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Episode 1296:
Margo Aaron demystifies SEO, transforming it from a daunting task into a manageable one, even for the non-tech savvy. Through her insightful conversation with Michael Tesalona, she outlines the simplicity behind SEO's perceived complexity, focusing on foundational elements and actionable steps that can significantly boost your website's visibility without delving deep into technicalities.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.thatseemsimportant.com/business/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-seo/
Quotes to ponder:
"No one really knows what Google’s search engine ranking criteria are, but after years of following trends and getting results for clients, we have a pretty good idea of what definitely matters."
"If you get those basics down, you’ve satisfied the geek quota and the rest of the time you need to focus on backlinks."
"Since Google doesn’t publicly state Page Rank, the SEO community is split on what the ‘gold standard’ is."
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[00:01:22] It's important afterwards, so let's get to it and optimize your life.
[00:01:30] SEO is simpler than you think.
[00:01:32] Five things every beginner needs to know to get it right.
[00:01:35] By Margo Aaron of ThatSeemsImportant.com
[00:01:39] As a non-tech founder, I understand the resistance that comes with doing anything that makes you feel stupid.
[00:01:45] For me, that includes web design, HTML and search engine optimization or SEO.
[00:01:51] This was particularly embarrassing since SEO is one of the most foundational digital marketing tools in the toolbox
[00:01:57] and I was technically a digital marketer.
[00:02:00] Realizing I couldn't claim ignorance any longer, I googled around for some articles and immediately overwhelmed myself.
[00:02:07] I didn't want to be an SEO expert, I just wanted to know enough to not be an idiot.
[00:02:12] How does SEO work and how far down the geek rabbit hole do I need to go to get SEO working for me?
[00:02:18] To get the answers, I called up Bradford Crabtree CEO Michael Tessalona and asked him to sit down with me
[00:02:24] so I could ask him the questions I'd be embarrassed to ask in public.
[00:02:27] I wish I had this years ago.
[00:02:29] Here's how he broke it down.
[00:02:31] One, you don't need to be as geeky as you thought.
[00:02:34] For starters, learning that most of SEO is conjecture immediately made me feel better.
[00:02:40] Dozens of clients have ended up on the first page of Google thanks to Tessalona's efforts.
[00:02:45] Still, he explained, quote, no one really knows what Google's search engine ranking criteria are
[00:02:51] but after years of following trends and getting results for clients,
[00:02:55] we have a pretty good idea of what definitely matters.
[00:02:58] End quote.
[00:02:59] The running joke is if you ask five SEO experts,
[00:03:03] you'll get five different explanations of what matters.
[00:03:06] Quote, there's a lot of debate within the field
[00:03:09] There are still basics that transcend everything that the majority of business owners ignore
[00:03:13] because they're caught up in the debate.
[00:03:15] End quote.
[00:03:16] If you get those basics down, Tessalona says, then quote,
[00:03:20] you've satisfied the geek quote-up and the rest of the time you need to focus on backlinks.
[00:03:25] End quote.
[00:03:26] I could work with that.
[00:03:28] Two, there are five onsite elements you need to know and you can ignore the rest.
[00:03:33] There are two basic buckets of SEO, onsite and offsite.
[00:03:37] Onsite refers to the SEO related things you need to do on your website.
[00:03:42] The most important element we think is the keyword.
[00:03:45] The keyword is the thing you rank for on Google.
[00:03:48] For example, if I wanted to show up on a search for SEO basics,
[00:03:52] I'd need to make it the keyword for this webpage.
[00:03:55] You could write a whole dissertation on how to find and choose a keyword,
[00:03:59] but for the sake of your sanity and the length of this post,
[00:04:02] I'll say this,
[00:04:03] find a keyword that is relevant to what your webpage content is about.
[00:04:07] If you download tools like Yoast, a WordPress plugin,
[00:04:11] you can type in the keyword you want to rank for into the tool and move on with your day.
[00:04:15] If you have Squarespace or Wix or another website builder, they have similar features.
[00:04:20] Once you have your keyword, you want to focus on these five on page elements.
[00:04:25] You have these on every single page of your website.
[00:04:28] One, page titles.
[00:04:30] The title of your page, usually the headline.
[00:04:33] It's the headline you see when you Google something.
[00:04:35] Two, H tags.
[00:04:37] The headings you use for the text of your page, there's usually five options.
[00:04:42] Three, meta descriptions.
[00:04:44] The snippet that describes the content on your page goes under the page title.
[00:04:48] Four, URL structure.
[00:04:50] You know this one, it's what comes after www.
[00:04:54] And five, alt tags.
[00:04:56] The description of an image you're using on your webpage.
[00:04:59] It shows up when your image doesn't load.
[00:05:01] If you are like me and have no idea what those mean, I promise they're less scary than they sound.
[00:05:07] Tessalona says if you get these down, then quote,
[00:05:11] you've satisfied the geek quota and the rest of the time you need to focus on backlinks.
[00:05:16] End quote.
[00:05:17] Three, backlinks are really important.
[00:05:20] This is the offsite stuff.
[00:05:22] Anytime you see something hyperlinked, that's a backlink.
[00:05:25] It's a link that's on an external site, not your site, that points to your website.
[00:05:30] Where it gets a little more complicated is the type of anchor text that is used.
[00:05:35] There are three types.
[00:05:36] One, naked URL.
[00:05:38] That's when you see www.thatseemsimportant.com.
[00:05:43] Two, branded.
[00:05:45] That's when you see text that says that seems important that you can click.
[00:05:49] And three, keyword anchor.
[00:05:52] This is when the keyword for your post is hyperlinked.
[00:05:55] So if I wanted to backlink my ink post on how I built my business without a website,
[00:06:00] I'd hyperlink the word website since that was the keyword I wanted to rank for.
[00:06:05] Tessalona recommends your anchors be 25% branded, 25% naked, and 50% keyword.
[00:06:12] Most SEO companies spend their time on this backlinks part.
[00:06:16] Companies like Bradford Crabtree charge upwards of $300 per backlink.
[00:06:21] If that's not in your budget, you can do things like guest post for free on a blog
[00:06:25] or get media coverage for your business.
[00:06:27] Those work as well.
[00:06:29] Four, not all backlinks are created equal.
[00:06:32] Each website is ranked differently in terms of authority.
[00:06:35] Google uses a metric called PageRank to determine this authority
[00:06:39] but unfortunately they no longer publicly disclose website page rank.
[00:06:44] If you have a backlink on Joe Schmoe's blog, it won't be weighted as heavily
[00:06:48] as if it came from ink.
[00:06:50] If you ask me to explain more about this part, I don't know how they determine the page rank.
[00:06:54] I just know that it exists.
[00:06:56] Tessalona says to determine if a website is good for a backlink,
[00:07:00] you want to look for two things.
[00:07:02] Does it make sense to my niche?
[00:07:04] How many links do they have?
[00:07:06] This means how many sites are linking to their site.
[00:07:08] It works quite literally like a web.
[00:07:11] When it comes to domain strength, Tessalona says, quote,
[00:07:14] Since Google doesn't publicly state page rank,
[00:07:17] the SEO community is split on what the gold standard is, end quote.
[00:07:21] He recommends using tools like Moz and Ahrafs to help,
[00:07:25] even if you're a beginner, quote.
[00:07:28] These tools have their own metrics, domain authority and domain ranking.
[00:07:32] When you get familiar with these metrics,
[00:07:34] you'll be able to spot a strong website, end quote,
[00:07:37] and it gets easier.
[00:07:39] Five, no enough to be dangerous or be prepared to waste money.
[00:07:43] Tessalona says that while you don't need to know all the details,
[00:07:47] you do need to be able to evaluate whether the people you hire
[00:07:50] to help you are doing a good job.
[00:07:52] I cannot underscore this point enough.
[00:07:54] Where most people mess up is by not doing their due diligence
[00:07:58] in learning the basics.
[00:07:59] Instead, they have no clue what they need
[00:08:01] and hire the first company that claims they can help.
[00:08:04] This is where non-tech founders like us stand to lose a lot of money.
[00:08:08] You need to be familiar enough to judge
[00:08:10] whether or not the people you hire are actually doing anything useful.
[00:08:14] Hopefully this helps.
[00:08:19] You just listened to the post titled,
[00:08:21] SEO is simpler than you think.
[00:08:23] Five things every beginner needs to know to get it right.
[00:08:26] By Margo Aron of ThatSeemsImportant.com
[00:08:29] We're driven by the search for better.
[00:08:32] But when it comes to hiring,
[00:08:34] the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all.
[00:08:37] Don't search.
[00:08:38] Match with Indeed.
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[00:08:46] and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast.
[00:08:50] Ditch the busy work.
[00:08:51] Use Indeed for scheduling, screening and messaging.
[00:08:54] 93% of employers agree.
[00:08:56] Indeed delivers the highest quality matches compared to other job sites.
[00:09:00] One of the things I love about Indeed
[00:09:02] is that it filters out those incompatible applicants.
[00:09:05] So when you're hiring, the process is much faster
[00:09:08] and you only have to consider applicants that are already likely to be a great fit.
[00:09:12] And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit
[00:09:16] to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com.
[00:09:19] So just go to Indeed.com.
[00:09:22] Right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.
[00:09:27] Indeed.com.
[00:09:29] Terms and conditions apply.
[00:09:31] Need to hire? You need Indeed.
[00:09:34] You don't need me to tell you that something always comes up
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[00:10:46] And as always I want to thank Margot for letting us share her work today.
[00:10:49] In her quest to answer the question,
[00:10:51] how do you get people to care?
[00:10:53] And not finding the answers in her job,
[00:10:55] Margot said about learning everything she could
[00:10:57] about persuasion, influence, direct response,
[00:11:00] copywriting, branding and more.
[00:11:02] And she eventually started her own business.
[00:11:04] But while she was making money at it,
[00:11:06] she still wasn't getting people to care.
[00:11:08] So she started writing about her experiences
[00:11:10] and eventually gained quite a following.
[00:11:12] Today Margot co-hosts the popular internet talk show
[00:11:15] Hillary and Margot yell at websites.
[00:11:18] And her own website that seems important
[00:11:20] was named one of the top 100 sites for writers.
[00:11:23] So definitely check that out.
[00:11:24] You can find it at thatseemsimportant.com
[00:11:27] and I have that linked in this episode's description for you.
[00:11:30] But that is it for another edition of Optimal Work Daily.
[00:11:33] Hope you're having a great one out there.
[00:11:35] Keep on optimizing and I'll be back again with you tomorrow
[00:11:38] where your optimal life awaits.