The Truth About SEO - Does it Really Matter?

Marketing TipsWebsiteVisibility

May 27

Written By brandmerry

The Truth About SEO - Does it Really Matter?

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Is SEO really important as an online entrepreneur? Should you spend your time researching and implementing when you could be doing something else? If you've ever wondered what all the hype is about SEO don't miss this post.

I stumbled into SEO, Search Engine Optimization, when I first started blogging. I was implementing tiny bits of information I would find online and crossed my fingers that it might work.

Honestly, I knew nothing at the time but did know that small changes could yield big results. Within months I discovered I was on page one of Google - that’s when I knew it was working.

I continued to put more emphasis on my strategy heading into 2019, learn as much as I could about SEO and over time I discovered that the majority of my leads were coming from Google and Pinterest.

Today, thanks to effective SEO strategies I experience thousands of website visitors every month.

Here’s a sneak peek at what happened from 2019 to 2020.

VS.

But, let’s not just talk about SEO, let's strip away all the mystery that we see in online marketing and have a real conversation about why every single business, no matter what you sell, should have a solid SEO strategy inside of your marketing.

What SEO Means

Let's first just break down into everyday terms what SEO is.

It's essentially search engine optimization, which you probably already know, but what is that exactly?

It means that when you are on search engine platforms like Google or even platforms that you might not think about, like Pinterest and YouTube, you can go to those platforms, type in questions, keywords, or a single word, and the algorithm will pull all of the resources that match those terms.

As a marketer, if you want to show up for people who are searching for those things, you want to make sure that you're paying attention to the SEO in your content.

This tool is giving the algorithm the information that you are sharing on your page so that you show up in your ideal client’s search results.

And yes, ranking on page one is kind of a big deal, most people don't scroll past page two or three, but even showing up on those early pages, page one, two or three can be super beneficial for your business.

Obviously, we're all shooting for page one and we're going to talk about how you can do just that for your industry.

The Consumer Buying Process and SEO

A few blogs ago, I introduced the consumer buying process and I presented the different phases that a customer goes through before they purchase.

Stage One: Problem or Need Recognition
Stage Two: Information Search
Stage Three: Evaluation of Alternatives
Stage Four: Purchase Decision
Stage Five: Post-Purchase Evaluation

We also broke it down as it relates to content creation. So, make sure you go back and watch that video. That's going to specifically tell you about each of those individual pieces so you have a better understanding of the client buying journey.

What I want you to focus on when we're talking about these five phases is that people are finding your content at different points in their journey.

Not everyone is going to be coming to you and discovering your brand with a credit card in hand, and not everyone is going to be coming to your brand wondering, "What am I supposed to be doing with my life?"

There are a wide variety of different stages that a consumer might be sitting in at any given time and that's why SEO can be incredibly powerful.

It allows you to create multiple resources, as well as the SEO on your site as a whole, to make sure that you are showing up for people at multiple stages of the buying process.

SEO MARKETING: 3 SEO ACTION STEPS

SEO TIP #1: SITE-WIDE SEO

The first thing you want to do is make sure that you have your site-wide SEO set up.

As I mentioned before in the consumer buying process there will be people looking for your services and industry specifically at stage four or five. Now, this is where your website homepage comes into play because when you set your site-wide SEO, and you rank on Google for specific keywords, the traffic is going to go to your homepage.

So, you want to make sure that your homepage is set up and ready to rock and roll. Last week I shared my 4-part framework for increasing conversions on your homepage, you can check that out here.

A lot of people miss this piece of the puzzle, they start to rank, and then they realize, "Oh, crap, everyone's just landing on my homepage which isn't optimized to collect leads or direct people to my offers, or send them to resources like my blog." We don’t want that so make sure you have an optimized homepage to start.

Ok, back to site-wide SEO.

I use Squarespace in my business so there's an actual section in Squarespace for site-wide SEO. Kajabi is another tool that I use and they have a section for site-wide SEO as well. No matter what platform you're using, there is going to be a section to set up the SEO for your website as a whole, typically found in the settings section.

Now when you’re choosing what to include in this section, I want you to think about those final stages of the buying process. The stage where someone already understands their problem, already understands their solution, they've looked around, and now they want to purchase.

That's what I want you to focus on when it comes to choosing keywords for site-wide SEO - think about your industry or product. For instance, “chemical-free skincare” or “business coach” or “wedding photographer Australia”.

In my case, if someone is looking for a branding coach and they're ready to invest in a branding coach, they might Google “branding coach,” and my website is going to pop up.

If someone is looking for a personal branding consultant, they might type in “personal branding consultant” and my website will pop up.

It's much easier to convert those individuals because they are ready to invest and by having this SEO in place you can create a consistent stream of clients.

You’ll use these keywords to format your Site Title and Site Description, which is another place to include some of those keywords but typically is written more conversationally and enticingly.

In addition, you can give it another boost but also include those keywords on your home page individually as well.

I'm not going to go into that entire strategy today. That's something I teach inside of Brandmerry Academy, but if you’re choosing to do it yourself then you want to keep in mind that research is everything.

It's a mistake that many entrepreneurs make. They might say, "Okay, fantastic, this is my title. I'm a unicorn princess coach," and that's what they put for their site title.

No one's Googling that, right? And this is where I often say that your titles shouldn't be fluffy, they should be rooted in data and research. So, using some of the tools that I mentioned in a previous post on my favorite marketing tools, Ubersuggest or Keywords Everywhere are great tools that you can use to see how much traffic a particular keyword gets.

Now ranking for an industry doesn't mean that you need to have like 10,000 or 30,000 searches every single month, it could be as simple as 150 to 500 because those people are further along in the buying process so they are looking for a very, very specific solution to their problem.

TO RECAP:

Do your research to discover what people are researching at stage four of the buying process
Implement a Site-Wide Title and Description
Add those keywords to your homepage in your copy
Optimize your homepage for conversions

SEO TIP #2: BLOGGING AND PINTEREST

Number two is supporting what you're saying you're known for, i.e. Site-Wide SEO, with additional resources on your website through blogging.

Blogging does a few different, incredible things for ranking your website.

Number one, blogging is an awesome resource. So, if someone wants to get to know you, you want to support them in moving through the buying process, blogging is a great way to showcase your expertise.

In addition to that, many people who are at stage one of the buying process are just looking to understand their problem, looking for solutions to their problem, or just trying to get some information about what they are experiencing.

That's where blogging could be incredibly helpful. And if you use SEO on your blog strategically, then your blogs will show up in Google Search. For instance, my ideal customer at Stage One might be searching for content creation strategies and one of my blogs will show up.

It is, I would say, much easier to rank for your site as a whole, which is why that's number one than it is to rank individual blog posts. But the more that you get into SEO and the more that you practice utilizing keywords in your headers and optimizing your title, then it is more likely that your blogs will rank on Google.

In addition to supporting your ideal customer on their journey, Google also loves content that supports what you ultimately say you are doing. So, if I say I'm a branding coach and I have a lot of blogs on branding, Google likes that a lot, and they're going to use that to help me show up on their search engine.

It also helps with other search engine platforms as well.

Think about Pinterest! Remember, Pinterest is an SEO platform and a great place to feature your blog content to get in front of your ideal customer.

Putting your blog content on your website, sharing it on Pinterest and making sure it's optimized there as well can help drive consistent traffic to your platform.

Many of those individuals on Pinterest are at the beginning stages of the buying process where they're just looking for solutions, and your blog can show up for them. So, making sure that you're creating supporting content within your niche, within your industry on your blog, and that's a consistent part of your marketing strategy.

SEO TIP #3: SEO RESEARCH

It's one thing to blog, it's another thing to do your dang research.

So, one of the best pieces of advice that I could give to you when it comes to content as a whole is to do your research and make sure that you're optimizing your content on Pinterest, on your blog, and YouTube for SEO.

What does that mean? That means that you might have a fantastic idea in your head of something that you want to share and I want you to research that topic to make sure that you're choosing the best title and the best keywords so people find it.

On the flip side of that, you might not know what you want to talk about at all and you can use these tools like Ubersuggest and Keywords Everywhere to search for specific topics that you know are relevant for your ideal customer and get a plethora of topic ideas and content that you can share that you already know is going to do well on search engines.

When planning your content give yourself some extra time to do your SEO research.

There are so many resources out there that will give you the answers, you don't have to just wonder, "How many people are searching for this?"

The data is there.

If you take an extra step when you're mapping out your content for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, like I like to do over here at Brandmerry, you're making sure that the titles, the URL that you're creating, and the keywords on your content are going to show up for people.

CONCLUSION

Remember, so many people create their website and then it just sits there because they're not getting traffic.

SEO is the answer to getting consistent traffic, leads and conversions. And utilizing search engine platforms like Pinterest, Youtube and Google will allow you to continue to scale your business with ease.

I hope that this was helpful for you in understanding what SEO is and why it's important. Make sure you go back and read those previous posts specifically on the client buying journey and optimizing your homepage.

And if you’re ready to learn how to market your business with ease, without relying on social media and implement the strategies we talked about today with SEO, Pinterest, blogging, video marketing and more, then check out Brandmerry Academy and how the membership can support you in scaling your business.

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.com