Smart speaker innovation
Part science, part dark art, with a dash of technical wizardry is often the perception of search engine optimisation (SEO). And many in the industry would like it to stay that way – playing their part in keeping up the illusion of smoke and mirrors.
However, it needn’t be like that. At its core, SEO is easy to understand and mostly pretty straightforward to do.
Simply put, SEO consists of the activities you do – on your website and in your surrounding marketing – that increase or lift a website or web page’s ranking in search results (let’s face it – that’s mostly Google) to be as high as possible.
In the early days it was possible to game the system, with white text hiding on white backgrounds or other tricks to achieve a high ranking. Now, the ‘‘Wild West’’ days are over and it’s about actual (and ethical) marketing – providing interesting content that is relevant and valuable to your users.
Google as a business
Although we think of Google as our trusty answer engine, they’re essentially a business.
And, like any business, they exist to serve their customers – the world’s searchers.
In order to provide the best possible customer experience, Google wants to give the best and most relevant information to users as quickly as possible.
So what does this mean for successful SEO?
Google’s user-experience focus is good news for non-techies. Sure, basic technical features are important, but user-based features trump the technical.
For those looking to DIY their SEO, this means common sense and an understanding of the human experience will come in handy. You can translate this into good SEO practice in the following ways:
Write for your users – keep their interests and questions in mind and use natural language, which will become even more important as the prevalence of voice search increases.
Think about what action you want your users to undertake on each page – make that clear and intuitive.
Think about what others would search to find you and, beyond primary keywords, consider longtail search terms and more specific queries as the basis for planning content.
All of this will set you in good stead to support Google’s primary goal of serving users with what they are looking for.
Test and iterate
And if at first you don’t succeed, try again. This is where testing comes in – allowing for constant tweaks and improvements. It’s Marketing 101 and in the search sphere it’s super simple – Google Analytics allows you to track the actions you take to give you an idea of what’s working, and what’s not.
It won’t happen overnight
At pureseo.co.nz we always tell clients that successful SEO is a slow burn; it takes time to have an effect. There are no shortcuts – and if anyone promises you quick results, steer clear. It’s never worth gaming the system, so do things properly over time – with a usercentric approach and an understanding of how Google works. The results will come, and they’ll be much easier to maintain (allowing you to hold on to your top spot) if you’ve done the work.
DIY or call in an expert?
So, who do you get to do the work? Do you tackle it yourself with good
iPads
Apple also updated the iPad mini for the first time in nearly four years.
The new specs aren’t anything, er, spectacular though.
Instead, it seems the iPad mini is just being brought into 2019 with some of the more recent components enjoyed by other iPads.
Namely, Apple Pencil support ol’ Kiwi ingenuity? Or hire a specialist? Either can work – but even if you go the DIY route, you don’t need to go full ‘‘number eight wire mentality’’ and bumble through. Whether you’re employing them to do it for you, or finding the advice to go your own
iMacs
This is an update that will only appeal to fully-blown techos and those looking to buy a new all-inone PC.
That’s because not a lot has really changed with the iMac in the looks or features departments.
They both largely do the same things they have always done.
Apple has simply upgraded the specs of its 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs, closing the gap between the older iMac models and last year’s Intel Xeon-powered iMac Pro.
The new specs are impressive, though. Really impressive.
The updated 27-inch iMac comes with a gorgeous Retina 5K screen and is available with 9thgeneration 6-core or 8-core processor configurations.
The entry-level 21.5-inch iMac is no slouch either. It now has a Retina 4K screen with 8thgeneration quad-core Intel processor as standard.
Radeon Pro Vega graphics have also been added to the iMacs.
Apple claims this will deliver up to 80 per cent faster graphics performance for the 21.5-inch iMac and up to 50 per cent faster graphics to the 27-inch iMac.
The new 21.5-inch iMac starts at $2199 and the new 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display starts at $2999. Both are available to order from apple.com/nz/. way, find an ethical and trusted source to cut through all the conflicting and confusing information that’s out there.
Richard Conway is author of How to Get to the Top of Google Search, Random House NZ, $35
Amarket leader in nextgeneration mobile technologies, Qualcomm, has announced two new components that are set to propel the smart speaker market forward.
These are the QCS400 system-ona-chip (SoCs) and the CSRA6640, which is an updated power amplifier.
This is big news for the industry as, until now, smart speakers have made do with traditional mobile chipsets.
Qualcomm claims this repurposing of non-specific smart speaker technology is responsible for the performance issues – responsive delays and misheard commands – that frustrate smart speaker users.
That is why Qualcomm has designed its first smart speaker QCS400 SoC – to directly combat these issues.
The QCS400 SoCs will deliver a more robust voice assistant experience. The key benefits of the technology will be faster responses and smarter voice UI, even in noisy environments.
The dedicated SoCs will also improve onboard connectivity, wifi and Bluetooth performance and deliver 25 times longer standby with voice wakeup and extended ‘‘unplugged’’ battery life.
Sound quality hasn’t been overlooked, either. The chip supports up to 32 channels of integrated audio processing, support for Dolby Atmos immersive audio and DTS:X, as well as compatibility with Qualcomm DDFA amplifier technology and aptX audio.
‘‘These new SoCs raise the bar on both feature integration and power performance for smart audio compared to our previous technology. This will help manufacturers to more easily overcome significant technical challenges and build smarter speakers and voice assistants with more intuitive voice UI, connected user experiences and exceptional sound quality’’ said Rahul Patel, senior vice-president and general manager, connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies.
Qualcomm’s second new component, the CSRA6640, is a little easier to get your head around. It’s a single-chip amplifier designed to deliver high-quality amplification on smaller and more affordable smart speakers.
You can expect to see Qualcomm’s new technology incorporated in future devices that support either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.