URLs proves particularly effective: pages whose URL matches the main keywords display a significantly higher organic click-through rate. Structuring URLs around key phrases helps reinforce the relevance and attractiveness of your content in search results.

With personalised AI, this comprehensive approach finally becomes accessible: instead of selecting just 10 priority keywords due to resource constraints, you can now cover your entire semantic territory.

Building an editorial line aligned with your ambitions

Establishing a strong editorial direction, coherent with your communication strategy, ensures clarity of messaging and audience loyalty. Every piece of content must fit within this editorial line, respecting the brand's tone, values and objectives.

Creating an effective editorial calendar

A well-structured editorial calendar facilitates task allocation, publication planning and optimal coverage of strategic topics. It enables you to visualise all upcoming actions and ensures regularity—a determining factor for SEO performance and audience engagement.

Editorial plan example for a B2B SEO strategy

Here is a concrete example of an editorial plan over a quarter for a B2B company specialising in HR software solutions. This model illustrates how to structure your calendar by integrating all the key elements of a data-driven editorial strategy.

Editorial calendar legend:

 
• Publication date: precise scheduling to ensure regularity
 
• Main keyword: derived from keyword research analysis
 
• Volume/month: number of monthly searches on Google
 
• Intent: informational (discovery), commercial (comparison), transactional (purchase)
 
• Writer: strategic allocation between human and AI depending on the topic's importance
 
• Status: tracking progress (planned, in writing, in review, published)
 
• Distribution channel: where and how the content is promoted

Key points of this editorial plan:

 
• Balance between informational (70%) and commercial (30%) content to cover the entire customer journey
 
• Mix of search volumes: from "quick wins" (520 searches/month) to strategic queries (2,400 searches/month)
 
• Hybrid production: strategic content by the team, high-volume content by personalised AI
 
• Diverse formats: standard articles, comparison guides, white papers, templates
 
• Regularity: one publication per week to maintain engagement and signal constant activity to Google
 
• Multi-channel distribution: each piece of content is promoted across several channels to maximise reach

This type of editorial plan should be adjusted monthly based on observed performance: traffic generated, rankings achieved, conversion rates. Underperforming topics can be replaced by new opportunities identified through continuous data analysis.

Creating optimised briefs using data

Detailed briefs, enriched with competitive data and recommendations on structure, length and keywords to integrate, simplify the production of high-performing content.

Producing and publishing web-ready, targeted content

Editorial content production relies on creation tools, AI assistants and real-time validation of SEO criteria. Content integration on your site must be monitored to ensure technical compliance and long-term search ranking capability. Each piece of content is evaluated according to performance scores and adjusted if necessary. Particular attention should also be paid to authenticity and added value of content, as well as user experience (functionality, accessibility, loading speed), to maximise conversion and loyalty.

SEO Next Gen: the complementarity between human and AI for content production

In 2026, editorial strategy relies on synergy between human creation and personalised AI. It's crucial to distinguish between two radically different approaches:

Generic AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) produces content without brand identity, often generic and requiring significant manual rewriting. Training data isn't controlled and the result lacks specificity.

Personalised AI, on the other hand, integrates your brand identity from the outset and generates ready-to-publish content, perfectly aligned with your objectives. It enables the production of hundreds or thousands of texts whilst ensuring relevance and quality. This approach fundamentally changes the economics of content creation: where a human writer produces one article in 3 hours for several hundred pounds, personalised AI generates hundreds of pieces of content in the same time for a marginal cost.

Strategic allocation: human vs AI:

 
• Strategic and homepage content: 100% human to ensure alignment with brand vision
 
• Category pages: main keyword handled by human, facets and variants delegated to personalised AI
 
• Product pages: top sellers written by human, remainder of catalogue automated by AI
 
• Local and marketplace pages: complete automation via AI to manage high volumes
 
• Blog: new high-value topics handled by human, updates and optimisations managed by AI

Humans focus on strategic pages and high-value content, whilst AI handles mass creation and continuous optimisation. This complementarity maximises the impact of your editorial strategy and provides genuine firepower to capture all SEO opportunities.

💡 To explore further: Discover our comprehensive analysis on the dilemma of human-created content vs AI in SEO, including common misconceptions to avoid and the new prioritisation paradigm.

3. Implementation and monitoring

Analysing SEO performance: visibility and organic traffic

In an SEO content strategy, tracking SERP rankings, organic traffic volume and click-through rates helps you quickly identify which editorial elements perform well and which need optimising. Regular analysis of results facilitates anticipation of algorithm changes and reactivity to competitors. Note that only 5.7% of pages reach Google's Top 10 within a year of publication, and the majority of top-ranking pages are over two years old. Continuous optimisation and patience are therefore essential for sustainable results.

Tracking KPIs: conversion rate, leads and ROI

Measuring content effectiveness requires tracking essential KPIs: conversion rate, number of leads generated, acquisition cost, visit duration, etc. Data enables real-time adjustment of actions to maximise conversions and return on investment. Statistics show that a well-managed editorial strategy can multiply ROI (Return on Investment) by up to 5 times.

As a reminder, SEO ROI is calculated as follows, over a given time period:

 SEO ROI: (Campaign gains - Campaign costs) / Campaign costs

To optimise SEO performance, it's also important to monitor the quality of title and meta description tags, whilst bearing in mind that Google rewrites these elements in 33.4% to 62.78% of cases. This underscores the need to pay careful attention to H1 headings and editorial content, as these elements may be displayed instead of standard tags.

Measuring results and making necessary adjustments

Analysing results enables you to identify areas for improvement, spot content to recycle or enhance, and adjust planning. Reporting tools facilitate visualisation of progress and rapid decision-making, ensuring constant performance improvement.

The 10 essential KPIs of an editorial strategy

4. Continuous and adaptive optimisation

Content recycling and strategic reuse

Editorial recycling involves adapting existing content for new formats or channels (infographics, videos, social media posts, etc.). This approach optimises production effort, extends message reach and helps engage varied audiences throughout the buying journey.

Adapting to new trends and search intent

The digital landscape evolves constantly: new trends, queries and behaviours emerge every year. Active monitoring and regular analysis of search intent enable you to anticipate these changes and maintain the relevance of your content.

Incorporating market insights and emerging technologies

Integrating feedback, competitive data and technological innovations (artificial intelligence, automation, new formats) gives your web editorial strategy a competitive edge and ensures continuous adaptability. 40% of marketers now rely on AI to develop their overall strategies, demonstrating the paradigm shift in editorial management.

The benefits of a data-driven content strategy

Maximising your semantic coverage despite budget constraints

A major challenge in 2026: businesses identify far more content opportunities (keywords, topics, formats) than their budget allows. A semantic database can contain 10,000 to 50,000 relevant keywords for a single company. Creating content for each one with a 100% human approach would be financially impossible.

The traditional approach involved prioritising keywords by their potential ROI, working only on the most "lucrative" ones. Two misconceptions limited reach:

 
• "You must first optimise existing content before creating new pages": this view ignores the immense potential of untapped keywords. Your 1,000 best opportunities may well be keywords you've never targeted.
 
• "You must prioritise by keyword ROI": with personalised AI, the marginal cost of production becomes so low that this prioritisation becomes obsolete. You can now capture all opportunities without painful trade-offs.

The modern strategy involves allocating budget according to search intent (e.g. 30% informational, 70% transactional/commercial), then combining human production for strategic content with personalised AI for comprehensive coverage of opportunities.

Growing your organic traffic

Companies that structure their content plan using data see rapid organic traffic growth, potentially reaching +300% in just a few months. Precisely identifying sought-after topics and technically optimising the site are key success factors. By targeting long, specific keywords, you increase your chances of ranking for high-potential queries and attracting qualified traffic that's difficult for competitors to reach.

Improving ROI: campaigns up to 5 times more effective

With a data-driven digital editorial strategy, it's possible to generate up to 5 times more ROI than with a traditional approach, thanks to content relevance, alignment with genuine market needs and the ability for constant adjustment. This performance is amplified by using personalised AI,
which enables large-scale coverage of opportunities at reduced marginal cost whilst maintaining excellence on strategic content.

Strengthening your brand's online awareness and authority

83% of B2B marketers highlight content marketing's impact on brand awareness. By offering valuable content, tailored to each target and shared on the right channels, you position your company as an essential reference in your sector.

A solution to stand out in a competitive environment

In a context where competition intensifies and every brand seeks to capture attention, structuring your editorial communications, combined with detailed trend analysis, enables you to gain an advantage and win new market share.

Optimising conversion rates through tailored content

By refining search intent and personalising messages, it's possible to significantly increase your site's conversion rate. Best practices show that targeted, actionable content, aligned with each stage of the customer journey, drives lead generation and conversion.

B2B, social networks, Instagram, LinkedIn, inbound marketing, e-commerce, GEO: dedicated editorial/content strategies

B2B content strategy

In a constantly evolving digital landscape, the B2B editorial strategy has become an essential lever for customer acquisition and retention. Structuring an editorial approach specific to B2B enables you to respond to complex decision cycles, strengthen awareness and sustainably generate qualified leads. Content forms the foundation of any digital marketing strategy, covering all editorial formats that inform, inspire or persuade professional audiences. The B2B editorial approach addresses the need to educate, reassure and mobilise stakeholders in often lengthy buying cycles. Preferred channels include the website, blog, newsletters, LinkedIn, webinars and email marketing, selected according to target profiles and consumption habits throughout the buying journey.

Social media

The social networks content strategy encompasses all planned actions to design, distribute and optimise content tailored to each platform, whilst forming part of the company's overall editorial strategy. In 2025, 65.7% of the global population actively used these channels, which are essential for brand awareness and customer acquisition. A structured approach, based on audience analysis, clear objectives, editorial calendar planning and results measurement, strengthens visibility, effectively engages communities and optimises conversions.

Integrating varied formats, using AI and adapting messages to each social network maximises performance, whilst social listening and analysis of key indicators enable continuous adjustment of editorial strategy.

Instagram

Instagram has become an essential channel for reaching a young, dynamic audience, with over 60% of users under 35 and 500 million daily active users on Stories. An Instagram content strategy is only effective if it integrates into the company's overall editorial strategy. This high-performing, targeted approach must align with marketing objectives, SEO logic and exploit synergies between editorial communications and visibility optimisation.

Instagram values creativity, authenticity and regularity: a structured approach enables you to align publications with your editorial line, strengthen brand recognition and generate qualified traffic to your website. Developing a content plan begins by clarifying objectives (awareness, lead generation, loyalty), analysing personas and segmenting audiences to tailor tone and frequency. Editorial consistency, adherence to a harmonised visual identity and community interaction (polls, Q&As) are key factors.

LinkedIn

In the B2B digital landscape, LinkedIn stands out as the essential network for developing awareness, generating leads and building lasting professional relationships. Deploying a LinkedIn content strategy forms an integral part of the company's overall editorial strategy. LinkedIn offers a qualified professional environment, ideal for reaching decision-makers, generating qualified contacts and establishing lasting expertise in the market.

Popular formats are evolving rapidly: in 2025, visual, interactive and mobile-optimised content (carousels, vertical videos, infographics) is favoured by the algorithm, whilst standard text posts or hashtag stuffing no longer suffice. Alternating formats and editorial innovation are essential to adapt to seasonality and remain competitive on LinkedIn. An effective LinkedIn editorial strategy relies on creating original, visual and interactive content, aligned with the audience's concrete challenges and optimised through continuous data and trend analysis.

E-commerce content strategy

The e-commerce content strategy represents an essential pillar within the overall editorial strategy for online shops. It aims to design, organise and distribute content tailored to buyers' specific needs, such as product pages, buying guides and inspirational content. This structured approach relies on predictive data analysis, particularly using artificial intelligence, to anticipate search intent and capture qualified traffic. Content designed to showcase product benefits and enhance user experience directly influences natural search ranking and consumer trust in the brand.

The main objective is to generate organic traffic, convert visits into purchases and build customer loyalty. This is achieved through selecting relevant keywords, SEO optimisation of pages and leveraging customer reviews. Thanks to opportunity analysis modules and AI-assisted content production, it becomes possible to predict the impact of each editorial initiative and adapt content creation to each stage of the customer journey: visibility, consideration, conversion and loyalty.

Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing involves naturally attracting prospects to your brand by producing useful, informative and non-intrusive content: blog articles, guides, videos, white papers or case studies distributed at each stage of the customer journey. Based on value creation, education and authenticity, this approach precisely meets users' expectations, from discovery through to loyalty. Inbound marketing relies on in-depth market and competitor analysis, defining detailed personas, planning a coherent editorial calendar and SEO optimisation. This strategy promotes awareness, long-term engagement and ensures sustainable results, even in a competitive environment.

From SEO to GEO: content strategy for generative AI engines

The search landscape is currently undergoing its most significant transformation since Google's emergence. The rise of GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is revolutionising visibility strategies. Deploying a GEO strategy now forms an integral part of a company's overall editorial strategy, alongside LinkedIn, Instagram or e-commerce strategies.

GEO refers to optimising your brand's visibility in generative AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews. The fundamental difference from SEO lies in personalisation: in traditional SEO, a given query returns the same answer for all users; in GEO, there is no single answer—there is one answer per user. ChatGPT personalises its recommendations according to the user's profile (Persona). This Persona dimension represents a major structural change that any editorial strategy must now integrate.

An effective GEO strategy relies on three simultaneous levers:

 
• "Full Potential" SEO (owned site): It's no longer sufficient to target the main keyword. Since ChatGPT generates dozens of related sub-queries, your site must cover a much broader semantic field. This requires large-scale content production through semantic clusters and personalised AI.
 
• External public sites: ChatGPT seeks information where people are discussing. Reddit, user reviews, Wikipedia pages and YouTube videos become primary sources. Your brand needs to be visible and positively mentioned on these platforms.
 
• External media sites (Digital PR): Mentions on authority sites remain crucial. The objective is no longer solely the "SEO juice" from backlinks, but having your brand cited in association with a specific theme by a trusted media outlet.

To measure GEO visibility, three principles guide the approach: define your Personas (visibility varies according to user profile), simulate natural conversations (not technical prompts), and use the actual engine with active web search. GEO opens up targeting and personalisation opportunities that SEO has never been able to offer. Those who understand that we're no longer talking to a search engine, but to a personalised assistant, will have a considerable head start.

Real-world case studies with Incremys clients

Case study: tripling organic traffic for SME Le Bonbon

Context: a competitive market with limited resources

Le Bonbon, a well-established lifestyle magazine on the web with over 2.5 million unique monthly visitors, faced low SEO visibility outside branded queries and heavy dependence on social media. Its small editorial team and lack of suitable tools limited the production and optimisation of high-performing content, in an environment where competition for online attention is intense.

Strategy implemented: keyword optimisation and editorial calendar

As part of its new editorial strategy, Le Bonbon identified untapped semantic niches and prioritised topics with high search volumes that had previously been overlooked. The team structured its production using technical and semantic audits and search intent analysis, whilst planning content creation according to a data-driven editorial calendar. By measuring the likelihood of ranking for each query and assigning content to different writers, the relevance and coherence of each publication were ensured. Optimisation continued with SEO scoring and automated performance analysis for every published article.

Results: organic traffic tripled in 12 months

Le Bonbon tripled its organic traffic in one year, with over 2,650 queries ranking on Google's first page. The team published 200 optimised pieces of content, generating 70% new visitors and significantly reducing dependence on social media. The impact on readership, rankings and reputation translated into an enriched audience and strong editorial return on investment.

 "Incremys enabled us to produce content on high-volume topics we weren't even aware of! We quickly climbed Google's rankings, which boosted our website's organic traffic." – Antoine Viger, Digital Director, Le Bonbon

Case study: 16x acceleration with personalised AI for Spartoo

Context: a massive e-commerce catalogue to optimise

Spartoo, Europe's leading online retailer of shoes and accessories, needed to manage SEO optimisation for a catalogue of tens of thousands of products. The major challenge: producing quality content at scale whilst maintaining brand coherence and controlling production costs, without mobilising an enormous editorial team.

Strategy implemented: personalised AI for mass production

Spartoo adopted a hybrid approach combining human strategy with automated production via personalised AI. The SEO team focuses on strategic pages and top, high-value products, whilst AI generates content for the remainder of the catalogue whilst perfectly respecting brand guidelines. Personalised AI was trained on Spartoo's style and values, ensuring texts are ready to publish without manual rewriting.

Results: a radical transformation of content production

Spartoo achieved a 16x acceleration in editorial production: 4 times more content produced, 4 times cheaper to produce, and 4 times faster. This approach saved €150,000 on copywriting in just 8 months, representing 2 years' work for a full-time person. Without Incremys AI, it would have required a team of 10 full-time writers to achieve the same result in the same timeframe.

 "For us, Incremys means a 16x acceleration: I produce 4 times more content, it's 4 times cheaper to produce and 4 times faster. The automation module is incredibly effective." – Corentin Fremy, Acquisition Manager, Spartoo

 "Honestly, I couldn't even tell the difference between a text I've written and one generated by Incremys' personalised AI. The tips and recommendations generated by the AI in our product pages are of high quality. In practice, with Incremys it works!" – Corentin Fremy, Acquisition Manager, Spartoo

Case study: SEO becomes the second acquisition channel for Maison Berger Paris

Context: establishing a digital presence in the luxury sector

Maison Berger Paris, a premium French home fragrance brand, sought to develop its SEO acquisition channel to reduce dependence on paid channels and establish a lasting online presence in a highly competitive sector. The challenge was to generate significant revenue growth through natural search whilst optimising internal resources.

Strategy implemented: 360° approach and AI for operational efficiency

Maison Berger Paris deployed a comprehensive SEO strategy combining technical audit, in-depth semantic optimisation, strategic content production by the marketing team and use of personalised AI to massively accelerate production across the catalogue. Everything was guided by predictive data to maximise ROI for each action taken. Personalised AI reduced editorial time by a factor of 5 whilst maintaining premium editorial quality aligned with the brand's luxury positioning.

Results: SEO represents 20% of revenue

In 2024, SEO became Maison Berger Paris's second acquisition channel and represents approximately 20% of the French site's revenue, with double-digit growth. Content creation time was divided by 5 thanks to personalised AI, whilst maintaining high writing quality. The team gained autonomy across all SEO topics: strategy, keywords, content to work on, regular monitoring of the site's technical health.

 "Thanks to Incremys, SEO became our second acquisition channel and source of orders. In 2024, the French site generated double-digit growth: SEO represents approximately 20% of our revenue." – David Sérandour, Digital Director, Maison Berger Paris

 "We divided content creation time by 5 thanks to personalised AI, whilst maintaining high writing quality." – Nancy Hardy, Digital Manager, Maison Berger Paris

Other Incremys clients achieve similar results: Giphar (+227% organic sessions in one year, +1,000 keywords in Google's Top 3, €50,000/month SEA spend savings), First Stop (proven ROI for an SME), Naturalforme (5,000 products optimised with a small team), La Martiniquaise (+50% keywords ranking in Top 3 in 7 months, editorial time halved).

Conclusion

The success of an editorial strategy (see our example) relies on combining several levers: data analysis, understanding search intent, defining a strong editorial line and rigorous KPI tracking. A dedicated team's commitment and the use of high-performing tools ensure coherence, effectiveness and sustainability of your actions.

In 2026, mastering the complementarity between human creation and personalised AI becomes a major competitive differentiator. Companies that strategically allocate their budget between strategic content produced by their teams and comprehensive coverage of opportunities via personalised AI will gain a decisive advantage. As demonstrated by the cases of Spartoo (16x acceleration, €150k saved), Le Bonbon (3x traffic in 12 months) and Maison Berger Paris (SEO = 20% of revenue), this approach enables you to capture the entirety of your semantic territory's potential without traditional budget constraints, whilst maintaining quality and alignment with your brand identity on critical content.

Furthermore, the emergence of GEO requires broadening your editorial strategy vision beyond the website alone. A complete GEO strategy combines full potential SEO, presence on external public sites (Reddit, reviews, YouTube, Wikipedia) and Digital PR on media sites. Those who understand that we're no longer talking to a search engine, but to a personalised assistant, will have a considerable head start.

To explore further your understanding of new editorial approaches, consult our detailed guide on SEO Next Gen and the human vs AI dilemma as well as our article on the transition from SEO to GEO.

FAQ

Editorial strategy: the fundamentals

What is an editorial strategy?

An editorial strategy is a structured approach that defines how a company creates, organises and distributes its content to achieve specific objectives: awareness, lead generation, conversion. It encompasses defining an editorial line, identifying targets, content planning and performance measurement. 87% of B2B marketers consider this approach essential for strengthening brand awareness.

What is the difference between editorial strategy and editorial line?

The editorial line defines the tone, values and identity of your messages (the "how" you express yourself). The editorial strategy is broader: it includes the editorial line but also covers objectives, personas, publication schedule, distribution channels and results measurement. The editorial line is a component of the overall editorial strategy.

What are the 4 elements of a global communication strategy?

An effective editorial strategy rests on four pillars: defining clear, SMART communication objectives, precisely identifying the target audience, making relevant channel choices, and regularly analysing actions using indicators to optimise future content.

What does an editorial plan look like?

An editorial plan is a summary document that lists topics, formats, publication dates, authors and distribution channels for each piece of content, enabling you to organise and effectively manage editorial strategy over a given period. Consult our detailed editorial plan example in the "Planning and content creation" section of this article.

Data-driven approach and SEO

What is a data-driven approach in editorial strategy?

A data-driven approach involves basing all editorial decisions on factual data: search volumes, competitor analysis, user behaviour, content performance. This method enables you to identify trending topics, prioritise actions and optimise in real time. 49% of B2B marketers consider this approach the most effective channel for generating revenue.

What is a semantic cluster?

A semantic cluster is a content architecture organised around a main keyword and all its variants. For example, "garden furniture" (165,000 searches/month) actually generates more than a million cumulative searches with its variants: "wooden garden furniture", "metal", "rattan", etc. The objective is to create hundreds of targeted pieces of content to capture all this traffic.

How do you identify user search intent?

There are four types of search intent: navigational (accessing a specific site), informational (obtaining information), transactional (making a purchase) and commercial (comparing before buying). Analysing queries, existing search results and user behaviour enables you to tailor your content to each intent and significantly increase qualified traffic.

How long does it take to see SEO results?

Only 5.7% of pages reach Google's Top 10 within a year of publication. The majority of top-ranking pages are over two years old. Continuous optimisation and patience are essential, but a structured, data-driven strategy can significantly accelerate results, as demonstrated by the Le Bonbon case which tripled its organic traffic in 12 months.

AI and content creation

What is the difference between generic AI and personalised AI?

Generic AI (ChatGPT, Gemini) produces content without brand identity, often generic and requiring significant manual rewriting. Training data isn't controlled and the result lacks specificity. Personalised AI, on the other hand, integrates your brand identity from the outset and generates ready-to-publish content, perfectly aligned with your objectives. It enables the production of hundreds of texts whilst ensuring quality and relevance. This approach fundamentally changes the economics of content creation: where a human writer produces one article in 3 hours for several hundred pounds, personalised AI generates hundreds of pieces of content in the same time for a marginal cost.

Does Google penalise AI-generated content?

No, Google has always stated that what truly matters is content quality, whether generated by humans or AI. Personalised AI produces high-value content that meets Google's quality standards. Measured results show that Spartoo achieved a 16x acceleration with AI content indistinguishable from human production, and Maison Berger Paris divided its editorial time by 5 whilst maintaining premium quality.

Which content should be created by humans vs AI?

Strategic and homepage content: 100% human to ensure alignment with brand vision. Category pages: main keyword handled by human, facets and variants delegated to personalised AI. Product pages: top sellers written by human, remainder of catalogue automated by AI. Local and marketplace pages: complete automation via AI to manage high volumes. Blog: new high-value topics handled by human, updates and optimisations managed by AI. Humans focus on strategic content, AI handles mass production.

How do you manage the gap between opportunities and budget?

Companies often identify 10,000 to 50,000 relevant keywords, impossible to address with a 100% human approach. The modern solution: allocate budget according to search intent (e.g. 30% informational, 70% transactional), combine human production for strategic content and personalised AI for comprehensive coverage. With AI, the marginal cost becomes so low that you can capture all opportunities without painful trade-offs, as demonstrated by Spartoo with €150,000 saved in 8 months.

GEO and generative AI engines

What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)?

GEO refers to optimising your brand's visibility in generative AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews. Unlike traditional SEO which aims for keyword rankings, GEO seeks to be cited and recommended in personalised responses generated by artificial intelligence.

What is the fundamental difference between SEO and GEO?

In SEO, a query returns the same standardised answer for all users. In GEO, there is no single answer: each user receives a personalised response according to their profile (Persona). GEO takes into account context, preferences and user history to formulate tailored recommendations.

What comprises an effective GEO strategy?

A GEO strategy relies on three simultaneous levers: "Full Potential" SEO (comprehensive semantic coverage of your owned site), external public sites (positive presence on Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, review sites where AIs source their information), and external media sites (Digital PR with your brand cited by trusted media).

KPIs and performance measurement

What are the essential KPIs of an editorial strategy?

The 10 essential KPIs are: organic traffic, SEO visibility (ranking), conversion rate, campaign ROI, number of qualified leads, content engagement, time spent on pages, bounce rate, domain authority growth, and performance of strategic pages (speed, indexing). Each KPI enables you to measure a specific aspect of your strategy's effectiveness.

How do you calculate the ROI of an SEO content strategy?

SEO ROI is calculated as follows: (Campaign gains - Campaign costs) / Campaign costs, over a given time period. A well-managed editorial strategy can multiply ROI by 5 thanks to content relevance, alignment with genuine market needs and the ability for constant adjustment. Using personalised AI amplifies this performance by maximising coverage of opportunities at reduced marginal cost.

Should you first optimise existing pages or create new ones?

It's a misconception to think you must always first optimise existing content. This view ignores the immense potential of untapped keywords. Your 1,000 best opportunities may well be keywords you've never targeted. The right approach: analyse the data to identify where the greatest potential lies, whether that involves optimising existing content or creating new pages.

Implementation and organisation

How long does it take to implement an editorial strategy?

Complete implementation unfolds in 4 phases: 1) Analysis and preparation (technical audit, competitor analysis, defining personas and SMART objectives) – 2-4 weeks. 2) Planning and creation (keyword research, editorial line, calendar, initial content) – 4-6 weeks. 3) Implementation and monitoring – ongoing. 4) Continuous optimisation – ongoing. Allow 2-3 months to have a solid operational foundation.

Do I need a dedicated team for my editorial strategy?

76% of B2B companies have a dedicated content marketing team. However, using high-performing tools and personalised AI enables you to considerably reduce necessary resources. Cross-departmental collaboration can also work. The essential element is having a clear vision, defined processes and the right tools to automate mass production.

How do I adapt my editorial strategy to different channels (B2B, Instagram, LinkedIn, e-commerce)?

Each channel requires a specific approach whilst forming part of the overall editorial strategy. B2B: long cycles, educational content, LinkedIn focus. Instagram: creativity, authenticity, visual content for young audiences. LinkedIn: professional, interactive, mobile-optimised content. E-commerce: SEO product pages, buying guides, transactional content. Inbound marketing: useful, non-intrusive content at each stage of the journey. Search intent and personas guide adaptation to each channel.

Results and benefits

What results can I expect from a data-driven editorial strategy?

Companies structuring their content plan using data observe: organic traffic growth potentially reaching +300% in a few months, ROI multiplied up to 5 times compared to a traditional approach, significant conversion rate increases and reduced dependence on paid channels. Concrete examples: Le Bonbon (3x traffic in 12 months), Spartoo (16x acceleration, €150k saved in 8 months), Maison Berger Paris (SEO = 20% of revenue).

Does editorial strategy work for SMEs with limited budgets?

Yes, it's particularly relevant. The Le Bonbon case (an SME with a small editorial team) illustrates that a structured approach and using suitable tools enable you to triple organic traffic in 12 months. Personalised AI democratises access to mass production of quality content: instead of investing thousands of pounds in copywriting, you cover all your opportunities at reduced marginal cost whilst concentrating your human resources on strategic content. As Spartoo demonstrates, this can represent €150,000 in savings over 8 months.

Sources:

 
• https://thunderbit.com/fr/blog/content-marketing-stats
 
• https://www.salesodyssey.fr/statistiques-marketing
 
• https://www.seo.com/fr/ai/marketing-statistics/
 
• https://www.businessofapps.com/data/instagram-statistics/
 
• https://www.blogdumoderateur.com/chiffres-cles-internet-reseaux-sociaux-juillet-2025/