My path from a print traineeship to publisher SEO

Career

How did I get into publisher SEO?

I started my traineeship at Frankfurter Neue Presse. Static production cycles and the lack of immediacy made me realise that pure print journalism was too slow for me.

Moving to the online newsroom at Ippen Digital

A stint at the then newly founded central online newsroom of Ippen Digital in Frankfurt changed that. Everything was more direct and faster, and at first it overwhelmed me.

The refreshing moment

Until I came across a story that performed well despite a dull headline. I sharpened the headline, updated the date, and had unknowingly invented refreshing in our newsroom.

The article earned an absurd number of clicks by our standards. Since then, publisher SEO has not let go of me.

How I work

What shapes my work?

A mix of newsroom and SEO

I am a trained editor and SEO with years of experience as a managing editor. Both worlds, the journalistic and the data-driven, shape how I approach topics, headlines and reach.

Journalistic standards instead of SEO tricks

My texts and my consulting follow editorial standards, not pure SEO levers. That rules out clickbait, even where it would work in the short term.

Personal, without an agency team

Consulting and implementation are done personally by me, no junior, no freelancer in between. That keeps communication short and responsibility clear.

Continuous learning

Publisher SEO changes constantly, Google Discover, Google News, AI Search, Republishing. I keep learning, currently among other things as a systemic coach with a focus on communication.

Media

Where am I quoted or a guest?

I am a trade author and podcast guest in the German-speaking SEO scene and speak regularly about Publisher SEO, Google Discover and news SEO.

Articles

In Website Boosting magazine, issue 98 I published the article "Google Discover: the supposed black box that is not one". In it I show that Discover is not a black box, but can be steered with editorial craft.

In the kress pro Dossier, issue 04/2026 I published the piece "SEO in the AI age: how publishers grow their traffic". In it I show how publishers grow their traffic in the AI age.

In Website Boosting magazine, issue 88 I published the article "Republishing: the low-hanging fruit in news SEO". In it I show how publishers unlock the biggest reach lever for Google Discover through consistent republishing.

Podcast appearances

On the SEOPRESSO Podcast with Björn Darko I was a guest twice: in episode 153 on news SEO in general and in episode 243 with the focus "Understanding Google Discover: playbook, publisher strategy and real growth levers".

Talks

For the MVFP Akademie, the academy of the German Media Association of the Free Press, I am the speaker of the web session "Beyond Discover: building sustainable audience growth".