Entries by Matt Wright

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SEO and the perils of keyword stuffing: 5 ways to get it right

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) used to mean keyword stuffing: think of trying to cram as much as possible into a suitcase, then jumping on it, sitting on it, and forcing it closed with all your might.

Back then, it was all about volume; i.e. fitting in as much stuff as possible. Nowadays however, it’s to do with quality; i.e. thinking about what might actuall be useful to the reader.

SEO keyword stuffing

Here are 5 tips to improve your website’s SEO:

  1. The ‘Goldilocks’ principle

This is what I call the principle of ‘not-keyword-stuffing’ (so you won’t find it referred to this if you Google* the term) – in other words, “Not too much…not too little….just the right amount”.

What is the exactly right amount? Well, it’s more of an art than a science (unless you have full access to all of Google’s* algorithms) but if you follow the common-sense basics you’ll be OK. read more

October 24, 2017 /1 Comment/by

Go Sober for October – literary creativity or personal longevity…what’s it to be?

“Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy…but the Bible says, love your enemy.”

-Frank Sinatra

Mankind has always had a love:hate relationship with alcohol (‘mankind’ meaning both men and women, just to be clear!) The medical profession loathe it (officially at least – anybody who has ever studied alongside medical students might be forgiven for being slightly sceptical on this point), whilst the rest of us either like or love it (in varying degrees) , with the artistic profession more prone to loving it than most.

So, as it’s officially ‘Go Sober for October’, what better time to balance up the health-related downsides of alcohol versus the creative upsides?

Go Sober for October

alcohol dry october

“Age and glasses of wine should never be counted.” -Unknown

First the bad news re alcohol. There is no safe lower drinking limit. Anything causes cancer. Officially.

This seems to be exacerbated by the fact that those doing the most drinking are the ‘Baby Boomers’ (aged over 50) rather than ‘Juveniles’ (those aged under 25)

So, ‘Go Sober for October’ has its merits….but taken along with ‘No-vember’ and ‘Dry January’, do we drinkers risk losing our creative spark? read more

October 23, 2017 /0 Comments/by

BLT (*) – “HOW DO YOU USE LINKEDIN TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS?”

“ As of April 2017, LinkedIn had 500 million members in 200 countries, out of which more than 106 million members were active. Most of the company’s revenue comes from selling access to information about its members to recruiters and sales professionals”

– Source: Wikipedia

LinkedIn has become the defacto social media tool for the business community. Whereas Twitter is too fleeting, Facebook too personal, and Instagram too artistic….Linkedin ticks most of the professional boxes. Or does it? read more read more

October 15, 2017 /0 Comments/by

The Grammarian – Latin for business

For a ‘dead’ language, Latin has been kept alive pretty well, having interwoven itself into our daily lives – both personal and business – often unnoticed. 

Latin is still very evident in its pure and original form in the idioms of religion and royalty; i.e. the conduit by which Latin originally arrived in the UK, via William the Conquerer in 1066 [see, there you are already – i.e. is the abbreviation for ‘id est’ and means “in other words”].

In heraldry, ancient houses always had a Latin motto. Hence nowadays, to convey an illusion of being old and established, most new institutions (be they a company or a town or educational establishment) will seek to mimic this impression of longevity by adopting its own Latin motto; e.g. MGM, “Ars Gratia Artis” meaning ‘Arts for Art’s Sake’ [ah, again; e.g. is the abbreviation for the Latin phrase “exempli gratia”]. read more read more

October 9, 2017 /0 Comments/by

Do you speak wino?

The human palate is apparently the weakest of the five traditional senses….which raises an important question regarding wine tasting: how much b*llsh*t is involved?

Most (premium) retailers like to go by the adage, ‘You get what you pay for’. If so, then why was Lidl voted Supermarket of the Year at the Drinks Retailing Awards in February 2017? And, if this was a one-off, then why was its sparkling wine (costing £7.99) named one of the best in the world at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in June 2017, standing shoulder to shoulder with premium champagnes costing over £50?

I only use Lidl as an example (other budget supermarkets are available upon request) because the wine industry trades on snobbery and cachet value…which all adds up to a considerable amount of b*llsh*t…probably because so many people’s jobs and livelihoods depend upon it being so. read more read more

October 2, 2017 /0 Comments/by

BLT (*): “What age would you like to retire at..and why?”

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

– Bill Gates

In other words, don’t get too fixated by the short-term and remember to keep the long-term in mind…..something which is quite useful to remember when planning for retirement!

Quotes

“The age at which I’d like to retire is usually a function of how the previous day’s work has gone!”

“I don’t want to be at home alone with the wife…I’m going to keep on working for as long as possible” [that quote was from an investment advisor’s client!] read more

September 29, 2017 /0 Comments/by

The ‘In Pursuit of Slow’ discussion: e-book v paperback / US v UK

So, finally, we’ve self-published our first book in paperback – ‘In Pursuit of Slow’. I say ‘we’, as it’s been a joint effort between the writer (Jackie), the editor (me) and the digital guru (David Harris) and it has given me a much greater appreciation for what is involved in self-publishing.

First of all though, let’s cut to the chase – to buy your paperback copy of In Pursuit of Slow, please click here. Alternatively, if you’d like the online Kindle version, please click here.

OK, now that’s out of the way, onto the main discussion – should you self-publish in paperback or Kindle and how will this this affect your marketing approach?

  1. Paperbacks (hard copy) v Kindle (digital) – how the argument stacks up at present

Let’s start with a few random ‘facts’:

  • UK: In 2015, the Publishers Association found that digital content sales declined -2% to £554m in 2015, while physical book sales had increased from £2.74bn to £2.76bn. [Source: The Guardian, Mar 2017]
  • In 2016, e-book sales declined for the second successive year (this time by -4%).
  • [Note then, that in the UK, e-books accounted for just over 15% of total sales in 2016]
  • US: In 2015, the Association of American Publishers found that digital content sales fell -11% to $2.8bn, whilst overall publishers trade book revenue rose 3% to $15.8bn.
  • [Note: e-books sales accounted for 17% of total US sales in 2015].

As an ex-analyst though, there is one glaring big hole in this data – it all comes from the publishers, who are less than keen on the ‘Amazon’ effect. read more read more

September 14, 2017 /4 Comments/by
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BLT: How happy are you with your work:life balance?

This fortnight’s BLT (*) topic for discussion was ‘Work:Life balance’ facilitated by Helen Isacke from Trusted Coach Directory

“For me, it’s more of a work:death balance” (from a will writer)

  1. Introductions and brain loosener: How would you sum up your own work:life balance?

“Work is part of my life”

“It’s really a work:life inbalance – you work unsociable hours…but you don’t really mind as you choose the unsociable hours to work”

“You do it for yourself –  work is part of life”

2. The Wheel of Life – Finding your own balance

www.mindtools.com/rs/LifeWheel

This is a tried and trusted coaching tool; to take a ‘helicopter view’ in order to identify the time you spend on core activities (referred to here as ‘dimensions’) and your satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with that allocation of time. read more read more

September 14, 2017 /0 Comments/by
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From Fake News to Fake Bots

Where tech influences art

It’s all about disclosure; all adverts should be upfront and clear. In terms of the law, you can’t behave as a private individual when in fact you’re a commercial entity

This blurring of the lines between who is and who isn’t an individual goes to the very heart of this issue.

Given the importance of ‘personal’ reviews, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the world of book publishing isn’t safe from outside ‘commercial’ influences…no surprise at all.

Online reviews – your new best friend

An overwhelming 90 percent of respondents who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, while 86 percent said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews

Source: Marketing Land

You can pick whichever data source you like (so let’s not be too prescriptive on the exact percentages!) but the overwhelming evidence is that reviews and recommendations are vital. read more read more

July 19, 2017 /0 Comments/by
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The Elevate Grants…and Keith Abel, the fun face of entrepreneurship

OBS launches the Elevate grants

OBS Elevate Launch

On June 29th at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxfordshire Business Support ‘OBS’ launched its new support programme called ‘Elevate’ to an audience of over 300 local Oxfordshire businesses. Speakers from OBS and OXLEP outlined details of the £200,000 worth of grant funding to be shortly available to ‘start-up’ and ‘growth’ businesses (as of 3rd July) as well as highlighting the 94 free workshops available for the next year (through to June 2018) and the free business support advice available from ‘sector’ and ‘network’ navigators throughout the county. read more read more

June 30, 2017 /0 Comments/by