I have a confession that might resonate with many small business owners. Every time I go into a Google Ads account, I understand less about what I see. And that’s despite more than twenty-five years in digital marketing. This complexity led me to a slightly disturbing thought. That Google Ads has become both essential and dangerous for small businesses. Essential … Read More
Less is more. Pruning for clarity.
Ten seconds to impress? Not even close. This figure shocked me. If you’ve ever wondered how quickly visitors decide to stay on or leave a website after landing, you’re not alone. Common sense suggests this is probably 5 – 10 seconds. This is wrong. It’s much lower. The confusion arises from two distinct types of visitor types with different behavioural … Read More
Practical AI for your business
“Anyone promising AI will fully automate your job is selling snake oil,” Greg Baugues says with a smile. He should know. From tinkering with BASIC code on his TRS-80 (back in the day) to leading developer relations at Twilio, Greg truly understands cutting-edge tech and practical business challenges. These days, as founder of haihai.ai, he’s focused on helping developers build … Read More
The Simplest Way to Optimize for AI Search: Just Ask It
While the SEO experts debate complex theories about AI search optimisation, I’ve discovered something surprisingly simple. You can simply ask AI systems what factors they consider when recommending businesses. Even more surprisingly, they’ll tell you – in as much detail as you want. This isn’t theoretical. Let me show you exactly how this works. A Real-World Test: Local Tyre Services … Read More
The Website Myth
Every business owner lives with a disturbingly misleading illusion: the website myth. It’s the gap between how you think people see your website and how they actually experience it. When visitors arrive, they often see something completely different to you. Consider this: When was the last time you truly saw your website through fresh eyes? Do you speak to them … Read More
The Science of Trust: Transforming your About page
The Trust Crisis Imagine walking into a store where the salesperson refuses to make eye contact, tell you their name or what they do, or answer basic questions about the business. You’d likely walk right out. Yet online, countless companies do exactly this by burying their About pages in footer links or filling them with corporate jargon. The cost? Massive. … Read More
Block or block not
Based on recent emails, you fall into one of two categories: You’re considering blocking AI bots from your content or have done it already. You couldn’t care less. Most of you fall into the latter for now. You should care. Here’s why. You work hard on your content. After publishing, an AI tool can swoop in and take all the … Read More
Adapting to our new AI overlords
Following my “SEO is dead? Again?” post, I’ve stimulated my appetite to explore further. And disagree with myself. With hindsight, I may have been too eager to paint a binary picture, where either everything stays as it is today or no one uses Google any more. One of the reasons for this error is that I believe we’ve become conditioned … Read More
SEO is dead? Again? Maybe this time.
I suspect you’ve heard this before: SEO is dead. Finished. Again. It’s a bold claim, or it would be, if it wasn’t so over-used. As someone who’s worked in digital marketing for over twenty years, I can usually tell you with certainty that the reports of SEO’s death have been greatly exaggerated. The predictions have always proven to be incorrect. … Read More
Links and link building can be worse than a punch in the face
What you’re about to read may not excite you. But you should take it seriously. It could save you far more money than you’re prepared to throw away. But before that, I need to give you an over-simplified history of SEO. Don’t let this put you off. You need to know this. If not today, then at some point in … Read More
