JB’s LinkedIn Update 5th February 2025
Jeremy Beckett
Director / Founder of Belmore Digital | Expert Digital Marketing Consultant | SEO, PPC, Social, Content, Performance, Email, Conversions, and Information Architecture
Google’s out here moving goalposts again, SEO “experts” are rushing audits like they’re late for a flight, Meta wants to stuff ads into every corner of the internet, and HubSpot just learned the hard way that Google doesn’t care about your content empire. Oh, and there’s a new AI model trying to shake up the big players. Buckle up—this week’s update is a ride.
Traffic Tanking? Here’s How to Fix It (Without the Panic Button)
Every marketer’s worst nightmare: your website traffic suddenly nosedives, and the boss is demanding answers. Search Engine Land has published a handy seven-step framework to help diagnose and fix traffic drops. It covers everything from algorithm updates to technical glitches and shifting user intent. The key takeaway? Don’t flail around in the dark—use data to pinpoint the cause before making rash changes. Read the full breakdown here.
Panic-driven reactions often do more harm than good. If your traffic is tanking, the first step is to take a deep breath and actually look at what’s happening. Is it a Google update? A technical SEO issue? A competitor stepping up their game? A slow, methodical approach will save you from making unnecessary (and potentially disastrous) changes.
If there’s one lesson from this, it’s that SEO isn’t a “set it and forget it” game. Regular monitoring and proactive adjustments will keep you ahead of the curve. If you haven’t already, set up tracking to watch for trends before they become full-blown problems.
Need help diagnosing and fixing traffic drops? Our SEO Services are designed to keep your site in Google’s good books. Let’s talk before your rankings disappear completely.
Technical SEO: Slow and Steady Wins the Race (No, Really)
SEO audits aren’t something you rush—unless you enjoy missing critical issues and spending twice as long fixing them later. Search Engine Land warns against hasty technical SEO work, stressing the need for in-depth audits that don’t cut corners. From crawl errors to indexing problems, getting it right the first time will save you headaches down the line. Read the article here.
The problem? Too many businesses treat SEO like a checklist rather than an ongoing process. Rushing an audit means you’re likely to miss hidden structural issues, duplicate content problems, or rogue robots.txt rules quietly blocking your best pages from Google.
Good SEO isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about making sure those boxes actually mean something. A proper audit should take time, use reliable tools, and involve actual human oversight. Because if you rely solely on automated tools, you’ll get exactly what you deserve: half-baked insights and a false sense of security.
If you’d rather not gamble on your rankings, our Technical SEO Services can give your site the thorough inspection it deserves. Book a call before your site turns invisible.
DeepSeek: The AI Tool That Might Annoy Big Tech (And Be Useful to You)
There’s a new AI in town, and it’s not from Google or OpenAI. DeepSeek, an open-source model from China, is making waves with its powerful capabilities at a fraction of the cost of its Silicon Valley counterparts. For marketers, this could mean more affordable AI-driven content generation, analysis, and automation. Check out the details here.
Big tech has a monopoly on AI tools, which means businesses are often at their mercy when it comes to pricing, access, and ethics (or lack thereof). DeepSeek could shake things up by offering marketers an alternative—if it delivers on its promises.
For now, it’s worth keeping an eye on. If DeepSeek gains traction, we might see more competition, better pricing, and improved AI tools that aren’t just designed to serve the interests of a handful of massive corporations.
Interested in how AI can improve your marketing? Our Content Strategy & Creation Services can help you integrate AI without losing the human touch. Let’s chat.
领英推荐
Threads Ads Are Here – Because Meta Can’t Resist
Meta’s Threads—yes, the one that was supposed to be the “better Twitter”—has now started testing ads. Because nothing says “welcome to the platform” like targeted promotions in your feed. For now, they’re image-based ads appearing in user feeds, but you can bet more formats are coming. More details here.
The big question: Do Threads users actually want ads? Or is this just Meta cramming another monetisation scheme into an ecosystem already saturated with paid content? Advertisers should be cautious—early adoption can be great, but nobody wants to waste budget on a platform that hasn’t figured out its identity yet.
If you’re considering Threads ads but don’t want to be a guinea pig for Meta’s latest experiment, our PPC & Paid Social Services can help you decide where to invest your ad spend wisely.
HubSpot’s SEO Faceplant: A Lesson in Overplaying Your Hand
HubSpot has lost a massive chunk of its organic traffic—dropping from 13.5 million to 8.6 million monthly visits in just a few weeks. Why? A combination of Google’s algorithm changes and an overreliance on content designed to game search engines rather than serve real users. MarTech breaks down what went wrong. Read the analysis here.
This should be a wake-up call for anyone still churning out content purely for SEO. Google is getting better at identifying “SEO-first” content that prioritises rankings over real usefulness. HubSpot’s mistake was betting too hard on an approach that’s now falling out of favour.
What’s the fix? Focus on useful, well-researched content that actually answers people’s questions. Thin, regurgitated blog posts designed to farm keywords aren’t going to cut it anymore.
If you want an SEO strategy that won’t collapse overnight, our SEO and Content Strategy Services are built for long-term results, not quick wins that fade fast. Let’s talk.
That’s a Wrap
SEO disasters, rushed audits, new AI tools, Meta’s ad expansion, and a lesson from HubSpot—this week’s update is a reminder that marketing success isn’t about shortcuts. Stay informed, be strategic, and if in doubt, give me a shout.
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You may have missed these articles and be champing at the bit to read them :-)
Thanks, JB :-)