I've been working in digital marketing since 2017, and this category is a bit of a catch-all for everything I've picked up along the way that isn't strictly SEO. You'll find posts on Google Ads, GA4 and tracking, why the numbers in different platforms never seem to match, and the odd opinion piece where I've done something with a client's account that probably looks a bit strange from the outside.
There's some crossover with the SEO posts, especially anything about AI and how people are searching now, because in practice the channels don't sit in neat separate boxes. My aim with all of it is to be honest about what works, what doesn't and where the pitfalls are, so you can make a decision that's right for your business.
Answer engine optimisation, or AEO, is the work of making your content easy for AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews to find, understand and quote back to people. If you've come across the term and you're wondering whether it's a whole new thing you need to start paying for, then the chances are […]
If you've been reading up on AEO vs SEO, the chances are you're trying to work out whether you need to pay for something new on top of the SEO you already have, and generally speaking my answer is no. I've been an SEO specialist since 2019 and my view on the whole AEO and […]
A lot of what's being sold as AEO or GEO at the moment is really just good SEO with a new name on it, as you're still optimising a site for what people are searching for and they're just searching in a different way. Query fan-out is one of the few bits that I'd say […]
No, AI content isn't bad for SEO when you use it intelligently and as part of a process, where you do the research, fold in your own opinion and check every fact before it goes live. It starts to hurt when you just ask ChatGPT to write a blog on a topic and publish whatever […]
If you're deciding whether to build your next website on WordPress, or you're wondering whether the WordPress site you already have is holding you back, you've probably asked yourself whether WordPress is good for SEO. Generally speaking it is, as long as it's set up and looked after properly. There are two terms I'll use […]
If you pay an agency or a freelancer to run your Google Ads, the chances are you judge how they're getting on by the monthly report. If that report is full of leads at a low cost per lead and the clicks are coming in cheap then it's easy to feel like the money is […]
If you've come to me for Google Ads or SEO, the chances are you're thinking about traffic, rankings and how many enquiries are coming through, and that's what I want to be thinking about too. However, once I start digging into an account or a website, the thing holding it back sometimes turns out to […]
If you've been shopping around for Google Ads management, the chances are at least one of the quotes you've had back was a percentage of your monthly ad spend, so the more you spend on ads, the higher the management fee. It looks tidy and it makes quotes easy to compare, but I don't think […]
Whether you're redesigning your website, moving to a new platform or CMS, changing your domain name or switching host, it all counts as a website migration, and each one puts the rankings and traffic you've built up at risk if search engines get left out of the plan. I've put this SEO migration checklist together […]
If you're weighing up WordPress vs Squarespace for a new website, or someone has told you that moving off Squarespace will sort your rankings out, then the chances are you just want to know which one is better for SEO. Generally speaking, WordPress gives you more control and more room to grow, but Squarespace covers […]