The Truth About SEO and Growing Your Business

Today we're gonna talk a little bit about something that we hear a lot about from our lead intake calls and from people reaching out to us — the idea that fixing your SEO will automatically bring in a flood of clients.

I mean, you're going to get people knocking on your digital door all day long. But the truth is, SEO alone is not a silver bullet. There is not one thing that is going to save you from the hard work it takes to grow and maintain your business.

It is a grind. Lots of it is fun and exciting, but ultimately we all know that it's a ton of work. And if it wasn't, everyone would do it. So I’m sorry to say:

There is no hack.

There is no shortcut.

There is nothing that is going to get you over that “finish line” because there is no proverbial finish line .

Success in Business is Never Giving Up

Success in business isn't defined by a certain number or threshold. There will likely never be a moment in time when you can fully take your eye off of your business. Sure, you can get it to function and succeed without you, but it will always need someone to run and steer the ship forward.

The biggest lesson I have learned is this:

Success in business is never giving up.

Waking up every day and doing the work is winning. That's how you win in business. You just never give up — you outlast the competition.

With that being said, there are some basic things that are going to help your SEO. It's not going to be the be all end all and it’s not some magic dust that fixes everything, but let’s go over what we control to bring in more leads through SEO. But remember: it's not a fix it, set it and forget it. Unfortunately, that’s just not how it works.

So, let’s take a peek at some areas of your website you could improve or optimize, and how this will get you the clients and traffic you are looking for.

Identifying Your Ideal Client and Target Audience

The first thing we can do is look at who you are targeting.

Who's your ideal client?

Our ideal client has changed over the years. And I would be willing to wager that yours will also change (if it hasn’t already). Who you were targeting in the beginning (which is basically anyone that will pay you) shouldn’t be who you're targeting now. And that's a good thing. That is evolution. That is we want to see, but it also means that your website needs to evolve with your new target audience. And SEO is just a small piece of this evolution.

For example, with our company, we had a broader base of women creative business owners. As we've grown we've realized that in order to develop the way that we want and be sustainable, we actually have a different target audience. It's not creatives, it's women-led businesses. It sounds like a small shift, but it's actually a very monumental one in terms of search, keywords, and content. It changes the opt-ins we need to create and the language that we're using.

Just moving from women creatives to women-led business changes everything.

I would encourage you to ask: Who is my ideal client? And has that client has changed? (Which is okay!) Does my content reflect this change? Is everything else rowing in the same direction — website copy, services, blog, newsletter, social media, opt-ins, etc?

Because as you know, if you're not rowing in the same direction, you're just going to row in circles, right? And we don't want that — we want forward incremental movement.

So check to make sure your ideal client is still your ideal client. If you have ads running to one person, but your website talks to another person, and your opt ins are talking to another person, and your services fill another person’s needs — it's all very disjointed. It's all very confusing and it’s not going to get you the results you want.

SEO Basics: Page Titles, Descriptions, and Keywords

Next, make sure that every single page has page titles, descriptions, and appropriate headings that you want to rank for. To do this, you're going to have to do some keyword research — get comfortable with it. Keywords are part of the DNA of SEO. It's pretty easy to get started. You want to make sure that the words make sense for your audience, that you're ranking for the right things, and you're moving people in the right direction.

When you're looking at your page titles and descriptions and the more technical side of SEO, it's a great time to also look at your Google My Business profile.

What is happening there? Is it accurate and updated. Do you have reviews on there? You can have a ton of testimonials on your website, but they aren't going to help you nearly as much as the testimonials in Google. So get that link, send it to your best clients and ask them to fill it out for you. This is really going to help the algorithm and your ranking on Google.

So many people look at those reviews — I know I look at those reviews constantly. Whether it's a pizza place or a new place that I want to take the kids for local activity, I read those reviews and I'm willing to bet 99.9% of you read them too. It’s important to have those dialed in.

Comprehensive Strategy: Aligning SEO and Marketing Efforts

Let’s look at your strategy and how it impacts your SEO, marketing and content. SEO and marketing are separate but they are very tightly connected in a lot of ways. We talked a little bit about the ideal client but…

• What about ads?

• What about the content?

• What about keywords?

• Where are you putting your marketing efforts?

They all are so closely connected and when you get them all working together, you will bring in the clients that are looking for your products or services.

First, start with a content strategy that is connecting with your ideal clients. Content that is exactly what your people need to hear. We want to make sure that you have the right words peppered in throughout your site. We want to make sure that you're running ads to bring those people in. It may be 2023, but the ads still work — especially when they're done with the right creativity and language to capture those clients that need you.

Need some help with your content strategy, running Google Ads and aligning your SEO? We offer comprehensive SEO service packages for businesses of all sizes. I know that we have something that could take the SEO burden off your shoulders and put it on ours.

Delivering Value and Maintaining a Professional Website

One last note from me — when you do get those people coming, are they finding what they're looking for? What does your website look like? Is it up to date? Is it the best reflection of your brand? Is it professional and easy to use? Is it speaking to the right audience?

Your offer should provide value and exceed your client’s expectations.

SEO won’t yield the desired results if your website and offer don’t meet the clients needs.

SEO: Just One Piece of the Puzzle

I encourage you to look big picture at your SEO, marketing, and website. See if it's working for you or working against you — then make the changes that you need to make, and let us help! It's way easier with friends.