Luke Luby

#Copywriters, clients, & marketing people in general need to do better.

Underpaying #contentwriters, not actually treating them like freelancers etc. Honestly, it still irks me. A U.S.-based on still claims they use "100% American Writers," and used it then. I'm Irish & just moved to Spain when I started with them. And, that's just one example.

The odd time, starting off as a #freelancer pops back into my head (it's been way years since then, I'm old). A few of the agencies I worked with then are still going, &I'm pretty sure they're still use the same BS #marketing tactics.

Applied for a #copywriting role a few days ago, and the company replied yesterday. The response? One sentence asking how much it'd cost for me to build a custom #ChatGPT system. I mean, wut? Where's that come from?

Fact is, #AI Overviews need to be targeted. Nail the fundamentals - PR, #SEO, etc - and it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Get your ducks in a row, and you'll still rank and appear in AI Overviews - and #ChatGPT etc.

Seems like some clients just look for problems. It could be something psychological; some need to feel in a greater position of power. But, maybe I'm reading too much into it. You see this in #contentwriting, copywriting, and more in #freelance life all the time.

Seeing more and more #marketing - specifically #SEO & content - agencies trying to take advantage of #writers & freelancers. Job descriptions with terrible terms, low pay, and more red flags. Fell for it when I got into the industry. Shame it's still happening.

I'm still surprised by how little some potential clients want to offer #freelancers, no matter the service. It seems like they really don't give a f*ck about paying for quality. All that matters is $$$. Shit pay gets shit work, and the results end up showing that.

Been though a few of these already. Can't argue with how much they've helped my #SEO career so far, even if it's purely content-focused.

So, I've got a bit of an issue. I freelance for an #SEO agency. They asked me to completely rewrite an article with new images, etc. Not great, but not terrible. But, it wasn't because of the quality. Turns out, both articles were published. I got paid for one. What gives?

@briandecoded Thanks for the recommendation! Definitely adding that to the list to check out.

@LukeLuby Keyword Cupid

Quick question for #SEO pros out there; What're you using for keyword research and clustering? I've been using #Semrush for a while, but I'm considering switching. Anyone have any suggestions, especially when it comes to #copywriting?

So far, I've been told - by clients - that 'digital landscape' and 'diving in' are both "100%" signs that a #copywriter is using AI. Or, slight variations. They think the rest of the content isn't worth looking at, & context doesn't matter. I mean, 4 words out of 2,000? Wut?

One simple move Google can make (and I believe this should be law) to stop the decimation of the creator economy is to simply pay creators every time they crawl that source for AI answers/responses. Imagine as an independent publisher or a YouTuber, logging into your Google Adsense and seeing a pot of money every month from Google as a respectful fee for using your copyrighted work in their AI products. It's what many of us need, and it's what will bring life back to the human creation of content, because if not, creators stop creating, and AI knowledge starts stagnating, or even worse, starts declining in quality because of AI spam/slop. It's one feature we're working on @KagiHQ - Giving back to creators used in our Assistant & AI Answers. There should be an entire team at Google working on this, but I bet my own darn dog that not one person is even pursuing this behind the scenes.

@remoteoliver Yeah, because none of us writers ever used em dashes before.

Uh oh, be alert. Whenever you see ‘—‘ Written—Like This It’s wrote by AI

Almost feels like Google knows a lot of #SEO pros could out-do them with AI content (when used ethically). So, they're proactively punishing sites that could benefit from ethical AI use and replacing what would be top-performing content with their AI spam.

Google Search is the worst it has EVER been. Google is picking the winners and losers in the SERPs. But it's not by how "helpful" the content is — they obviously can't tell. Instead, it's what TYPE of site you are. And what your *motives* are. This seems absolutely insane. Here's @searchliaison — Google's search "liaison" who no longer engages with website owners at all: >> "There's a lot of terrible content out there that's been generated through content marketing". You see this with Google now targeting sites like HubSpot. >> "For the Fly by Night niche sites—sorry, probably not going to want to try to do a better job for you, [we] probably shouldn't. ... [They] create a blog just to make a lot of money off of search traffic." You see this with Google specifically targeting niche sites. Hey, @searchliaison — why doesn't Google go back to judging a site by how good the content is, and how readers engage with it, and let the SERPs shake out how they will. Manually picking winners & losers based on your personal perception of their motives is absolutely crazy. And yes, websites exist to make money. Even off of Google traffic. Get off your high horse.

@semrush "Let's make this viral." Like it's somehow just a matter of pushing the 'viral' button.

What’s the most used phrase in your industry, that you never want to hear again?

Anyone interested in the #creator economy should give this a read. That doesn't just mean #creators, but brands looking to partner with them, etc.

13 years of SEO advice in 30 seconds ⬇️ 1. Stop Listening to Google for SEO Advice 2. Do SEO Everywhere 3. Easy is Dangerous, Hard is Good 4. Feed the Algorithms Proper Nutrients 5. Build Your SEO Strategy to Support Commercial Keywords 6. Your SEO Salary Won’t Make You Rich 7. Diversify Your Income Streams 8. Have a Bias Toward Action 9. Surround Yourself with Other Successful SEO Geeks 10. Become Obsessed with SEO Systems 11. Don’t Try to Be an SEO Superhero (Get Help) Watch my latest YouTube video to go deeper (search "Nathan Gotch").