Wendy McCallum (00:01.363)
Hi there, welcome back to The Coaching Edge. I'm your host Wendy McCallum and have a really great guest with me today, Carrie Engel. Hi Carrie, how are you?
Keri (00:09.262)
Hi Wendy, it's great to be on the podcast. Thanks for inviting me.
Wendy McCallum (00:12.255)
Yeah, I'm so happy to have Kerry here. Kerry is an SEO and content specialist. And I had Kerry in recently to talk to my BBB coach member. So that's my business building bootcamp group. We have master classes every month. And I really was excited to find somebody who I knew was gonna be able to speak about SEO in a way that would be understandable to me and to my coaches, because it is a complicated area.
And I think a lot of new business people are just completely overwhelmed by it. But Carrie just did an amazing job in the masterclass. And I thought this would be a perfect short podcast episode just to like introduce the concept of SEO and to really focus in on what coaches can do without like a ton of expertise and technical skill and a lot of time to actually increase the traffic to their website and therefore increase the chances of.
getting business through their website. So, Carrie, do you want to start with like the very like SEO for dummies question, which is what is SEO?
Keri (01:21.79)
Yeah, sure. So SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. And it's really just optimizing any page on your website so that it appears in Google search results whenever someone searches something relevant. So for example, if you're a career coach and someone searches career coach in Google, you would want your page, your website to appear in those search results.
Wendy McCallum (01:49.919)
Right, yeah, okay, perfect. So how do we do it? How do we get it? I think a lot of people are aware of the fact that it's a relevant consideration on your website, but I know for me for sure, for years, I was just like, I don't know if I'm doing it, I don't know if I've got it, how do I know? And I've said to you that what I've realized over the years is that I've actually just by total fluke done a pretty good job, I think, on SEO on...
Keri (01:55.886)
I'm going to go to bed.
Wendy McCallum (02:19.003)
my site in that my organic traffic is really, really strong. I get a lot of people who come to me and say that they just searched for burnout coach and, you know, Wendy McCallum. No, sorry, not Wendy McCallum, but burnout coach period or burnout and alcohol coach or something like that and ended up getting me. So they're not searching me by name. They're searching me by subject and getting to me somehow. But that was like not deliberate, totally accidental. And I think, you know, many of the coaches that I support.
don't have any idea where to even start with SEO and also don't have the budget to hire somebody to spend like, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars in getting some help on this. So like, why do we need to understand it and where should we start with this?
Keri (03:04.202)
Yeah, yeah. And if you have heard of SEO and you've tried looking up how to do it, it can get very complicated very quickly. It's intimidating even when you look at just what are called simple beginner's guides, they can be thousands and thousands of words long and get pretty technical. And it can get really overwhelming because you kind of feel like, well, I can't do all of this. So maybe I can't do SEO. But as you've discovered, you can actually do it, if you're doing it by accident,
like so it can't be that hard if you're if you're doing it by accident right if you're just know like the simple basics really can take you a long way but
Like when you're searching how to do it, it's hard to find the simple basics that actually matter. And it's easy to get kind of bogged down in the details. But really, the point of Google, what Google's trying to do, besides make money from advertising, is they're trying to connect people with the best web pages that really give them what they're searching for. Because that's how they get more people to use Google and see their ads, right?
And so over time, Google is trying to get better and better at that. So the way that you're doing this accidentally is you're giving people what they're searching for. You know, when they're searching for Burnout Coach, you are creating the content that answers their questions and helps them accomplish their goals. And Google, their algorithms see that. And so they're showing that content to those people. So.
if you want to do it a little bit more on purpose, really it all starts with discovering what are people searching for.
Keri (04:45.434)
and how can you give them the content that helps them accomplish their goals and gives them the information that they're searching for. And it really all comes down to that. And the other consideration to keep in mind is there are, you know, big companies and big websites that pour a lot of money into SEO. So you kind of have to avoid trying to go head to head on those really competitive terms that the big companies are pouring money into and find kind of those
Keri (05:15.288)
audience is searching for and create content that answers those questions for them.
Wendy McCallum (05:20.667)
Yeah, great. So when we're talking about creating content, I wanted to do what I did in the masterclass as well, because I think a lot of coaches have the basics of a website created. So they have like, maybe there's a homepage, there might be a services page, there's an about page. And then they may or may not have an additional content area. So...
They may or may not, for example, have an area where they provide free resources. They may or may not have an area where they blog. They may or may not have a podcast, for example, or something like that. So I wanna separate the two things out because I think we're gonna have lots of people listening to this podcast who don't yet have that additional content area. So my understanding is that every page on your website is worth spending some time on.
basic SEO stuff. So if we've got a coach who's just starting out, they've just built like that really basic homepage, maybe they've got an about page or something. They're going to want to be looking at the language that they're using on there and making sure that they are incorporating some of the words that people are actually searching for in relation to the area that they coach in so that they're increasing the likelihood that someone's actually landing on those pages, correct? Yeah.
Keri (06:34.986)
Yeah, yeah, and really, and you don't have to have a blog.
I like to think of SEO as a distribution channel or a distribution strategy. So really you have to think about every page on your website, who's going to be reading that page? How are they going to find it? Like for example, you probably don't need to use SEO to optimize your contact page because people aren't going to be searching for that. They're going to be looking for your contact page after they're already on your website.
Keri (07:08.812)
services pages, you know, basic pages like that. Just think about how are people finding these pages. Maybe you're very active on Instagram and people are, you know, clicking over in your bio link to your website and they're finding stuff that way and that's great. SEO can be another channel that you use to get more eyes that maybe people that aren't on Instagram that are just searching, you know, for a, you know, a coach on Google and you can use SEO on your services page
or your about page to optimize for, you know, if someone is searching for a burnout coach, maybe you can optimize your about page for that. Or if they're searching for, you know, coaching sessions, maybe you can optimize your services page for those type of searches as well.
Wendy McCallum (07:56.771)
Yeah. And so then what I've learned is, and this is, I think, how I accidentally ended up building really great SEO on my website. And this is really on the personal coaching side of my business, which is not really what I do anymore. But for years and years and years I was working in the world of burnout and wellness and alcohol for women. And I was creating new content every week through my podcast and then posting that podcast episode with the show notes on my blog.
the adding of new content every week was, I think, serving the SEO purpose, and that the same search terms and words were coming up over and over and over again in relation to my URL, like in that space. I don't understand the tech of all of this. But my gut's telling me that that's why this worked, is that I was just continually doing this. And it was all very organic. I was implanting search terms. I was using the tags. There's a section where you can put tags and I was doing my best to guess at tags. And now I can see
after learning what I've learned from you that I could have done a lot of work that probably would have been helpful to do this even better by trying to determine what people were actually searching for and use those terms in there as tags. But I think that what happened is that all of that organic content, like the just naturally adding new content regularly, and because I was talking genuinely about the problem that I helped people solve, that I was sort of building that in there naturally. Does that make sense as to why that might have led to?
that organic traffic.
Keri (09:24.842)
Yeah, absolutely. And Google loves to see sites that are updated often. This doesn't mean you need to blog every day. Nobody has time for that. But even once or twice a month can really help you out. And when it comes to just naturally using the terms, variations, different ways of saying things, as you talk to your coaching clients, you'll learn the different phrases they use, the different words they use. And just use those in your blog post.
on your website, use variations of those. I also recommend being as specific as possible. And I'm very anti-clever when it comes to SEO. Don't try to be clever in your titles, but just be very clear, be specific. If you're using a word that can mean multiple things, make sure to specify exactly what you're talking about in your titles, in your blog posts, and use those related terms and variations.
Also keep in mind, everything that you're writing should be geared towards your ideal coaching client. Even something that's closely related to the topics that you talk about. If it's not something that your ideal coaching client would be searching, then it's not the right topic for you. Even if you think it will get you a lot of eyes. You want the right eyes. You want the right people on your website.
Wendy McCallum (10:43.945)
Right.
Wendy McCallum (10:48.967)
Right. Yeah, really good point. And I think if we just go back to like putting the blog aside, which obviously I think hopefully this is giving people an idea as to why blogging can be so, so helpful. So if you haven't started a blog yet or thought about a blog, maybe start thinking about that. And it's, it's a combination of like a really great opportunity for you to incorporate the types of words and phrases that people are going to be searching for.
but also for you to be adding new content to your site on a regular basis, which as Kerry said, helps. Google really likes that, that helps. But if we go back to the homepage, Kerry, which I think all people listening to this probably have at least a homepage. One of the things that I talk to my coaches a lot about is like, when I'm looking at copy and I'm taking, like doing a review of what's on their homepage, I'll often say like, this sounds so great, but it actually...
And I think I understand what you're telling me that you do just because I know you and we've talked enough about your business and the area that you wanna coach in. But would anybody ever search for designing your best life? Like no one's searching for, how do I design my best life, right? Or that may not be the best example, but you know how we tend to get fancy and cute with things in terms of how we wanna describe the products and services. And I think this goes back to what Carrie was saying about
Keri (11:58.18)
Mm. Right.
Wendy McCallum (12:10.911)
really try to be clear and straightforward. Like if you are a burnout and alcohol coach, my suggestion is call yourself a burnout and alcohol coach. If you're a business coach for coaches, call yourself a business coach for coaches. You can incorporate the other things in there too, but you need to make sure that the language that people are actually likely to be using when they're trying to find you is language that's on your page or else Google is not gonna connect them with you. Right, Carrie? Yeah, yeah. Okay. So.
Keri (12:21.527)
Yes.
Keri (12:37.086)
Exactly right. Yeah.
Wendy McCallum (12:41.023)
someone, let's say someone's listening and they're thinking, oh gosh, I've never even thought about SEO on my website. I had somebody put this thing together for me and I don't have any idea if I've got any valuable SEO happening on my site right now. Where would you suggest they start? Like how do you go about finding out what those words and phrases are that you should maybe be including in your content and on your pages?
Keri (13:06.838)
Yeah, I...
I always recommend starting, you don't need any fancy tools, you don't need to pay for expensive tools. I always recommend just starting with a brainstorming session. And you can even do this with a notebook and a pen. You don't even have to open up your laptop, but just think about all the different words that people might search when they're dealing with the problems that you wanna help them with. So for example, using a career coach example, put yourself in the shoes of someone
services right now. They might be searching things like, you know, related to burnout, like am I burned out in my job? What are the signs of burnout? Or they might be searching things like...
you know, how do I switch careers or what's the best job for me or just make a huge, huge long list. You know, sit down, take 20 minutes and write down as many things that you can think of that people might be searching for when they're at the point in their life that they need your help.
And once you have that huge long list, kind of group it into categories, closer related terms. And at that point, that's when you can open up your laptop and start searching those things in Google. And I always recommend using, if you know how to open an incognito window, because when you normally when you search on Google, you're logged in, Google knows who you are, and they're going to try and tailor the results to you specifically.
Keri (14:38.484)
and trying to find the terms that people are searching, which are often called keywords, you may have heard that term before. You wanna be able to see what the average person would see when they type into Google. That's why it helps to use an incognito window because it removes some of that personalization for you. So you take those terms that you brainstormed and you start searching them in Google and you're looking for a few things. You're looking for, are these the results that I'm expecting or?
does this mean something else that I wasn't aware of? Maybe this term is also used in another industry and the results are not related to your services at all. In that case, cross it off your list. But yeah, if you see results related to the services you offer, look for what websites are ranking for those keywords. Are they really big name websites? Like is Wikipedia the first result? Because that's really tough to compete against.
Wendy McCallum (15:08.907)
Right.
Keri (15:31.338)
And then from there, I recommend looking for kind of the longer keywords that have, uh, that don't have so much competition. So you can actually scroll down into search results and look for a little box that says related searches. And often there's more ideas in there. It will tell you, Hey, other people are searching for these terms. And each one of those could be a blog post topic for you. That could be your blog post title right there. Um, so that's a really good way to get started.
Wendy McCallum (15:49.291)
Great.
Wendy McCallum (15:56.871)
Yeah, that's great. So you just, you go, you do your search on Google and then you scroll down on the page and you see that box that tells you what other people are asking about this same topic or in relation to this topic. And that can provide you with more keywords but it can also provide you with ideas for blog posts because those are the types of things that people are searching. So that's like a really great place to start. And as you know, as Kerry was saying, you can also get ideas for these searches from listening to what you're hearing people say.
Keri (16:07.182)
Mm-hmm.
Wendy McCallum (16:26.703)
in your one-on-one sessions with clients. And also in any forums, this is another thing, I don't know what you think about this, Carrie, but I'm always getting my coaches to be paying attention to forums where their avatar clients are hanging out. Like, what are they saying in there? What language are they using? What questions are they asking over and over again? How are they describing the pain point that they need help with? Because you can get some really good clues from that as well. And then what about...
Keri (16:35.982)
Absolutely.
Keri (16:49.358)
Yeah, yeah, Facebook groups, Reddit, all kinds of forums, those are really great places.
Wendy McCallum (16:54.259)
Yeah, exactly. So Reddit, we were talking about that in the masterclass in the BBB, how helpful Reddit can be, because if people are talking about this thing in these words in a Reddit thread and it shows up on a search, so if you put the keyword in, you're just checking to see like whether people are actually looking for this word and you see a Reddit thread pop up. I think you had some advice around what that means and what people can do with that information.
Keri (17:18.349)
Yeah, if you're searching the topics that you brainstormed and you see some results that have like a lot of forum results in there, a lot of Reddit and other forums, Quora, things like that, sometimes that means that a lot of people are talking about this and no one has really created a good answer for it yet. So that can be a really great opportunity to create a blog post to rank for that result.
Wendy McCallum (17:44.079)
Yeah, I love that. And like, everything's Carrie's Carrie saying about blog posts would also apply to other types of content. So I know we often think of blog post is like, you have a very specific structured blog on your website, but it could be that you're creating a new free resource that you're going to, you know, be marketing on your website, or that you have a podcast, for example, and that might provide you with an idea for like a really great podcast episode. Okay, and so once you have a sense of
This is what people are searching for. And here are some good keywords that I can start incorporating into my site, either into blogs or new content or into the existing pages that are on there. How do you do that? Where do you start? Where's the best place to start? For someone who's like, I don't have a million hours to dedicate to this, but I'd like to feel like I'm doing something with respect to SEO, what would you say is a good first step?
Keri (18:36.27)
Yeah, and I'll use blog content again as an example, but you could also, as you mentioned, use this for any other type of content on your website as well. But once you have that main search term or keyword that you decide you wanna use to create some new content, I always recommend using that in your title. And if you can, use it first thing in your title. Now, obviously make sure that it's grammatically correct. If it doesn't make sense, feel free to tweak it
understand that you're talking about the same thing if you add like an and or a the that's totally fine and if it's very short you can add more to it to make your title a little bit longer but I always recommend using that first thing in your title because that signals to Google hey this is the topic that this page is all about
And then you want to use it very naturally throughout your content. It should not sound forced or stilted. Try reading it out loud to make sure that it still sounds natural and something that you would normally write and say to someone. But but yeah, use that word and that phrase and variations of it synonyms in your throughout your page. And also, I always recommend breaking it up with subheadings. So you should have sections,
blog post into sections and each section should have its own subheading or and that should use different variations of the word as well and that's a really good way to get started with SEO you don't have to do anything complicated or fancy it doesn't have to sound it doesn't have to sound like it's optimized for SEO but yeah that's a good way to get started
Wendy McCallum (20:18.751)
Yeah.
Wendy McCallum (20:22.047)
Yeah, I mean, honestly, if it sounds like it's optimized for SEO, people are gonna stop reading it. I mean, you want it to be, it has to have value first. Like I would say with content, it's value first, but I love this as like, there sort of sounds like there are different levels of this. So even if you're just like, you just wanna do one thing, start optimizing your titles. So start thinking about the titles that you're using for things, for new content, for pages, for that kind of thing. And then the next step would be optimize some subheadings. So start looking at the subheadings.
Keri (20:25.998)
Exactly.
Wendy McCallum (20:49.031)
Am I including variations of this keyword or this phrase in my subheadings? And then the next step would be, okay, start trying to do that also in the content in like a natural way so it doesn't sound really weird like a robot wrote it. And...
Keri (21:05.454)
Also going back to what we were saying before about what is SEO and the whole purpose of it. Google is really trying to match people with the content that best satisfies their query. So whatever they're Googling, they have a question or they have a problem. Your content needs to answer that question or solve that problem for them. Number one.
Wendy McCallum (21:11.228)
Hmm.
Wendy McCallum (21:22.919)
Right, yeah, yeah. Has to be good quality content that actually solves the problem. Yeah, I love that. And then we were talking in the BBB masterclass, we had some questions on like content overwhelm, which is like a real thing for coaches. There's a real feeling of pressure, like I have to be creating content all the time. I've got to be posting on Instagram. I've got to be adding things to my blog. I've got to start a podcast. I've got to do all these things. And it can start to feel like really.
Keri (21:28.11)
Yes.
Wendy McCallum (21:50.079)
really overwhelming for coaches. And so I'm wondering if you have any tips because you shared some good ones in the masterclass around how to maybe save time when it comes to creating content, like some shortcuts that people can start experimenting with.
Keri (22:05.198)
Yeah, absolutely. And first, I would definitely say don't spread yourself too thin. As a small business owner, it's easy to feel like you need to be everywhere doing everything. Everyone tells you to be on every social media platform. Don't try to do that. You're only one person and your time is the most important finite resource that you have.
Wendy McCallum (22:14.506)
Yeah.
Wendy McCallum (22:19.56)
No.
Keri (22:27.054)
SEO and content is more of a long-term strategy that will build over time. So I would suggest maybe balancing that with one or two short-term strategies that can get you clients quickly. And just focus on one or two or three channels, marketing channels, tactics, or whatever you want to call it, a distribution strategy that you enjoy doing. Because if you don't like doing it, it's going to feel like a chore. It's going to take forever.
way.
When it comes to blogging, if you're someone who loves writing, maybe you can write really quickly. And that's great. If you, maybe you want to get started with blogging and SEO, but writing isn't your favorite thing. It takes forever. You can try using those, like those new AI tools like chat GPT or Bard from Google. Number one, I would recommend don't just ask them to write a blog post and use the blog post that they write because it's, it's not going to be good content. Number one.
And number two, it's not you. And when you're creating content, any type of content, as a coach, you are selling yourself and your services. And with your blog, you want people to feel like they're getting to know you and creating a connection with you. So it needs to be you, your experience, your voice. It needs to be unique to you. So you can use those AI tools to maybe generate an outline or generate a rough draft.
You know, any part of the writing process that feels like a chore to you, I would say try to play around with the AI tools and see if they can help you get it done faster.
Wendy McCallum (24:07.251)
Yeah, for sure. They're so good. Or you can write if you like to write, you can put it into chat tpt and say edit this or make this make this 10 times better or make this make you know right rewrite this but make it sound friendly or more approachable like it's amazing what AI can do so it's worth experimenting with but absolutely needs to sound like you or else it's just not going to do very much for you at all. So I totally agree with that.
And then, you know, we talk a lot on the, I talk a lot in the BBB, but also on this podcast about repurposing content. I've actually done an episode on that where I just talked about like trying to create content that is repurposable that you can use in a variety of different places. I think that's a great little shortcut as well. And you can then use something that you create for your blog post, for example, and create a shorter Instagram post with that or something else. And AI can help with that too. If you have a longer post that you finished, you can say,
take this and create five short form pieces of content for Instagram from it. And AI can be really, really helpful in doing that. What about transcripts? Can we talk about transcripts? So if you're someone like me and you have a podcast, one of the things that I do is upload the transcript from each episode onto my website as part of the blog. Is there a way for people to, I mean, is that a helpful thing to do for SEO? And what else can you do other than just upload the transcript?
Keri (25:30.35)
Yeah, that is absolutely a phenomenal way to get more relevant content on your website is with transcripts. And if you're if you're the type of person that prefers speaking rather than writing, you could even do this like, like just talk about a topic instead of writing it down and use that transcript and turn that into a blog post. Yeah, transcripts from anything from videos from podcasts, those can all be put on your website. And I recommend instead of you.
but I recommend also putting the transcript on your website because that gets all of those relevant words on your site, which is good for SEO because you're getting all those related terms on your site and adding new content, and also good for your audience because some people just prefer reading to audio. So you're getting more people to read that content.
Wendy McCallum (26:22.471)
Yeah.
Keri (26:22.702)
which is good. So and another step you can take instead of just putting the transcript on your website. I mean if that's all you have time to do then that will benefit you so do that definitely. If you have extra time and you want to optimize it a little bit more then just do a little bit of light editing break it out into sections you know put those subheadings in and put maybe put an image or two those things will all help as well.
Wendy McCallum (26:46.559)
How do images help, Carrie?
Keri (26:49.07)
Yeah, so those happen a few different ways. One, again, for your readers, it can just kind of break up the content, make it a little bit more scannable and enjoyable. And these are just maybe like, maybe you just add a stock photo. Or you could, even if you wanted to, like if it's something that you enjoy doing, create your own images. You absolutely don't have to do that.
Wendy McCallum (27:13.307)
Yeah.
Keri (27:14.318)
Another way it can help is if in your platform it allows you to add something called an image description or alt text. That can be like a tiny little detail that can help boost your SEO if you're putting related terms in there that describe the image. But that's a tiny thing that has a small effect so you don't feel like it's something that you have to do.
Wendy McCallum (27:29.117)
Right.
Wendy McCallum (27:32.979)
Yeah. Okay, that's cool. Thank you. And for creating transcripts, just so people are list, a lot of people are probably gonna be like, well, how on earth do I create a transcript from an audio? So there are so many platforms that you can use to do this. The platform that Carrie and I are recording this on, riverside.fm, which is what I use for my podcast, is a great place to record audio and or video, and it will generate transcripts for you. Also, a lot of my coaches in the BBB use Descript, which is another one you can upload audio and video to, and it will create a transcript from that you can then...
download and add to your site. So those are just two options. There are many more out there, but the tech is out there that makes this really, really easy for you to do. What are some of the most common mistakes you see people make, Carrie, when they are trying to incorporate SEO in their site?
Keri (28:19.726)
Yeah, that is a great question. So one we've already talked about is making it sound forced or robotic. Sometimes when people first get into keyword research.
They feel like they need to add a bunch of keywords to their content and you know or use a keyword exactly as is even if it sounds unnatural or even ungrammatical. And you definitely want to avoid doing that because it won't it doesn't look good. When people go to read your content, they'll realize, hey, this was not written for me. This was written for Google.
Keri (29:00.208)
that sounds like real content, a real person. So the technical term for that is keyword stuffing. When you try to stuff as many keywords as you can into your content, definitely avoid doing that. And another big mistake that we kind of touched on previously is just trying to overcomplicate things or get too into the weeds.
Wendy McCallum (29:12.543)
Yeah. Yes.
Keri (29:23.694)
I actually, for most people, unless you're an SEO career professional, I would avoid reading much about SEO because it gets very complicated very quickly.
As a beginner, it's hard to know what stuff is important and has a big effect and what stuff is just like a little nitpicky thing that won't have a big effect. So I would just focus on the basics, on the very basics and don't try to get too technical or too in the weeds because it's just overwhelming and you'll end up wasting your time on the little stuff that doesn't really matter.
Wendy McCallum (29:54.835)
Yeah, great advice. That's really good advice. So, I mean, what I'm getting from this, and this is really what I wanted to try to communicate in this episode, Kerry, is that, and because I get asked this question all the time, my coaches in my BBB are like, I don't understand it. I'm not getting any clients. And they're like, I did all this work on this website.
But the truth is, is that growing organic traffic takes time, I think, on a website, and it's not automatic. You don't just put a website out there, and then people are gonna find you. There's some work that has to go into creating that organic traffic. And in the beginning, when you first put your website out there, it's literally probably only gonna function as a place that you direct people to directly by providing them with your URL or a link somewhere else.
Is that fair? Yeah.
Keri (30:45.39)
Absolutely. Yeah, 100%. And I was just talking to another coach about this the other day that really and that's why I recommend balancing it with one or two other strategies that are a little bit more short term. So the blog post that you published today is not gonna get you clients today. And this this is a really cheesy analogy but it's like it's like planting a fruit tree like you're not gonna eat the fruit today. But in the future you're gonna have more than you can handle. You're gonna be giving it away to your your friends.
Wendy McCallum (30:58.1)
Mm-hmm.
Wendy McCallum (31:08.735)
Yeah.
Keri (31:15.344)
And that's kind of how publishing the content is. Like today, you're not going to get clients, you might get a couple in over the next few months. And then, hey, a year or two from now, you're going to be getting more traffic, more people. You're going to be getting inquiries, and you're going to be turning people down saying, I don't think I'm the best fit for you. It just keeps growing over time. It's really an investment.
Wendy McCallum (31:16.349)
Right, right.
Wendy McCallum (31:37.631)
Yeah, exactly. So this is the SEO strategy that we've been talking about today. This basic strategy is something that you would balance with some of those old school marketing things that I talk about, like reaching out to your existing contacts, getting out there and doing presentations in the community or online, and then also your social media stuff. You would be balancing all of these things, but this is really important. If you just assume that your website is going to start getting organic traffic because it's a really pretty website and because you spent a lot of money on it, that's not true.
it will get more traffic over time if you continue to add good content to it regularly and also you pay attention to some of the stuff that Carrie's been talking about today in terms of those search phrases. Like if people are searching for something that is not ever appearing anywhere on your website, then they're not going to find you organically. That's the truth of it. So this has been so helpful. Thank you, Carrie. It's like a really great primer, I think, for SEO for coaches. Now, Carrie does this for a living and she's awesome.
And so, if you're feeling totally overwhelmed at the thought of this, or you're thinking, oh, this is just one of those things that would go on my energy drains list, and I'd rather have somebody help me with this, Carrie's a great person to reach out to. And so I'm gonna put Carrie's website info, contact info in the show notes with this podcast. But real quick, Carrie, where can people find you?
Keri (32:57.23)
Yeah, you can find me at carrylinnengel.com and Wendy will have the link and the notes there for you.
Wendy McCallum (33:04.851)
Yeah, it's K-E- But I will put it in the show notes and she's terrific and I really encourage you to get in touch with her. It might be really helpful for you to get an assessment on your site, to find out where you're sitting right now in terms of SEO and then also get Keri's help in helping you figure out what are some of these commonly searched terms. I have one more question for you, Keri, because it was totally selfish, I just wanna know. Is there any disadvantage to incorporating more than one of a commonly searched term?
Keri (33:28.462)
haha
Wendy McCallum (33:34.607)
even if they're not sort of related, but you just know that people are searching for one thing and the other and organically, like you can write a post where you're combining, you know, those topics are naturally combined. Is there any disadvantage to doing it that way?
Keri (33:48.366)
Yeah, I would say keep in mind what we talked about that when people are searching, they have one specific question or one specific goal that they're trying to answer or accomplish. So if you feel like those terms are the same question or the same goal, then yes, combine them. They may not be. There might be slightly different, it's called search intent, and might be slightly different intent there that would be better served by separate content.
Wendy McCallum (34:05.843)
Yeah. Perfect.
Wendy McCallum (34:15.519)
Gotcha, yeah, thank you. That was just a selfless question. I thought I'd get out while I had to. Thank you so much, Gary. This has been a great episode. I appreciate you. Have a great day.
Keri (34:19.373)
Yeah.
Keri (34:26.606)
Thank you.
