Nichola Stott is the MD and Founder of Erudite Agency. Nicola has been involved in Digital Marketing for 20 years. She worked as Digital PR & Head of Commercial Partners for Yahoo in the UK. She is passionate about search and decided to start her own SEO agency, Erudite, 10 years ago providing SEO, CRO & web analytics services.

There are two big questions regarding SEO: 

1.    What is working? 

2.   What is not working in SEO?

First, Nichola explains what isn’t working - inauthenticity in campaigns, giving Pure Gym as an example. They did the campaign regarding Black History month which severely backfired.

Nichola illustrates that if you want to use digital campaigns, the most important thing to understand is the audience. It is imperative to be passionate and authentic.

Build your own story and thoughts. Don’t use it if you don’t fully understand it as this could backfire on you.

Next, Nichola explains what is working right now. She defines working as “Improving Visibility”. With greater visibility comes greater potential to convert sales.

Whilst discussing visibility, she adds that the strongest criteria is speed. Better speed helps to improve the ranking. Image size makes a huge impact on page speed. Adding a video is also a great way to get ranking. Users have the option to use 3D modeling, or animated images of the products.

Nichola goes on to say that the age of your website visitors is an important factor to understand.  The younger visitors like videos. 70% of web traffic is video related, especially on mobile phones.

-      “There are now two different Googles: Mobile Google and Desktop Google.

Visitors Prioritise fast websites specific for mobiles

-      “ With greater visibility comes greater potential to convert sales”

-      “If you want to scare the living daylights out of a group of entrepreneurs, talk about technical information.

-      “70% of web traffic is video related”

-      80% of website visitors are likely from mobile phones.

In This Episode:

[ 2:40 ] About Nichola Stott

[ 7:10 ] What isn’t working in the SEO

[ 7:10 ] Pure Gym Inauthentic campaign

[ 15:40 ] 5000 podcast download milestone 

[ 17:30 ] What is working in the SEO

[ 25:40 ] Serving Video for SEO

[ 33:00 ] Why Consider age for using Videos

Links Mentioned:

Contact Nichola : https://erudite.agency/

Nichola’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nicholastott

Nichola’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholastott/

Oli Hills is the Managing Director of Updates Media, disrupting traditional local news allowing brands to speak to local audiences through engaging and creative content. Also, COO at Zento, the point of sweat data analytics for global sports brands. He is a speaker and thought leader for disruptive business models.

First, Oli reveals his big news – they are merging with a company in Bristol called Best of Bristol. It’s lonely running a business on your own, so Oli is excited to have a friend on his journey.

Oli says that we are all a bit lazy when it comes to digital marketing. Social media today is complicated. We can get information to people in seconds; however, everyone is doing it. Plus, social media channels are changing drastically.

For example, Facebook says that they want videos that are three-minutes in length. If a video is three-minutes, the algorithm will give it a boost. Now, Facebook is running advertisements in one-minute videos. Unfortunately, users want a video that is five or ten seconds. When someone opens Facebook, they simply aren’t prepared to watch a three-minute video.

TikTok has blown up during lockdown. It has gone back to absolute basics. So, Facebook launched Instagram Reels. Now they are asking for ten seconds reels when they previously wanted three-minute videos. Oli says that content creators can’t keep up with the ever-changing rules of social media. Also, not many people have the skillset to approach content for a specific platform.

Oli says that the next phase of social media will be a private chat-based conversation. However, companies get excited when new platforms launch. Then, Facebook will try to replicate it. Each platform needs to accept that there will be competitors and then stay in their lane. Oli feels sorry for social media managers because they just have to navigate what is best for each platform.

Later, Oli says that groups are working in the digital marketing world. You can join a group based on your niche interest; it’s incredibly powerful. More importantly, you can join or start a conversation – that isn’t available with a Facebook page. It’s unbelievably powerful when you hone in on your niche. Stay tuned as we talk about the importance of community when it comes to your groups.

- “Groups is where you can have personalised and deep-meaning conversations.”

- “Don’t forget about the good work that you have done.”

- “Be creative with the basics.”

- “The engagement you get from a good group is hugely powerful.”

In This Episode:

 [ 1:30 ] About Updates Media

 [ 3:30 ] Big news from Oli!

 [ 7:10 ] What isn’t working in the world of digital marketing

 [ 13:00 ] The next phase of social media

 [ 17:40 ] Advice for social media managers

 [ 21:20 ] Stop creating so many graphics

 [ 24:50 ] What is working in the world of digital marketing

 [ 34:55 ] How to use groups correctly

Links Mentioned: 

 Updates Media: https://updatesmedia.com/

 Oli’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/olishills

 Oli’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olihills/

 Email Oli: oli@updatesmedia.com