How to Get started with SEO, with Rick Mulready from The Art of Online Business

Everyone seems to think that SEO is this hot, difficult thing to succeed with. The reality is, it's not as difficult as people make it out to be. Sure, there's a lot of competition in businesses out there. But if you arm yourself with the proper knowledge and strategies, you will succeed.

It was a pleasure to be invited to The Art of Online Business, Rick Mulready's podcast, and talk about things to begin the journey towards better SERP rankings.

Let's get started!

How long does it take to get results from SEO?

Every digital marketer knows that a strategy needs to be a long-term game. It is the same with SEO which requires strategic planning. Definitely, not about getting results that take up to a few weeks, a couple of months, or more. So, think of it differently.

It is a sort of general question that everyone seeks an answer to. So, how long can you expect to have to wait to see results?

Results can mean that you come from the last page on Google, then it comes up. Which is, it still doesn't help your bottom line. However, at your realization, you see some progress on it.

On a quick note, it depends on what you are trying to target. So, these days we are helping our clients pick their battles.

In what way can you start SEO to get the best results possible?

Google decides to rank for whatever reason. However, transcriptions, for example, for some podcasts, don't work on Google at all. It's because it doesn't provide a good content example.

"If Google wants to rank something, that will be the best answer to the search query."

Gert Mellak

If Google wants to rank something, that will be the best answer to the search query. And there's hardly going to be a search query where transcription will be the best answer.

So what you need to do is follow the steps to get the best results.

Website Audit

You start checking what's helpful and identify the URLs that produce conversion. Track your conversions as possible, instead of focusing on increasing the website's traffic that doesn't convert.

Where does the traffic come in? Are those pages and the main articles where you attract organic traffic from Google?

You identify those articles that get a lot of traction and decent conversions. Then, you have the articles you want to focus on first. That could mean that if you get them even more traffic, they will lead to more conversions.

Sure. If you have articles that get a lot of traffic but no conversions, you might think of:

  • Can you change the lead magnet?
  • Can you get more opt-ins?
  • Can you leave them with internal linking to more conversions?

Or, if you might have audiences that are converting well, but they don't have hardly any traffic, think of:

  • How can you get them more traffic?
  • Can you optimize them for SEO?
  • Can you internally link them?
  • Can you highlight them somewhere on the page in order to get them more traction?

Implement and Improve Strategy

There are many actions to take to be successful in digital marketing. You can come up with Facebook ad strategies. Or, go for productivity or team building. 

All these would be very relevant terms for you to grow your online business or your following your audience. But it's not going to happen with transcription pages if you have a podcast as Rick Mulready has.

After you audit your site, move forward to assess what you have and draw a game plan. You can line up the steps you want to take to prioritize based on impact and effort.

It's the same with the Erica Framework. In a nutshell, it's to focus on your strategy, implementation, and improvement.

Does having a YouTube presence helpful for SEO?

Google has very little value itself. It's like an add-on.

If you wrote content for Google, it's an add-on. Besides that, having a video to watch is also an add-on. However, that's not what Google wants to rank for searchers.

If you have a podcast, it's only a main constant element. So what you need is to come up with ideas and topics. A YouTube video is what you need.

But, you're not going to rank higher with your content just because you tick the box that you have a YouTube channel. I always see a good correlation between the brand's importance and the people searching for it. Also, how many people search for your name on Google, and actual rankings then.

Even if you have the most important brand, the transcription might still not rank. Google is still not going to rank if you're not optimized. However, you can have the best YouTube channel with 2 million followers.

Is SEO applicable for everyone?

Google is the one-stop shop for everyone to get information, learn and consume something. It covers probably 99% of businesses

Half of all queries have local intent, so even tiny local businesses can benefit from SEO. However, the SEO will be different for the local drugstore than for an international business.

"Ultimately, if you have a decent authority and decent brand importance in your space, you should come up with someone to search for what you're doing."

Gert Mellak

Some need more content. Others need local references and citations. So, it needs a different tactic, a new strategy. Ultimately, if you have proper authority and decent brand importance in your space, you should come up with someone to search for what you're doing.

One way to come up with is diversifying where to get traffic and the importance of organic SEO. You can get paid ads like Facebook ads or Youtube ads. But, SEO should be one of the channels you bet on. 

Furthermore, something is happening with SEO in six to eight months. But then think about what it is worth if you're getting a hundred leads every month.

SEO is necessary for every business. It's worth it to wait, but dedicate some resources on an ongoing basis to this. And also, make sure that everybody is part of all your channels and looks after your SEO.

Is SEO a time-consuming strategy to take?

SEO is not like a one-and-done thing. It's a long-term game. Besides that, consistency is what you need to keep up.

It's important to know that it's straightforward to lose a lot of time and resources on SEO if you focus on the wrong things. Most of our clients focus on their SEO plugin and ensuring all the boxes are green in their Yoast or Rankmath plugin. And it's a tiny part, as well as very often a tricky concept in SEO.

Doing SEO starts with getting what needs to be done. You can have additional roadblocks like performance, linking, broken links, and meta descriptions. And it's an evolving process, so there are a lot of things that should be taken care of.

Ways to keep up with Google Algorithm updates

Google is moving fast. Often, Google has a lot of algorithm updates. 

We are preparing artificial intelligence to start creating more content. A tool like Jasper is one of the online tools that help you create engaging content, which our team uses to develop compelling meta descriptions.

When it comes to problems, it's essential to be on pulse on what's happening and readjust. You can go through the overall progress and make small changes. Also, get refreshed and get an updated date for Google to understand that it's a fresh content user.

Many things need to be taken care of. But once you're consistent, dedicate some resources, and keep the momentum going, you can turn the table.

Does affiliate partnerships strategy work?

The affiliate space is one of the most important spaces. And often, it's one of the most advanced spaces with SEO because they can't make it work with paid ads. 

The numbers don't work out in most cases in the affiliate space. So they go after organic queries. So you go after all those small queries around the affiliate product to promote. And this is going to rank well because it's a niche query. It's a niche product.

If you want to identify who you're talking to and what problems you can solve for them, you get brand exposure in exchange for solving their problem. And once you see it this way, an affiliate is an excellent way. If you haven't even been promoted, optimized for it.

Can you do SEO on your own?

Taking SEO on your own is possible. However, it would be best if you had guidance with the process itself. We have worked with clients in two ways, which you may find helpful.

  1. consulting program where they assess websites
  2. Consider impact and effort

Usually, they start with an audit. Then they assess precisely from here what makes the most sense based on what we have seen in the data. And then some people go on consultation with them. 

One of the many ways to try is taking advantage of the tools. You can try to extract from Google Analytics and Google Search Console everything relevant and strip it out. As you're doing your DIY, make sure that the content you expect to rank is optimized and in line with what Google wants to rank.

Furthermore, you ask for help from an SEO agency to guide you in the digital marketing world. A writer is what you need. A tech person will be in support and look for someone to list relevant keywords.

One example is a client who gets 10,000 impressions on Google and a 0.2% click-through rate. So Google thinks 10,000 times they are one of the best search results. Perhaps, they come upon page one, but only zero 2% click on their result.

This means they could quickly get to 2%, which would be ten extra traffic. It's about the impact and effort. So once you identify those URLs, and even if they are 50, you don't have an issue going through those because this means that you're going to get more traffic with the same rankings.

So now you know how this evolves. And it's another reason why you need to have somebody helping you with this because you wouldn't know how to keep up with all the changes.

Get Started with SEO today!

Why not have an organic strategy to get free traffic?

It's worth noting that people are searching rather than complementing your paid efforts. Besides that, diversifying traffic is always intelligent and a big thing. Don't waste your time and resources by spending on the wrong strategy. If you think you need help, you can reach Gert at [email protected] directly.

Or are you running Google Ads?

Every project is different. There's probably some information from there, an expert for SEO strategy. Gert and his team have a little bit of everything, but then it's a matter of understanding.

So drop your message today!

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