Writing a brief can feel like an unnecessary faff, but it’s a crucial step that can make or break your project. A thought-out brief sets expectations and gives everyone a clear direction. And it can save you a bunch of time and an annoying headache down the road.
A good brief can save you time and money, help you reach your goal, and keep everything on track. It can help you:
There’s no set rule on what exactly you should have in your brief. It depends on your project, who you’re working with, and the nature of the job. But we recommend covering these four sections.
What is the project?
Give a short explanation of what you’re creating and what you’re trying to achieve. Include a list of deliverables as well as any specific formats you need. And summarise the main points you want to get across.
Who is your audience?
Share your audience personas and describe who you’re targeting. Are there multiple audiences? What are their interests? And what are their pain points?
What’s your budget?
Roughly how much do you expect to spend on this project? If it’s a larger project, it’ll help to give a budget for each task or area.
What are your deadlines?
Explain when you need the project done. Make sure to include important milestones, like when you expect to see the first draft, changes, etc.
Hot tip: If you have a hard deadline, add in contingency time. As a rule, if the agency or freelancer you’re working with says it’ll take them a week to deliver the project, add double that time as contingency time.
This is simply to account for anything unforeseen. Anything can happen – people get sick, briefs change, files get corrupted. This mindset can help you avoid missing any important deadlines internally. And if everything runs smoothly, great. You’re ahead of schedule.
What are your objectives?
Think about the main goal of your project. What are you hoping to achieve? Is there anything else we’re trying to achieve here?
What do you want the audience to know?
Add specifics here, like product features, an explanation of an industry trend, how much it costs. If it helps, think: what main points do I want people to remember? A bulleted list is fine.
What do you want our audience to feel?
Do you want them to be worried about the future of our world, or excited at the fact they’re going to save loads of time?
What do you want our audience to do?
Where should they go next? To your website? To email you? Or to buy something?
Explain your brand’s tone of voice, like whether it’s formal or friendly. Include any specific style preferences or formatting rules. If you have any brand guidelines, now would be a good time to share them.
Include your must-haves
These are your absolute requirements and non-negotiables. Are there any stats you want to include? Any specific imagery? Any messaging?
Give background, references, and examples:
Cover the approval process
Figure out who the decision makers are in this process to avoid any roadblocks. And outline how work will be reviewed and feedback given.
It’s easy for the brief to change over the course of a project. It’s normal. By having a clear brief from the start, it can not only keep you on course, but set a clear scope. You want to make sure where the boundaries are so you know where your project ends, and another begins.
Gold: Best Expression of a Brand on Social Media Channels
Bronze: Best Use of Copy Style or Tone of Voice
The Transform Awards celebrate excellence in brand strategy and execution across Europe. saintnicks’ work with Ascot Racecourse brought to life the brand’s creative platform, Elegance at Play – combining social-first storytelling, a distinct tone of voice, and thumb-stopping, jaw-dropping content that captured the attention of both loyal racegoers and new audiences alike.
Speaking on the win, Fraser Bradshaw, CEO at saintnicks, said:
“We set out to create a truly ownable brand voice and world-class social content that matched Ascot’s stature as an iconic British institution. To see that work recognised is a brilliant moment for the team and a testament to the power of brave, collaborative thinking.”
If you’re after a creative brand agency that will go the extra mile for your brand, drop saintnicks a line. You can find out more about their brand, campaigns, content and digital expertise here, or reach out to their Client Services Director, Francois d’Espagnac.
The answer is clear, traditional SEO is still critical. However, AI-driven search is changing how information is found, processed, and presented. Large Language Models (LLMs) now play a significant role in how your website is understood and ranked. LLMs, such as Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash and OpenAI’s o3 mini, are quickly changing how consumers seek and receive information. These AI-driven systems interpret and generate human-like text, influencing decisions and shaping perceptions. Large Language Models (LLMs) now play a significant role in how your website is understood and ranked.
So, how can you ensure your brand’s content is optimised for both search engines and AI models? Here are seven key strategies to help you stay visible in search and maintain brand clarity across AI-driven platforms.
Entities are key concepts, such as brands, products, and services, that search engines and AI models use to understand content. For your brand to be correctly recognised and associated with the right expertise, you need to use your brand name consistently alongside relevant keywords. Instead of writing generic descriptions for example at Varn we could say “We offer great services,” it’s important to be clear and explicit. A stronger alternative would be: “At Varn, we offer innovative SEO services powered by data.”
By making these connections clear, search engines and AI-driven models can better associate your brand with specific topics and expertise. This increases the likelihood that AI-generated search responses will accurately reference your business.
LLMs are designed to understand and generate human-like text, so your writing should be as clear and natural as possible. Overly complex or jargon-heavy content can be difficult for both AI and human readers to interpret.
When creating and writing content, imagine you are explaining your services to someone with no prior knowledge of your industry. Keep your language simple, direct, and conversational. If your subject matter is technical, take the time to explain key terms in a way that is accessible to a general audience.
By making your content easier to understand, you improve its accessibility for users while also increasing the likelihood that AI models will accurately interpret and feature your content.
Content that is well-organised and clearly structured is easier for both search engines and AI models to process. This means using descriptive headings, subheadings, and logical formatting to guide readers and search algorithms through your page.
For example, if an AI bot encounters a section titled “Benefits of Optimising Your Brand Language for LLMs” followed by a well-structured list, it can quickly determine that the following points describe the advantages of LLM optimisation. This helps AI models extract and summarise relevant information more accurately.
Breaking up content with bullet points, numbered lists, and short paragraphs also improves readability. Both human users and AI bots can more efficiently scan and process your information, leading to better search rankings and improved user engagement.
Think of your website as a well-organised library where every piece of content has its proper place. If your pages are connected in a logical and intuitive way, AI models and search engines will have an easier time understanding how different sections of your website relate to one another.
If your homepage links to main sections (like “Products” or “Services”) and those lead to specific sub-pages, a search engine or AI can follow that path to understand how your content is grouped. This again provides even more context to the information you are publishing, improving AIs understanding of your brand, or entity. A clear and connected website architecture not only enhances user experience but also signals to search engines that your content is well-structured and authoritative.
Authority and credibility are just as important for AI models as they are for traditional search engines. If trusted sources reference your brand or website, AI models are more likely to feature your content in their responses.
To build authority, focus on securing high-quality backlinks from reputable industry websites. Publishing guest articles, participating in expert panels, and being featured in respected publications all help establish your brand as a reliable source of information. Digital PR efforts not only improve traditional SEO rankings but also enhance your brand’s visibility in AI-generated search results.
AI-driven search is heavily focused on answering user queries. To improve your chances of appearing in AI-generated responses, structure your content to provide clear and direct answers to commonly asked questions.
Consider incorporating an FAQ section into your website or structuring blog posts around key industry questions. When answering these questions, be concise and informative. Well-structured, easy-to-digest responses are more likely to be surfaced by AI models when generating answers for users.
Just as brands create tone of voice guidelines for marketing and social media, it is now essential to establish guidelines for AI-generated content. AI models pull from existing online content to generate responses, so ensuring consistency in your brand’s language across digital platforms is key.
Define the messaging and terminology that best represents your brand, and ensure that AI-friendly content aligns with these guidelines. Regularly review AI-generated responses related to your business to identify any inconsistencies. By being intentional about your brand language in AI-driven search, you can maintain control over how your business is perceived and ensure that AI-generated content reflects your true brand identity.
The way we search for information is changing rapidly. The rise of AI-driven search means that brands need to optimise their content for both traditional search engines and LLMs. However, this doesn’t mean abandoning traditional SEO; it means evolving your strategy to align with how AI models interpret and present content.
By focusing on clear, structured content, entity-based optimisation, and AI-friendly brand language, you can improve your visibility across both traditional search results and AI-powered search platforms. As search continues to evolve, staying ahead of these trends will be critical for maintaining brand presence and ensuring your content reaches the right audience.
If you want to learn more about optimising your website for AI search, contact our team at Varn for expert guidance.
Google’s AI Mode is a new search experience (currently only available to Google One AI Premium members in the US via Search Labs) that uses Google’s latest AI model (a custom version of Gemini 2.0) to generate rich, conversational answers directly in Google search results. Instead of just showing a list of website links, AI Mode gives an AI-generated overview in response to your query, complete with relevant information gathered from multiple sources and accompanied by citations/links for reference. It is particularly designed for complex or multi-part questions that typically would require multiple searches – for example, comparing detailed options or exploring a new concept step-by-step. As with other AI powered search tools, users can ask follow-up questions in a conversational manner, allowing them to dive deeper into a particular topic within the same search session. This effectively turns search into an interactive dialogue, powered by Google’s AI and backed by Google’s vast index of information.
Google’s AI Mode uniquely combines generative AI with Google’s established information systems. It can tap into the Knowledge Graph, real-time data about current events, and even shopping data for product information. Whilst the current version of Google AI Mode available via Search Labs hasn’t shown product listings as part of any of our test searches, this is still in experimentation mode and so we will likely see many new developments over the coming weeks and months.
Google’s AI Mode introduces several notable features and enhancements over a standard search experience:
With these capabilities, Google’s AI Mode is poised to change how users interact with search, especially for in-depth inquiries. Next, let’s compare how this new mode stacks up against other AI-powered search tools available today.
Google is not the only player integrating AI into search. Competing offerings like Perplexity AI and OpenAI’s ChatGPT (among others) also provide AI-driven search or Q&A experiences. However, each takes a different approach.
Perplexity AI is a newer AI-powered search engine that, like Google’s AI Mode, answers questions by fetching information from the web and then summarising it with an AI model. Perplexity has gained a niche following for its clean interface and strong focus on citations. How does it differ from Google’s AI Mode?
Strengths & weaknesses: Google AI Mode’s strength against Perplexity is the combination of breadth and depth – it can answer more complex questions by drawing on more sources and using better reasoning, all integrated in one place. Perplexity’s strength is being lean and focused: it often gives very concise answers with minimal fluff and clearly shows sources, which some users (especially researchers) appreciate. However, users have to go to a separate site or app to use Perplexity, whereas Google’s AI Mode is in a place where billions of searches are already happening. Overall, Perplexity pioneered the kind of experience that Google is now building natively, but Google’s version could eclipse it by virtue of superior data integration and user convenience.
ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, isn’t a search engine, but it is a prominent AI tool often compared in this space because it answers questions in a conversational way. It’s important to clarify the context: ChatGPT (the default free version) does not have direct access to live web information. Still, many people use ChatGPT as an information tool, so how does Google’s AI Mode differ?
Strengths & weaknesses: Google’s AI Mode is strongest where ChatGPT is weak: real-time factual queries with need for source attribution. It provides an answer you can cite or trust to be up to date. ChatGPT’s strength is in open-domain creativity and instructive dialogue – it’s often more flexible in what you can ask. For an SEO expert or researcher, Google AI Mode might be the preferred tool for gathering information with confidence in the source; ChatGPT might be what you use to brainstorm how to use that information or to generate content from it. One could imagine using both: e.g., ask Google AI Mode for the latest stats or details on a topic (with sources), then use ChatGPT to help craft a report or article around that info. Another point: ChatGPT, being model-based, sometimes injects more of a conversational filler and can occasionally deviate. Google AI Mode, guided by actual search results, is more likely to stick to the point. In summary, ChatGPT is a broad AI assistant with knowledge (albeit time-limited), whereas Google’s AI Mode is an AI-enhanced search specialist grounded in live data. Each has their place, but for the specific job of answering search queries with current info, AI Mode is built to excel.
The introduction of AI Mode in Google Search has significant implications for user behaviour and how people interact with search engines:
Mobile and voice implications: As search becomes more conversational, voice search is likely to become much more popular. AI Mode’s development might bleed into how Google Assistant or mobile voice queries are answered (more conversationally, with summarised info). If AI Mode makes it easier to get a direct answer, people might be more inclined to ask their phones a question out loud and trust the spoken response.
In summary, AI Mode is changing search behavior by making search more of a dialogue and less of a directory. It is important that we place additional focus on conversational search within SEO, and that we optimise content for voice search, long-tail keywords, and individual entities – but we need to do so whilst making sure we don’t ignore traditional search. Google may have seen a large drop in their market share in recent months thanks to the introduction of other AI powered search tools, but they may just start pulling that traffic back thanks to the launch of AI Mode. We’ll keep an eye on these developments, and will let you know when Google AI Mode is ready for the general public.
In the meantime, if you’re concerned about search performance in this new era of AI and would like to make sure your website is optimised for AI search, give us a call – we would love to hear from you.
Although traditional searches have become longer and use natural language, voice searches tend to be more conversational, as if users were having a real-life discussion. For example, a user may type “Top 5 holiday destinations 2025” but verbally ask “What are the top 5 holiday destinations in 2025?”. Voice search queries tend to be informational, especially if a user makes a request via a smart speaker, or commercial if using another voice-assisted device such as a mobile phone. In comparison to traditional searches, voice searches produce more clear and concise results, often with AI Overviews and featured snippets. It’s also worth noting that a large portion of voice searches come from users who are on the move, particularly when using a mobile device, to get quick answers.
Voice search works through an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system, which translates speech to text as follows:
One difficulty with voice search is that some people using smart speakers for voice search will be unlikely to investigate what source was used. For example, a user asking an Alexa “What is the best material to make a knitted jumper?” will not be able to click through to a website selling wool and be converted into a potential customer. So you may be asking the question, if appearing in voice search results may not lead to increased traffic on my website, why do I need to optimise for it?
Firstly, voice search covers a wide range of devices, not just Alexas or Echos, and secondly, the steps you would take to optimise your website for voice search are also helping to optimise your website for traditional searches. So improving your website’s SEO for voice search will likely come with many benefits such as appearing in SERP features and AI Overviews, and ranking well organically. Voice search is about capturing these users and drawing them into your website, as they may become customers, so it’s great to include this in your overall SEO strategy.
Because questions used in typically written searches are becoming longer and more conversational, similar to voice searches, optimising the below elements for voice search essentially allows you to hit two birds with one stone. Matching search intent, including relevant keywords, adding schema where applicable, and optimising for local search and mobile will have positive effects on your rankings. Here are a few ways you can optimise your website’s SEO for voice search, whilst helping to enhance its general SEO performance.
Keywords and search intent
Keyword research enables you to understand your target audience and tailor your website’s content. You can find keyword opportunities through resources such as Google Search Console, Google Ads, or Google Analytics, as well as third-party tools such as SEMRush, Ahrefs, and Moz. It’s important to include long-tail keywords, conversational phrases, and semantic keywords to cover a range of relevant queries your audience uses to find your website’s products and services.
To strengthen your content strategy, match search intent to your content. If a user is searching for “the best Greek salad recipe”, they will likely be looking for recipe SERP features with the most appealing name, enticing description, and attractive image. The above query is an informational one, so if your business sourced fresh fruit and vegetables, you could add a recipe under blogs or a designated recipes folder. Along with this content, you should also include recipe schema, adding relevant data such as a title, description, optimised image, and reviews, to increase the likelihood of appearing in recipe SERP features.
FAQs and Schema
As SERP features and AI Overviews are now in search results, the typical organic blue links that make up the top 10 results get pushed down the page. But as the screen on a mobile device is much smaller, users are likely to focus more on these top features in voice search results as opposed to website URLs. Therefore, it’s important to optimise your content, following a question-answer style while adding FAQs to pages where relevant. Alongside keyword research, you can see which questions users are searching by looking at the ‘People Also Ask’ SERP feature and looking at commonly asked questions in customer feedback.
Marking up your website’s content with a range of schema types will increase the likelihood of appearing in SERP features. Here, user-generated content (UGC) such as reviews and testimonials are great additions to your pages and schema as these make your site more credible, a factor that influences web rankings.
Optimise for local search
As highlighted earlier in our blog, a large portion of voice searches made from a mobile device are by users who are on the move. These users are often making local searches, such as “What’s the nearest supermarket near me?” or “Where can I get my phone fixed?”. Therefore, to optimise your website for local SEO, make sure that your Google My Business profile is up to date, particularly if you have a physical store. Including location-specific landing pages on your website is also beneficial as these can rank for location-specific keywords in SERPs.
Mobile optimisation
Due to Google’s mobile-first indexing approach, you need to make sure your website is up to scratch on mobile. Not only does a fast mobile site speed matter in Google’s eyes, but people using voice search, particularly when on the move, are looking for quick answers and quick buys. Users want to be able to find the information they are looking for easily on your site. Having a smooth, functional, and logical navigation on your mobile site plays a part in conversions. If a site is too slow, elements are unresponsive, or a user cannot find what they are looking for, they may simply leave the site.
Although you aren’t able to directly see your website’s appearance in voice search results, there are various elements you can track to get an understanding:
Appearing in voice search results isn’t an easy one-route path; Following a range of SEO tactics including question-answer style content, long-tail keywords and phrases, and schema markup as well as optimising your website for mobile and local search will improve your website’s performance in voice search results.
Want to learn more about how AI is changing search? Check out our AI Search and Innovation blogs, or contact one of our SEO experts today.
When looking at the kind of backlinks it is important to think about the context. Looking at an example for Varn, we conducted a search on the ‘best off-page SEO agencies’ and it returned the below result. Content pulls through from Varn’s Off-page SEO page but the sources section at the bottom is what we are really interested in.
Examining the content we can see that whilst some commercial pages are shown including Varn’s there is a high number of long-form content pages listing out SEO agencies. These kinds of lists are becoming more common across the web and appear to be what SearchGPT is prioritising when it comes to citations. If your website is mentioned in this kind of content, you are more likely to appear in SearchGPT for relevant results. Varn for example are featured in the Social Shepherd article but not in similar referral style pages from Omnius or Designrush.
These represent golden opportunities to reach out and ask for a placement. In addition to this we are also seeing more reddit results be leveraged within the content, whether this will stay or not is difficult to determine, but for this thread around the best SEO agencies in the UK, getting Varn featured is also a bonus. The question is, will not having a backlink in this kind of content have an impact?
Brand mentions have been a part of SEO for over a decade but their potential importance has often been debated. In the early days pre-2012, their importance was minimal, with a pure focus on backlinks. Following the Penguin and Hummingbird updates, the algorithm developed in terms of context and entity recognition, and this coincided with the Google patent on ‘implied links’ , a hint that unlinked brand mentions could be a ranking signal.
From 2015-1018, brand mentions became more important and started to play a significant role in signalling authority if they were placed on authoritative sites. This trend has continued up to 2024, with the added dimension of LLMs now clearly leveraging brand mentions in the answers they surface to users. The areas of the mentions may also play a part, as Neil Patel discusses:
“The more mentions, the more likely AI models are to consider your content high quality.
That could be things like user-generated content reviews, comments, and forum posts. These are the types of information large language models are likely to use, so use social listening tools to discover these comments.”
What does SearchGPT say?
Our question: Do you use brand mentions on forums, social posts and wider non-traditional SEO sources in your algorithm when serving answers on brands to users?
SearchGPT: I don’t have my own algorithm for ranking brands, but I can analyze and synthesize information based on a mix of sources, including brand mentions on forums, social media, news articles, and other online discussions. However, my responses prioritize authoritative sources like official websites, structured SEO-optimized content, and well-cited information.
Are unlinked mentions still a tactic worth pursuing? Google’s grip on search has not vanished just yet, but with their dip below 90% of the market share for the first time since 2015, ensuring your time is spent on the most valuable tactics will be crucial.
So we’ve discussed the kind of citations that SearchGPT uses for content around ‘best X service providers’ and we have explored the added importance of brand mentions on these types of pages and wider sources on the web. How do you actually go about driving these for your business?
Brand mentions and off-page SEO is here to stay with the new AEO paradigm, if you want to continue to earn visibility remember to:
If you would like to discuss how LLMs serve content to users and how you can get featured in commercially valuable searches no matter the platform, get in touch with Varn today.
Schema is a machine-readable markup language that can be added to a page’s HTML and is used to define what is on a page for better comprehension by search engines [5]. There are various types of Schema (e.g. Product, Organization, ImageObject) – with a full list available on schema.org/ – but it is important to note only some have associated rich results, and that these are not guaranteed even with schema markup added to your page. However, don’t let this put you off from adding other types of schema to your site – the more information you can markup about your content the better!
Schema can be added directly to page HTML, or often there are options to add this directly through your CMS. Plugins such as Yoast can also be used to generate Schema – this code can often be taken as a starting point to create the more interconnected graphs we will touch on later in this article.
When writing Schema, we recommend making good use of tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper or the JSON-LD Playground to validate code as you write it. Google’s Rich Result Validator will show if your Schema markup (either through a page URL or code snippet) is correct and eligible for rich results, whilst Schema.org’s Validator will show if a page’s Schema implementation or code snippet is correct and error-free.
Schema in the context of Semantic (Entity) SEO
To understand how to optimise for AI search, we must first understand the shift from lexical to semantic search algorithms. Lexical algorithms rely solely on keyword matching, whilst semantic algorithms focus on comprehending natural language, alongside the meaning and intent behind a query, to give answers that go beyond surface-level associations [2]. Semantic search aims to deliver more relevant, helpful, and tailored results for users, resulting in a better user experience and more intuitive search behaviours.
Semantic search structures and understands content through modelling this into entities, their properties, and the relationships between them [3]. Here, an entity refers to a specific concept in the real world – a person, place, organisation, idea, etc. Google combines all these components together into a knowledge graph – a graphical representation of entities, their attributes and the links between them.
AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini rely on semantic search and schema markup to interpret and process information, as this allows them to extract information and comprehend content much faster and with fewer computational resources [6]. Therefore, optimising your Schema markup for semantic search will also help optimise for AI.
Essentially, accurate and thorough Schema markup presents semantic value to search engines – it adds greater contextual meaning and defines relationships between entities on a site [1]. Adding Schema markup provides this information to search engines in a quick, clear and easily understood way, meaning search engines do not have to process and infer this information themselves.
Historically, Schema has not been used as extensively as it could to define the relationships between entities, as adding independent Schema types was enough to go after rich results. However, when looking to optimise for semantic search, the focus has shifted less from defining entities themselves to defining the relationships between them, focusing on building up Google’s knowledge graph for your content to ensure this is properly and thoroughly understood.
In real terms – we want our Schema Markup to be one connected graph, rather than a series of separate blocks of code so search engines (and AI search!) can best understand these relationships [4].
For example, you may have:
As 4 separate blocks of code on your site, this may be sufficient to try and gain a rich result, but this does not define the relationships between any of these entities.
What we would instead want is:
We (and search engines) can now clearly see how these entities are linked in one graph, helping convey greater meaning and optimising for semantic search.
When looking to future-proof your SEO strategy, you need to ensure that search engines can truly comprehend your content, not just parse it and identify keywords, and Schema Markup is an important tool for this. We have seen rich result types come and go, but Schema as a tool is important to future-proof your SEO strategy in 2025 and beyond – laying the fundamentals of getting your content fully and accurately understood by semantic search models and AI search engines.
Interested in Schema markup for your site? Contact Varn today to talk to our team of experts and discuss your AI search strategy!
References:
[1] https://www.schemaapp.com/schema-markup/evolving-role-of-schema-markup/
[2] https://myscale.com/blog/semantic-search-vs-lexical-search-key-differences/
[3] https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/semantic-seo
[4] https://yoast.com/why-schema-needs-to-be-a-graph/
[5] https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/structured-data-for-seo
[6] https://www.npgroup.net/blog/role-of-schema-markup-in-ai-friendly-websites/
Did you know that only 37% of brands surveyed in the 2023 State of Content Marketing report by Semrush, outsource their copywriting needs? This won’t be a problem for those who have managed to find talented writers to employ in-house or have existing employees that know a thing or two about packing a powerful marketing copywriting punch. Unfortunately, these brands are in the minority and what happens more often than not is that brands ‘make do’ with the resources they have because they don’t have the time or capacity to think about doing things differently. It’s not easy to kickstart a new business relationship but using a self-employed copywriter can save you money and make your marketing more successful.
Good copywriting has a big impact on marketing campaigns. It can make the difference between people staying on your website and clicking away, between customers and prospects liking and disliking your brand, and between potential customers following a call to action or continuing their research journey. It’s not something that should be pushed to the bottom of the priority list or done in a hurry. Even if your business is producing copious amounts of copy on a regular basis, how confident are you that it is copy that is doing your business justice?
Here are five top tips to create copy that captures attention (in a good way!).
You can’t expect people to keep reading your marketing material, whether your website, blog, feature article, social media, direct mail, or brochure, if you have written it with a generic or catch-all audience in mind. It’s far better to think about a small group of people, or even just one person that represents your ideal customer and write copy that you know will hit the mark with them. Writing for one person makes it much easier to stay on track with your objectives and what you want to achieve.
Whatever medium you are writing for, make sure you know what your angle is before you start. To pinpoint an angle, think about why your audience will want to read the piece – what will they get out of it? What new piece of information or research can you bring to the table to introduce the topic you want to cover? If you’re struggling to answer this question it’s going to be hard to engage your readers, let alone encourage them to follow a call to action.
When you’re staring at a blank page before writing a 700 word feature article or 1200 word blog post, it can be easy to fill the void by using more words than you need in a sentence. This isn’t a problem as long as you edit the piece when you’ve finished. Read your copy aloud and if you find it jars and you wouldn’t say those words in real life, the chances are it will jar for your readers. It’s OK to be more formal if the medium calls for it, but formal can sometimes become difficult to read if there are too many long, convoluted sentences. It’s far better to keep it simple and make sure your content is useful, than have pages of copy that don’t really say anything.
I touched on it briefly in the previous point but once you have finished your piece of writing, even if you think you’ve nailed it the first time, take a break and come back to read through it again later. Occasionally I’ll come back to some copy and make just one or two changes, but often it’s only on a second or third read through that I can spot a few ways to make the piece even better. It can be tempting to get the article off your desk as soon as you have fulfilled the word count, but this rarely makes for impactful copy that resonates with your audience.
If you think about the copy you like to read when researching a product or browsing trade magazines, it is probably copy that looks interesting on the page. Use subheadings, powerful images, bold bullet points, and stand-alone sentences to break up the page and encourage readers to stick with you. Of course, well-written copy will keep them engaged as well, but however good your copy is, a lot of readers will skim a page until they find what they need, so make it easy for them to get to the information they’re looking for quickly.
Quality marketing copy counts
If your business marketing copy is not having the impact you would like, it might be worth reviewing the process to try to get it back on track. Perhaps you have been pleased with the amount of copy being generated and so haven’t stopped to think about what that copy is saying and whether it is having the desired effect. I hope these top tips help to level up your copy but if it all still feels a bit daunting, perhaps I can help by delivering hassle free marketing copy for your business. Contact me today on helen@blogwrite.co.uk for copywriting support for blogs, feature articles, direct mails and much more.
JavaScript plays a key role in modern web development, powering interactive features like animated buttons, dynamic text, and responsive forms. With the rise of JavaScript libraries, building complex and engaging websites has become easier than ever. In fact, an estimated 99% of all websites now use JavaScript in some way. But here’s the problem: AI-powered search bots don’t always process JavaScript properly. This means if your website relies heavily on JavaScript to display key content, there’s a risk that AI crawlers won’t index it correctly. And if AI-powered search engines can’t read your content, it becomes much harder for users to find you in AI-generated search results.
Over the past couple of months, we’ve been hearing a lot of rumblings within the SEO field, including many questions about the longevity of SEO. “What’s next for SEO?”, “Is SEO still worth investing in?”, “IS SEO DEAD?” Well, if you ask me… SEO isn’t dead, but ranking #1 on Google? That just might be.
For years, we have relied on traditional KPIs such as Google keyword rankings and CTRs to measure SEO success. While these metrics have long been the gold standard for determining how effectively a website performs in search engine results, SEO is evolving. It’s time to stop focusing on keyword rankings, instead prioritising search visibility. The rapid rise of AI-powered search and answer engines isn’t just impacting Google’s market share – it’s also revolutionising how we approach SEO as a whole.
For over a decade, Google has dominated the search engine market, holding more than 90% of the global market share at its peak. However, recent data indicates that Google’s market share has dropped to its lowest point in over ten years. While Google still holds a commanding lead, this decline signals a growing trend: users are exploring alternative search tools and platforms that better meet their evolving needs.
Several factors contribute to this shift. Chief among them is the development of artificial intelligence in search technology. AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and SearchGPT are changing how users seek information. These tools don’t function like traditional search engines that provide a list of ranked results. Instead, they act as answer engines, delivering direct, concise, and often accurate responses to user queries.
This shift in user behavior demonstrates the need to rethink how we measure SEO success. If you want your content to get noticed, you need to start thinking beyond individual keywords and rankings. Don’t put all of your focus into Google – it’s time to expand your strategy and meet your audience where they are.
Search visibility is becoming the cornerstone of effective SEO strategy. But what exactly does “search visibility” mean?
Search visibility refers to how easily and frequently your brand, content, or website appears across various search and information platforms. Unlike traditional KPIs, which are specific to a single search engine (typically Google), search visibility encompasses a broader, more holistic view of where and how your content is discovered.
For example, an SEO strategy focused on search visibility would prioritise:
Content Depth and Relevance: Moving beyond keyword stuffing and instead creating content that directly answers user questions, provides actionable insights, and builds trust.
AI Integration: Ensuring your content is structured and optimised to be easily understood by AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI.
Platform Diversification: Expanding beyond Google to include optimisation for alternative search engines like Bing (which now integrates OpenAI technology), and even social media platforms with robust search functionalities like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Artificial intelligence has fundamentally altered how people search for information. Nobody has time to dig through 10 pages of Google results – be realistic, when is the last time you visited page two of Google? We want fast, direct answers – preferably concise answers that fit into one or two sentences, with additional information available if needed. This is evident in the growing popularity of AI-powered tools that act as personal assistants, offering:
For SEO professionals, this means adapting strategies to align with how AI understands and processes content. For example, structured data, schema markup, and natural language optimisation are critical components of ensuring that your content is easily digestible by AI.
Here are some actionable steps to help create and maintain a successful SEO strategy based on search visibility:
As Google’s dominance declines and AI-driven search tools rise in prominence, the SEO industry is undergoing a seismic shift. The metrics and strategies that once defined success are giving way to a new paradigm centered on search visibility. To stay ahead, businesses must adapt their approaches, embrace the opportunities presented by AI, and ensure their content remains discoverable.
In this AI-driven future, the winners won’t be those who cling to outdated KPIs but those who innovate, evolve, and prioritise visibility. The question isn’t whether you’re ranking #1 on Google – it’s whether your audience can find you regardless of platform, using increasingly popular conversation search terms.
If you would like to find out more about how Varn can help increase your search visibility, or you would like to discuss AI’s impact on SEO, please contact us. Our expert, friendly team would love to hear from you.
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