In 2025, standing out from the digital noise by finding the best SEO company in South Africa is the way to go!  

In the current landscape, everyone is building a website and finding new ways to fill up the digital space. While a website is only the first step, the optimisations you make to your website is what truly makes your business stand out from your competitors in the online space.  

With, search engine optimisation, otherwise best known as SEO is one of the most important optimisations you can make for your business website. But wait, it’s easier said than done! There’s so much to consider. There’s keyword research, content quality checks, technical SEO, on-page optimisations, off-page optimisations, there is backlinking and the list goes on and on.  

 So where do you start? How do you know what kind of SEO services suit your business and website needs? In this blog we will unpack the different types of SEO packages and how to choose the right SEO package in 2025.  

SEO Packages For Setup   

What is important to note here is SEO takes time to show results, so the sooner you start, the better it will be for your website and these setup packages are a great starting point because they can build a strong foundation for your website and create a seamless user experience from the get-go. 

With this package you can expect services such as keyword research, quality content creation, integration of mobile responsiveness, internal links and backlinks as well as an addition of alt text to website images. This type of set up should be done before the launch of your website, preferably in the planning or design stage of your website.  

SEO Packages For Strategy

An SEO strategy is a plan of action that looks into what optimisations can be made to a website based off its current positioning to attract more traffic and ensure that it ranks higher in search engine results.  

When creating an SEO strategy for your brand, the SEO specialist will start off with keyword research. Upon identifying relevant keywords, the specialist will then look into the current top-ranking websites to identify competitors.  

After completing these two important steps, the website can then be optimised for on-page SEO and search intent. Also, the strategy could include content design and how best to continuously update content.  

Read More: Meet Vetro Media Founder and CEO – Christian Schmidt 

The Process 

An internal linking audit is required to evaluate your website structure and improve page navigation. This can be done by testing internal links and optimising website link structure to improve page ranking.  

With a backlink analysis, the SEO specialist will check the quality and quantity of backlinks that lead back to your site. In doing so, any harmful or spam links can be separated from your website. But it doesn’t just stop there! The specialist will search for high-quality websites that can be used in your website backlinks.  

SEO specialist can also conduct a content analysis on your website to identify any breakages in content, duplications, spelling or grammar mistakes and to assess the quality and relevance of your content.  

Why AI Is Forcing Us to Rethink Content: From SEO to Human Experience

This weekend, I had one simple goal: find a great chicken stir-fry recipe. I already had the ingredients—chicken, frozen stir-fry mix, soy sauce, ginger powder, onion powder, ground coriander and salted butter—and did what we all do. I Googled it. 

The search results looked promising. I clicked on the top link, a beautifully photographed food blog. But to get to the recipe, I had to scroll. And scroll. First came a 700-word account of the author’s life-changing trip to Thailand. Then a deep dive into the history of the wok. And finally, a sentimental ode to their grandmother’s love for ginger. All I wanted was the ingredient list and instructions. Then came the pop-ups. ‘SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER!’ one demanded. ‘DOWNLOAD MY FREE EBOOK!’ shouted another, while a video ad auto-played in the corner. After wrestling with two more similarly bloated blogs, I gave up in frustration.

I opened a new tab, went to ChatGPT, and typed: ‘I have chicken, onion powder, ginger powder, soy sauce, ground coriander, and McCain vegetable stir fry mix. Give me a simple stir-fry recipe.
 

Ten seconds later, I had a clear, concise, and perfectly usable recipe. This wasn’t just about dinner. It was a reminder of a larger disconnect. For years, we’ve been creating content for algorithms—padding, priming, and posturing for bots—and in doing so, we’ve neglected the real audience: people. Now, the rise of AI is holding a mirror to our content strategies and asking a confronting question: Are we actually providing value—or just getting in the way?
 

From Pulling Clicks to Providing Value 

For over a decade, digital marketing has operated within a ‘pull’ paradigm. ‘Google Search relies on users actively searching for something they know about.’ Our job as SEOs was to rank for those searches and pull in clicks.

In pursuit of this, many SEO best practices became gospel: write long-form content, include relevant keywords, stretch dwell time. The result? Pages like the stir-fry blogs I encountered—optimised for bots but obstructive for humans.

The new kids on the block: ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews are disrupting that model. These systems cut through the clutter and deliver answers without the fluff. While this isn’t necessarily the death of SEO—it’s a reckoning. AI is exposing how often our content prioritises performance metrics over people. This isn’t a question of whether AI will replace publishers or content teams, but whether our content deserves to be chosen by users or AI. 

What AI Is Teaching Us About Modern Content 

The speed and clarity of AI-generated responses reveal an undeniable truth: user expectations have changed. People don’t just want information—they want fast, useful, frictionless information.

Here are the questions we need to ask ourselves as content creators:

Is Our Content Respectful of Time?

The biggest lesson from my stir-fry saga? Time is currency. Making someone scroll through stories and dodge pop-ups just to get a recipe isn’t charming—it’s inconsiderate. When content is hard to access, it signals that we value our metrics more than the user’s experience.

New standards are emerging: TL;DR summaries, ‘jump to recipe’ links, clear formatting, direct answers. Give users the function first, and they’ll stay for the story—on their own terms. 

Does Our Story Serve the User or Ourselves? 

Narrative matters. It builds trust, brand identity, and emotional connection. But it only works when it’s offered—not forced. The issue with many lifestyle blogs isn’t that they tell stories—it’s that they use them as obstacles.

An AI can’t replicate a brand’s voice or share personal anecdotes. But those human elements need to follow value—not precede it. Start with utility, lead with clarity, and let your unique perspective enhance the experience—not slow it down. 

Are We Creating an Experience—or an Obstacle Course? 

AI responses exist in clean, minimal environments. Your website? It’s your digital home. And like any home, the feeling it gives off matters.

If visitors are hit with pop-ups, autoplay videos, and cluttered design, they’ll bounce—regardless of how great your content is. No amount of brilliance can outshine poor UX. Your content’s future is directly tied to how enjoyable your site is to navigate.

So, what’s the way forward? We evolve—from Search Engine Optimisation to Human Experience Optimisation (HXO). (Yes, I just dropped another acronym. Guilty.) And in writing that, I’m suddenly struck by a familiar thought: How different is this really from the usual flood of clickbait posts posing as thought leadership on LinkedIn?
But here’s the truth: beneath all the jargon and trend-chasing, the principles haven’t changed. The irony is that good SEO—the kind that actually earns trust and drives value—has always been about people. We just drifted too far from it.

AI is forcing us to confront that reality. It’s a mirror showing us where we’ve overcomplicated, over-optimised, and under-delivered.

Do I know exactly what the future holds? No. But I do know this: we can watch, adapt, and keep practising SEO as it was always meant to be. Content so helpful, so trustworthy, and so effortless to consume that both humans and AI want to engage with it.

Because in a world of instant answers, our real advantage is what AI can’t replicate—empathy, perspective, trust, and human context.
That’s how we earn attention. That’s how we stand out.

And maybe, just maybe, that’s how we make a simple recipe search feel joyful again. 

About The Author 

Fumani Baloyi is an experienced SEO and digital strategy leader with over a decade in performance-driven marketing. As Head of SEO at Vetro Media, he blends deep technical know-how with a sharp understanding of audience behaviour, helping brands scale visibility across competitive industries.

He specialises in user-first SEO and believes the future of search lies in clarity, trust, and human-centered experiences. 

It’s no secret that social media marketing has experienced major growth over the past couple of years. In fact, it is estimated that over 26 million people in South Africa alone are active across various social media platforms.  As a business in 2025, if you are not engaging with these millions of people in this online space then you are losing out on a goldmine. But fear not because we got you covered! In this blog, we will look into the world of social media marketing, examining its importance in 2025 and defining actionable steps to successfully implement it into your business. But first, let’s start with the basics. 

How to start social media marketing?  

Truth be told, you don’t need to have your brand on every social media platform to be successful at social media marketing. All you need to do is choose at least two platforms that suit your business and are most likely where your target audience is hanging out. Once you have that set up, the only thing that matters thereafter is consistently showing up on these platforms.  

And there you have it! You will have successfully stepped into the playing field of social media marketing. Let’s take it a step further and look into an example of social media marketing to get a better understanding of this term.  

In our example, we will use a startup fashion brand whose target audience is teens.  Since fashion is more of what meets the eye and is associated with visually appealing clothing, choosing a platform like Instagram and Tik Tok to capture the visual essence for these fashion pieces would be the best decision for this brand. And what’s more is that these two platforms are known to have this demographic of users.  

But hold up, it doesn’t just stop there. Social media marketing will only really come into play when you show up. What do I mean by this? You need to be there for your audience, you need to consistently be posting, engaging, communicating and listening to your audience.  

Let’s go back to our example, our fashion brand now has an Instagram page and a Tik Tok account set up. But now, this fashion brand must consistently post various types of content. For example, they could be showcasing new product launches or influencer collaborations, and the most important thing to note here is that they show up constantly with new content.

Secondly, they need to listen to and communicate with their audience. If for example, a customer is complaining about fabric quality, the fashion brand should respond quickly and address the situation. Not only does this build brand saliency but will also create a stronger customer-brand relationship.  

Driving website traffic 

A very important thing to remember is to use your social media platforms to guide customers to your website. Meaning whoever stumbles across your social platforms that is intrigued by your brand, will most likely head over to your website to find out more information. The best part with most social media platforms is that you can add your website link onto the platform. This cuts out the hassle for your audience to search for your website and instead streamlines the user journey.  

Provide information 

Treat your social media platforms as a source of information. While your website does the heavy lifting in terms of information, your social media platforms can be treated as mini versions of your website. Meaning, you can synthesise relevant information about your brand through your social content. For example, the about us section of your website, can be summarised into a small, catchy paragraph on your Instagram bio! 

Brand awareness 

By establishing and consistently showing up on your social media platforms, not only are you building an online presence for your brand, but you are giving it a visual presence, something that leads to brand recall and eventually conversions. A very common example of this is Coca Cola, if we were to take away its name and logo on one of its recent posts, you still would be able to tell from the black and red colours that this is a post from Coca Cola.  

Building community 

As previously mentioned, listening and communicating consistently with your audience is key to successful social media marketing. Why? Because by lending your audience a listening ear and frequently taking note of their sentiment, they will start to see you as a brand that truly cares about them. In doing so, they will acknowledge the time and effort you put into them, and this builds a sense of community, a community where trust, loyalty and authenticity lives.  

Final Thoughts 

So, by now, we know social media marketing is the way to go in 2025 and what we have learnt is that it is more than just posting content. Instead by choosing the right platforms, showing up consistently and truly listening to your audience, your brand can thrive in this digital space. 

If you’re ready to take your brand to the next level with social media marketing, head over to our website to learn more about us, our services and connect with our team of experts in social media.  

By now, we have all heard and understood the importance of having an online presence currently. So great, you’ve built that presence through your website and social media platforms. Now, you may be asking, what’s next? What more can you do to take your online presence up a notch. While setting up these platforms is a crucial first step, the real work only begins when you optimise these platforms.  

This article will take a deep dive into this integration is, how you can incorporate it into your website and the benefits of digital channels integration.    

Benefits of social media integration  

It is more than just a trendy addition to your website it’s a vital optimisation decision that can significantly enhance your brand’s presence, engagement, and overall success.   

Here’s why this integration is a crucial step for any business:  

Extended user journey 

We previously discussed how this integration enhances the user journey by extending it beyond a single platform. By integrating your social platforms, the user journey does not just begin and end on one platform but instead flows across others. For example, a user coming from one of your Instagram page will want to explore your brand in-depth on your website, while someone heading to the social platforms from the website may want to engage with the brand on a more personal level.   

Customer-brand relationships 

This integration can strengthen connections with potential customers. When visitors see your site and platforms as a trusted source for product and service information, it builds their confidence and increases the chances of them interacting.   

Read More: What Is a Content Management System (CMS) and How Does It Work

Broader reach 

This integration doesn’t just increase your brand’s reach on a single platform, it amplifies your presence across a wide range of channels and opens the door to diverse audiences. Additionally, your social platforms each have their own user base, often with different demographics, interests and behaviours. When your website is connected to these platforms, it allows you to tap into these unique communities that might not have discovered your brand otherwise.  

Data and analytics 

One of the most powerful benefits of this type of integration is the wealth of insights and data you have access to with both platforms. By incorporating your socials into your website, you can track user interactions and gather valuable information that directly informs your marketing, content and engagement strategies.  

Different contact touchpoints 

This integration encourages multiple brand touchpoints by creating consistent and interactive opportunities for customers to engage with your brand across various platforms.  

Learn More: Our Services 

So, what exactly is a CMS, how does it work, and why do you need one? Let’s break it down! All this talk can leave you feeling overwhelmed, but the good news is that a CMS might just be exactly what you need. But what is a content management system or CMS, how does it work and why do you need it?

Well, you’re in the right place! This article will break down everything you need to know about CMS platforms, so you can decide if one is right for you. Let’s get started!

How does a content management system work

When a user creates new material in a CMS, it is usually saved in a database or file system, along with information like tags, categories, and publication dates. Once the material has been developed and saved, it can be published to a website or another platform using set templates or themes. These templates dictate the content’s layout and design, ensuring that it is shown consistently throughout all pages of the website.

To create this seamless system, a typical content management system relies on several components, with the two key applications being the:

• Content Management Application (CMA) – Which allows users to create, edit, and remove content without needing a deep understanding of HTML.
• Content Delivery Application (CDA) – Which is the technical back end of the system that stores content and delivers it to the CMA of the website.

Types of content management systems

When looking at the different types of content management systems it is important to categorise them according to your specific needs and goals. The two main types of CMS are differentiated based on use case and embedding.

Popular Content Management Systems (CMS)

When selecting a CMS, it is useful to understand the most popular platforms and their strengths. Here are four common content management systems that cater to various purposes.

Embedding Content Management Systems:

• Open-Source CMS: A platform that makes its source code publicly accessible so that users can alter, personalise, and distribute the program as needed. These community-driven projects receive contributions that help to build and improve the CMS for everyone. Open-source CMS platforms may require significant upfront investments and technical support, but they also provide extensive customisation beyond the standard CMS.
• Proprietary CMS: A system that is developed and maintained by a company of which users require a license to use. These types of platforms include regular updates, usage license costs and added upgrade and personalisation costs.
• Software as a Service (SaaS) CMS: A cloud-based solution that can easily be accessed via the Internet and includes content management features which allows for collaboration, scalability and flexibility. This type of CMS has an easy-to-use interface with automated maintenance and updates. Smaller and mid-sized businesses that need to quickly establish a digital presence will find them useful.
• Headless CMS: Distributes content across various channels and devices via API endpoints with a separation between backend content management and front-end presentation. This enables users to shorten delivery times through quicker iterations and provides businesses with the flexibility to distribute content across multiple channels. Any organisation that wishes to distribute content across multiple digital channels is typically a good candidate for a headless CMS.

Benefits of using a content management system

Using a content management system (CMS) offers numerous benefits for businesses looking to establish a strong online presence. Here are a few.

• Users do not require any technical knowledge to utilise a CMS. This provides the opportunity to focus on content creation rather than the technical aspects of website development.
• Most content management systems have a user-friendly interface with drop down menus making it easy to use and navigate.
• Predesigned templates make it possible to maintain a consistent brand identity across your entire website.
• Costs associated with using a CMS is significantly lower than building a website, with some content management systems charging a simple monthly fee. Most content management systems also easily expand with your business without the need to put more systems in place.
• A content management system allows you to effortlessly manage your content from creation to publication in real time, all on one platform.
• A CMS streamlines your workflow by enabling multiple users to collaborate on content and the platform simultaneously.
• Ensures that all data and content is secure and protected.
• Built in features like SEO can help improve your website visibility without the need of an expert.

At Vetro Media, we are leaders in SEO and CMS solutions. Whether you need assistance selecting the finest CMS platform or improving your web presence, our team of experts is ready to help. Contact us today to learn more about how our personalised solutions may help your business.