The Recipe For SEO Success Show

Hey, we're back. It's 2025 and the Recipe for SEO Success podcast is back on the airwaves (or the earwaves or whatever podcasts are). For those of you who have been following my story online, you'll know that 2024 wasn't my best year. Very sadly, my dad passed away, and that caused obviously a lot of upset and changes. But never fear, we are back and I will be launching a series of episodes over the coming weeks and for the first part of this year, I really want to focus on Australian SEO talent. There are now dozens of SEO podcasts. When I started, there were very few. Now there are hundreds. Every software seems to have an SEO podcast, every publication. But we seem to see the same guests appearing again and again, and they're often the celebrity guests who are also on the speaker circuit.  And since my audience is primarily real people, small business owners, ecommerce store owners, marketing managers, often who are trying to do SEO themselves with a very tight budget, I feel often these tips from the glamorous superstar SEOs aren't quite as relevant. We'll also continue our reality SEO episodes where we talk to people who are doing the do who aren't necessarily getting paid as SEO experts. And also I will continue to do my tips,I really want to go back to the basics, what is happening in 2025? How is SEO going to change? And of course it's always changing as it always has, we can't ignore the rise of ChatGTP and AI. So of course we'll be covering those in the episodes, but still core principles stay the same.  So that's going to be the focus. Aussie Experts for now, more tips and advice, more reality, and a real focus on getting back to basics. So if that sounds good to you, put this in your favourite, listen in and welcome back. I'm so glad to be back in my little seat in my little hut in my back garden talking SEO again.  Listen to all the tip episodes   Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Hello, I just want to explain that we're going to be taking a little bit of a break on the podcast, probably about a month or so. This is sadly because I've had some bad news from home and I need to return to the UK and spend some time with my family. So I hope you can bear with me while I get through this difficult time. We will be back later in the year with more great episodes. Thanks for listening. I wish you all well. Thank you.   Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

How to make your ecommerce store stand out with SEO   Do you struggle to get your products to rank high on the search engine results pages?    Last year we went through how you can improve user experience on site with Louis Smith.   And today we'll cover some common mistakes ecommerce owners make that can lead to their products ranking poorly, or sometimes not at all.    Tune in to learn:  How ecommerce SEO differs from service-based business SEO What features ecommerce owners can access in the SERPS Why you should get set up on Google Merchant Center. The biggest mistakes ecommerce sites are making What the best structure for product pages is Patrick's top tips on how to make more engaging product descriptions How to use internal linking to cross-sell your products Why having a personalised brand can help you stand out What role schema plays in ecommerce sites   Useful resources:  Google Merchant Center Google Keyword Planner SEMrush Ecommerce SEO-friendly UX: from crappy to kerching with Louis Smith (NEWBIE)   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) Free challenge: SEO SOS The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me. My tips, my advice. These shorter, more succinct episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they're 100% jargon and gobbledegook free. Today I'm answering a question that was posted in the I LOVE SEO group about whether someone can optimise one web page of their website, and if that will be enough.   Listen to all the tip episodes   Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

There is a mountain of SEO advice out there, but how much of it is actually doable for the average business human? In my reality SEO episodes, I talk to real humans and get the truth about how they use SEO and digital marketing to improve their businesses. Today I'll be talking to a former student of the Recipe For SEO Success Course, Jane Fonti. We'll chat about how Jane got her start in SEO, the digital marketing highs and lows, and the challenges she's faced along the way. Head to the episode notes Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

Today is a tip episode, we're going to be talking about easy ecommerce SEO, five things for store-owners to focus on in 2024.  I'm gonna be honest, I think that most ecommerce stores need to focus on some foundational elements. So let's jump in.  Listen to all the tip episodes here. Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Knowing your audience and cutting through the noise In 2024 with the rise of AI, it can feel like we're moving further and further away from our humanity. If we can chatbot our customer service, analyse spreadsheets to decide our next move, and Chatgpt our content do we really need to build relationships with our customers any more? Well obviously, yes, yes we do! But where do we start?  How do we really know who our audience is, what they're talking about and how to reach them? Can we use data and insights to find out what podcasts they're listening to, which social accounts they follow and the websites they love most? And when we know all that information, what the hell do we do with it? Today's guest is an all-time favourite of the show and is going to help us understand what the eff is going on in the world of digital marketing and social media this year - and how we can be better marketers. Tune in to Learn: How much influence AI has actually had in digital marketing  The biggest challenges marketers are facing n 2024 What ‘dark social' means What the future of paid ads looks like What is working in social media How SparkToro works How to use the data you find using SparkToro Why email marketing is the way forward What you should be investing your time in marketing right now Useful resources: Geraldine DeRuiter's new book: If You Can't Take the Heat   Head to the episode notes.    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me. My tips, my advice. These shorter episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they're 100% jargon and gobbledegook free. Today we're going to be talking about what the first steps are for a new website when it comes to SEO. Check out all the Toon tips here. Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

So here we are, a fresh new year to grapple the Google beast and get our site found online. But what should be our SEO priorities in 2024? What's coming down the pipe? And what is old hat? Today I'm joined by one of our favourite guests on the Recipe for SEO Success podcast, Cyrus Shepard. We're going to be rubbing our crystal balls together and chatting through what we think are the big things to focus on in 2024. Will AI ruin SEO once and for all? What algorithm updates do we see coming? Can we finally forget schema? We'll answer all this and more in today's episode.   Tune in to learn:  What impact Generative AI will have on the Search results The importance of User signals in ranking What Cyrus learned as a Google quality rater Whether backlinks still matter If you still need to keep using schema The three-second rule and why it matters more in 2024 What Cyrus learned from the recent Google privacy trial And so much more. Head to episode notes  Useful resources:  Cloudflare Pingdom GTmetrix Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines Freebies: SEO SOS Challenge Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Taking testing one step at a time Do you ever wonder how effective your site's SEO is?  You've put all this time and effort into finding effective keywords, your images are slim, your page loading time is faster than a fast thing.    But is it bringing in the clicks and sales? Because at the end of the day, ranking is nice, but you know what's nicer? Making money! Today we're going to look at some tests you can run on your SEO to make sure it's all ticking along, and what needs some work. Tune in to learn:  What SEO testing is Where to start - simple tests for small business owners How to measure how successful your title tag is  How long you should run a test before looking at the results How you can test the effectiveness of a featured snippet How to look at your highest conversion pages and see where the clicks are really going What tools Logan recommends for SEO testing Logan's top tip to get started with testing   Useful resources:  Google Search Console SEOtesting SEO pilot   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me. My tips, my advice. These shorter, more succinct episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they're 100% jargon and gobbledegook free. Today we're going to be talking about the 4 most common website issues I see every day. Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Embracing techy SEO to get found online Getting SEO advice is one thing, but how much of it is really doable for the average business human?  In my reality SEO episodes, I talk to real humans and get the truth about how they use SEO and digital marketing to improve their businesses. Today I'll be talking to a former student of the Recipe For SEO Success Course, Elisha de Jonge. We'll chat about how Elisha got her start in SEO, the digital marketing highs and lows, and the challenges she's faced along the way. Useful resources: SEO META in 1 CLICK Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me. My tips, my advice. These shorter, more succinct episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they're 100% jargon and gobbledegook free. Today we're going to be talking about how much should SEO cost?   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Now here's me thinking that being online means I'm pretty green. My entire business is up in the cloud, with very few physical products, not much post, and a little shed in the back garden that uses minimal electricity.   And I never use my printer, not because I'm green but because I can't hook it up to my computer properly.   But today's guest is going to explain how even hosting your website has environmental consequences and some simple steps to minimising your environmental footprint. Tune in to learn:  What it means to be green online How your digital footprint is connected to your carbon footprint How climate change is being affected by websites, apps and email Common practices online that are more harmful than helpful to the environment What steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint Why hosting is a big issue when it comes to being green How True Green® can help reduce energy output What to focus on when choosing a hosting platform   Useful resources:  True Green® TinyPNG SmallPDF   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

So today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me.  My tips, my advice. These shorter more succinct episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they're 100% jargon and gobbledegook free.  Today I'm answering questions about ecommerce SEO. Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Setting up a website is not a one-off process.  In many ways, it's like having a plant.  Building your website and optimising it to be found is like setting up the nutrient-rich soil.  Hitting publish for the first time is like planting a seed.  Now you just sit back and see what happens right? No, much like that little seed, if you ignore it, it will wither away, much like your website traffic.  You have to monitor it, remove any bugs, and give it plenty of water and sunshine. I'll leave the plant metaphor there. So how do we keep it healthy and thriving? The answer? Well, one answer is Google Search Console. I often describe it as Google Analytics ugly cousin, but in fact, it's a rich source of website nutrients, helping you diagnose, and understand your website, and if necessary bring it back to life. Today we'll look at the benefits of using Google's Search Console as a tool in your SEO garden shed to keep traffic high and problems low. Tune in to learn: What Google Search Console is Two metrics to focus on when you're getting started What Sodiq thinks of Search Console Insights Where to start looking when your traffic is way down More advanced ways to use Google Search Console Sodiq's tips for getting acquainted with Google Search Console Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Need a speedy SEO Fix?  These micro SEO tip episodes are a fast way to digest a little SEO knowledge for easy learning and quick wins and I guarantee they're 100% jargon and gobbledegook free.  Today I'll be giving you some top tips on Local SEO.   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Showing Google you've got the goods Hey you, ecommerce store owner. I know you got a sexy theme for your website that promised it was responsive, conversion-focused and all that jazz. But is it? So many ecommerce sites fall down on the basics of user experience. Terrible navigation - check Confusing home page - check Bland category pages - check Cut and paste product descriptions - check And don't get me started on that checkout experience. Well, today we're honing in on carts, shopping and making the sale. Telling you how to turn casual browsers into eager buyers. Tune in to learn   The three main differences between service-based business SEO and ecommerce SEO How small businesses should build out the primary nav structure Two ways to start driving more relevant traffic to your ecommerce site today How to avoid the duplicate content issue with collection and product pages How to do keyword research for collection pages and product pages How to improve time on site and key information you should add to encourage customers through to the sale How to stand out in the SERPS against the bigger brands Optimising your product pages - where to start Why generative AI isn't going to doom ecommerce stores The importance of your brand story, and taking consumers on a journey with your brand Useful resources Keywords Everywhere Ahrefs Semrush Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Okay, are you ready for a rant? I know I share interviews and chats. I've now started sharing tips and advice. But today it's rant time. This Toon is angry and I want to share why. So today I'm getting stuck into shitty SEO agencies. What they do. Why they do it. And how to see the red flags before you get screwed. Ready? Let's go. Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

Understanding how Google classifies context. The Google beast has come a long way since 10 blue links, doorway pages and exact match domains. But what's changed the most is probably how we consider and use keywords.  At beginner level we're gathering keywords, grouping them by content and then using them on our pages, but as Google strives to improve the search results, it has started to dig deeper, and look at more than just the words on the page - now Google thinks about both context and the relationships between words. And this, my friends, is what we mean when we talk about entity-based SEO. Tune in to learn: Today we'll cover: What entities are What a knowledge graph is What semantic search is How semantic search helps users find relevant information Keyword research: how relevant it is with entities in the mix Nik's top 5 tips for content writers with Natural Language Processing in mind Head to episode notes Useful resources: Great article on entity SEO SEO Forecasting: How to Predict and Plan the Future with Dan Petrovic Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

I've started a new style of episode.  I've had an amazing run of interviewing other humans but often you don't hear that much from me.  My tips, my advice. So I thought I'd start sharing that with you.  After a long 5 years, shorter more succinct episodes for easy learning and quick wins, 100% jargon and gobbledegook free.  Today I'll be covering Core Web Vitals: what are they, why do we care about them, and how we can make them better.   Useful Resources:  Algorithm Change history  Algorithm updates   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course

Leaving your audience satisfied with every click So you have your beautiful new website. You've carefully written the copy and paid an arm and a leg for a fancy pants design, you've even done a little SEO, optimising your images, writing titles and metas and making an effort to speed up your site. But you've noticed something odd when you look at Google Analytics. Your time on site is low. People are only viewing one or two pages. And your conversions are lower than worm doing a limbo. ‘What went wrong?' you cry, gnashing your teeth. Well it could be your user experience. How people enjoy and consume the content on your site, and travel from point a to point b. Perhaps there are 15 steps before I can check out. Perhaps the font is so small it needs a microscope to read. Or the buttons have grey copy on a grey background. User experience is crucial not just for … the users, but also to please the Google beast, so lets dig into this topic today. Tune in to learn:  User experience: what it is, and how it differs from accessibility How to measure user satisfaction Why engagement is so important to SEO Which good engagement metrics to focus on The pros and cons of heat mapping tools Kevin's best heat mapping tool recommendations Which GA4 reports you should focus on How marketers should approach SEO content in 2023, compared to 2013 Kevin's number one tip to improve user experience Useful resources:  Hotjar Crazy Egg Clarity by Microsoft Speedy Website Review Checklist Head to episode notes Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

A complete history of algorithm updates (and why they matter) Google appears to be fiddling with things all the time, which can feel overwhelming for your average site owner. But the truth is most of the updates don't impact small business website owners, and Google is pretty open about the big changes that you really need to take action on. In this episode, I'll run through a complete history of the algorithm updates since 2011 and explain what they mean and how they help.   Tune in to learn:  What is an algorithm? Why are all the updates named crazy things? The biggest updates you need to know about Why Google changes things all the time Bonus: top tips on how to use pop-ups on your website.   Useful Resources:  Algorithm Change history  Algorithm updates   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course

Brendan Kelso and Kate Toon get back to basics It's time to get back to basics. If you're a regular listener to the podcast you'll know we dive deep each episode into a different SEO challenge and adventure.   But today I though it would be useful to have a recap of common mistakes that we often see small business and professional services websites making.   Because the truth is it's often not bleeding edge SEO that makes the difference in this market, but ensuring you've ticked off all the essentials.    So today put your mind at rest as I chat with Brendan Kelso about the core things you need to fix up to ensure your website gets the Google love.   Tune in to learn:  Easy site changes that make all the difference SEO basics that most people forget Why Google My Business should be a priority Why it's not the cutting-edge things that matter And so much more.   Useful resources:      Head to episode notes    Freebies:   Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

Building quality backlinks and promoting your content I know, I know, backlinks are well-trodden ground, we've covered them before and we'll likely cover them again. Because still after all this time, debate rages about whether backlinks really do make a difference to you ability to rank. Google encourages us to earn, not buy links. SEOs tell us to focus on quality not quantity. We dutifully keep our backlink profiles clean, disavowing on a regular basis. But is any of this working? And if the black hat tactics don't work (PBNs, comment spam and the rest) why do so many SEO types still do them? Today we're getting back to basics on backlinks and it's a refresher that's definitely worth your ear time. Tune in to learn:  Do backlinks matter to Google?  If backlinks from social media have any impact or authority Where to start setting up your first 3 backlinks How to recognise good backlinks How to recognise the red flags How content promotion ties in with link-building Ranking locally - what effect local backlinks will have Alan's favourite tools to track backlinks Dodgy backlinks - are disavows worth it? Alan's top backlink tip   Useful resources: Ahrefs Growth Gorilla Email Finding Chrome Extension Pitchbox Hunter.io   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

I've started a new style of episode.    I've had an amazing run of interviewing other humans but often you don't hear that much from me.    My tips, my advice. So I thought I'd start sharing that with you.    After a long 5 years, shorter more succinct episodes for easy learning and quick wins, 100% jargon and gobbledegook free.    Today I'll be answering the question that comes up a lot from my course students: Should I target zero-volume keywords?   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Taking your brand global While many of us start small and want simply to be found locally, over time our desire to be found on the global stage increases. And even if we're not directly targeting other countries, of course it's likely that a fair share of your website visitors come from different countries and speak different languages, so it might be time to consider making your site more international. But if you're looking to create an international website, what do you need to consider?   In this episode we'll focus on the three big tasks: 1. International-friendly URLS - or country targeting 2. Language tags - language targeting 3. Ranking in the different countries. As well as discussing a bundle of other tips and tactics. So, if you're ready to take your brand global, this is the episode for you. Tune in to learn: How to choose an internationally-friendly brand name Which is best moving from local to global: Top level domains, sub domains or subdirectories How to avoid duplicate content issues across multiple sites Best practices for language targeting.  What to consider across different cultures when writing content Best ways to handle keyword research and backlinks for international variations of your site Top tips for using Google Analytics and Google search console How important it is to host your international sites on a local hosting site Useful Resources: The Guide to International SEO - Just getting acquainted with international SEO? Start here. The International SEO Checklist - Aleyda Solis walks you through everything you need to know to get started with international SEO. International SEO – Google Technical Support Head to episode notes Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Taking on AI as an asset, not a threat Everyone is talking about ChatGPT. My LinkedIn is stuffed with experts providing tips and examples of how to use this amazing tool. (Everyone is an instant expert on LinkedIn). To some it's the best thing since sliced bread. To others, it's the end of the content marketing world as we know it. I mean, haven't these people watched The Terminator movies, don't they know how it all ends?   So today I'm going to give you my low down. ​​What is ChatGPT? What can it do? Why all the fuss? I'll take you through the challenges, the positives, what's coming, and also a bit of a reframe for those who are struggling or feeling scared about this new tool   It's time to embrace the robots people. Let's get stuck in.   Tune in to learn:  What ChatGPT is Why everyone is talking about ChatGPT Why your job isn't being taken by robots How to use AI tools as an asset The limitations in using ChatGPT What's coming down the line   Useful resources:  ChatGPT  WordTune Grammarly  Originality.AI WebChatGPT Chrome browser tool Frase   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

How to increase your site's speed, performance, and quality There's one thing that never gets old when it comes to SEO. And that's speed. I'd argue it's one of the most important technical factors.  A slow site isn't going to please anyone, not least the Google beast. So, in this episode we're going to revisit the basics. What's the ideal load time What makes sites slow What tools can you use to test What's the impact of Core web vitals And how the heck do you speed up your site? It also features one of my all-time favourite guests, so I'm pretty darn excited. Buckle your Google belts people, we're about to get speedy!   Tune in to Learn: Why site speed is so important Factors that impact your site performance How Google uses Core Web Vitals to look at your site Why mobile is so much harder than desktop How to improve the quality of your site Jono's top SEO tip Useful Resources: Speedy Website Review Checklist GT Metrix Google Fiber Speed Test Pingdom Website Speed Test Cloudflare Tiny PNG Head to episode notes  Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

Learning how the cogs turn behind the Google machine Wouldn't it be wonderful to actually talk to Google?   To ask them all the questions you've ever wanted to ask? To find out why they do what they do. Why they keep fiddling. What they have coming up.   Imagine how great that would be. Well, imagine no more, for today we have John Mueller, head of Google Search Relations, on the pod.    We've spoken to John before in my first season on Episode 15: Ask Google: Q&A with John Mueller, Episode 29: Mobile First with John Mueller, and Episode 30: GOOGLE Q&A with John Mueller.    And today, to kick off our pod in 2023 we have his ear again. Hurrah. Tune in to learn: Biggest updates from 2022 What small businesses should focus on for SEO What's coming up in 2023 Where to find out the latest Google updates Developments John is most excited for John's top 5 tips for ranking on Google How important backlinks really are Useful resources:  Follow Google on Twitter  Follow updates on YouTube Google Search Essentials Best practices for ecommerce sites in Google Search In-depth guide to how Google Search works Google Helpful Content Update: What NOT to do with James Welch (NEWBIE) Head to episode notes Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

How SEO has changed this year and what you should do about it It's been a busy year in SEO land.And Google has been experimenting as always.And if you're a normal human, and not glued to Twitter every living minute of the day, you might find it hard to keep up with it all.So I've asked one of our most popular guests to come back on the show and give us the low down on what's what in SEO in 2022.The big moves.The little tweaks.The things you can ignore and the things you better jump right on. This is a short, snappy wrap-up of everything you need to know about Search Engine Optimisation before you head into your festive flop period and face a brave new year.   Tune in to learn:  Kate and Cyrus's thoughts on the top 10 changes in SEO this year: Improvements to Google Search Console Google not indexing less important pages More videos  Greater emphasis on visual search Mobile SERP changes: Site Name and Favicon in results, shorter titles on mobile Spam Update (auto-generated content) Universal Analytics > GA4 Changes to Google My Business > Google Business Profile Product Review Update Helpful Content Update Where SEO is heading for 2023 Useful Resources:  Google Search Console Google Helpful Content Update: What NOT to do with James Welch (NEWBIE) Head to episode notes Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Scaling up from being an SEO freelance consultant Okay so perhaps you're an SEO freelancer.Working job to job, helping clients on a small scale.But you have big dreams.You'd love to run your very own SEO agency.But the thought of setting it up and managing all the ins and outs leaves you cold. The risk is huge and let's be honest, SEO agencies often don't have the best reputation out there! So how do you overcome all this and make your agency honest, legitimate and profitable? Today we're going to answer all this and more.   Tune in to learn: How running an SEO agency differs from being a freelance SEO consultant Darren's tips for starting your own SEO agency Common mistakes to avoid Why so many agencies get a bad wrap, and how to improve your reputation  Big changes in SEO - what has happened in the past, and what's coming up in the future Darren's top DIY SEO tip   Head to episode notes  Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

How to Yoastify your shop If you're even vaguely into SEO and haven't heard of Yoast, then I'm guessing you have been living under a rock.   But for those that don't know, Yoast SEO is a WordPress plugin that helps your site perform better in search engines like Google.    It also gives you the tools to bring your content to the highest standards of SEO and overall readability.    It's my favourite SEO tool which I use on all my sites and recommend in my course The Recipe for SEO success.    And yes I've tried all the other tools, but I find that Yoast works best with other plugins and its SEO copywriting features are just awesome.   But one big fat bummer was always that I couldn't recommend Yoast to my Shopify students, who now make up nearly 50% of my course takers.   They had to struggle on, using dodgy apps or hand coding.   But all that has changed.    Yoast has just launched a Shopify version of their famous WordPress plugin and today I'm delighted to be chatting to Marieke van de Rakt all about its features, upcoming developments and how to get the best out of the app.   Tune in to learn: What Yoast is Why Yoast launched an SEO app for Shopify Core features of the Yoast SEO app How it helps deal with duplicate content How to start off with Yoast SEO What kind of support is available Marieke's top SEO tip Useful resources: Yoast SEO for Shopify Yoast SEO for WordPress Head to episode notes Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

How organising your content can keep customers coming back Have you heard about content clusters? They're all about strategic internal linking. Creating little groups of content around a key topic. You create a pillar page and link to and from it, offering multiple internal links to keep readers entertained, educated and on your site. Benefits include more organised content, less overlap and more authority on a given topic and increased content production speed. Sounds good right? But where do you start? And if your existing content is currently the blog equivalent of a hoarders boudoir, how do you organise your content into clusters? Today we'll answer these questions and many more. Tune in to learn:  What content clusters are What the benefits of using content clusters are How to choose your cluster topics Must-haves for your content clusters Common mistakes to avoid How to measure the effectiveness of content clusters, and where you can gather these metrics How Google's recent content update impacts content clusters What to do if you already have a blog packed with content Marion's top content cluster tip Useful resources:  Answer the Public Clever Copy Chats Head to episode notes Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Keeping up in the rankings by being mobile-friendly Did you know that half of all website traffic worldwide comes from mobile? I hope when you hear that you'll understand how important it is to listen to this week's episode. Google has been pushing mobile-first indexing for the past few years. It rolled out the first mobile-first index in 2018 but more recently announced mobile-first indexing for the whole web. So what does this mean for your little website? Well if your site isn't fully optimised for mobile searches, it's about time you got with the program. In today's episode, we're going to share what mobile SEO is, best practices and top tips on how to ensure your site looks tickety boo on any device. Tune in to learn What Mobile SEO is How Google classifies mobile Why mobile SEO is so critical Easy ways to check if your site is mobile-friendly How to optimise your site correctly How to improve the user experience of your site on mobile How keyword research differs for mobiles What you need to know about the latest mobile-first indexing update Cindy's top mobile SEO tip Useful Resources Mobile statistics Google mobile-friendly test tool Google URL inspection tool Lighthouse (more for developers) Google PageSpeed tool Core web vitals test tool Head to episode notes Freebies Free webinar: Your first month as a copywriter Free rates guide Membership: Join now

What Google's latest update really means  Recently Google announced its Helpful Content update. And as per usual, the interwebs got their knickers in a twist. SEO agencies sending emails to copywriters telling them to stop using keywords. Business brands frantically worrying that they were going to get a penalty after stuffing their sites with useless space-filling guff in their blogs.But I tend not to freak out about these things.I like to wait and see. And today we'll be chatting through what Google really wants to see when it talks about Helpful Content.The dos.The do nots.And the do not panics. Tune in to learn:  Google Helpful Content update:  What the purpose of the update is What has changed What hasn't changed 3 things you SHOULDN'T be doing How sites are being impacted by the update What mistakes SEO agencies are making with content James's top content creation tips Useful resources:  Google's guidelines Embryo's word count study   Frase SourceBottle   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Finding the right keywords to rise above the competition By now you've gobbled up a lot of SEO advice. But is it really all doable?    In my reality SEO episodes, I talk to real humans and get the truth about how they use SEO and digital marketing to improve their businesses.   Today I'll be talking to a former student of the Recipe For SEO Success Course, and eCommerce extraordinaire, Estelle Oliveri.    We'll chat about how Estelle got her start in SEO, the digital marketing highs and lows, and the challenges she's faced along the way.

Enriching web dev and copy services with SEO Hearing great SEO advice is one thing but is it actually doable?    In my reality SEO episodes, I talk to real humans and get the truth about how they use SEO and digital marketing to improve their businesses.   Like Rachel Amies, a former student of the Recipe For SEO Success Course, a member of the Digital Masterchefs, and a cat-pun enthusiast.   We'll talk about how Rachel took her web design and digital marketing to the next level with SEO, and the challenges she's faced along the way. Get your free Ultimate SEO Checklist Head to the episode notes

Expanding your audience reach with the right voice Influencer marketing. Even the mention of it gives me the heebeejeebees.Visions of hot 20-somethings lying in a cossie on a rock in Ibiza spring to mind.  Your product lying next to them on said rock. And oh the horror stories. Small business owners giving away oodles of product, and splashing the cash only to be ghosted.So how do you choose a trustworthy influencer? And how do you see genuine return on your investment? Today we'll talk about the positives and the pitfalls of this relatively new form of advertising, and whether it really has legs for your business.r

  Staying strong during the ebb and flow of SEO Bonjour mon petite SEO beasts. Today we're talking about longevity in SEO. These days everyone is looking for a quick fix, fast engagement, the dopamine hit of an easy like. But the truth is that solid SEO strategy takes time. As I like to say, SEO is for life, not just for Christmas. It can take a long time to get the needle moving, undo previous bad work and build up authority. But once you get your SEO firing, the results last a very long time. I have posts I wrote back in 2009 that still deliver consistent traffic to my site.  And my SEO has weathered the storm for 13 years, through a gazillion algorithm updates, with very little movement. Our friend Rand Fishkin refers to SEO as a heavy flywheel; difficult to get started, but once it's going, not so much effort is required. So today I'm chatting with Alizée about how we ensure our SEO strategy is built for the long term and how to resist reacting to every little change.

Making informed keyword choices for my shopfront business   Hearing great SEO advice is one thing but is it actually doable? I started the reality SEO episodes to illustrate how the teachings here and in my course, really impact small businesses. You can hear the truth direct from real SEO beast's mouths. Like Norelle Hentschel, a former student of the Recipe For SEO Success Course, a member of the Digital Masterchefs, and an avid herbalist. We'll talk about how Norelle was able to give her online naturopathy a healthy dose of SEO, and the challenges she's faced along the way.      

Get creative in your marketing strategy   Are you content with your content? I'd say that most of us aren't. And yet we know that great content is the key to building a brand, creating trust, and becoming well known for what we do. But there are so many options. Should we be creating blog posts, guesting on podcasts, creative videos, dancing on reels, or going live? How can we be everywhere? And yes I know we'd all love to go viral, but if you tuned into my episode with Mr. Rand Fishkin, you'll know that going viral is about as useful as something very unuseful - if it isn't relevant to what you offer. So how do we direct online attention to our business in a meaningful way with good, relevant content? Well, today I'm talking to Shannon Morrison to get all the answers on how to build authority online with smashing content marketing tactics.   Tune in to learn: Is content marketing still king? How to get your foundations right to create good content What an audience avatar is How important audience avatars are in marketing these days Four factors of content consumption, and how to leverage them to your advantage Which platforms best deliver content marketing Shannon's top content marketing tip  

Check out my new podcast, Clever Copy Chats for some in-depth SEO Copywriting knowledge. Whenever I'm in a copywriting group I see the same comments. “SEO ruins conversational copy.” “SEO ruins conversion copy.” “You don't need to use keywords any more. Google will work it out.” “SEO copy is boring copy.” (Heavy sigh) These kinds of comments show a fundamental misunderstanding of what SEO copywriting is and how it works. And these copywriters who think that Google will magically work out where to rank you no matter what you write on the page, well they're either naïve or just plain lazy. If anything great SEO copywriting is even more important now than it's ever been. I'm going to get back to basics and give you an overview of the important elements in SEO Copywriting, and a few tips on how to please humans and Google too. Listen to the episode now.

Filling the appointment books by showing up in local searches   From feedback, I find the Reality Episodes are a crowd favourite. Yes, it's great hearing from super-duper SEO and marketing experts, but what about the real humans chipping away at marketing goals, trying to woo Google, slippery up their funnel, and smash their socials? Is all this advice actually doable? Well, today I'm chatting with Anthea Digby-Smith, a former student of the Recipe For SEO Success Course, a member of the Digital Masterchefs, and a hairdresser extraordinaire. We'll talk about how Anthea was able to give her online haircare business a total SEO makeover, and the challenges she's faced along the way.    

Stopping your site from slipping through the cracks   You've built a beautiful site. Your mum loves it. You've even paid your developer for a super SEO package. So everything should be right, right? But for some reason when you Google yourself nothing's coming up, Or maybe just a measly page or two. And you have no idea why. Or perhaps you're pumping out content on your blog and for some reason, it's still not getting indexed as fast as you would like. This week we're talking all about crawling and indexing. How to check, how to fix and the best tips for making sure your content is as findable as a findable thing.   Tune in to learn: What it means for your site to be crawled and indexed How to find out that your site isn't getting indexed What is a sitemap, what is a robots.txt What is crawl budget Crawlability vs Indexability: Why Google doesn't automatically index your site after crawling every page Common issues that prevent site pages from being indexed Gaston's recommended tactics to get your site indexed How to troubleshoot indexing for a small website How large sites differ, and how best to approach indexing The difference between LATAM sites and English-speaking western countries (USA/UK/AU) Gaston's go-to tools to get your site indexed  

Hurrah back in the land of copy podcasts. It's been a while. So let me tell you what my new podcast is all about. I know. I know. There are a gazillion copywriting podcasts out there. I've made a few hundred or so episodes myself, but honestly, most leave me wanting. They're all so dry, so earnest, so teachy. All mega famous copywriters dispensing blobs of copy knowledge down from their lofty plinths. Most of the folk interviewed aren't even copywriters anymore, they've moved on to being course creators and moguls. So I wanted to create a podcast that gets back to the sticky, awkward, gloriousness of being a day today copywriter. The woes, the ups, the bitty fist annoyance of a client that won't use track changes, the tips on how to write 5,000 words in 20 minutes because you forgot the deadline, and of course, the real bottom warming stories of great clients and amazing writing that keeps us doing the do each day. So come with me on a journey through colons and interrobangs. Through client Zooms and last-minute amends, we'll have some laughs and learn a thing or two along the way. Grab a coffee and join me on Clever Copy Chat.

Turning those well-earned clicks into cash   Okay so you've listened to all the episodes of the Recipe for SEO Success podcast, you've done my fabulous courses, and put in the hard SEO hours. The Google beast finally understands who you are and the traffic is pouring in. But how do you turn casual browsers into sales? How do you move people from your page to a purchase? Today we're talking about how to turn SEO juice into sweet sales nectar. How to turn cold chips into hot potatoes. SEO got you this far, what next?   Tune in to learn: Three quick things to think about for your homepage once people have been lured over from the SERPS How to introduce your brand quickly and easily to people searching for what you do How to connect with people who know you from social platforms/your brand Top 3 tips to make those eCommerce sales Russell's top tips for converting customers to your services-based business What is a SMART offer Sales calls - Have they been replaced by strong branding, really schmick marketing, funnels, and sales page, or is there still a place for them  

Appealing to the humanity of the masses   Have you noticed that your buying choices are often not defined by price or even product features but by how you feel about a brand? We want to buy from brands that we feel have values that are aligned with our own, but to do this, brands need to market intelligently and emotionally. They need to appeal to our humanness. So how do we do this? It might seem relatively straightforward if you're a one-human band, but what about larger businesses? How do we show up as real humans in everything we do, how much is too much, and when is caring sharing, oversharing? Today we're going to chat about the best ways to show up online as glorious human beans and make genuine connections with your audience.   Tune in to learn: What human to human marketing is Human to human marketing done well: examples of individual and larger brands doing it right How to show your brand values online How to overcome your fear of being more open with your audience 3 simple tactics to humanise your brand How to differentiate yourself from everyone else Human to human marketing fails: What to avoid Jenn's top tip for H2H marketing

Peeling the fiction away from fact to help Google find you   Keywords, we've covered them before and we'll cover them again. Why? Because no matter how long I swim in the murky waters of SEO, I still see so much misinformation about how keywords are found, researched and eventually used. Especially on low-grade SEO copywriting courses (shh, naming no names). These so-called experts are stuck in the keyword past, talking about density and shoehorning them into every paragraph and meta description. But with Google's improvements in understanding the context of our content, (the why behind the what), the deeper intelligence around natural language process (hello Bert), and the fundamental improvements in learning how language itself works, these old school ideas won't help you get found. So today we're going to bust some myths, refresh some memories and get back to the basics of keyword research.   Tune in to learn: Who's responsible for researching keywords: the client, the copywriter, or the SEO agency What to do once you have your list of keywords What role search intent plays in your choice of keyword Why there is no one “perfect keyword” When to start assigning your keywords to posts, pages and products Keyword myths: Why you shouldn't use the same keyword for every page How service-based business keyword usage differs from keyword usages for eCommerce businesses How to find investigation and informational keywords How effective blogging is for keyword ranking Joh's favourite keyword tools Joh's number one tip for keyword research  

Niching, knowing your audience & personal branding   In my Reality SEO episodes, I like to focus on real humans grappling with the Google beast, and Digital Marketing. I get all sorts passing through my slippery funnel of courses and resources: marketing professionals, copywriters, e-commerce owners, web developers, and real business humans. Today we're talking to Jude Love, a former student of The Recipe for SEO Success Show, a member of The Digital Masterchefs, and an absolute personal branding beast.    

Creating more profitable conversations with your customers   We all know that robots are taking over the world. If you're a fan of Black Mirror it's pretty clear we're headed for a Terminator future. And while I'd like to feel bleak about that, I won't. This is a marketing podcast, after all, so let's talk about when robots work for good. When AI can save you time and money. When using automation and bots can actually improve your customer service rather than ruining it. For yes today we are talking Chatbots. Now as a copywriter I've written a fair few bots for myself, I've also set one up to work on my Facebook page, but I haven't fully embraced the opportunity. And boy is that opportunity big. Today we're talking to Dan Pinne, chatbot guru and member of my Digital Masterchefs Community, about how to use chatbots to revolutionise your business in a non-Arnold Schwarzenegger way.   Tune in to learn: What chatbots are, and how they can help your business The key elements to a successful chatbot Where to start with chat marketing How lead-based businesses can use chatbots How eCommerce businesses can use chatbots Dan's top tips for setting up successful chatbots