Digital Marketing Reads: Volume 31

Here’s the latest instalment of Digital Marketing Reads, a roundup of some of the more interesting articles we’ve read lately in the digital marketing world. Missed the last one? Read Volume 30.

Types of landing pages: Examples & when to use each

Landing pages are one of the most effective tools for turning website visitors into leads or customers, and their success depends on how well they align with your audience’s stage in the marketing funnel. This article outlines three types of landing pages.

At the top of the funnel, landing pages should focus on awareness and attracting new visitors by offering clear value and a simple, low-commitment action, such as downloading a PDF or joining a mailing list. The goal is to educate, build trust and encourage users to take that first small step.

In the middle of the funnel, landing pages work best when they nurture interest and help visitors evaluate their options. At this stage, people are curious but not yet ready to buy, so pages should provide helpful, relevant information that deepens understanding and positions your business as the right choice. These pages often offer more substance, answer common questions and create a natural path toward a decision, helping potential customers move closer to taking action.

At the bottom of the funnel, landing pages shift from educating to converting. Visitors at this stage are comparing options, so the focus becomes clarity, reassurance and making the next step feel easy. Strong messaging, social proof and a clear call to action help reduce hesitation and guide users toward signing up, booking or purchasing. When the landing page aligns with the audience’s readiness, it becomes far more effective at generating results.

AI search isn’t the end of SEO – it’s the next era

AI-driven search is changing how people find information, but it does not replace SEO. Instead, it marks the next stage of its evolution. Traditional SEO focuses on ranking webpages, while AI search focuses on whether your brand is cited, trusted and accurately represented within AI-generated answers. The core skills of clarity, credibility and useful content still matter, but the context has shifted. Visibility is no longer only about ranking first, but about being recognised as a reliable source that an AI system is confident quoting.

A common misconception is that AI models will automatically understand and display accurate information without support. In reality, they predict likely answers based on existing patterns, which means inconsistent, unclear or outdated information can be repeated or misattributed. So keeping your facts accurate across your website and other platforms matters more now, as AI systems rely on multiple trusted sources to verify and cross-check information. Consistency across directories, review sites, data hubs and industry resources strengthens recognition and trust.

The search interface is also shifting away from lists of website links and toward direct answers, summaries and actions. This does not eliminate SEO, but it does change what success looks like. Strong SEO provides discoverability, and AI search optimisation helps your information be understood and cited correctly. The article argues that the businesses that succeed next will be the ones whose information is clear, consistent and verifiable across the web, so AI systems can confidently use it.

Google Says What Content Gets Clicked On AI Overviews

This article outlines how Google is evolving its ranking approach for AI Overviews, and what type of content users are most likely to click.

User behaviour influences what appears in AI search results. Google studies what people prefer to read or watch, then adjusts rankings to show more of the formats and sources users choose. The system also keeps learning from how people interact with results, so creators need to be aware of content trends and adapt to what audiences find useful and engaging.

AI-generated content is not automatically considered spam. Google judges all content by quality, whether created by a human or AI. As always, what matters most is originality, usefulness and depth. Users tend not to click shallow or generic content because it adds little value beyond what the AI summary already provided. The content that gets clicked on in AI Overviews is rich, detailed and offers a human point of view. So aim to tick all those boxes with every page or article you publish on your website.

Rock Solid Marketing helps businesses in Mildura and across Sunraysia with SEO and web design. Contact us to talk about your website or your search plan.