After 20 years in digital marketing, we have increasingly felt a shift: the questions clients ask have changed. In the past, people asked "How do I open a Baidu promotion account?" or "How much does a website cost?" Now they ask "How do I get my brand recommended in AI search?" "How do I run feed ads without wasting money?" and "How can my finished website actually bring in inquiries?" The questions have changed, and so has the logic behind them—customer acquisition is no longer a single action but an engineering project that requires systematic design. In this article, Yunxuan Network Technology wants to explain, from a service provider's perspective, generative engine optimization, feed ads, and website development—how each is done, what to watch out for, and how they work together—so that small and medium-sized enterprises across China can turn their spending into real inquiries and orders.
1. Website Development: Don't Make Your Website an "Electronic Brochure"—It Is the Underlying Asset for Customer Acquisition
When many businesses come to us, their first sentence is "Build me a website." Ask a follow-up question—"What is the website for?"—and the answer is often "To showcase the company image." That answer isn't wrong, but it is far from enough. In Yunxuan Network Technology's view, website development is the foundation of a company's digital marketing. It should serve at least three tasks: capturing traffic, building trust, and completing conversions. If the official website merely piles up a company profile, product photos, and contact information, it is just an electronic brochure—visitors leave after a glance, and search engines are reluctant to index it.
1. Before Building, Clarify: Who Will Visit, and What Should They Do After Visiting
We have served clients across industries nationwide, from engineering firms to manufacturing plants, from trading stores to service companies, and we have found a common problem: the people requesting the website and the people actually using it are often disconnected. The boss wants a grand look, sales wants product specifications, and customers want to find contact information quickly. Our approach is to work with the client before the project starts to map out the "visitor path"—which channel potential customers come from, what they see first, what information they care about, where they hesitate, and how they ultimately leave their details. Once this path is clear, the website's structure, navigation, and content layout have a basis. For engineering firms, for example, visitors care most about qualifications, cases, and construction capability, so these three blocks should be placed up front on the homepage. Customers of manufacturing plants often need to check specifications and certifications, so product pages should support multi-dimensional filtering and document downloads. Customers of local physical stores care about location, business hours, and promotions, so on mobile the map and phone buttons should be placed in the most convenient spots.
2. The Underlying Architecture Must Serve Desktop, Mobile, and AI Retrieval
Traffic entry points are increasingly fragmented—desktop, mobile, the WeChat ecosystem, and AI search—and visiting habits differ at each entry point. When we do website development, we use responsive design to ensure a consistent experience across devices, while doing solid foundational work on page loading speed, structured data, and semantic tags. Why emphasize this? Because the prerequisite for generative engine optimization is that search engines and AI platforms can smoothly crawl and understand your website content. If the website code is messy, the content lacks hierarchy, and key information is hidden in images, AI platforms will find it hard to recommend your site as an answer source. Many clients later find their GEO optimization results unsatisfactory, and the root cause was actually planted during the website development stage.
3. Content Should "Speak Human" and Also "Speak AI-Understandable"
Website content must be persuasive and also searchable. When our editorial team writes page content for clients, we deliberately translate industry jargon into expressions customers can understand, while naturally placing core keywords in titles, paragraphs, and image ALT tags. This is not about keyword stuffing but about helping search engines and AI platforms accurately determine "what this page is about and who it is suitable to recommend to." For a client in industrial equipment, inquiries from AI search platforms began to appear three months after the website went live—because the product pages covered "equipment model + application scenario + common questions" thoroughly enough that AI could directly cite them when answering related questions.
4. Pitfall Warning: These Three Types of Websites Most Easily Waste Money
- Template sites with just a new logo: Template sites aren't unusable, but in highly competitive industries they struggle to stand out in search and AI recommendations because their structure is too homogeneous.
- Desktop-only, no mobile version: In most industries today, mobile traffic accounts for more than 70 percent. A poor mobile experience shuts most customers out.
- No maintenance after launch: A website isn't finished once it's built. News updates, case updates, and product iterations all require ongoing operation; otherwise search engines will treat it as a "dead site."
2. Generative Engine Optimization: The New Traffic Entry Point in the AI Search Era—the Earlier You Lay the Groundwork, the Better Positioned You Are
If website development is the foundation, then generative engine optimization is the new building erected on that foundation. In the past two years, AI platforms such as Doubao, Tongyi Qianwen, and DeepSeek have spread rapidly, and more and more users are used to asking AI directly, "Which company's XX equipment is reliable?" or "Which local companies do XX engineering?" The answers AI gives are becoming a new way of allocating traffic. Yunxuan Network Technology's GEO generative engine optimization service helps enterprises gain better content presentation and recommendation opportunities on these AI platforms.
1. What Generative Engine Optimization Actually Optimizes
Traditional SEO optimizes a webpage's ranking in search results, while generative engine optimization optimizes the probability that a company's content is understood, cited, and recommended by AI platforms. When generating answers, AI platforms synthesize multiple information sources, including company websites, industry media, Q&A platforms, and encyclopedia entries. What we need to do is make a company's content in these sources more complete, more accurate, and more structured. Specifically, this includes several levels: first, unifying and completing basic company information to ensure that the name, business scope, and service area captured by AI are consistent; second, producing content around customers' real question scenarios—such as "How do I choose XX equipment?" or "What should I pay attention to in XX engineering?"—which is more likely to be cited by AI; third, using technical means to improve the structuredness of website content so AI can quickly extract key information.
2. Content Production Should Center on "Questions," Not "Keywords"
In generative engine optimization, the biggest mistake is to carry over the traditional practice of keyword stuffing. The standard AI platforms use to judge content value is whether it solves users' real problems. When we do GEO optimization for clients, we first sort out a batch of high-frequency customer questions, then produce content with informational value for each question. For example, a company making environmental protection equipment is often asked, "How is equipment processing capacity calculated?" "Are later operation and maintenance costs high?" and "Are there cases in the same industry?" We laid out content around these questions on the official website, industry media, and Q&A platforms. A few months later, AI platforms began citing this company's materials when answering related questions. The inquiries generated were not large in volume but highly precise.
3. A Layout Approach Suitable for Companies Nationwide
Some clients ask whether GEO optimization is only suitable for big brands. Actually, it isn't. AI search recommendation logic values content relevance and credibility more than brand size. Our experience serving clients nationwide is that small and medium-sized enterprises are actually more likely to be recommended by AI as long as they go deep in their niche content. For example, a factory making special-specification fasteners has a very niche product, but nationwide demand is stable. After laying out professional content through GEO optimization, the quality of inquiries from AI platforms was noticeably higher than that from ordinary feed ads. The key is to identify your own niche scenario and continuously produce professional content.
4. Pitfall Warning: GEO Is Not Mysticism—Don't Be Fooled by "Guaranteed AI Recommendations"
Some exaggerated marketing has already appeared in the market under the GEO banner, claiming "guaranteed AI recommendations" or "dominate the screen in one month." We remind businesses that generative engine optimization is a systematic project based on content quality and platform rules, with no shortcuts. The proper approach is to continuously optimize content, improve information sources, track results, and adjust strategy. Any claim of "guaranteed ranking" or "guaranteed recommendation" should be treated with caution.
3. Feed Ads: Not Spending Money for Exposure, but Spending Money for Precise Inquiries
Feed ads are a promotion method many businesses love and hate. They love that it generates volume quickly and covers a wide audience; they hate that the money is spent but inquiry quality varies widely. The core of feed ads is not "whether to run them" but "how to run them." When Yunxuan Network Technology runs feed campaigns for clients, we usually break this down into four stages: targeting, creative, landing page, and follow-up.
1. Targeting: First Clarify "Who Not to Target"
Many accounts fail to perform because targeting is too broad. We suggest clients first clarify "who not to target"—for example, existing customers who have already closed, clearly mismatched regions, and user groups without decision-making power. Exclude these first, then define the core audience. Feed platforms have powerful targeting capabilities, but even the strongest algorithm needs clear boundaries set by humans. When serving clients nationwide, we set targeting strategies based on the client's average order value, decision cycle, and service radius. For industries with high order values and long decision cycles, targeting can be moderately broadened and content used to filter intent; for industries with low order values and fast decisions, targeting should be narrowed to pursue direct conversion.
2. Creative: The First 3 Seconds Decide Success or Failure
The quality of feed ad creative directly determines click cost and conversion performance. When producing creative, our optimizer team follows one principle: in the first 3 seconds, users must know "this ad is relevant to me." Specific techniques include opening with customer pain points, using real scene footage, and attracting attention with data or results. At the same time, creative must be iterated regularly to avoid audience fatigue. For a client in local life services, we helped test multiple versions of short-video creative and ultimately found that the combination of "real store scenes + customer reviews" had the highest click-through rate, reducing customer acquisition cost by nearly 40 percent compared with before.
3. Landing Page: The Ad and the Page Must "Say the Same Thing"
This is the most error-prone stage. The ad creative talks about "free on-site measurement," but the landing page shows a pile of company profile content. Users can't find the corresponding information and leave immediately. When running feed ads, we create dedicated landing pages for different ad campaigns to ensure the ad promise and page content are consistent. The landing page structure is also critical: the first screen highlights the core selling point, the middle shows trust endorsements (cases, qualifications, reviews), and the bottom sets a clear call-to-action button. For industries that need lead capture, form fields should not be excessive—getting contact information is enough, and customer service can follow up later to complete the details.
4. Follow-Up: Don't Let Inquiries Die Because "No One Responds"
Inquiries generated by feed ads are highly time-sensitive. When users have just submitted a form or initiated a chat, their intent is at its highest. If no one replies for several hours, the lead is basically lost. We suggest clients deploy AI agent customer service for first-response follow-up, so common questions can be answered automatically at night and on holidays, and lead capture can be guided. The AI agents Yunxuan Network Technology builds for enterprises can connect to multiple entry points such as official websites, landing pages, and WeChat, enabling 24/7 automatic reception. After one engineering services client launched an AI agent, the lead capture rate for nighttime inquiries increased noticeably, and sales could directly follow up with high-intent customers the next morning, greatly improving efficiency.
5. Pitfall Warning: Three Common Misconceptions in Feed Advertising
- Focusing only on click cost, not conversion cost: Cheap clicks with poor inquiry quality are actually more expensive overall. Pay attention to the full-chain cost from click to closing.
- Frequently adjusting the account: Feed ads need a learning period. Frequently changing targeting or bids forces the system to relearn, which hurts performance. Give the account enough observation time.
- Not optimizing landing pages: Putting the entire budget into ads while making do with the landing page is a classic "leaky bucket" approach. Landing page optimization often brings unexpected improvements.
4. How the Three Engines Work Together: Website Development, GEO, and Feed Ads Are Not Three Things but One
At this point, some may ask: Can these three businesses be handled by different service providers? Of course they can, but collaboration efficiency will suffer. The reason Yunxuan Network Technology places website development, generative engine optimization, and feed ads within the same service system is that they are connected at the underlying level.
The website is the landing page carrier for feed ads and the content source for GEO optimization. If website development does not consider the needs of ad landing pages, pages will have to be repeatedly revised during later campaigns; if website development does not consider the underlying architecture for AI retrieval, later GEO optimization will require more time to catch up. Conversely, user questions generated by feed ads can feed back into GEO content topics; AI-recommended traffic brought by GEO optimization can reduce dependence on ad spending. One manufacturing plant we served first rebuilt its official website, then simultaneously laid out GEO content and feed ads. With inquiries from all three channels combined, customer acquisition cost dropped by one-third compared with running feed ads alone.
For small and medium-sized enterprises across China, it is not necessarily wise to do all three from the start. Our suggestion is: first have an official website capable of capturing traffic, then choose the main channel based on industry characteristics. Industries with fierce competition and clear search demand can prioritize SEO and GEO; industries that need rapid volume can first use feed ads to test the market; local physical stores can combine short-video traffic with local platform operations. But no matter which piece you start with, you must connect the data and handle follow-up well; otherwise, traffic will come and still not stay.
5. For Business Owners Considering Digital Marketing: A Few Practical Suggestions
After 20 years in digital services, we have seen too many businesses take detours. Finally, we share a few practical suggestions, hoping to help business owners considering online promotion.
- Diagnose before prescribing: Don't follow others into feed ads just because they are running them. First figure out where your customers are, what their decision path is, and what competitors are doing. Before serving clients, Yunxuan Network Technology conducts an online diagnosis to review website foundations, search performance, and content assets, then provides a targeted plan.
- Budget in stages: Digital marketing is not a one-time investment. We suggest dividing the budget into a testing period, a scaling period, and a stable period, with different goals and metrics for each stage. The testing period looks at data feedback, the scaling period at cost control, and the stable period at conversion efficiency.
- Value content assets: Whether it is website development or generative engine optimization, content is the foundation. Organizing product knowledge, industry experience, and customer cases into content assets delivers the highest return over the long term.
- Choose service providers by delivery, not promises: Be cautious with providers that promise "guaranteed results." Providers willing to set goals with you, break down the process, and review data are more reliable. In Yunxuan Network Technology's service process, data review is a fixed step—aligning on results with clients once a month and adjusting strategy in time.
The digital marketing environment is changing—from search engines to feed ads to AI search, traffic entry points keep migrating. But the underlying logic has not changed: build a solid website foundation, make content substantial, target ads precisely, and handle inquiries well. If these four things are done well, no matter how traffic entry points change, businesses can find their own customer acquisition rhythm. Yunxuan Network Technology serves enterprise clients nationwide, from website development to generative engine optimization, from feed ad campaigns to AI agent follow-up. We are willing to apply 20 years of experience to your customer acquisition growth. If you are worried about customer acquisition, why not talk with us and start with an online diagnosis to see where the problem lies.