Amanda Chicago Lewis thinks SEO pirates have ruined Google Search and the internet. And she’s going to force that negative narrative on us. No matter what.

Yes, SEOs went beyond the world wide web – where you’ve optimized websites and content for nearly 30 years – and wrecked the whole internet. How? That’s still not quite clear. (Lewis hasn’t yet figured out that the world wide web is basically just an application that runs on the internet. But that’s an issue for another day.)

This is just one of many bold assertions in a hate-spewing 8,000-word extravaganza published on the Verge that tries to tie SEO to bad Google Search results, excess behavior (from lavish dinners to late-night drug parties) and even human trafficking.

The key points. It all starts with an “alligator party” (because, Florida) that actually seems to be more in the affiliate marketing world, not the SEO world. And we’re off:

• Lewis expects SEOs to be horrible human beings, is surprised when they aren’t.
• Lewis characterizes SEOs as exploitative people making lots of money without any power.
• We revisit well-trampled ground – the “Google Search is terrible” narrative – with links to four articles complaining about a search engine used by 3.2 billion people every month.

Smearing people. We’re all just amoral, megalomaniacal, rule-breaking hustlers and nihilists, who manipulate search algorithms for profit. And many of us are pirates. We’re also supposedly flooding Google with AI-written drivel that Google can’t keep up with.

• But it’s not just a broad brush, Lewis also characterizes some people in the most cynical ways possible – especially Google’s Danny Sullivan: “I find him angry and defensive,” for starters.
• Sullivan has now shared some thoughts on the Verge article on his personal blog, which in part corrects Lewis’ historical inaccuracy confusing Search Engine Watch, which started in the late 1990s, with Search Engine Land, which was founded in 2006.

Does anybody look good? From my reading, the only three people who came out fairly unscathed would be our own unbelievably fast-talking Barry Schwartz (who writes for this very “trade rag” as Lewis put it), who was quoted saying:

• “The search community is filled with hard-working individuals working to help their clients’ websites succeed in Google Search. That success is not done through dark, corrupt or shady tactics but rather hard, smart and thorough work.”

Matt Cutts, who has always been a voice of sanity, nuance and empathy, and was quoted as saying:

• “There were so many true believers at Google in the early days. As companies get big, it gets harder to get things done. Inevitably, people start to think about profit or quarterly numbers.” 

Lily Ray is portrayed as the “most reasonable person” of the article, despite some perhaps envious jabs about her jet-setting lifestyle and calling herself a “thought leader.” She does provide her usual voice of sanity when it comes to the nuance of discussing tactics that go against Google guidelines. She’s quoted as saying:

• “SEO that goes against Google’s guidelines, it’s not new. If people have a problem with Google’s results, they have to ask themselves, is it the fault of the SEOs? Or is this Google behaving differently than it used to?”

The problem. So much of this article is all such a dated, fringey view of SEO – the Wild West porn, pills and gambling days. Much of the focus here is on days gone by (we’re even digging up Cutts, who has been out of Google for nearly a decade). Some big personalities brag and reminisce about the past.

It’s not really about SEO in 2023. And it ignores all the good work most SEOs do to make Search and the user experience better.

SEO is no longer a “cottage industry” – many companies employ entire teams dedicated to SEO. SEO is discussed on earnings calls. SEO is a legit part of most organizations – from small businesses to the biggest brands and corporations on the planet.

• In short, The Verge’s article is classic clickbait – the kind the author supposedly rails against. It’s basically the new “SEO is dead.”

Here’s yer classic clickbait, matey. The people who ruined the internet.

Google declared a “Code Yellow” after user queries slowed in February 2019 to find out why. Ben Gomes, then the head of Google Search, became concerned about a thinning firewall between Search and Ads, according to emails revealed during the ongoing U.S. vs. Google antitrust trial.

Why we care. We’ve been concerned to learn Google has increased ad prices to meet quarterly revenue goals and Ads, Search and Chrome teams working to boost ad revenue. While Google talks about always doing what’s best for users, clearly it also has done what’s best for Google revenue and profits.

The emails. In one 2019 email, a “frustrated” Gomes told other executives that the Search team was “getting too close to the money,” Bloomberg reported:

• “I think it is good for us to aspire to query growth and to aspire to more users. But I think we are getting too involved with ads for the good of the product and company.”
• “I am getting concerned that growth is all we are thinking about.”
• “We could increase queries quite easily in the short term in user negative ways (turn off spell correction, turn off ranking improvement, place refinements all over the page).”

However, Gomes said during his testimony that he was “discussing things we would never do,” in that last bullet.

Code Yellow aftermath. The “emergency” lasted seven weeks, after which Google created a new metric to measure groups of queries, rather than user queries as a metric (“I think this metric of just using queries is not one that optimizes appropriately,” Gomes explained.).

Gomes left his role about a year later, when Prabhakar Raghavan became the new head of Google Search.

Google has added new details to both Google Business Profiles listings and some shopping listings. Google added a new business attribute named “small business” that will show up on a business’s Google Maps and local listing, as well as their shopping results. Plus, Google added more information to their listings that Google says will make it helpful for searchers to learn more about that business.

Small business attribute. Google now lets you edit your Google Business Profile or Merchant Center details to say you are a “small business.” Then, Google will show a small business icon and label in your Google local and shopping search results.

Here is a screenshot of the shopping results showcasing which products are from small businesses:

If you edit your Google Business Profile, you can now select “Is a small business.”

Other information. In addition to the small business attribute, Google said it will also show “other helpful shopping information, like current deals, shipping and return policies, customer service information and ratings and reviews.” This will show up in the knowledge panels for some merchants in some regions.

Google also said the knowledge panel will show up for more merchants.

Product studio. Google said this week they are starting to roll out Product Studio to all Google Merchant Center Next users in the U.S. That includes Google’s “experimental AI-powered scene generation feature, which uses a text-to-image generative AI model to help you place products into any creative scene you dream up,” Google added.

You can learn more details on that announcement over here.

Why we care. If you are a business that can benefit from the small business attribute or from these additional features and labels that can show up in Google Search, make sure to add then to your listings.

If you have clients that can benefit from this then help your clients gain these new labels and attributes as well.

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Many of us have come to terms with the idea that generative artificial intelligence (genAI) doesn’t autonomously execute some digital PR, SEO or content marketing activities.

Tools like ChatGPT can currently augment our workflow to improve the quality and speed of creating powerful tools for users that creators want to share and link to because it has a unique value for their audience.

Depending on the level of complexity, a task can be augmented, automated, or autonomously performed by machine learning, artificial intelligence (genAI included), or robotic process automation (RPA).

ChatGPT is a tool to augment certain big digital marketing and SEO tasks. 

This article will explore how digital marketers or SEOs can use generative AI to create assets like useful tools and widgets that content creators want to share because of the value it creates for their audience.

Insights from the article:

• A linkable asset is a well-positioned asset owned by the company that can be either people, processes or technology.
• Linkable assets planning starts with a hyper-specific audience segment.
• Although the capabilities of generative AI are limited, digital marketers can create Google Sheets/Excel templates and then turn those templates into widgets with ChatGPT coding.

What is a linkable asset?

A linkable content asset is content that communicates the unique value proposition (UVP) of a company’s owned assets. The company’s assets are people, processes or technology that the company owns.

These assets attract shares and links due to their distinctive value proposition, designed to resonate with content creators, journalists, and audiences. The primary goal is to create a compelling story around the asset that encourages sharing and linking.

Linkable assets have a story to tell, which can take the form of helpful infographics, interactive tools, blog articles, interviews, or just case studies.

For example, this BrightLocal study about the weight of online reviews in consumer decision-making received over 2,563 links, according to Ahrefs.

The study is the asset, but Miles Anderson tells the asset’s story in his byline. Anderson and BrightLocal have built a strong brand expectation for good studies.

Here’s the Ahrefs “Best by links” report that shows a massive link profile for that specific URL.

Tip: Truly professional journalists and creators will want to cite the source of the study. So, when people share a study, they will link back to the source on your website if the study is meaningful. Anderson is a master of this.

Linkable assets earn links because they resonate with the audience’s needs and desires. Connecting your company’s assets to those needs requires a customer-first approach to planning the assets.

Linkable asset planning

Linkable assets provide significant value for a reader. However, not every outlet or creator will see value or understand how the content connects to their audience.

This problem requires creativity. So, I like to use a creative framework that starts with identifying what assets you have, makes a connection between the asset and the customer, and then ends with creative enablement of the assets.

An enablement framework for marketing linkable assets is:

• Ambassador: Learn the ideal customer(s) pain, gains, and workflows.
• Find assets: Identify the company’s owned assets that solve pains for your customers.
• Position assets: Find a story explaining how the asset impacts the customer’s goals or needs.
• Create assets: Use a design-thinking method to enable the story to be told by internal and external trusted sources. 

The story is ready to be told with the assets identified, but now you need to create a content asset.

Tip: Before you start planning the asset, set the overall team or project objectives using the OKR methods.

Creating a linkable asset with ChatGPT

Generative AI has its limitations, but I’ve been able to create useful tools and templates to solve foundational pain points using ChatGPT. 

Be an ambassador 

Have ChatgGPT act like a product manager and explain the customer journey, pains, and needs.

For my example below, I found that digital marketers are using email templates that don’t work because they are overused.

However, creating each email from scratch is too time-consuming to fit into their other tasks.

Find assets 

I have an email template I like to use for my enterprise outreach that avoids the overused templates.

The template is unique from all the other email outreach templates because it focuses on the content creator’s needs for bulletproof facts and evidence to support claims based on content analysis. Most templates don’t do this.

Position asset 

Many digital marketers trying link building need to improve performance because they use outreach templates that don’t demonstrate expertise or allow for customization for a site analysis.

This template is for digital marketers who have expertise but need help to tell that story.

Tip: When creating an asset, find a blue ocean link building strategy instead of a red ocean strategy. These strategies don’t follow the market trends in content marketing but create a new one.

Create asset 

Using ChatGPT, I turned my email template into a Google Sheet template builder.

With this template, a digital marketer can analyze the gap and explain how their expertise aligns with the site’s gaps.

The asset saves time analyzing sites and writing custom emails so the digital marketer can spend time on higher-level marketing tasks.

To create the Google sheet template builder, I: 

• Uploaded the output template (my base email template).
• Asked ChatGPT to reverse-engineer it to identify all the dynamic fields.
• Created the equation to combine each input field into an output field for the final email.

This screenshot shows a template that I had ChatGPT create.

And here’s the output of the sheet:

Create simple widgets

I took it further and created a small widget so the team could select from various templates based on the email campaign type.

I prompted ChatGPT to create a widget from inline HTML and CSS from this template.

Tip: After creating the asset, you must market it to the audience. As I point out in “Modern link building starter guide,” make sure the goal of your asset marketing is to create audience action and not just get a link. Links are a consequence of excellent asset marketing rather than the goal.

Create more value for your audience by using ChatGPT for more advanced analysis. Here are 5 SEO use cases for ChatGPT’s Advanced Data Analysis plugin by John McAlpin that can be combined with the template and widgets creation process above.

Take the leap

AI won’t replace all aspects of PR, SEO, or content marketing, but it can enhance our processes, making tasks more efficient and valuable for the audience.

Through examples and insights, unique and valuable content can be created with the assistance of AI, paving the way for a more automated and optimized future in the industry.

Whether augmenting, automating, or acting autonomously, tools like ChatGPT can offer significant value in the digital space.

In today’s expansive yet interconnected digital marketing landscape, creating a successful online presence requires a deep understanding of various marketing channels. 

While SEO and PPC are well-known strategies for enhancing online visibility, it’s essential to explore emerging and overlooked opportunities like retail media and social media, including social search. 

This article tackles the synergies between these channels and how brands can offer a more engaging content experience to their audience with a holistic approach.

Retail and social: Why should you care?

Retail media, a thriving high-margin channel, targets consumers during purchase decisions, online and offline, offering brands opportunities to influence decisions at the point of sale.

Social media marketing, with its organic and paid facets, enables brands to build communities, engage audiences, and explore social commerce, particularly with the rise of “TikTok Shop.”

As a strong proponent of “search everywhere,” it’s essential to recognize social search.

It amplifies social platforms by intertwining social interactions with search functions, allowing users to search and discover brand and user-generated content.

As search marketers, the onus is on us to: 

• Delve deeper into these emerging marketing channels.
• Learn their mechanics.
• Explore how they can be integrated with our search marketing strategies. 

Our goal must be to create a holistic digital marketing ecosystem that drives traffic, fosters engagement, influences purchasing decisions and elevates the brand experience.

The role of search, social and retail in your marketing mix

Before we dive deeper, let’s align our understanding of each channel’s roles and responsibilities.

Channel: Search marketing

Core focus

• Driving organic traffic
• Grow online visibility
• Develop awareness and consideration

Tactics

• Digital PR activations and link building exercises
• On-site content creation and optimization
• Technical SEO implementation

Metrics

• Organic traffic growth
• Conversion rates / click-through rates
• Rankings and visibility metrics

Channel: Social marketing

Core focus

• Build and nurture community
• Engage with audiences
• Enhance brand personality
• Develop awareness

Tactics

• Content creation
• Trend capitalization
• Influencer activation
• Strategic partnerships

Metrics

• Follower/community growth 
• Engagement rates
• Shareability 
• Sentiment

Channel: Retail media

Core focus

• Influence purchase decisions near point of purchase
• Targeted advert space capitalization
• Improve shopper experiences

Tactics

• Product listing ads
• Sponsored product placement
• In-store advertising 
• Webstore advertising

Metrics

• Reach and impressions
• Return on ad spend
• Acquisition costs
• Conversion rates

Thinking more holistically

The consumer journey showcases the intertwined nature of search, social and retail media.

As consumers navigate search engines, social platforms and retail sites, their interactions with brands become complex and multifaceted. It’s time to harness the convergence of these channels for a holistic brand experience. 

Cross-channel integration starts with acknowledging that each channel – search, social or retail media – has unique potential and distinct roles in the consumer journey, as previously described.

• Search marketing lays the groundwork for initial brand discovery and engagement, but it’s just the beginning. 
• Social marketing fosters community, nurtures relationships, and can lead to further searches, creating a multi-touchpoint, non-linear journey. 
• Retail media capitalizes on purchase intent, influencing buying decisions when consumers are ready to convert.

The interdependence of these channels is evident in a unified marketing strategy:

• Data insights from search marketing shape social content, which drives traffic to retail platforms.
• Social engagement informs product listings and ads on retail media. 
• User-generated content boosts organic search rankings, creating a feedback loop for an enhanced strategy.

Gatekeeping our insights is a surefire way to shoot our strategy in the foot.

We’re at a stage now where knowledge truly is potential power, and we must be leveraging, sharing and collaborating on that insight to grow.

Creating seamless brand experience: Key considerations

There are challenges that marketers will face around this discussion.

Data privacy concerns are at the forefront, with stringent regulatory frameworks guiding the collection and utilization of consumer data.

We must learn how to navigate these regulatory waters while striving to provide a personalized and cohesive brand experience.

Additionally, overcoming siloed marketing operations to foster a collaborative and integrated marketing environment is imperative.

A holistic approach toward attribution is required to measure ROI accurately across channels, enabling marketers to optimize their strategies for better outcomes.

The journey toward a converged digital marketing strategy combines strategic thinking, technological innovation, and a deep understanding of consumer behavior across channels. 

It involves breaking silos, fostering collaboration and crafting a compelling narrative that engages consumers. 

For search marketers, integrating social and retail media into search strategies is key to creating robust digital brand experiences.

3 trends to watch

The rise of social search and ‘search everywhere’ content

Social search and creator-led SEO are growing as consumers use social media for connection and discovery. 

“Search everywhere” envisions a future where content is discoverable on traditional search engines and social platforms, offering a unified search experience.

We must optimize content for social search to enhance brand discoverability across digital touchpoints.

Evolution of retail media platforms

Retail media platforms are evolving to offer more than just advertising space.

They are morphing into comprehensive marketing platforms offering rich data analytics, personalized advertising and immersive shopping experiences. 

Here, it’s all about SEOs looking for opportunities to enrich the consumer’s journey from discovery to purchase.

Search-integrated influencer marketing and the creator economy

Influencer marketing is a potent bridge between search, social and retail media marketing.

By collaborating with influencers, brands can harness the power of authentic social proof, content that effectively displays E-E-A-T,  while driving traffic and conversions on retail platforms.

Integrating influencer marketing with SEO can boost organic search rankings through quality backlinks and user-generated content generated around conversations, trends or missions.

Tips for implementing a truly holistic digital strategy

Embrace technological advancements

• Embrace AI, AR and VR for engaging marketing. 
• Partner with social and retail media platforms for integrated brand experiences beyond SEO.

Continuous learning and adaptation for SEOs

• SEOs should keep learning and adapting to stay updated with emerging trends and consumer behaviors.
• Engage with communities, participate in forums, and attend industry conferences for a broader understanding of activation approaches.

 Establishing metrics and KPIs for Success

• Establish robust metrics and KPIs to measure success across search, social and retail media channels.
• Consider using “share of search” as a metric that spans both search and social search.
• Utilize data analytics to gain insights, measure ROI, and optimize strategies for better outcomes.
• Embrace a culture of data-driven decision-making for successful integrated marketing.
• Consistently test, learn and test again to refine your strategies.

Embracing the convergence of search, social, and retail media is essential for SEOs. It enhances brand engagement and the consumer experience.

It’s time to explore beyond traditional search marketing, dive into social and retail media, and foster collaboration. 

By doing so, we amplify our brand’s digital image and pioneer an integrated, user-centric digital marketing narrative. 

Our journey forward involves continuous learning, adaptation, and embracing new marketing paradigms to stay competitive with evolving digital-native consumers.

Optimizing local listings for SEO is essential for businesses looking to turn online interest into real-world visits and sales.

Up to 87% of consumers relied on Google to evaluate local businesses in 2022. Neglecting your business’s local online presence can give your competitors an edge and lead to missed sales opportunities.

Here is an overview of SEO best practices for managing and optimizing local listings for SEO.

Local listings: What are they and why do they matter?

The core component of your business’s local SEO strategy will be its local listings. 

Local listings refer to the online profiles that provide essential business details, such as name, address, phone number, hours of operation, etc., typically displayed on directory websites and search engine results. 

These listings are crucial for businesses aiming to capture local searches, ensuring that potential customers find accurate and consistent information and helping search engines like Google populate results with accurate business-related data. 

A Google Business Profile (GBP) will almost always be the most important local listing for any business, given the site’s prominence and integration across Alphabet’s products like Search and Maps. Creating a customized GBP is free and relatively easy. 

A verified Google Business Profile helps ensure your business will appear in Google Map Pack or Google Local Pack search results. 

As seen in the example below for [running shoes near me], the map pack consists of top-ranking local listings for a user’s search location, displayed prominently above the first traditional organic result. 

With organic click-through rates significantly higher among these first results, it’s critical to optimize your business profile to meet the search engine’s needs. 

It’s important to note that Google is not the only location-based listing platform you should be aware of. For restaurants, Yelp provides reviews, ratings and photos, which can significantly influence consumer decisions due to the platform’s popularity. 

Similar to GBP, Bing Places is another platform where businesses can list their details, ensuring visibility among users of Microsoft Bing. 

Depending on your investment level, a third-party local listing tool like Yext can help your business integrate across hundreds of directories to automatically sync key information as it evolves, like business hours, special events and more. 

Managing and optimizing local listings

You can think of local listings as digital storefronts of the web. 

Setting up a Google Business Profile with basic information only scratches the surface for businesses looking for optimal online visibility and local market reach. 

This ongoing process involves:

• Ensuring listing accuracy.
• Updating information
• Engaging with reviews.

Let’s take a more detailed look at Paragon Sports’ business profile, one result from our [running shoes near me] example above:

Paragon Sports’ listing spans more than half of the entire first page of results, with many useful information for local searchers, including:

• Service options.
• Hours of operation.
• Phone number.
• Special events.
• An in-store inventory.

As users continue to scroll, they can engage with reviews, learn more about the business and access external social profiles.

The information shown here combines business-provided, user-generated and Google-powered content.

Let’s dive into the basic elements of the first part of that equation. 

NAP: Basic components of a strong local listing

NAP (business name, address, and phone number) consistency across listings is a foundational requirement for local SEO.

Inconsistent NAP information across different platforms can confuse search engines, ultimately affecting your rankings. 

More importantly, potential customers can lose trust if they encounter different details on the web. For successful local SEO:

• Ensure that the NAP on your website matches the NAP on all local listings.
• Audit listings regularly to correct any inconsistencies.
• Use the exact same format everywhere, even down to the details like “St.” versus “Street.”

Regularly updating your listings

Outdated information can lead to lost opportunities and frustrated customers. 

Imagine a searcher trying to visit your store based on old address information or calling an out-of-service phone number. 

It’s crucial to update listings whenever there are changes in key business information.

When determining how businesses appear in search results, Google’s local algorithm uses a combination of factors, primarily skewed toward: 

• Relevance.
• Distance.
• Prominence. 

Incomplete or incorrect data will ultimately cause you to lose favor within local packs. 

Always audit updates for accuracy and consistency across all platforms. 

Google allows users to suggest changes to profile categories like operating status, hours and business details. 

While these can sometimes help identify alterations that need to be made, they could be inaccurate. 

As the verified owner of a Google Business Profile, you can accept, reject, or modify these updates. 

Adding photos and in-store products

Visual content is necessary for telling the story of your business. 

Photos offer potential customers a glimpse into your offerings, setting expectations and helping them make informed decisions. 

Visually appealing and relevant images can significantly enhance user engagement, making them more likely to interact with your listing and ultimately choose your business over competitors.

Be sure to add high-quality visuals to your business profile that meet Google’s requirements. Best practices include: 

• Showcasing different angles of both the exterior and interior of your business.
• Ensuring all images are high resolution, not pixelated.
• Rotating photos with seasonal, up-to-date offerings. 

Additionally, many local listing platforms, including Google, allow businesses to highlight specific products available in-store. 

Be sure to take advantage by choosing relevant products that are popular, unique to your business, or currently on promotion and providing detailed information like prices and descriptions.

Monitoring and responding to reviews

When it comes to local listings and your Google Business Profile, customer input is just as important as any information provided on the business’s side. Reviews play a dual role: 

• They influence potential customers’ perceptions.
• They impact search rankings.

A stream of positive reviews can boost a business’s credibility and trustworthiness, while negative reviews, if not handled properly, can have the opposite effect.

Search engines view businesses with positive reviews as more valuable to users, often rewarding them with better local rankings.

Overall, you should always encourage your customers to share reviews online and respond to them authentically, regardless of the feedback. 

Always thank the reviewer for taking the time to leave a comment while addressing their specific concerns and maintaining a professional tone. 

This fosters customer loyalty and mitigates negative third-party results for branded queries that can be harder to control. 

Google also collects and aggregates reviews from third-party sources like Facebook, Yelp and consumer directories, so don’t forget to engage on other relevant platforms as needed. 

Dig deeper: Unleashing the potential of Google reviews for local SEO

Outside local listings: Additional local SEO strategies

Local listings are a pivotal part of local SEO, but to truly dominate local searches, you must extend your efforts beyond listings and toward your website and overall online presence.

Here are a few key additional strategies to bolster your local SEO game.

Leverage local keywords and content

Implement schema and structured data

• Use local business schema on your website to provide search engines with location-specific information. 
• Be specific and thorough when implementing schema. 
• Regularly audit your site for additional schema opportunities.

Location pages and on-page optimizations

• For businesses with multiple locations, create separate pages for each location to enhance local search visibility. 
• Use a clear URL structure and integrate local keywords in your content and meta tags. 
• Embed Google Maps for better user experience and search engine recognition.

Dig deeper: How to do a competitive analysis for local SEO

Embracing the power of local listings

Optimizing local listings for SEO is essential for businesses to boost online visibility and attract local customers. 

Effectively managing your listings improves your chances of appearing prominently in local search results to provide potential customers with accurate, up-to-date information that drives online and in-person traffic. 

As the digital marketing landscape continues to evolve, prioritizing local listings and integrating them with broader SEO strategies will be key to staying competitive and capturing the attention of the increasingly location-conscious consumer.

Dig deeper: 5 top tips to boost your local SEO efforts

Google’s mobile-first indexing initiative that started just about seven years ago is now complete, according to Google. “It’s been a long road, getting from there to here. We’re delighted to announce that the trek to Mobile First Indexing is now complete,” John Mueller from Google wrote on the Google blog.

History. As a reminder, Google started mobile-first indexing over 6.5 years ago, and eventually, after publishing deadline after deadline, Google removed the deadline. Google first introduced mobile-first indexing back in November 2016, and by December 2018, half of all sites in Google’s search results were from mobile-first indexing. Mobile-first indexing simply means that Google will crawl your site from the eyes of a mobile browser and use that mobile version for indexing and ranking.

Google in early March 2020, before all the lockdowns began across most of the world, announced the deadline for all sites to switch over to mobile-first indexing would be September 2020. At that time, Google said, “To simplify, we’ll be switching to mobile-first indexing for all websites starting September 2020.”  Then in July 2020, Google moved that deadline once again to March 2021.

But in May, Google told us that it was done switching sites over to mobile-indexing, so this announcement, that it is “done” now is a bit confusing.

What now. Google said there is “a very small set of sites which do not work on mobile devices at all.” Google explained that those “are primarily that the page shows errors to all mobile users, that the mobile version of the site is blocked with robots.txt while the desktop version is allowed for crawling, or that all pages on the mobile site redirect to the homepage.”

Google said these types of issues are issues that Google cannot workaround. Google said it will “continue to try to crawl these sites with our legacy desktop Googlebot crawler for the time being, and will re-evaluate the list a few times a year.”

Google will also reduce its crawling with legacy desktop Googlebot.

Search Console changes. Google also announced that it will be turning off the indexing crawler information in the settings page in Google Search Console. Google is removing this because the “information is no longer needed since all websites that work on mobile devices are now being primarily crawled with our mobile crawler,” Google explained.

Why we care. That is all folks – this is one for the history books. Mobile-first indexing is now really done, and Google will soon stop crawling via its legacy desktop crawler completely.

AI companies (e.g., Google, OpenAI) are primarily using high-quality content created by news publishers to train generative AI systems, which then compete directly against those publishers.

That’s the core argument made in a new report from News Media Alliance, a trade association that says it represents about 2,000 publishers in the U.S. and Canada.

Why we care. Since the arrival of Bing Chat, Google Bard and Google’s Search Generative Experience, publishers of all sizes have been concerned about generative AI replacing search, which could lead to a devastating impact on organic traffic, revenue and even the brand’s image.

What News Media Alliance is saying. The report proves the trade association would have a good case in court, according to comments given by Danielle Coffey, News Media Alliance president and CEO, to the New York Times.

• “It genuinely acts as a substitution for our very work. You can see our articles are just taken and regurgitated verbatim,” Coffey said.

What Google and OpenAI are saying. Nothing so far. But we know Google believes all online content should be available for AI training unless publishers opt out. And the New York Times was one of the first to “opt out” by adding a line to its terms of service prohibiting developers of AI systems from using their content for training.

Some control for news publishers. Any website can block GPTBot (and many popular websites have), and disallow content in Bing Chat, but there is no way to opt out of SGE (only Bard, Vertex and future models, via Google-Extended) – unless you block Googlebot entirely, which would also take you out of Search.

Dig deeper. What is generative AI and how does it work?

Google searches for AI content skyrocketed and have remained high throughout 2023 as businesses and creators tap into new opportunities to scale.

By March, 60% of writers already used AI in their work, a Hackernoon poll showed.

But while generative AI offers amazing content generation and optimization opportunities, balancing its capabilities and limitations is essential. 

Marketers are getting AI content right, from summarizing lengthy texts to crafting compelling social media copy.

However, as we approach 2024, examining where generative AI content falls short is equally important as where it goes right. 

Issues such as misguided SEO research, factual accuracy, plagiarism risks and the absence of human expertise and reasoning are all in play – and they present risks and challenges for brands. 

Where marketers are getting AI content right

When used right, generative AI can streamline processes, improve efficiency and even boost the overall quality of content.

Let’s explore key areas where marketers successfully leverage AI for content creation.

Summarizing long passages of text

One of generative AI’s significant advantages is its ability to quickly and accurately summarize lengthy documents, reports or articles.

This enables us to extract and share critical information with our audience. 

Generating landing page copy, titles and meta descriptions

Creating compelling landing page copy and meta descriptions is crucial for SEO and converting traffic to customers. 

You can use AI to analyze your core content and generate attention-grabbing titles, meta descriptions and landing page copy. 

Dig deeper: How to use AI and Chrome extensions for quick SEO wins

Creating social media copy for promotion

Promoting long-form content on social media platforms can be challenging, especially when you need to capture your audience’s attention quickly. 

Use AI to craft engaging social media posts tailored to your target audience. 

Extract key insights from long-form content and transform them into catchy captions and tweets to drive traffic to your in-depth articles or blog posts.

Dig deeper: 17 tips to improve your AI-assisted content creation process

Enhancing storytelling with use cases and examples

Storytelling is a powerful tool in marketing and AI can take it to the next level. 

Use it to craft relatable, persuasive stories showcasing the benefits of your product or service. It aids research by anticipating objections and questions.

Producing copy and title variations for testing

AI can enhance A/B testing with diverse copy and headline variations. 

Consider analyzing existing content and audience preferences to create alternatives for emails, websites and ads. This enables you to test and improve engagement and conversion rates quickly.

While AI can be a valuable tool, it’s being abused and misused – as some do with all new toys.

In the next section, we’ll explore some of the less effective and perhaps more dangerous ways people use AI for content creation.

Where AI content falls down

Using generative AI in these ways can result in poor-quality content, misinformation, misleading recommendations and other undesirable results. 

The roots of any fall downs in generative AI are based on data. Whether it’s ChatGPT, Bing AI, Google Bard or third-party tools, the quality and connectivity of the data that powers these AI systems is crucial.

To achieve impressive results, prompt engineering and fine-tuning of data from large language models (LLM) have become increasingly prevalent. These techniques are vital for maximizing the potential of generative AI. 

“Your site didn’t get penalised because you used AI for your content.

Your site got penalised because, the way you used AI, and the output of your AI tool was crap.”

– Pedro Dias/X

SEO and keyword research 

Relying solely on AI for SEO research can result in:

• Misguided keyword choices.
• Incorrect optimization tactics.
• Missed opportunities to connect with your target audience effectively.

Human expertise is essential to interpret AI-generated insights and make informed decisions.

AI content generators typically lack access to live, real-time data.

Tools rely on historical data and patterns to suggest keywords and optimization strategies. They can’t adapt to real-time shifts in search trends or user behavior. This limitation is a real liability that can result in wasted spend and effort. 

Too many tools can confuse, with over 70% of marketers recently feeling overwhelmed by AI changes. 

Factual accuracy 

AI-generated content cannot fact-check and verify information. Relying on it to do so can lead to misinformation, damaging your brand’s reputation and credibility. Human oversight is crucial to ensure the content aligns with accurate and up-to-date information.

AI-generated content often requires human editors to review, refine, fact-check and ensure it meets the desired quality standards. 

While AI can assist in creating drafts, it may struggle with nuances, tone and context. 

Human editors play a critical role in fine-tuning content, making it more coherent, engaging and aligned with the brand’s voice.

The risk of plagiarism

AI can inadvertently produce content that resembles existing materials already on the web. Without proper oversight, there is a risk of unintentional plagiarism. 

To avoid this, content creators must conduct thorough checks to ensure their AI-generated content is original and unique.

Perspective and subject matter expertise

While AI can be valuable for generating shorter content, such as product descriptions or social media posts, it may struggle with the complexity and depth required for long-form content like in-depth articles or research papers. 

Providing insightful analysis, coherent narratives and in-depth exploration of topics remains challenging for AI as it simply lacks the depth of knowledge and subject matter expertise that human writers and experts possess. 

It cannot fully understand intricate or niche topics, leading to shallow and inaccurate content. It doesn’t possess humans’ creative and reasoning abilities, either.

It can generate content based on patterns and data but may struggle with producing truly innovative or emotionally resonant content.

Engaging storytelling, humor and emotional connections are often best crafted by human writers.

Dig deeper: AI can’t write this: 10 ways to AI-proof your content for years to come

Amplifying bias and stereotyping

AI algorithms learn from historical data, which can contain biases. 

If not carefully monitored and trained, AI content generators can perpetuate biases, stereotypes or discriminatory language, harming your brand’s reputation.

Trying to cut costs with AI can backfire

For these reasons, looking to AI as a cost-cutting opportunity can be risky. 

Leaning too heavily on technology can undermine quality, customer trust and employee morale, as AI lacks humans’ creativity, adaptability and nuanced decision-making. 

It can lead to errors, impersonal interactions and a loss of competitive advantage in industries where human expertise and customer experience are paramount. 

A balanced approach that combines AI’s efficiency with human oversight and creativity is key to sustainable cost management while maintaining quality and customer satisfaction.

Keep human content creators and editors in your content creation process.

These professionals can ensure that your content aligns with your brand’s unique voice and maintains a consistent tone throughout, retaining the desired brand identity and aligning messaging with your business goals.

Dig deeper: SEO scalability: We have a problem

Finding machine balance in 2024: Humans in the loop

A harmonious balance between humans and machines is key to a successful content strategy. 

While AI technologies offer incredible efficiencies and opportunities, it’s crucial to understand where humans and machines can complement each other effectively. 

Check out these intersections between humans and AI throughout the content creation process and how we can work better together.

1. Editorial process balance

In crafting compelling content, humans and machines can find their equilibrium at various points in the editorial process. 

AI can be invaluable for initial research, data analysis and even generating first drafts. 

However, the human must drive, especially during the later editing stages, where context, style and authenticity are refined.

2. Iteration and collaboration

Improvement is a continuous process. Collaboration between humans and AI is crucial for optimizing content output. 

Humans can provide valuable feedback to AI systems, guiding them better to understand nuances, preferences and evolving trends. 

In return, AI can assist humans by automating repetitive tasks and offering data-driven insights that inform content decisions. 

3. Search experiences begin and end with humans

In SEO, it’s essential to remember that search engines ultimately serve humans. Content optimization must begin with an understanding of human intent and user behavior. 

Once the content is optimized, humans will engage with it, so a human-centric approach ensures that the content:

• Meets their expectations.
• Answers their questions.
• Provides value.

4. Local and cultural relevance

Content must often cater to diverse audiences across regions and cultures. 

AI translation tools can aid in content localization for businesses targeting global audiences. 

However, human translators and cultural experts must ensure the content is accurately translated, culturally relevant and sensitive. 

With their cultural awareness and contextual understanding, humans can tailor content to resonate with specific demographics and audiences in each location. 

Dig deeper: The best AI tools for global SEO expansion

5. Creative ideation and strategy

AI is a great assist in generating content ideas based on data analysis, but from there, it’s human creativity that sparks innovative content concepts and strategic direction. 

Humans bring the ability to think outside the box, connect disparate ideas and envision unique content angles that resonate with audiences.

6. Personalization and user segmentation

AI can analyze vast amounts of data to segment audiences effectively. 

However, humans play a critical role in interpreting these segments and tailoring content to meet each audience group’s needs and preferences.

Human insights help create personalized content that resonates on a personal level.

7. Content distribution and optimization 

While AI can automate content distribution across various channels and optimize posting schedules, humans provide strategic oversight to ensure content aligns with the broader marketing goals. 

They can also respond to real-time engagement on social media or other platforms, adapting the content strategy as needed.

8. Content strategy growth and maturation

Developing a content strategy should be ongoing. Humans can:

• Evaluate the success of content initiatives.
• Understand audience feedback.
• Adjust the content strategy accordingly. 

AI can assist by providing data-driven recommendations, but human strategists ensure the strategy aligns with overarching business objectives.

9. Content repurposing and diversification

Humans can provide the creative ideas and strategic direction needed when scaling content efforts or diversifying content formats. 

From there, AI is a great assistant in generating additional content efficiently, whether as blog posts, videos, infographics, or podcasts.

10. Content accessibility and inclusivity

Ensuring that content is accessible to all audiences, including those with disabilities, is critical. Accessibility ensures that all individuals have equal access to digital content regardless of physical or cognitive abilities. 

Many countries have enacted laws and regulations that mandate digital accessibility, with non-compliance putting you at risk of legal consequences, fines, or lawsuits. While AI can help identify accessibility issues, humans are essential for implementing solutions and ensuring content meets accessibility standards. 

The future of content strategy lies in the synergy between AI, people and process. 

While AI streamlines processes, analyzes data and generates content efficiently, the human touch infuses content with creativity, authenticity and emotional resonance. 

In addition, it is essential that organizations find a balance between cost reduction and cost optimization. Reduction is often a short-term goal and limits content and creativity into silos. 

Optimization allows humans and machines to work together toward a common goal and reduces costs without compromising efficiency and results. 

Start with human intent, leverage AI for efficiency, and you’ll end up with human-centric optimization inside a content strategy that can thrive in 2024 and beyond.