DEV Community: Zlatko Marjanovic

Website Strategy Consultant: What Good Discovery Actually Covers

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:59:15 +0000

Good website strategy discovery produces written decisions on audience, offer, architecture, proof, SEO inventory, and CMS, not a moodboard.

Four takeaways

Discovery is a decision set: ICP, offer, IA, proof, SEO inventory, CMS model.
Moodboards can wait until those artifacts exist.
SEO inventory belongs in strategy, not as a post-launch apology.
This role is not a fractional CTO and not a product consultant for authenticated apps.

Full walkthrough: Website Strategy Consultant: What Good Discovery Actually Covers

AI Search Optimization Guide for Service Businesses

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:50:35 +0000

Service businesses win AI search by making services, proof, FAQs, and booking pages quoteable and crawlable, not by publishing a SaaS-scale blog.

Four takeaways

Service businesses need four quoteable templates: services, proof, FAQs, booking.
Write the offer the way you say it on a call, in HTML a crawler can fetch.
Keep FAQs as visible content. Do not chase retired Google FAQ rich results.
A citation that cannot start an engagement is an incomplete win.

Full walkthrough: AI Search Optimization Guide for Service Businesses

Technical SEO Consultant vs SEO Agency: What Growing Companies Actually Need

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:49:58 +0000

Hire a technical SEO consultant for migrations, indexation, and rendering issues; hire an agency when the site is healthy and you need production capacity.

Four takeaways

Consultants fix systems. Agencies run programs.
Buy content only after the templates can support it.
Interview people on your live coverage report.
Hybrid works: specialist first, production second.

Full walkthrough: Technical SEO Consultant vs SEO Agency: What Growing Companies Actually Need

Schema Markup for SEO: What Worthwhile Sites Actually Implement

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:44:54 +0000

Implement only Google-documented schema types that match visible content, and skip FAQPage rich-result tactics and fake ratings.

Four takeaways

Only implement Google-supported types that match visible content.
Article or BlogPosting, BreadcrumbList, Person, Organization, and WebSite cover most marketing sites.
Do not add FAQPage to chase Google rich results after the May 2026 retirement.
Never ship fake ratings or review markup you cannot show on the page.

Full walkthrough: Schema Markup for SEO: What Worthwhile Sites Actually Implement

llms.txt for SEO: Does It Help AI Search Visibility?

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:44:48 +0000

llms.txt is an optional map for some AI crawlers; Google Search does not use special AI files for ranking, so do not claim a ranking benefit.

Four takeaways

Google Search does not use llms.txt or similar special AI files for ranking.
Some non-Google crawlers may use the file as a courtesy map. That is optional.
If you keep one, list only canonical URLs you still stand behind.
robots.txt, indexable HTML, and unique pages still decide visibility.

Full walkthrough: llms.txt for SEO: Does It Help AI Search Visibility?

How to Rank in AI Overviews Without Chasing Shortcuts

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:38:41 +0000

To appear in Google AI Overviews you need an indexed, snippet-eligible page with unique value and clear facts, not a schema or file-format shortcut.

I wrote the long version because teams keep treating this as a slogan instead of a sequence. The short version is still useful: decide what the page or site is actually for, then protect the URLs, the offer, and the HTML Google can fetch.

What this actually means

Google's current AI Overviews guidance: indexed pages, unique value, clear facts. No special schema, no llms.txt ranking trick, no FAQ markup hack.

Most of the damage I see is not a missing plugin. It is a missing owner. Someone redesigned the template, dropped a title, hid the copy behind a click, or launched without a redirect map. Then they asked why traffic moved.

The parts I would not skip

AI Overviews use indexed, snippet-eligible pages. There is no extra technical membership.
Google does not require special schema or AI files for these features.
Unique, non-commodity pages beat thin variants for every fan-out query.
Measure in Search Console, not an unverifiable mention tracker.

If you only do one thing, do the inventory first. Crawl the current site. Export Search Console. Write down the URLs that already earn clicks or conversations. Those pages are the contract. Everything else is decoration until that list is safe.

How I would use this

I treat this as a working note, not a manifesto. Use it before you hire, before you migrate, or before you open a new design file. If the current site already works, do not blow it up for a moodboard.

This is an adapted version of a longer guide. The full walkthrough, examples, and implementation notes live on my site.

Read the full article: How to Rank in AI Overviews Without Chasing Shortcuts

Generative Engine Optimization Explained Without the Hype

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:38:39 +0000

GEO is a label for retrieval: unique people-first pages that can be crawled and cited, not a product, file format, or schema trick.

What this actually means

Generative engine optimization is people-first content, crawlability, and citations. Google does not need special AI files or schema hacks.

The parts I would not skip

GEO describes retrieval by generative systems. It is not a Google ranking factor you can buy.
People-first, non-commodity content plus crawlability is the real work.
Google says you can ignore special AI files, chunking, and extra schema for Search AI features.
Keep GEO, AEO, and AI Overviews on separate URLs so they do not cannibalize.

How I would use this

This is an adapted version of a longer guide. The full walkthrough, examples, and implementation notes live on my site.

Read the full article: Generative Engine Optimization Explained Without the Hype

Answer Engine Optimization: What to Fix on Your Site First

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:33:35 +0000

Start answer engine optimization with titles, extractable answers, crawlable HTML, identity, and internal links on pages you already have.

What this actually means

The first 10 answer engine optimization fixes: titles, extractable answers, crawlable HTML, author identity, and internal links.

The parts I would not skip

Fix retrieval hygiene on existing pages before you add an AEO content calendar.
Titles, a quoteable answer, and crawlable HTML matter more than a new acronym.
Author and organization identity should match the visible site.
FAQ text can stay; FAQ rich results in Google Search were retired in May 2026.

How I would use this

This is an adapted version of a longer guide. The full walkthrough, examples, and implementation notes live on my site.

Read the full article: Answer Engine Optimization: What to Fix on Your Site First

What a Conversion Rate Optimization Agency Should Fix Before Running Tests

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:33:30 +0000

Do not run A/B tests until tracking, the offer, a single primary action, and the mobile path are honest.

What this actually means

A CRO agency should fix tracking, offer, CTA competition, proof placement, and mobile completion before it sells you an A/B testing calendar.

The parts I would not skip

Broken tracking makes every test fictional.
Competing CTAs are a structure problem, not a variant problem.
Month one should produce a do-not-test-yet list.
Guaranteed lift percentages are a warning sign.

How I would use this

This is an adapted version of a longer guide. The full walkthrough, examples, and implementation notes live on my site.

Read the full article: What a Conversion Rate Optimization Agency Should Fix Before Running Tests

Headless CMS for Marketing Teams: When Webflow or Framer Is Not Enough

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:28:28 +0000

Choose headless plus Next.js when preview, roles, locales, and template SEO outgrow a visual CMS. Most marketing sites should stay put until that pain is real.

What this actually means

When a headless CMS plus Next.js beats Webflow or Framer for marketing teams: preview, roles, localization, structured content, and SEO at scale.

The parts I would not skip

Most marketing sites do not need headless yet.
Move when preview, roles, locales, or template SEO outgrow the visual CMS.
Headless is an extra system to staff, not a ranking upgrade by itself.
Scope the move like a product: ownership, preview, and URL preservation.

How I would use this

This is an adapted version of a longer guide. The full walkthrough, examples, and implementation notes live on my site.

Read the full article: Headless CMS for Marketing Teams: When Webflow or Framer Is Not Enough

AEO Strategy for B2B Sites: Structure, Citations, and Content Architecture

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:28:27 +0000

B2B AEO is content architecture: one winning URL per question, quoteable answers, citations, and schema that matches the page.

What this actually means

An AEO strategy for B2B sites: one URL per question, extractable answers, real citations, hub-and-spoke architecture, and honest schema.

The parts I would not skip

AEO inherits technical SEO. It does not replace it.
One question, one winning URL.
Cite primary sources. Do not invent stats.
Schema must match visible content.

How I would use this

This is an adapted version of a longer guide. The full walkthrough, examples, and implementation notes live on my site.

Read the full article: AEO Strategy for B2B Sites: Structure, Citations, and Content Architecture

Framer SEO: How to Build Fast Sites That Still Rank

Zlatko Marjanovic — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:23:24 +0000

Framer sites rank when pre-rendered HTML carries the copy, CMS metadata is unique, slugs stay stable, and performance work targets LCP and third parties.

What this actually means

Framer SEO that actually ranks: pre-rendered HTML, CMS-bound titles, stable slugs, sitemap in Search Console, and performance without burying the copy in motion.

The parts I would not skip

Framer can rank. Confirm Googlebot gets title, H1, and copy in the HTML.
Bind CMS title and description variables. Do not ship the site default on every item.
Submit the custom-domain sitemap. Keep staging off the production property.
Fast and rankable means LCP and third parties, not deleting every animation.

How I would use this

This is an adapted version of a longer guide. The full walkthrough, examples, and implementation notes live on my site.

Read the full article: Framer SEO: How to Build Fast Sites That Still Rank