Recently, Jeremy Rivera, host of the Unscripted SEO Podcast, interviewed Erica D’Arcangelo, Founder and CEO of marketing firm Web Content Development, about her career and personal journey. 

Let’s dive into their candid discussion on her entrepreneurial career, the state of SEO, and the value of human work in an AI-obsessed world.

The Beginnings of Web Content Development

In 2013, after a decade of working in healthcare marketing, D’Arcangelo was at an impasse. How could she take that next step in life? As a single mother to a toddler, D’Arcangelo sought a career with greater flexibility and personal freedom. 

After some soul searching, Web Content Development was born. After years of advertising and content creation experience, a digital marketing juggernaut was formed. 

Similar to many startups, WCD didn’t skyrocket immediately. Instead, D’Arcangelo began as a freelancer, completing projects for small businesses. Over the next few years, she hired her first employees. “We kind of became a real agency at the end of 2017,” she explained. It was during these initial years that D’Arcangelo mastered her craft and formed the structure of her blossoming business. 

A turning point in the company occurred during the height of COVID-19 in 2020. Initially, operations took place in the office as with any other marketing company. However, lockdown forced D’Arcangelo and WCD to pivot into a hybrid business. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it allowed talented individuals across the country to join the company remotely.

Today, Web Content Development is a full-fledged marketing machine that has worked with over 800 companies and generated $300 million in marketing contracts. 

Why SEO Matters in Digital Marketing

From the beginning WCD and D’Arcangelo focused on SEO, or search engine optimization. D’Arcangelo believes this was and still is an essential component of digital marketing. While others have claimed that “SEO is dead,” it couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, SEO is more important than it’s ever been. 

Marketing has evolved. Billboards and sponsored TV ads are old-fashioned. Most individuals aren’t watching live cable, nor are they remembering posters along sidewalks. 

What are consumers doing? They’re spending time on their smartphones, scrolling on the internet, and engaging with content. 

This is why SEO is important. If your company appears in the top five results on Google, then your visibility will increase exponentially. By pairing that with an effective digital marketing strategy, you can curate a loyal customer base. 

In addition, SEO provides tangible data that companies can learn from. If certain types of content resonate with your audience, then it is best to commit to and expand on those avenues. This can include short-form blogs, social media content, or email campaigns.

As D’Arcangelo states, “SEO is not dead. It takes a lot more.” From her perspective as a digital marketing expert, SEO and audience acquisition is like putting together pieces of a puzzle. In previous years, the puzzle was far simpler, however, it is more complex nowadays. There’s multiple puzzles to complete – search engines, online content, video, social media, etc. 

D’Arcangelo believes that SEO is all-encompassing, and in order to operate successfully, businesses need to thrive in multiple avenues. 

Highlighting Human Connection, not AI-Generated Content

With the rise of AI-generated chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok, individuals can be misled into thinking that AI-generated content is “good enough.”  This is another area touched on by D’Arcangelo during the podcast. 

Why hire a human if AI is considered “good enough?” In reality, AI-generated content isn’t “good enough.” In fact, it isn’t that good at all and requires, at the very least, fact-checking and management by a human. 

As the WCD website states, “Our content is written by humans, for humans.”

D’Arcangelo and her team understand the importance of human connection. To create engaging content that resonates with your audience, it needs to be genuine and authentic and tell a story. 

It needs to challenge us, highlight the human experience, and pique our interests. 

Elevate Your Business with Web Content Development

If you are interested in original, high-quality, and human-written digital marketing services, look no further than Web Content Development. 

Our expert staff can increase your company’s visibility and highlight your products and services. For more information, call us at 1-800-316-9664. We look forward to working with you!