You know what’s scarier than a Dalek?

When I was a kid, y’know what scared the bejesus out of me?

Daleks.

Also, one Christmas, my much-older cousins made me watch all the Chucky films back-to-back, leaving me catatonic that entire summer. But mostly it was Daleks.

Daleks are tentacled, one-eyed, organic blobs encased in what looks like a big metal pepper pot. They are violent, merciless, and hell-bent on conquering the universe. What kid wouldn’t be scared of that?

You want to know what scares me these days, as an adult?

Still the Chucky films, of course, but mostly it’s this data from the State of Writing 2020 report Typeset co-produced with Mantis Research and released a couple of weeks ago.

You ready?

Here comes the big scary thing… ooger booger booger!

Sixty-four per cent of survey respondents said three-quarters of all their business writing is published online. That’s content like blog posts, white papers, and so on. So far, so good.

But…

Only 10 per cent of marketers who said they were “moderately effective” routinely edit their content to ensure it is optimised for search engines. Even among the “most effective” marketers, just 23 per cent are editing for search engine optimisation (SEO).

And that’s just editing. What about considering SEO throughout the publication process?

Overall, attention to search was very low. Here’s what the research discovered about our SEO-related priorities when creating online content for our brands:

Folks, we have to change this.

If 75 per cent of your content is being published online, then writing and editing for SEO is absolutely vital to ensuring your content is as successful as possible. It’s the thing that helps Google, and your customers, find you. It’s the single best way to supercharge your content.

SEO is like a Dalek (no really, stay with me here)

Look at it this way.

Your content is like that Dalek. It’s kind of a blob. It might be a blob with a big angry message, but it’s not terribly powerful. It’s just a blob.

SEO is like the Dalek’s metallic shell. It’s the pepper pot. It’s the high-tech bit that allows you to spread your message as powerfully as possible.

SEO is the armour we put on our content so we can send it out in the battlefield of the internet.

And both parts, working together, are essential if you want to conquer all.

So if SEO isn’t your strong suit, or it’s something you ignore, avoid, or hide behind the couch to get away from, make 2020 the year you change that.

Honestly, once you get the hang of it, it’s child’s play!

Dan Hatch
5 March 2020

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