June2015
I am not Spartacus: why unique content can help you avoid SEO obscurity
Just like when the band of slaves in the 1960 film Spartacus stood up to utter the immortal chorus that would save Kirk Douglas’s character from being singled out, content that duplicates another source or is repetitious of other online content can become masked in search listings.
Using the exact same piece of copy in online content will (more…)
Content on the move: How users interact with mobile sites
The way that your audience views information online varies depending upon the device they are using, but utilising this to your advantage can have a massive impact on your content’s performance.
The viewing pattern referred to as the ‘golden triangle’ relates to the gaze metric, which is how an individual views a standard desktop screen. The findings have (more…)
How clear speaking can help web copy
When it comes to editing a piece of writing, one of the best pieces of advice that I received was to read your own work out loud. Although I felt pretty silly the first time I did so, it was an effective way to find grammatical errors, as well as to really get a sense of the tone and style of the work I was producing.
The written word can be (more…)
Why SEO needs to stop being self-serving
The landscape for search engine optimization (SEO) has changed enormously over the last decade, with the big players like Google putting user experience above anything else.
As such, sites that rank highly in online searches have three things in (more…)
Keywords: why only soft toy monkeys should be stuffed
The infinite monkey theorem proposes that over an unlimited period of time, a monkey using a typewriter would eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. However, before that happened, it would most certainly produce phrases more like this:
“Ben’s cheap furniture in Oxford is cheapest oxford furniture with a range of cheap furniture available in Oxford.”
If, like me, you’ve ever (more…)
Six ways to get your content talked about
As Oscar Wilde once said, “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about”. When it comes to online media, he might have a point.
If the market isn’t talking about you, then it is likely to be because your message is dull or you aren’t reaching your audience. Either way, the sound of online silence means that (more…)
The importance of clear infographics
Infographics are becoming an increasingly popular way to reach an online audience. For many, these engaging visuals are a fast, entertaining way to deliver otherwise dry statistics, but is the trend for creating exciting and unique graphics getting in the way of their ‘information’ aspect?
When I was studying history, the first (more…)
The ‘epic’ endemic: what’s the next new buzzword?
I’m not that old but I can remember a time when using the word ‘epic’ was only acceptable if you were describing work by Brecht or the film ‘Ben Hur’.
Not only does ‘epic’ now top a number of online surveys about annoying words but, when combined with the word ‘fail’, it is one of the most overused hashtags on Twitter and Instagram.
However, it’s a much maligned word and (more…)
