I’ve invested my time recently working on my own website, particularly trying to get Signal Studio found more often by businesses looking for graphic design, branding and website design in Hertfordshire.
I’ve worked on websites for clients for years, but it’s always interesting turning your attention to your own business. You start noticing things that could be clearer, better explained or simply more useful.
And the way people find businesses online is changing.
We’re all familiar with searching Google and getting a list of websites. But increasingly, people are asking questions and getting answers directly, sometimes without visiting a website at all.
So I’ve been paying particular attention to three things: SEO, AEO and GEO.
More acronyms, I know. But they’re worth understanding, especially if your website plays an important part in bringing you new business.
Search Engine Optimisation is the one most people are familiar with.
It’s about helping search engines understand your website and giving it a better chance of appearing when someone searches for the services you provide.
For Signal, that might be someone searching for:
I’ve been reviewing page titles, descriptions, headings, content and how the different pages of my website connect.
But I’ve also been looking at something more fundamental. Does my website clearly explain what Signal does and why someone should choose to work with me?
Recently, I’ve revisited my Home, Profile, Trusted Advice and Creative Expertise pages.
The aim wasn’t to stuff more keywords into them. It was to make the story clearer, explain the range of creative support available and make it easier for people to understand how Signal could help their business.
I’ve also been paying attention to local search, including my Google Business Profile, because being based in Hertfordshire is relevant to many of the businesses I’d like to work with.
Google has some useful guidance on improving your local search visibility, including the importance of relevance, distance and how well-known your business is.
What I’m hoping to achieve: More relevant enquiries from businesses already looking for the kind of creative support Signal provides.
Answer Engine Optimisation is about making your website useful when people search by asking questions.
Instead of typing ‘branding agency Hertfordshire‘, someone might ask:
‘How do I know if my business needs a rebrand?’
Or:
‘Do I need an in-house designer or could I outsource the work?’
Search engines increasingly provide answers directly, including AI-generated summaries.
That means it’s worth thinking about whether your website actually answers the questions potential clients are asking.
I’ve been reviewing how Signal explains its approach, particularly on the How We Work and Right First Time pages.
The important thing is making the information genuinely useful and easy to understand.
It’s also one of the reasons I publish articles in Thinking. They give me an opportunity to share ideas, explain things and answer questions that might not fit naturally on a services page.
Interestingly, Google’s own guidance on AI features in search reinforces the importance of good, useful website content rather than suggesting businesses need an entirely different approach.
What I’m hoping to achieve: Help more people discover Signal’s experience and advice when they’re researching a problem, even if they’re not yet looking for a design company.
Generative Engine Optimisation is the newest of the three.
This is about making your business easier for AI-powered search tools, including ChatGPT and Google Gemini, to understand and potentially recommend.
Imagine someone asking:
‘Can you recommend an experienced graphic design and branding studio in Hertfordshire?’
Naturally, I’d like Signal to be considered.
But AI search doesn’t work exactly like a traditional list of Google results. Different systems use different sources and methods to produce their answers.
So I’ve been concentrating on making Signal’s identity, services, location and experience as clear and consistent as possible.
That includes explaining that Signal is an established creative studio, personally led by me, with access to wider specialist expertise when projects need it.
It’s an important distinction.
I’m not trying to present Signal as a large agency with dozens of employees. The value for clients is having one experienced creative partner who understands their business and can bring together the right people and skills when needed.
I’ve been making that message more consistent across the website, including my Profile and Case Stories.
I’m also looking at how Signal is described elsewhere online, including business listings and professional profiles.
What I’m hoping to achieve: Make Signal easier to identify and understand, so it has a better opportunity to appear in relevant AI-powered searches and recommendations.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that ChatGPT or any other AI tool will recommend a particular business.
All three.
And thankfully, much of the work overlaps.
A clear, well-structured website with useful content, genuine experience and consistent business information is a good starting point for all three.
I’ve also learnt that this isn’t something you finish and forget about.
Search engines change. AI tools change. Competitors improve their websites. And the questions people ask change too.
So I’ve been treating Signal’s website as something that needs regular attention.
That doesn’t necessarily mean rebuilding it or publishing something every day. Sometimes it’s simply reviewing a page, improving an explanation, adding a useful example or checking how people are finding you.
It’s ongoing work, and I’m still learning what makes the biggest difference.
If you’ve invested in a website but haven’t looked at how easily people can discover your business recently, it might be worth giving it some attention.
And it’s something I can help with.
Through Signal, I can bring together website design, branding, content, SEO improvements and specialist technical expertise to help businesses improve their online presence.
I work as an extension of your business, bringing together the right skills and expertise to keep projects moving and make your budget work harder, all through one point of contact.
That could mean reviewing and improving your existing website, developing new content or providing ongoing creative and website support through a monthly retainer.
You don’t need to employ a whole creative team to have access to one.
If you’d like to explore how your business could become easier to find online, get in touch with me.
A clearer starting point
Before creating anything, I like to understand who you are, where you're heading and what makes you different.
BriefWrite is Signal's AI-assisted pre-brief tool, designed to help you organise your thoughts, clarify your objectives and create a stronger brief before our first conversation. It takes around ten minutes to complete.
Prefer to talk directly? Get in touch.
