Subject: Google, SEO and AI

Author: Ryan Walsh

One of the most popular questions business owners like to ask is:

“Can you guarantee that you will get our business onto page one of Google?” – and it’s a reasonable one, right?

Well, not really; here’s why, Google’s algorithm changes over 500 times a year. The algorithm, the “secret sauce” we SEO consultants refer to, is constantly adjusting, shifting, and moving; it sometimes feels like keeping hold of a slippery fish.

 

 

So, it’s a bit like football. You can train, play, and try your best, but there’s no guarantee that day you will shoot and score, and the fans will love you.

SEO is the same. You can work hard and not see any results, then a major, massive algorithm shift changes everything, and there you have it: you’ve moved from, say, page four of Google to page one.

 

Is SEO Dead?

Our Cardiff SEO team of expert consultants answers this crucial question that many people have had since the advent of artificial intelligence.

Is SEO dead?

Well, no, it’s not—that’s because over 8.5 billion people make searches every day on Google, and that’s why our services are not just in demand but in strong demand. Businesses can sure hire SEO consultants left, right, and centre. Walk into any coffee shop in Cardiff, and a so-called “SEO consultant” will be bashing away on a keyboard.

But then there are your experts, and we fall into that category—how so, we hear you cry?

Well, not to be blunt, but you’re most probably reading this article because you found us on Google.co.uk—point proven, microphone drop.

Google is, therefore, handling around 98,380 searches a second, which is mind-boggling. Your business needs to stand out , and to do that, it needs the right SEO consultant.

 

How Google displays your business takes many forms in the organic results; for example, Google could display your business as:

Featured snippets

Let’s say you’ve added schema markup to the page. Product reviews may well be beaming out to shoppers directly in the SERPs.

 

FAQs

Do you have really good copywriters working for you? Do they truly understand Google E-EAT? Well, good stuff. Your answer may well be so good that Google decides to display it directly in the SERPs as a frequently answered question.

Product spotlights

Your business could appear as a product spotlight.

 

Google Helpful Content Update

Do we use ChatGPT to write our SEO blog posts?

Why?

Well, here at Walsh & Partners, we use tried-and-tested methods we know work for our clients. Many do not want text written by artificial intelligence because it’s too new. We don’t, therefore, know how Google is going to rank this content marketing over the long term.

So, here at this SEO agency, we use highly experienced copywriters instead to beaver away and write content marketing that meets the following criteria:

– Well researched
– Well written
– White hat

 

The rise of zero-click searches

So, businesses now have to compete with “zero-click searches,” which occur when Google displays an answer directly in the SERPs.
So, for example, you may ask Google:

What is the best carrot diamond wedding ring to purchase:

So, instead of a wedding ring company website appearing right at the top, where you click through and read the blog post or page, the answer is directly in the SERP’s. But here’s the thing: the source of the information will often be cited, such as H Samuel Jewelers, so businesses will want to mention it here.
The shopper may then go to visit H Samuel Jewlers because they can see the content marketing is such high quality. The business has been displayed as a zero-click search result. So, digital marketing agencies now aim to get a business ranked as high as possible organically and to get the business to appear for zero-click search results.

 

SEO is, therefore, not dead.

Search engine optimisation is most definitely not dead; with large SEO companies dotted throughout the U.K., we are all busy working on improving the following:

 

On-page

It’s important that businesses use split testing to improve the design of a website and the user experience. Then there are internal links, anchor text, improving the CTR through writing good-quality meta titles and descriptions, and much, much more.

Off-page

This is all about building links, creating business citations, and improving NAP consistency.

Local

This involves optimising a business’s Google Business account.

Technical

Technical SEO involves fixing 404-page errors, adding a site map, ensuring the company website is fast, etc.

You must have top-quality content marketing if your business wants to get onto page one of Google.

Here’s the thing: You do read a lot of small business owners commenting on Facebook that they think SEO is dead.
But it’s not.

What often happens is that their content marketing isn’t up to scratch. It might be copied, written in a way that Google E-EAT doesn’t approve of, or just might not be as good as the direct competition.

So, content marketing today is like the fuel you put in your car. If it’s high-octane, you will get high-performance motoring. If it’s rubbish fuel, like rubbish, sloppy, poorly written content marketing, the SEO isn’t going far fast, and neither is the car!

 

Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (EEAT

Run a Google search and read about this critical Google update: Google E-EAT.
This update must be in your mind whenever you write blog posts or market main page content.

 

Your business also needs to improve your U.X (that’s short for user experience)

Improving page load times

Your business needs a fast, think road-runner website. Don’t buy cheap and slow website hosting; instead, buy the fastest, most reliable hosting that your business can afford.

Optimising for mobile devices

Make sure the websites are optimised for smartphones and tablets. This doesn’t just mean being “mobile ready.” It also means designing the website’s mobile version to offer a really good UX.

Getting an SSL certificate

Make sure that your business obtains an SSL certificate. This instils confidence in shoppers, especially when handling credit card details.

Improving the navigation

Your company’s website navigation must be simple and straightforward to use. If you confuse shoppers so they can’t simply get to the product they want to buy, your bounce rate will increase.

Google’s Core Web Vitals

Use Google’s Core Web Vitals to see how to improve your company’s technical SEO.

Earn backlinks

Earn baclinks, don’t buy them?

What’s the difference?

Well, it’s massive. The super lazy approach is to buy backlinks, which results in a penalty most of the time. So avoid, avoid, avoid one more time for those who are not listening to avoid buying backlinks.

Instead, earn them- how do you do that?

Well, it’s simple: Write content marketing so good that the author knocks it out of the park—the work must be very high quality. If it is, it will rank well in Google SERPs, which means more readers, and if you have thousands, possibly millions of readers to a well-written blog post, you guessed it, that will most likely result in more links.
Bloggers and other businesses may, therefore, link to the work.

So, to recap, is SEO dead?

Well, nope- far from it.

Global brands and household names actively invest millions yearly to improve their organic search engine optimisation. Don’t take our word for it; a quick search on Indeed for “SEO consultant” will tell you how high demand these services are in the glorious city of Cardiff.

So, just busy bees, those SEO consultants across Wales need to build links, write content marketing, and improve on-page SEO.

That’s where we come in.

But before you pick up the phone, it’s important to note the following: SEO is a long-term commitment (it’s a bit like buying a dog).

You have to give it time to build a good SEO strategy. Things don’t improve much overnight, that’s for sure. So, good SEO agencies take their time to create excellent SEO strategies that focus on improving businesses’ on-page, off-page, and technical SEO. Then, just like a fine wine, it matures and gets better with time.

Come and talk to the experts.

There’s not one thing we don’t know about SEO

We sound a bit too sure of ourselves.

Well, not really. After ten years in the game, we know how to redirect a 301 from a well-written anchor text—in short, we really, honestly, and truly know our stuff. That’s why businesses from far and wide flock to us, as we are the SEO experts.
So why not call us for a no-obligation quote?