From Marketing Agency to Digital Garden

The Pivot: From Marketing Agency to Digital Garden

For over a decade, this corner of the internet has been my "office." It was a place for all things Marketing,  SEO tips and professional advice designed to help businesses rank, grow and thrive. It served its purpose, but lately, the walls have started to feel a bit thin.

The truth is, the internet has changed, and so have I. We’ve moved into the era of the "infinite scroll", a noisy stream of algorithmic drivel from people I don't particularly like and opinions I didn't ask for.

Take LinkedIn, for example. It used to be a place to actually learn and grow professionally. Now? it’s a performative circus. It’s become a race to the bottom of "thought leadership" and engagement bait. I realised I’m done contributing to that noise. I missed the old web, the one where personal blogs felt like actual conversations instead of polished sales pitches or desperate grabs for a "like."

Why I’m Clearing the Deck

I’m moving away from the "Marketing Agency" template, both literally and figuratively. This site is now a Digital Garden. It’s a personal social site without the social pressure or the ego-driven metrics.

It’s a place for things that don't necessarily "scale" or "convert," but actually matter to me:

• The "Now": A simple log of what I’m actually doing, reading, and thinking today.
• Consumer Rights: Ranting with a purpose when the system fails.
• Beer Reviews: Because life is too short for bad pints and even shorter for bad reviews.
• Rants: I like a rant, I've proud that I've finally become a "grumpy old man".
• Politics: I used to argue about politics with grandad, not that we had different opinions, we just enjoyed it - I can do it here now.
• Contract Shenanigans: The real-world headaches from me where I've taken on all sorts of businesses - and won! 

The Benefits

By stripping away the professional "armour," I get to write more honestly. You get a feed that isn't trying to sell you a consulting package or a "proven framework."

I saw Bear Blog, and it's a good looking platform, but I had so nuch stuff in Blogger I really didn't want to lose any of it, but I liked the styling of it, I liked the minimalistic look and feel of it, then I started reading about Digital Gardens, and I thought that was me. So, I’ve moved to a much leaner, minimalist Blogger setup. No tracking cookies, no "suggested posts", no comments, or Like buttons; just text (and the occasional pic), it's me, the real me.

The old marketing archives are still here if you need them, but the new growth is going to look a little different. It’ll be shorter, more frequent, and significantly more human.

Thanks for sticking around for the rebrand. I’m looking forward to screaming into the void again, only this time, without the LinkedIn "influencers" screaming back.

— Andy

Ponient Dorada Palace, Salou Review

Stayed: 15–26 September 2025
Room type: Self-catering apartment
Overall score: 6.5/10

We stayed at Ponient Dorada Palace in Salou (Spain) from 15–26 September 2025, in one of their self-catering apartments.

The hotel is affiliated with PortAventura World, which shapes the feel of the place. It is around a 20-25 minute walk to PortAventura and around 15 minutes to the beach, so location-wise it worked well for us.

The apartment gave us plenty of space, with a small kitchen and balcony. That made a real difference over an 11 night stay.

The room we had was on one of the sides if the hotel with a view of Portaventura World (and a big carpark), but the neighbourhood was quiet.

Accommodation

The apartment was clean, spacious, and well appointed. Nothing felt tired or neglected, and everything worked as it should.

We had a walk-in shower, which was a nice bonus, and the room felt properly maintained throughout the stay.

Pools and facilities

There is one large main pool with a kids pool next to it, plus a smaller pool around the side of the hotel.

The main pool was lively during the day, with water aerobics, water polo, kids’ activities, and entertainment on the small stage. Great if you have children, less relaxing if you want peace and quiet.

The smaller pool was close to the stairs near the top of the restaurant. It sat in a little suntrap and was much quieter, with fewer children around.

Both pools were clean, and the lifeguards were attentive. Towels were available for a small refundable deposit.

Food and drink

The restaurant was clean and mainly served buffet-style food. It felt and sounded more like a cafeteria, cheap and cheerful.

Breakfast included fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, yoghurt, pastries, and the usual hotel breakfast options.

Dinner usually had pasta, pizza, meat and fish dishes, salads, and a show cooking section. There were also themed nights, such as Mexican, Chinese, and Italian, with dishes linked to that country.

There was a dedicated kids section at child height, usually with pasta, spaghetti, meatballs, fish fingers, pizza, burgers, and similar options.

Sweet treats were always available, including ice cream, small cakes, puddings, and fresh fruit.

As a vegetarian, I did find the choice a bit limited at times. There was always something to eat, but over a longer stay it became a bit repetitive.

The worst part of the dining experience was not the food itself. It was the waste. Lots of plates piled high, a lot of food left untouched, and children wasting far too much. Not nice to see night after night.

Staff and service

The staff were friendly and helpful throughout the stay.

In the restaurant, the waiting staff were attentive, and we were always seated very quickly. Tables were cleared fast, and the service felt well organised.

Atmosphere

Because the hotel is part of PortAventura World, there were lots of families and young children around.

That is not a criticism in itself. It is clearly a family-friendly hotel. But it does mean the atmosphere is busy, lively, and not always relaxing.

If you want a quieter stay, the smaller pool is your friend.

I used a book as my escape from the noise, Private Dublin review.

Other facilities

There was a roof terrace, although we did not use it.

Some of the PortAventura World characters popped in from time to time.

There was also a small poolside café for quick bites, such as chips and hot dogs, plus soft and alcoholic drinks etc.

The Verdict

Ponient Dorada Palace is a good, clean, well-run hotel in a handy Salou location.

The accommodation, staff, pools, and location were all strong. For families visiting PortAventura, it makes a lot of sense.

For couples, it still works, but you need to accept that it is a busy family hotel. The main things that dragged the score down were the dining atmosphere, the food waste, and the limited vegetarian choice over a longer stay.

Scores

Accommodation: 8/10
Location: 8/10
Food and drink: 5/10
Staff: 8/10
Atmosphere: 5/10

Overall score: 6.5/10

A clean, friendly, well-located hotel that works best for families and PortAventura trips. Good stay overall, but not quite a peaceful one.

A Move to Spain!

We are actually considering a move to Spain, follow our journey here.

Private Dublin: Couldn’t Put It Down

I’m not a typical reader of books. In fact, I generally only read when I’m on holiday.

I actually forgot to pack a book this time, so I picked one up at the airport. Mainly because the cover art caught my eye. Luckily for me, it turned out to be Private Dublin by James Patterson and Adam Hamdy.

I’ve never read a book from the Private series before, nor anything else from these two authors, but this was an excellent story. What a page turner.

I couldn’t put it down. As someone who rarely finishes a book on holiday, I had this finished after a touch over a day by the pool. Page turner is an understatement.

Being number 20 in the series, I was worried I’d miss out on the back story of the characters. But they are painted in such a realistic way that I felt I knew them almost immediately.

Yeah a few plotholes and a little unrealistic action, but it is fiction after all!

The plot is fast paced and intense, and while this is part of a long-running series, it can easily be enjoyed as a standalone read.

I enjoyed it so much that, after Amazon wouldn’t deliver more of the series to our hotel here in Spain, I spent a few hours trying to find more in local bookstores. Alas, I didn’t find any.

Score: 9/10

Others in the Private series I have read and reviewed:

#1 Private
#2 Private London
#22 Private Dublin

Short Form Video for Business

Short-form video is having a moment. From TikTok to Instagram Reels, businesses are flocking to these platforms to connect with audiences in a new and exciting way. But what exactly is short-form video, and why is it so important for businesses?

What is Short-Form Video? 

Short-form video is essentially any video that is less than 60 seconds long. These videos typically appear as TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. They are usually highly engaging and shareable, making them perfect for capturing attention and building brand awareness.

Why is Short-Form Video Important for Businesses?

It not if you don't want to engage with your customers and market, but if you do want to engage with them, here's some benefits you see fairly quicky.

It's highly engaging. Short-form videos are designed to be watched quickly and easily. This makes them perfect for capturing the attention of busy consumers.

It's shareable. Short-form videos are often shared on social media and other platforms. This can help you reach a wider audience and build brand awareness.

It's cost-effective. Short-form videos are relatively inexpensive to produce. This makes them a great option for businesses of all sizes.

It's versatile. Short-form videos can be used for a variety of purposes, such as product demos, customer testimonials, and behind-the-scenes content.

How Can a Business Use Short-Form Video

Not sure how to use short-form video for your business, here are a few tips that might help you:

Start by identifying your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your videos? Once you know your target audience, you can create content that is relevant to them.

Keep your videos short and sweet. Remember, you only have a few seconds to capture your audience's attention. Make sure your videos are concise and to the point.

Use high-quality visuals and audio. Your videos should be visually appealing and easy to hear.

Use a strong call to action. What do you want your viewers to do after watching your video? Make sure to include a clear call to action, such as visiting your website or following you on social media.

Promote your videos. Share your videos on social media and other platforms. You can also use paid advertising to reach a wider audience.

OK, I'm convinced that I need to use Short Form Video, but for what?

Product demos. Short-form videos are a great way to show off your products and services.

Customer testimonials. Use short-form videos to share positive customer feedback.

Behind-the-scenes content. Give your audience a glimpse into your company culture with behind-the-scenes videos.

Educational content. Use short-form videos to teach your audience about your products or services.

Interactive content. Encourage your audience to participate in your videos by asking questions or challenges.

Short-form video is a powerful tool that can help businesses of all sizes connect with their audiences. By following these simple tips, you will create engaging and effective short-form videos that will help you achieve your business goals.

Really Simple Keyword Research

Let's remember that Googles aim is to deliver to the user the most relevant results possible. So keyword research should focus around INTENT and TOPIC RELEVANCE to your business.

HEADLINE KEYWORDS

Single words or acronyms i.e. "Beer" - these are the worst type of keywords to optimise for (mainly because the intent is not clear, and typically usersresearch and more information), as intent is not clear, traffic will be poor and conversions will be low, but worst of all is that competition will be massively high and you'll need a ton of money and manpower to rank successfully for them.

BODY KEYWORDS 

Typically these are 2-3 word keywords i.e. "Best Beer" - while the intent of the searcher is a little clearer, it's still not 100% clear what they are trying to achieve with their search. These terms are often very competitive, because as keywords they are generally easier to find, this high competitiveness and therefore expensive in time and money to rank well for.

LONG TAIL KEYWORDS

4 or more words i.e. "Best Beer From The Supermarket" , these are the best type to optimise for as the intent of the searcher is much clearer. It will also be a much less competitive keyword.

It's important in the early stages of keyword research that 100% of keywords identified should be based on INTENT, yes search volume is important, but INTENT will ensure that anyone that finds your site WILL BE more likely to purchase. Your conversion rate will be higher, and will likely generate more good quality leads, plus competition will be lower, meaning ranking high for these keywords will be much easier.

PHASE 1 - EXISTING KEYWORDS

Use your existing searches and keyword data to give you inspiration for your keyword analysis, the easiest place to find these is in your Google Search Console, Google is already suggesting that you are ranking well for these keyworks, so it will be easier for you to take advantage of them.

Categorise these keywords into:

LOW HANGING FRUIT - keywords that are currently ranking from positions 2 to 15. Remember to prioritise keywords that based on INTENT and RELVANCE to your business.

EXISTING KEYWORDS - these are ranking from position 16 to 50. Make these your second priority keywords to look at.

POSSIBLE OPPORTUNITIES - these are keywords that are ranking from position 51 to 100. These keywords are outside of the top 50, so would suggest that you are simply not putting enough effort into these pages. On these look at the long tail key phrases and consider writing a blog post around each phrase.

PHASE 2 - KEYWORD DISCOVERY

Use SEMRUSH to help you discover new keywords (you can create a free account).
Navigate to 'Keyword Magic Tool' to discover for free some new ideas for keywords.

• Start looking at Keywords that are ranked at VERY EASY.
• Create a list of possible new keywords for you to rank for.
• Once you have a list of possible keywords, I sometimes like to search for these on Wikipedia and that can sometimes provide you with additional topics and keywords that are highly relevant to your site.  Use these new and related phrases in SEMRUSH to get more keywords.

PHASE 3 - ALSO ASKED

At the bottom of any Google search is a section that is often forgotten about called 'People Also Searched For', you can use some of these as your keywords, or try alsoasked.com to get a clearer picture and more potential keywords. 

Again, enter one of your best keywords into the search bar and it will provide you with a list of relevant phrases and questions that searches are looking for right now. These tend to make great topics for blog posts, and the chances are your competitors will not be using any of these terms.  Now while these won't bring you lots of traffic, they will make your site more relevant in the eyes of Google.


IMPORTANT:
When it comes to creating content one your website, remember to use only ONE PRIMARY KEYWORD.
Your Primary Keyword MUST address the intend of the searcher. To help decide what your primary keywords should be consider:

• What are you currently ranking well for
• Aim for keywords that have a search volume of at least 200 searches per month
• Only choose a primary keyword with a low competition
• Consider the intend of the searcher
• Make it hyper relevant to your offering
• Click potential - linked to intent, if someone searches for this primary keyword and finds your listing, how likely are they to click through to your site!

Is Your Business Known For Being Reliable and “Getting The Job Done”? – Then Beware!

It’s a myth in modern business that having a reputation for being “reliable” and being known for “getting the job done” makes you valuable and indispensable to your customers.

It’s all part of the fabric of business, but you need to be known for more than this because if your customer ever looks for more, they won’t come banging on your door.

Today, as a business you need to be known as someone that can improve and enhance the results of customers, you need to prove that you can solve their problems and move them forward.

If you fall at any of these fences, then your customers could cut you loose if they ever need a supplier that can go that extra mile for them, and because they see you as a capable business that does a great job, it could be a difficult decision for them, but it’s a decision that they WILL make if they need to.

The truth of the matter is that today you need to be known as a business that adds value – there is therefore an importance to define where and how you can add this value.

Most of this stems from having a real partnership with your customers and truly understanding them and the market(s) in which they operate; this will allow you to not only fully understand any problems that is given to you (so you can provide the very best solution), but you can also add value by spotting opportunities for your customers before they do.

Working in this way will lead you to become indispensable and ensure that your customers never want to lose you as a partner.

>>

This article was originally posted on LinkedIn in July 2017

New, unconfirmed Google ranking update ‘Fred’ shakes the SEO world!

"New, unconfirmed Google ranking update ‘Fred’ shakes the SEO world!"

I love this headline from searchengineland; we get this news a couple of time a year and it never fails to make me laugh!

It looks as if Google could have released yes another algorithm change that take a long hard look at the quality of a websites links before deciding whether that sites ranking needs to be improved or demoted.

But again it, this new ‘Fred’ update seems to have caught the SEO industry off-guard as is sending waves of panic across the community, but why this always makes me laugh is that if these SEO practitioners did their job right in the first place and looked to place good quality content on webpages with good quality (not spammy) links linking to the content then there wouldn’t be a problem.

The worry look on the faces of SEO professionals out there is a clear sign that they know that they have done something bad (black hat SEO) in the past and they are scared that their past is going to come along and bite them in their @rse.

I for one (as well as others like me), sit back and actually watch our ranking improving; I was struggling with one competitive term that seemed stuck as #8 suddenly yesterday leapt to #2, and I’m seeing positive moves across a range of sites and keywords.

I’m sitting pretty, I just wish all of my colleagues would learn and start doing their jobs properly!

Why is it so hard to rank well on Google?

I have recently been involved with a discussion about ranking on Google on LinkedIn, it has become more difficult to rank highly now, but why, these are my notes on it.

Any web marketer or somebody who owns a website realises (or should realise) the importance of high search engine rankings. Any webmaster who is serious about succeeding online should know that you need to be on the first page of Google results, but more importantly you need to be at positions 1, 2 or 3.

There was a time when achieving high search engine ranks was not really very difficult, all you had to do was create content, didn’t particularly need to be useful or of high quality, dump some keywords in it loads of times and *BANG* you were done and could with little effort rank highly.

Google changed a few its indicators around 2005, so with the same content you just had to throw some links in (predominately from link farms, article networks, blog networks and directories) and you ranked well.

From about 2007, things really started to get really difficult, and as every year marches forward Google just keep making the SEO role more and more difficult.

Today, there is a huge amount of competition out there in all markets. Achieving a page one rank in Google (and the rest of the search engines) has become extremely tough, unless of course you are working smart.

Working smart will often mean here the ability to choose the right set of tools – tools that can rocket your web visibility by taking your website from the lower ends of search engine results all the way to very top. See a previous post - Internet Business Promoter (IBP) Axandra Software Review.

A page one rank is all you need to rocket your web traffic that will blow your mind, however, traffic is just one side of the coin and if you want to convert traffic then you need to look at Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO), but that’s a completely different subject.

Anyway, the real reason why it’s more difficult to rank on Google is that they want to present the very best results to us searchers, and their tweaks and modifications to their algorithm is all just designed to ensure that the sites that are well liked, with the best content rise to the top – it’s that simple really.