The internet is changing. Right now. I’m not sure if we’re all ready.
In the old days, companies created websites, and filled them with good quality (sometimes) SEO content. Google would send people to the sites with the best SEO. And Google made its money from advertising. But those companies got the eyeballs. And the sales. That is no longer the future.
Today, Google wants to serve the information itself. So, it will use AI to scrape the content from your website and present it on Google. No need to search through results, or to click through to websites. Very convenient for users. Great for Google. Utterly disastrous for businesses whorely on their website to make sales, find new customers or build their brands.
This is not the distant future. This is happening now.
And it’s not just Google. Sites like Perplexity.ai are already doing this. Conservative estimates are that we have about five years until Google perfects this. It may well be less.
Now there are two approaches. Either you can post a ‘Do not scrape our content to educate your AI’ notice on your site and hope to sue Google if they ignore it (good luck with that) or you can make the change work for you.
How can you make this seismic change work for your business?
Take these next few years (and it’s only a handful) as an unmissable opportunity to create genuinely unique, highly authoritative content that gives readers real value. That’s what Google is going to want to show. That’s what is going to keep you in the game. Actual, genuine thought-leadership content – not just recycled blah that is labelled as such.
Now, I know, I know, I would say that, wouldn’t I? Because that is the sort of content our 25 senior-level writers create at Alex Genn Copywriting. And, yes, I’ve been banging on about this for years, that it is quality, originality and real value of content that makes a difference to your brand and your enquiries. I genuinely believe that everything else makes you just a part of the static noise.
Good news! You ALREADY have everything you need
You have the most fantastic expertise in-house. It’s what your business is built on. You just need to turn that into original, thought-leadership content. This is the insight-rich content that Google will be looking for over the coming years. It is the ONLY type of content that is going to keep eyeballs on your brand.
But the clock is ticking
But the clock is ticking. If your content machine isn’t up and running, you’re already falling behind. If you’re churning out regular but mediocre content to drive SEO, you need to inject some quality – and fast – because large churn, SEO-heavy stuff is going to be as useful as a chocolate teapot.
How we help
We understand your in-house experts do not have time, or often the inclination to create content, seeing it as secondary to their role. That’s fine. We interview them in just 25 minutes, and turn that conversation into valuable thought-leadership content, such as articles, whitepapers, case studies etc – whatever fits your strategy – but always high quality, original content that marks you as the go-to brand in your area. Talk to us about how we can help.
If you’re interested there’s a great two-part podcast about this on the ‘Search Engine’ podcast, the episode is ‘How do we survive a media apocalypse?’ Go on, Google it; while you still can.
