The EDGAR database is a collection of documents from publicly traded companies that provide insights into their financials, company growth, strategies, and more. For SEO professionals, the EDGAR database is a valuable resource to understand how key executives think about search engine optimization (SEO) and how they communicate its value within their organizations. By searching for terms like 'SEO' within the database, SEOs can gain insights into how the C-Suite perceives the role of SEO in driving business objectives.

You can access the database from this link.

To use the EDGAR database for SEO insights, you can perform a search for 'SEO' or related terms within the database. This will reveal documents that reference SEO, and by diving into specific reports, you can understand how top executives view and talk about search. For example, you might find how companies like Leafly, Cars, and Pinterest discuss the impact of SEO on attracting an audience, driving market share, and serving as a growth channel.

Executives commonly refer to the benefits of SEO in terms of business growth and marketing strategy. Some of the ways they mention SEO include:

1. Diversifying Growth Channel - SEO as a means to expand the ways a company can grow.
2. Grow Market Share - Using SEO to capture a larger portion of the market.
3. Attract An Audience - Leveraging SEO to draw in potential customers or users.
4. Lower Customer Acquisition Costs - SEO as a cost-effective method for acquiring new customers.
5. Increase Brand Profile - Enhancing the visibility and reputation of a brand through SEO.

It is important to tailor SEO communication to the CEO because CEOs are focused on the broader business impact rather than the technical details of SEO. They need to understand how SEO contributes to key business objectives like market share growth, audience attraction, and brand profile enhancement. The CEO is more interested in strategic outcomes and less in the technical aspects such as Domain Authority, Backlinks, or Crawl budget optimization. Therefore, when presenting SEO to a CEO, it's crucial to speak their language and highlight how SEO aligns with their vision and goals for the company.