New Digital Age recently spoke with Jake Bentham to discuss his role as Head of SEO & Tech at AgencyUK, the latest developments in SEO and the challenges that clients are currently facing…
Tell me about your role – what sort of thing takes up your time day-to-day?
My time is split between three key areas, the main being strategy development. That essentially means helping to craft tailored SEO strategies for our varied list of clients, which in turn requires understanding their unique goals and market positioning.
I’m also involved in various hands-on tasks in the form of technical audits, content creation, and keyword research to ensure that every aspect of SEO is addressed. Finally, I spend time mentoring junior team members, helping them develop their skills and their understanding of the latest SEO practices.
We’re hearing a lot about the impacts of AI on traditional SEO activity – can you summarise how that might affect brand marketers?
We’re obviously seeing a significant shift toward ‘zero-click’ searches. More often than ever before, users are finding the answers they need directly via an AI summary at the top of the results page, leading to decreased website traffic for typical organic ‘blue links’. Brand marketers need to adapt their strategies to ensure visibility even in a zero-click landscape.
We’re also seeing more of a focus on ‘Entity SEO’, rather than trying to rank for specific keywords. This refers to Google’s enhanced ability to understand brands as entities across the digital landscape. For brands, this means they should concentrate on brand storytelling and mentions across different platforms to enhance their search presence.
Finally, a lot of people are now exploring web content using voice search, and so voice search optimisation by using longer, more colloquial titles (among other practices) is an area of rapidly growing importance to many brands.
How has AgencyUK been responding to the trend toward AI-enabled search?
We’ve been putting an emphasis on high-quality, human-written content that satisfies Google’s E-E-A-T criteria to maintain relevance in search results. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is a framework that Google’s algorithm uses to assess the quality of content and determine its level of visibility.
One of the key areas where we’ve found success is through the implementation of schema markup. These snippets of code enable search engines to better understand the context of content, which can lead to improved visibility in search results and AI-generated snippets.
What sort of support are your clients looking for right now?
Our clients are keen to understand how to get their content featured in AI snippets, which requires a very strategic approach to content creation and optimisation. Many clients are also increasingly recognizing the need for ongoing SEO strategies rather than one-off projects, leading to an increased demand for long-term partnerships.
What are the most common mistakes businesses can make in relation to their investment in SEO?
As mentioned previously, many businesses still view SEO as a single task or a time-limited project rather than a continuous process, which can limit their growth potential.
There’s still too much focus on what I believe are vanity metrics. Prioritising metrics like clicks and impressions without considering conversion rates can lead to costly mistakes in attribution and inefficient investment.
Finally, failing to build brand authority and awareness through quality content and backlinks can also hinder visibility and performance in search results.
What one piece of advice would you offer brand marketers for the next 12 months?
Prioritise creating content that establishes trust, authority and expertise within your field. This includes engaging in link-building strategies that enhance your brand’s credibility. Don’t underestimate the power of old school PR – it’s still incredibly important.
I would also say to stay flexible and responsive to changes in the SEO landscape, especially as AI continues to evolve. Regularly assess and adjust strategies based on performance data.
My key advice would be that SEO is a dynamic field that requires continuous learning and adaptation. The integration of AI into search processes that we’re living through right now is reshaping how marketers approach SEO, making it essential to focus on authority, content quality, and ongoing engagement.
