Stop Writing Endless Blog Posts for SEO Traffic (Do It Instead 2025)

Blogging was thriving between 2000 and 2010. Back then, I churned out low-quality content just to drive traffic. No research, no real value—just basic, generic information. I did it because I had little writing experience, and honestly, there was no real need to focus on quality.

But things started shifting as competition grew and Google kept rolling out updates between 2010 and 2020. Suddenly, providing real value became essential. Even so, new bloggers still had a decent chance to rank well.

Then came 2019, and Google introduced the E-E-A-T update, shaking up the blogging world. Many sites saw a massive drop in traffic, and some even had to shut down entirely. After 2020, AI tools became widely accessible—even before ChatGPT—which made content creation easier and improved the overall quality of online content.

Fast forward to today, and competition is fiercer than ever. With over 7 million blog posts published daily, even the most well-researched and structured content can struggle to rank. Search engines simply won’t put every great piece of writing on top. In fact, less than 1% of new content gets any significant traffic—the rest fades into obscurity.

Take Neil Patel, one of the top SEO experts. He used to publish new blog posts almost daily, but he eventually cut back to just one per week. Why? Because pages with tools drive more traffic and attract repeat visitors. In fact, out of the 10 most visited pages on his site, only one is a blog post—the rest are tools people use regularly.

A few years ago, Ahrefs generated most of its traffic from blog content. But today, the game has changed—most of their traffic now comes from tool pages. Their entire blog brings in around 600K visits, while their tools drive over 10 million. That’s a massive shift, proving that interactive tools attract far more visitors than traditional blog posts.

That’s why big companies and influencers have shifted their focus from pumping out blog posts to launching tools instead. The classic 80/20 rule applies to many areas, but in SEO, the ratio is even more extreme—just 5-10% of efforts drive 90-95% of the results.

Here’s why tools are outperforming traditional content:

• Google ranks tools faster and higher than blog posts.
• There’s way less competition.
• People return to tools repeatedly, while most articles are read once and forgotten.
• Developing tools is more affordable than ever with new technology.
• Marketing and sales are simpler and cost less compared to expensive White Hat link-building strategies.

In this article, I’ll walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to find the best tool ideas, hire developers, and launch a tool that stands out. Stay with me—the best part is coming!

Creating a Content Plan for Developing Tools

It all starts with a solid content plan. Use SEO tools to discover winning ideas. A great approach is to analyze competitors using platforms like Seranking or any other multifunctional SEO tool. For example, when I checked Ahrefs’ most popular pages, I instantly found several tool ideas worth exploring.

Another great way to find tool ideas is through keyword research using specific search operators:

Your keyword + tool (converter/calculator/software)

For example, let’s take the keyword “weight loss” and see what opportunities we can find:

The third way to come up with tool ideas is by leveraging your own experience with manual tasks or spreadsheets. If you’ve ever done something manually and thought, “There has to be an easier way,” that’s a perfect opportunity to create a tool.

For example, I launched a website audit tool that stands out by analyzing quality metrics for meta tags—something most other tools overlook. While typical tools check for length, missing, or duplicate titles and descriptions, Unmiss goes further.

It scores quality from 0 to 100, provides actionable recommendations, and even lets users update their meta tags directly within the report.

I used to do this manually in a spreadsheet, but it was time-consuming and often led to inaccurate results. Today, our tool automates the process—scanning entire websites, identifying all pages, and scoring the quality of meta tags and content with precision.

Once you’ve gathered a massive list of tool ideas, the next step is to set priorities and assemble a great team to bring them to life.

Outsource Great Writers, Designers, and Developers

Building a high-quality tool requires collaboration with skilled professionals. Of course, the best experts work at Google, Amazon, Meta, or OpenAI, earning millions. But let’s be real—if your budget is limited (like mine), you’ll need to find great specialists who can get the job done without breaking the bank.

Finding Developers

When it comes to hiring developers, I prefer looking on Upwork and usually go for agencies rather than individual freelancers. Why? Because tool development requires multiple skill sets, and one person can’t always handle everything.

Here’s my approach:

• Check reviews and portfolios to verify their expertise.
• Start with small tasks to test their skills before committing to a bigger project.
• Avoid high-rated developers with little experience in building tools—they may overpromise and underdeliver.
• Begin with a fixed-price contract for initial work, but consider transitioning to a full-time role if the results are solid.

Hiring Designers

While you can find talented designers on Upwork, my experience there has been hit-or-miss. Instead, I prefer hiring designers through job websites and bringing them on full-time from the start.

My process:

• Start with a simple test project to evaluate their skills.
• Use fixed prices for initial design tasks.
• If they prove their value, I integrate them into my team for long-term collaboration.

Finding Great Writers

The most important team members? Writers. They play a critical role in content strategy, so I don’t just hire anyone. Instead of relying on job boards, I search for top writers directly on popular blogs by analyzing the organic reach of different authors.

Here’s how I find the best writers in the investing niche:

1. Go to Google.
2. Search for “best investing blogs.”

Open blogs and search for authors who post content there.

Create the list with names, profiles, the number of published articles, and the percentage of organic reach. I use a batch analysis on Ahrefs to check many URLs simultaneously.

Find & Connect with High-Performing Writers

To scale content efficiently, reach out to authors with proven organic reach. These writers already understand how to bring value and craft high-quality articles, so there’s no need to train them.

Use Ahrefs’ Batch Analysis Tool to identify top-performing authors in your niche, find their contact information, and collaborate with them directly.

Now that you’ve assembled your team, let’s move on to the next step!

Start with Simple Features and Implement AI

Don’t aim to reinvent the wheel overnight—think long-term. Competing with massive, multifunctional tools is tough without deep resources and experience. Instead, start small, focus on one or two standout features, and refine them to perfection.

Once you build a tool with a few exceptional features, users will love it. Grammarly is a great example—despite serving over 30 million customers, its editor is simple and doesn’t even support images. Yet, it thrives because users appreciate the ease of use.

TikTok followed a similar approach—focusing only on short videos, avoiding pictures, long-form content, or unnecessary extras. Today, 1.6 billion users engage with the platform daily.

The Biggest Mistake in Tool Development

A common mistake? Trying to build an all-in-one solution right away. This often results in:

• Poor UX due to overwhelming complexity
• Mediocre feature quality
• Unnecessary resource drain

AI Is No Longer an Option—It’s a Must

Today, every tool should integrate AI to remain competitive. Fortunately, there are plenty of APIs available—many free—to help integrate AI into your project.

Learn from Customer Feedback

Building a great tool isn’t just about development—it’s about iteration. After launching the first version, get real-world feedback. You might think your tool is perfect, but negative feedback brings you back to reality.

How to Gather Useful Feedback

To reduce criticism, position your first version as a “beta” and offer it for free. Here’s how I typically collect feedback:

• Ask my LinkedIn network
• Post in relevant groups and forums
• Engage with early users and partners
• Share on social media

Once I collect enough feedback for improvements, I pause feedback requests and focus on launching an updated version.

Sales and Marketing

You’ve built your tool—congratulations! But here’s the hard truth: without marketing, no one will find it.

When Elon Musk launches a product, millions hear about it from a single tweet. But for new tools without an established audience, attracting users is an uphill battle.

Fastest Ways to Get Customers Before SEO Kicks In

SEO is powerful but takes time, so here are four faster ways to attract users:

1. Build a Connection Network
   • Engage with influencers on LinkedIn by commenting on relevant posts.
   • Invite experts to a podcast to establish relationships and credibility.
2. Outreach via Email & LinkedIn
   • Use LinkedIn Navigator to identify your target audience.
   • Cold emails don’t work unless personalized—focus on offering solutions to customer pain points.
3. Leverage Video Content
   • Many creators avoid video due to effort, making it an underrated channel.
   • We built new video channels to over 1 million views in 2025—it works!
4. Influencer Marketing
   • Collaborate with niche influencers who already reach your target audience.

SEO Still Drives the Most Traffic

While SEO takes 3-6 months for most tools to rank, it remains one of the best long-term strategies.

Why I Avoid Traditional Link Building

Obsolete methods like Skyscraper, guest posting, and broken link building are too resource-heavy with low ROI. You could send hundreds of personalized emails and still get zero backlinks.

The Best SEO Strategy? PR & Link-Worthy Content

Instead of outdated tactics, I focus on:

• Press Releases – Writing expert insights on trending topics to get media coverage.
• Link-Worthy Content – Publishing original studies backed by AI-generated data, making them valuable to journalists.

Conclusion

Launching AI-powered tools is now a must to stay ahead and attract organic traffic. Tools outperform blogs because they bring repeat visitors, rank faster on Google, and still face low competition.

Meanwhile, blogging has become oversaturated and expensive. Google only ranks 7% of new blog posts in the first year, and major companies are shifting focus from content to tools.

So, what’s your plan? Will you keep writing blog posts, or start building tools that drive traffic and growth? Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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