It was a sunny day as I strolled into Google headquarters, my mind awash with questions I wanted to ask. This was an exclusive interview I had scored and didn’t want to let anyone down. This opportunity to get keen insights into how Google sees AI must be maximized.
There are no studies to prove it, but psychology has likely been used in every form of marketing since the beginning of time. Even if they don’t explicitly know it, people who have something to sell almost always appeal to psychology to convince someone to part with their money.
Many of them have become very pervasive and continue to be propagated by SEO professionals. Typically, not on purpose. It’s just that SEO changes so fast that what worked six months ago might not work today.
From billboards to hashtags, the sole purpose of all marketing is to persuade people to take the actions you want. One of the most effective ways to do that is through the written word. It’s worked for thousands of years and that isn’t changing anytime soon.
But, there’s one important caveat: the copy (written word) must be good. It must be easy to read and comprehend. There can’t be too much jargon or wordiness. It needs to draw the reader in and then get to the point quickly.
This is especially true today. People have so much content to consume that they often barely taste it much less digest it. Words come and go. They read something and then move on to the next shiny piece of content that grabs their attention.
You have a brand new website for your small business. It’s everything you hoped for and looks better than you imagined. But, there’s a problem. No one else knows how great it looks! A beautiful website is great. It makes your small business look more professional and inviting and sets the tone for how you want people to think about your brand. However, a beautiful website is only as good as the number of people who see it. That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.