Writing this blog every other Monday can sometimes be a challenge. I settle on a subject, start doing some research and then end up in an internet wormhole. Then I need to refocus and remember what my original idea was!

It's less of a case of not knowing when to switch off and focus on real life but instead about trying to stay productive. The fear of missing out is a really big factor in this. The constantly humming news streams of social media or the news alerts from the BBC all try to pull me away from the task I'm trying to complete.

In a normal workday there are always distractions either from Skype, the mobile or the dreaded email. For the last week I've spent a lot of the time writing either agency briefs, award entries or funding submissions. For me, one of the things I like most about digital marketing is how varied it is. By just carrying out the same type of task (especially one that doesn't come naturally) it has been difficult to keep focused on delivery. So I've recently been thinking about methods I've previously employed to achieve this.

Firstly, I make sure that my emails are off! By getting started straight away before I get sucked into the game of email tennis it helps to set up my day as I mean to go on. That way I avoid getting to Friday and having to power work my way through all of the tasks that I need to complete.

With the type of work that many digital jobs entail it can also help to step away from and look at it with fresh eyes. I've found this in the past with video editing that sometimes you can get so embroiled you don't know if what you're looking at is any good anymore! This time off is not stalled productivity but is an investment in future performance. It does mean not leaving tasks to the last minute though!

My work setup is that I have two computer screens and this is something which I find super valuable. Typing on one screen while looking at a reference on the other or looking at my calendar on one screen and having my email on another really works even though it seems so simple. When I go home and try to use my laptop after using my two screens at work, I am noticeably slower at what I am trying to accomplish. Especially copying and pasting between documents.

Also, having a large family means we all have evening commitments. Whether it's tutoring, kickboxing, beavers/cubs or swimming it's important I leave on time most days. By having these commitments to ensure a definite leaving time each day, there's a healthy internal pressure to get things done. I've found in the past that not having a definite leaving time makes me more lax, thinking I have 24 hours until the next business day dawns. Then at 5.30pm I always update and prioritise my to-do list for tomorrow. That helps me come in and get going right away whilst also not worrying about what I need to do out of hours. My past self has it all taken care of!

I'm also a people person so for me I ensure I make time to chat with workmates or maybe help them with something. This is important time away from the screen and researching this blog helps me to try to stay ahead of the curve.

So I've hit my deadlines, I've submitted the awards entry and I've secured the funding. Now I need the same discipline to not multi-task on different devices? With an upcoming kitchen extension I'm going to enjoy all of my spare time being dominated by decorating in contrast to a day looking at the screen...!

After six years of blogging about digital marketing I've only ever fleetingly mentioned SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Obviously, it's an essential part of any website build and beyond and cannot be ignored. I think the main reason for not mentioning it is that I've always found it tough to reconcile myself with it morally. It's been this sort of necessary evil which I've had to begrudgingly spend time administering.

The reason for this is that in the old days the internet was a mass of weird publishing. Everybody was working out the rules and the etiquette. There weren't the billions of pages we have now so there were always those that could 'play the system' to appear higher in the search results.

Some of the underhand tactics that were used were things like putting white text in the background of a page. This meant search engines would see them but visitors could not thus pushing the website up the rankings. There was also the practice of 'keyword stuffing'. Keywords are words people were using to search for content – and keyword stuffing means putting them all over the page. This did not make for a good user experience as every other word being a keyword meant they barely made sense!

But then search engines got more intelligent. Google, for example is now looking to serve relevant content. If the content it links the visitor to is bad or irrelevant they'll find another, more reliable, search engine to use. Quite rightly Google has penalised any websites using these dark practices for some time now.

So why I have I finally found an interest in writing a post about SEO? It's because for me SEO has now evolved so much that it's not even about 'SEARCH ENGINE optimisation' anymore, but 'USER optimisation'. By putting the user's needs first SEO is no longer a trick that is deployed at the end of a process. It's now simply about publishing good content people like.

By writing in the same way that an audience searches (www.google.co.uk/trends/explore is a good tool for this) your website is more likely to be found. This also means that once it has been found the content is relevant to the search, and you haven't tricked someone to get them there.

You can add all the metadata and SEO tricks in the book. But not only will you have trouble in your conscience you'll also come second best to those with unique content. Writing unique content will prioritise pages on Google instead of mixing you up with your competitors. Spend your time on what your company can really offer and on showing how you differentiate. By doing this the chances are that other websites are more likely to link to you showing Google how trustworthy you are. 

Accessibility is as important to high rankings and I've recently been presenting a lot on this subject. I could write a separate post on this alone! Again, the approach is not to treat it as a tick box exercise but to make your content so inclusive it appeals to everyone. We are all capable of being distracted, in a rush or otherwise engaged. This means we may read a page in a way like those with dyslexia or who do not speak English as a first language. Bearing this in mind when writing makes it better for everybody and ultimately leads to a better website.

Recently we've been very excited to see our Shaping Your World website hit page one of Google for certain search terms. This is no accident as we've been careful to structure the content based on mental models. By making the journey clear as they navigate through the pages users get an idea of what to expect.

So my message is don't try to trick the system - it's not worth your time. Write to your audience. Write to what they want from you in the language they use, using a structure that is intuitive for them and you’ll get SEO as a freebie without even trying.