How can I be Found on the Internet as an Expat Coach

A guest post by Mustafa Mustafaj, Search Guru

I recently ran a masterclass for the Global People Club titled “How to Be Found on the Internet”. As a fan of marketing who lives and breathes SEO, SEM, and web visibility, I wanted to deliver something that wasn’t just theory, but a real-world playbook for freelancers, SMEs, and anyone who feels invisible online. Participants ranged from solo entrepreneurs, mid-sized company owners, to job seekers who wanted to find a way to be seen online.

Their common thread:  they know they need to be found, but weren’t sure how to make that happen. That’s what we tackled. Many of them probably asked themselves:  Why is it that some websites vanish in Google while others seem to float effortlessly to the top?
The answers aren’t mysterious. Visibility hinges on a mix of strategy, technical discipline, and content that speaks Google’s language and increasingly the language of AI models.

The Google Search Result Page

We talked about the different parts of the Google search result page. 

1. Different search results: Images, Shopping, Videos, News, Books, Web, Flights, Finances, etc. 
2. Organic results (SEO) with different features, like images, videos, knowledge panels, AI overviews, AI mode, local maps, further questions, similar questions, etc. 
3. Paid results: (SEA), they appear, if they do, above every result and also at the bottom, marked with the word “sponsored

We discussed, and I showed the participants some of these different features with real-life examples. The objective: to let the participants understand that for every search term (keyword) Google needs and shows different results features, so that they now know what Google wants from them. 

Local SEO with Google Business Profile and other strategies

Local SEO means having a local presence.  I explained to the participants that the best tool for local SEO is the Google Business Profile. The Profile is what we usually see on Google Maps when we search for something locally, for example, a restaurant, a hotel, a museum, etc. The Profile is critical, not only for that type of business but for every service business. 

Being number 1-2-3 in your region/city for your business sector means automatic web visits and calls. Local SEO is not only restricted to the Google Business Profile, even though it’s the principal part of a good local seo strategy.

Known portals like search.ch, wlw.ch, cylex-swiss.ch, zip.ch, and others are also important, not only for the links redirecting to your website (backlinks) but also because they are crawled by AI systems like ChatGPT or Perplexity. 

SEO and General Takeaways

Before presenting the SEO basics, like keyword research and others, I explained some general truths about SEO and website ranking. 

1. The choice of your domain (e.g., keywords in the domain name) can boost your ranking for relevant keyword searches.
2. Other non-technical but influential ranking elements include: PR & media presence; forum/community involvement; user loyalty; user experience (UX); and social media presence. I explained how PR and media mentions in essential magazines like for example 20min/Züricher Zeitung/Bild etc. matter, how forum/community mentions like forums about your product/service on Quora or Reddit help your SEO Rankings, how repeated visits/loyalty influence visibility on Google, how website usability/UX counts in enhancing the rankings and the authority of your website, and how social media engagement (again mentions and repeated engagements) plays in.
3. The concept of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is emphasized as a critical framework in modern SEO/AI/GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). The first concept (Experience) basically explains that we need to showcase experience by highlighting author backgrounds, sharing behind-the-scenes insights, or weaving in personal anecdotes to prove that we know the subject from firsthand experience.
   (Expertise) means backing up your content with detailed explanations, well-researched insights, credible author credentials, and references to respected studies. (Authoritativeness)Establish your brand as a trusted voice in the field by consistently producing content and being mentioned by other reputable platforms.
   (Trustworthiness): Provide clear ways for people to contact you and ensure a positive reputation that makes your audience feel safe relying on you.

After this introduction, I explained what SEO is, suggested intuitive tools like Übersuggest or Google Ads Planner, and outlined the most important metrics in keyword research.

Keywords: in general, the longer/the more single words are composed to form a keyword, the lower the search volume. Example: agency has more volume than agency zürich, which in turn has more volume than agency zürich west, etc….
Search Volume: The value is generally defined as monthly volume.
SEO Difficulty: The higher the value, the more difficult it is to rank for the keyword. Scala: from 0 to 100.
Domain Authority is a metric that evaluates a website’s relevance and credibility. Scala from 0 to 100    

The Search Console

First of all: do you know what indexing means? Indexing means taking some content/item into an index, in this case, Google’s index. This is what I explained to the participants, showcasing how they can find out what Google shows on their websites by typing in site:yoururl.ch”. The content you find there is publicly available and is eligible for ranking. Moreover, I explained that the Search Console is not only an index tool, but it is also an analytics platform where you can check the seo errors related to your domain and the rankings. 

Google Analytics 4

With GA4, you can track clicks, scrolls, video interactions, form submissions, event types, session durations on pages, search channels, and the user acquisition report:

• Which traffic sources are really bringing you people to the website
• How users move through your site or app
• Where you lose them, and where you win them back.

GEO and AI Ranking Factors

We then dove into the AI and GEO ranking factors. We discussed that the Google and Bing presence and rankings are still the base of your AI rankings, so SEO is and will be the base of a strong reputation on AI models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, etc. The EEAT factors, which we explained earlier, are becoming increasingly important in AI models. 

ChatGPT and the other models need to find specific, reliable information about you and your company to cite in the specific search. Other important ranking factors of AI models are: 

• Backlinks and online reputation (Knowledge Graph/Wikipedia/BCC), as well as more authoritative links and articles referring to your person, are very important for AI systems.
• Technical Status of the website (Speed, SEO Errors, recurring visitor, schema, UX)
• LLM-specific factors  

I then explained how they can check their presence on these models and compare their Google rankings with the AI rankings. 

Website 

We talked and talked a lot about measures and related topics in SEM. Still, all these measures and improvements need to take place primarily on the website, which is why I also dedicated some time to it. The website is the most critical sales showcase tool, and it needs to be mobile-friendly, smooth, and fast-loading. It’s no coincidence that nowadays about 60% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, so your website needs to be performant on mobile. 

Google Ads (SEA)

A mention worth noting was obviously Google ADS, the second part of the search engine marketing part, the SEA, Search Engine Advertising. The search results we see, as of today, marked with the name “sponsored results,” are exactly the Google Ads. For new created accounts, Google offers a voucher. Setting up Google Ads gives you the power to show up when people search, rather than merely hope they stumble upon you.

Conclusion

What I told them to do next was to start with a baby step, some little action they can do in a short time: 

• Choose one audit to fix this week: maybe your business hours, maybe your profile images, perhaps a missing review.
• Choose one tech task: compress images, install SSL, fix 404 sites.
• Choose one content task: pick a page, define a keyword, search for related keywords, and optimize them in the SEO section of their webpage.
• Set a 90-day goal: e.g., “Increase organic traffic by 20%”, “Get into featured snippet for three queries”.
• Monitor and iterate: check your Search Console weekly, your Analytics monthly, and fix as you go.

About the Author

Mustafa Mustafaj is a passionate digital marketer specializing in Google and search engine marketing. After years of insightful conversations with Angie about the growing importance of online visibility, they agreed that some of her clients could greatly benefit from his expertise.

Since 2024, Mustafa has served as a Marketing.ch Expert and previously worked as an assistant to a marketing professor and lecturer. Today, he supports a wide range of clients as a dedicated freelancer. With experience serving 70+ clients and earning 50+ five-star Google reviews, Mustafa brings both proven results and a deep understanding of how to stand out on Google.

If you need any support on SEO, please email musti@globalpeopletransitions.com.