SEO

Keeping content original in the age of generative AI

ChatGPT has made it possible to create readable, usually accurate content in seconds, potentially opening the floodgates for companies to create huge volumes of content. But if everyone is doing it, then it stops being a way to stand out. There’s already more content being created than humans will ever have the time to read, so pretty soon the SEO bots will stop rating this sort of content as well.

Spoilt for choice: What it’s like working with marketing experts

We don’t all sit in an office filled with creatives, but I do, and sometimes I forget how lucky I am to just be able to have something produced to help get my message across. The other day we were talking about how helpful a video would be to explain how speed networking works at our conferences. I put some ideas together and mocked up something that was, in all honesty, pretty terrible, then asked my video expert to take over. Next minute we’ve got an instructional video complete with moving graphics, smooth transitions and a professional voiceover. This kind of stuff happens all the time as my newly designed business cards will show you. We’re pitching for a new client? The design team turn my somewhat boring text into a colourful, easy-to-read, well laid out masterpiece. Need to [...]

How to reach the right audience

In business, there’s a big difference in the value between being seen by a lot of people, and being seen by the right people. You should have a clear description of who your ideal customer is, then you need to work out where they are and how you can access them. Reaching fewer people, but people who are actually your target audience, is far more valuable than advertising to a huge number of people who have little interest in your products or services. If you can find a publication or a way to reach you target audience on a large scale then you’ve hit the jackpot. It’s not easy, but it is possible to get your message in front of the right people. You just need to do your homework. Before you decide where and how to spend your marketing budget, take the time to [...]

5 essential digital marketing strategies

There are so many exciting options when it comes to digital marketing. It is so much more than just "doing Facebook". Posting on your social media pages once in a while does not mean you’ve got a handle on digital marketing. There’s also more to a successful digital marketing strategy than paying for a few Google Ads or sponsored social media posts. Spending money on digital marketing without a clear strategy or understanding your options is just a recipe for burning cash. We’ve worked with clients who, before finding us, had literally spent tens of thousands of dollars on Google Ads for zero results. Don’t do this! Not all aspects of digital marketing are stand-alone components. Search engine optimised articles improve your results in paid searches, automation makes email newsletters simpler, and social media impacts readership and page ranking. In fact, the different strategies of [...]

Making your website Google-friendly will increase traffic

There’s an art to writing for an online audience these days. Not only do you need to produce content that is engaging and interesting to your intended audience, but you need to know the latest SEO trends and at least be aware of Google algorithms to ensure your well-written content is actually found. The folks at Google are pretty transparent with how the search engine works but that doesn’t mean creating optimised copy is easy. In fact, keeping Google happy without making your article confusing to humans can be quite a challenge. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): This refers to any activity used to improve search engine rankings for a website. The aim is to improve organic (unpaid) results. How does Google actually decide what sites are delivered to searchers? Phase 1: Crawlers analyse your site This is far less creepy [...]

You’ll lose customers if your site is not mobile responsive

We’ve known for a while that people are using their phones to view websites, but as of March 2018 Google cares more about how your mobile site looks than the desktop version. If your website is not mobile responsive you’ll be turning away both customers and search engines. It has never been more important to get your mobile site right. What does ‘mobile responsive’ mean? A mobile responsive website changes (or responds) based on the size of the screen on which it is being viewed. Imagine your website has three columns of information, perhaps with some images and text that flows lengthways down the page. This probably looks great on a desktop screen with enough space to see each section clearly. If this webpage was not mobile responsive, it would simply show a smaller version of the site on the mobile screen. Imagine trying to [...]

5 ways to make your images SEO friendly

Images are a great way to enhance your online articles and help you get your point across. People love images, but a picture alone tells search engines nothing about your page which has a negative impact on your search engine results. The good news is there are a few things you can do to stop images hurting your page without removing them completely. Before your site shows up in online searches, crawlers analyse the content to determine what it’s about. The crawlers look for words that allow them to index the site. The indexing then allows search engines such as Google to present your site when people search for related terms. Images alone don’t tell the crawlers anything, they can also slow the loading time of your site which negatively impacts the result. Does this mean we should limit images on websites? Definitely not! Images [...]

Content marketing that actually helps your customers

Traditional advertising has the flavour of telling your customers how good you are or what your products can do. Content marketing, in order to be successful, must take the path of providing your customers with something they need. The premise of content marketing is simple: be of use to people and when they are ready to make a purchase they will come to you. It’s tempting, of course, to make your content all about you, to really drive home the point that you’re worth doing business with. This is not a good idea! Content marketing should put the customer first. Good content marketing is a specialist field, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create your own content. Below are some tips to help you produce content your customers will love. Solve a problem for them This is probably the number one thing that makes content [...]

Can you outsmart Google with SEO tricks?

Google’s main job is to deliver search results that are relevant to the searcher. If you want your content to be found, it’s up to you to make sure it’s valuable to the reader. Good content is half the battle, but can your ranking be enhanced with search engine optimisation (SEO) methods? There was a time when any pimply-faced teenager could tell you roughly how Google found and displayed websites. We had an explosion of “SEO experts” who promised to improve your rankings without actually improving the content. For a while, things like additional links and big blocks of keywords in text worked, but these don’t cut it anymore. The best way for Google to love you? Posting high quality, relevant content. Let me explain... Google is smart, much smarter than most of these so-called SEO experts, and it didn’t take long for it to [...]

Is content marketing worth the investment?

In today’s world of competing priorities, it’s no surprise that the marketing budget of most companies is being pulled in different directions. Content marketing is gaining popularity as a tool to increase business. When done well, it is a valuable use of advertising dollars. Successful businesses know that before a customer parts with their hard-earned cash they need to know something about what they are buying. Traditionally, businesses would build a customer base through advertising in print, radio or TV. This was great to enhance brand recognition, but customers began to want more information before making a purchase. This need for information helped pave the way for content marketing to make a splash. Many businesses are reducing their traditional advertising budget and opting to put time and money into content marketing. This relatively new style of marketing is tipped by many to be the main [...]