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How I Make AI Agents and Tools - digital surfer wave 196

Fix Google Indexing Issues; Cloudflare Fights AI Bots; SaaS SEO; Emotion-Driven SEO; Hollywood Icon AI Voices; Case Studies Galore; Digital Marketing Trends; and Much More!

Author

Yoyao
July 06, 2024 • Est. Learning Time: 16 minutes

FIRST …

I received a few replies last week about the AI agents and tools I make, so I wanted to cover an easy way to get yourself customized AI agents and tools for your workflow and team.

I’m unable to give a full-on tutorial here, but here’s an overview guide and the tech stack I use:

  • Streamlit.io, Free - Let’s me create private and public apps for you and others to use. Limited to one private app and seemingly unlimited public apps.

  • Github, Free - Free to use and where the code is hosted for the Streamlit app to read.

  • Visual Studio Code, Free - The code editor. It’s connected to Github, so that any changes I make on VS Code will update in Github.

  • Claude or ChatGPT, Free or Paid - What I use to get some starter code, as well as for debugging. I used to use ChatGPT 4, but now it’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet all the way. I’d highly advise paying $20 to get more messages and the best models, because if you’re relying on only them to create code, you’ll have a lot of trial and error.

The workflow: Claude → VS Code → Github → Streamlit.

  • Start with Claude and telling it what you want to create: Ex. a question and answer Streamlit app that uses the OpenAI (or Claude) API.

  • Put the python code you get into a .py file using VS Code.

  • Commit (sync) the python code to Github using the VS Code integration.

  • The Streamlit app will automatically grab the updated code from Github.

All the agents and tools I’ve made are made with Streamlit because it’s a quick and easy way to get something up to try out. The programming language is based on Python and Streamlit’s own graphical user interface.

If you have some coding experience, it will probably 30-45 minutes for you to understand how to connect everything and understand how Streamlit works. But once you understand how the platforms work together, you can create a new tool in a couple of minutes.

There are so many possibilities with this. I’m able to tap into so many APIs and create custom agents for our needs. I’m not paying for apps that “kind of fit” our workflow.

For my team, I have a private Streamlit multipage app where all the agents and tools they need are. Anytime there’s something that can help them with their work, I just create a new .py file and publish it into the app.

Here’s an example of a public app I created that’s on Streamlit: Topical Depth App. It’s embedded on the TopicalMap.com website, but is also accessible through the Streamlit platform.

If you’re looking to create a SaaS app that you want to make money from, then Streamlit isn’t really the way to go. There are ways to hack around it and connect to other databases, but I feel it’s best to develop off-Streamlit. At least that’s what I’m doing after looking into the options.

There are many videos and guides out there to create a Streamlit app, including videos by Streamlit themselves.

But if you feel there’s nothing out there that’s good enough after searching, let me know and maybe I’ll create a guide myself.

SEO

Patrick Stox shares great insights on how SEO can unlock growth for SaaS companies. He also addresses the common challenges faced by Enterprise SaaS companies, such as long sales cycles, stiff competition, complexity, and obtaining buy-in for SEO. He uses some examples of SaaS companies like Ahrefs.

My Take: If you have your own company or clients, this is a good overview of things to focus on to drive organic traffic. Once you start putting some plans together check out Patrick’s other article on OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for setting goals.

Yulia Deda has put together a good guide on common Google indexing issues that might be keeping your web pages hidden from search results. This piece walks through identifying frequent indexing problems, explaining their causes, and offering solutions. She covers technical glitches, low-quality content, incorrect tags, and more.

SEO Ripples

  • Roger Montti explains why negative SEO doesn't work, breaking down Gary Illyes' insights on Google's handling of low-quality spam links. He gets into the technical reasons why such links are ineffective, looking at how Google matches topics from page to page to ensure only relevant links count.

AI

Cloudflare has introduced a new tool to help website owners protect their content from AI bots. It’s a simple one-click solution that allows all customers, including free tier, to block AI scrapers and crawlers.

RunwayML's latest Gen-3 Alpha AI video model is now available for users to create hyper-realistic AI videos from text, image, or video prompts. However, it's not free like the previous models. Users will need to upgrade to a paid plan starting at $12/month per editor.

ElevenLabs has partnered with the estates of icons like Judy Garland and James Dean to bring these legendary voices to their Reader App. Their new technology allows you to enjoy emotionally rich voiceovers of any digital text on-the-go. Burt Reynolds and Sir Laurence Olivier are also available now.

While Microsoft’s AI CEO says anything on the open web is ‘freeware’ and for anyone to “freely copy and use,” Figma thinks otherwise.

Figma recently disabled its "Make Design" AI feature after accusations that it was replicating Apple's Weather app designs. The feature was meant to generate UI layouts from text prompts quickly, but user testing revealed that it was essentially copying existing apps. Figma's CEO, Dylan Field, admitted overlooking quality assurance in the rush to launch new AI features. AI Ripples

  • Melissa Heikkilä explores the rise of AI agents, sophisticated tools designed to perform complex tasks autonomously. She looks at the potential and current limitations of these technologies

  • A new study looks at the impact of ChatGPT on academic writing by analyzing 14 million PubMed abstracts from 2010-2024. They discovered a significant increase in certain words following the release of ChatGPT in November 2022. This surge suggests that around 10% of 2024's abstracts were processed with LLMs. Findings show it’s across different disciplines, countries, and journals, with computational fields and non-English speaking countries showing higher adoption rates.

  • Apple released a public demo of its '4M' AI model on the Hugging Face Spaces platform. This launch reflects Apple's shift towards transparency in AI research. The 4M model showcases capabilities such as generating content across multiple modalities and manipulating 3D scenes through natural language inputs.

MARKETING

Greg Jarboe dives into the latest shifts in consumer social media usage, revealing surprising changes in platform preferences. According to a Sprout Social Q2 2024 Consumer Pulse survey, YouTube has now claimed the top spot with 85% of users engaging with the platform daily. TikTok continues to grow, especially among Gen Z, with a 20% increase in daily usage compared to last year.

Greg Jarboe shares his top digital marketing trends, emphasizing the importance of having a solid strategy in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Here are some of the key takeaways:

  • Strategy is Key: Having a clear digital marketing strategy is crucial for success and job security in the industry.

  • Generative AI: Embrace AI tools for enhanced customer experiences and efficiency, but remember that AI still needs human input.

  • SEO Adaptability: SEO is far from dead, and staying adaptable to changes and updates is essential.

  • Link Building Strategies: Think beyond traditional link-building tactics and focus on public relations to boost brand mentions.

  • Paid Media Evolution: Pay attention to the AI transformation in paid media platforms and adjust workflows to leverage AI best practices effectively.

Tamilore Oladipo explores how brands are utilizing Threads to engage their audiences and grow their reach. She gets into specific strategies these brands employ, from leveraging visual content to fostering community interaction. Some of the brands: Apartment Therapy, Square, Barnes and Noble, and Grammarly.

Marketing Ripples

CONTENT

Tasmin Lofthouse shares emotion-driven tactics to make your content resonate deeply with readers, transforming clicks into sales. By tapping into emotions, you’ll learn to craft people-first content that not only ranks well but also connects with your audience on a personal level.

My Take: Google says to create “people-first content” and that aligns with much of what’s in the article.

PSA: Check your WordPress Plugins and Feeds

I saw this on my Feedly feed and sharing this so all of you will check your own sites’ RSS feeds and see if this is happening to you too where the shortcode used to replace it with the current year is showing up instead of ‘2024’.

*No article here, just something I noticed

source: my feedly

LINK BUILDING

Vince Nero dives into the risks of buying backlinks. He breaks down the common pitfalls and compares the costs of buying versus generating your own links naturally. Vince also gives tips on how to avoid shady dealers and highlights alternatives that could save you from potential penalties. Check out his analysis on why building your own links might be the safer, more effective route in the long run.

Vince also has another article on Link Reclamation if there are mentions of your brand or site but aren’t linked.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

Linkifi Digital PR Campaigns: Linkifi is offering a large $500 discount on digital PR campaigns for July 4th.

Layerpath: Create interactive product demos and videos in a snap with this AI-powered platform. This lifetime deal is pretty impressive. If you have a SaaS or want to create videos/guides for VAs, this is a must-have. Watch the first couple of minutes of this video review to see what it does.

Salad Transcription API: Generate accurate transcriptions, captions, and subtitles for content. If you want to transcribe video and audio, this uses OpenAI’s Whisper as the core model to transcribe. The lowest lifetime deal at $79 gives you 100 transcription hours per month too.

CASE STUDY

Rand Fishkin shares how the majority of Google searches now end without a click, highlighting differences between the US and EU markets. Interesting takeaways:

  • Zero-Click Searches: Nearly 60% of Google searches in both the US and EU end without a click.

  • Google's Ecosystem: About 30% of clicks from searches go to Google-owned properties.

  • EU vs. US: The EU sees slightly more clicks to the open web compared to the US, potentially due to regulatory impacts.

  • Mobile vs. Desktop: Mobile searches are more likely to end without a click compared to desktop searches.

  • AI Overviews Impact: The rollout of AI Overviews in Google search had minimal effect on overall search behavior.

Steve Paine dives into the details of Google's June 2024 Spam Update and how it hasn't significantly altered the search landscape—yet. His analysis of SERP data across multiple countries shows minimal changes, but underscores the importance of staying vigilant as these tweaks can have delayed effects. And how some spam sites are caught relatively quickly:

source: sistrix.com

Philip Petrescu dives into the impact of AI Overviews on Google search results in his study of 8,000 keywords. He examines the frequency, placement, and influence of AI Overviews. Some of the key takeaways:

  • AI Overviews appear in only 12% of searches, compared to 17.5% for Featured Snippets.

  • AI Overviews often include multiple links (average of 7.2).

  • Health-related queries are most likely to feature AI Overviews.

  • Keywords with informational intent are more likely to trigger AI Overviews than navigational or commercial queries.

Matt Diggity’s latest case study reveals an exceptional SEO strategy that increased organic traffic by 115% and monthly revenue by 197%. This study dives into optimizing content for different user touchpoints and implementing advanced techniques like faceted navigation and structured data markup. He also offers insights on capturing users at crucial micro-moments to drive conversions and improve visibility.

Matt also discusses what he’s doing now after “Google killed SEO” in this video. He’s focused on ecommerce and JV agency partnerships.

NEWS

WordPress announced proactive measures to combat supply chain attacks on plugins. By pausing updates and resetting passwords for plugin authors, WP aims to prevent website compromises due to password exposure. They are urging plugin authors to use 2-factor authentication and ensuring that all new plugins are safe before release.

REFER AND GET REWARDS

Get free stuff for referring friends and family to digital surfer!

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  • Refer 50: Get 50% Off the Topical Maps Unlocked Course

  • Refer 100: Get a Free copy of Topical Maps Unlocked

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