The Proffitt Podcast
Are you thinking about starting a podcast? Launching a YouTube channel? Repurposing your old blog content into something fresh? Hi, I'm Krystal - host of "The Proffitt Podcast." And I'm happy to say you've come to the right place!
Business owners and content creators dream of building a platform where they can connect deeply with their audience, and marketing feels easy. But I also know what it's like to feel confused and overwhelmed.
Join us weekly as we strip down those processes and remove all the overwhelm with new tips, simple strategies, and great conversations with creators like you. Tune in to hear how I help creators start, launch, and market their content confidently. The motto here is, "We all have to start somewhere."
The Proffitt Podcast
SEO Secrets for Podcast Growth from an Industry Expert
"But how does SEO work? I've been trying to understand (for years!), and I still don't get it," said every frustrated creator who wants to see organic growth for their podcast. And I get it. I've been there and have firsthand exasperation when it comes to SEO.
This is why I wanted to bring on the expertise of e-commerce wizard Carrie Saunders. As she dissects the complexities of search engine optimization on her podcast "eCommerce Made Easy," Carrie joins us to share the essentials for grasping the SEO game and propelling your content to the top of search rankings.
Together, we peel back the layers of crafting irresistible titles, the magic of well-worded descriptions, and the sheer power of transcripts. With tips that could elevate your podcast from hidden gem to center stage, this episode is a treasure chest for content creators.
Have you ever wondered how a simple change in your content strategy could result in a flood of new listeners? I share a surprising tale of an episode that did just that, emphasizing the unpredictable dance of audience engagement.
We zoom out to explore the broader strokes of SEO, from using less competitive keywords to build your site's authority to the importance of ethical linking. For SEO novices and veterans alike, there's wisdom to nurturing online visibility and the virtues of patience and persistence in content creation.
Our conversation wraps up with actionable insights into ethical linking strategies and avoiding the pitfalls of spammy practices. As we navigate the SEO landscape, remember that every episode title, keyword, and link is a stepping stone to achieving your online vision.
And for those just tuning in, subscribe or follow for a treasure trove of episodes that promise to guide you through the ever-shifting terrain of content creation and SEO mastery. Join us on this adventure; it's one you won't want to miss.
Click the "Send Krystal a Text Message" link above to send us your questions, comments, and feedback on the show! (Pssst...we'll do giveaways in upcoming episodes so make sure you leave your name & podcast title.)
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We are supported by Riverside. Whenever I think about tools that make my life easier, I have to say one of the first things that I go to is looking at recording my podcast episodes. I mean, let's be honest, it's so frustrating if you have to go back and forth between different tools and you're like, oh well, this one works sometimes and this one has great video quality, but then the connections aren't great. I mean, I could go on and on about all the different tools that I've tried, but I've been so impressed with using Riverside for not only doing my interviews but also recording my podcast episodes whenever I'm doing them solo. It has just been a game changer for me to be able to turn on my mic, turn on my camera and record my podcast with ease. So I want you to grab the exclusive discount that we have for profit podcast listeners. Go to crystalprofitcom forward slash Riverside and use the promo code crystal 15. That's crystalprofitcom forward slash Riverside and when you're checking out, use the promo code crystal 15. So go check out Riverside today. All right, let's get into today's episode.
Speaker 1:When I say SEO, what happens? Do you immediately say, uh, I don't know what that means? Or is your reaction like, oh, I know exactly what that is and I don't understand it. Or is it one of those things where, like heck, yeah, I am the queen of SEO. Most people are probably going to fall in the camp of I know what it is, but, uh, I need a little help. So SEO is search engine optimization, and we've talked about it multiple times here on the podcast, because it's one of those things that I wish I would have understood way sooner in my content journey and because I know it is a hot topic, especially in the age of AI. And what does AI mean for SEO? And you know is is everything just going to blend together now that people are using AI? It's like there's so many questions about it that I wanted to bring on someone from this community. She's been on the podcast before, but I wanted to bring her on because she has a specialty in really understanding the things that you need to know about SEO and she's a podcaster. This is the trick, because I've had people come and talk about SEO before, but they haven't also been podcasters. They've either been website people or people that have blogs that like that's all they specialize in. No, no, no.
Speaker 1:Today's guest is Carrie Saunders, who, like I said, she's been on the show before. If you remember listening to the episode about accountability partners her and Melissa Kitchen. They came on and shared their story about launching their podcast in 2023. But Carrie came on and I really wanted her to come and talk about the subject because she has been doing her business BCS engineering for she started with a nine month old first of all and vision to help other businesses succeed. She was 25 when she first started her business and she was about to turn 26 and she was still in graduate school getting her master's degree in electrical engineering. Now, more than 20 years later, she's helped over 16,000 companies. 16,000 companies have a thriving online business. So, whether it was for a free module on the website, a paid module or a custom e-commerce work, they have succeeded in their goal to help other businesses have the tech resources they need to succeed.
Speaker 1:And so what's cool about this? At? I mean, carrie and I we've exchanged many messages. I'm like, hey, do you understand this? Hey, you know, can you, can you point me in the right direction for this resource? She is doing incredible things with her show called E-commerce made easy, and she is expanding her reach to help more businesses with her podcast, so she teaches entrepreneurs and web admins how to be more successful in their e-commerce business. They publish episodes every Tuesday and break down the tech into manageable, bite-sized pieces, helping listeners grow and scale their e-commerce business.
Speaker 1:So if you are a content creator, you need to listen to what Carrie has to say today. This conversation was so incredible, so let's get right to it. Welcome to the profit podcast, where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, crystal Prophet, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time saving shortcut. So let's get right to it. Shall we All right Profit podcast listeners. We have a special guest today. This is her second time officially on the show, but the first time being here solo. So welcome to the show, carrie.
Speaker 2:Thank you, crystal, I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Yes, this is going to be so much fun and it was funny because we were talking about before we started recording. We were like we may get a cat appearance and I've really got my fingers and toes crossed that it's going to happen. I love just bringing this up like right at the beginning, because I think so many of our listeners, like people that are in the audience, like we all worry about these things, right? Yeah, see, look.
Speaker 2:I hear it once.
Speaker 1:It's like wait, are you talking about me? Hang on, let me get my pose Right. So let's just start there. Like where do you typically record your podcast? Like, what is your setup on a regular basis to record your content?
Speaker 2:So I usually use my middle child's old bedroom and it's got carpet and like lots of stuff like everywhere. So it kind of helps, like with the echo, and I can shut the door and my animals at home don't bother me, unlike the ones at the office. They're just all over me. They're like attached to my hips.
Speaker 1:So that's so funny. So do your animals at the office like, do they just live up there 24 seven or did they go back and forth?
Speaker 2:No, they live here all the time, so, like on the weekend, somebody stops by once a day to make sure they're good and feed them. But yeah, no, they. And there are like stress relief when, when we've got something frustrating going on, we just go pet a cat, where they come and sit in our lap. They love to sit in our lap too.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I mean, it's the best, the best people on your team, right, right, they're cats. Yes, oh, this is so fun. Well, I want to get into why I really wanted to have this conversation with you today. So everyone will know, they'll be familiar with Carrie she is. She was on the podcast before her and Melissa. They shared about having accountability and launching your podcast. But here we are, like how many episodes are you into your show and can you tell everybody what the name of your show is?
Speaker 2:So the name of the show is Ecommerce Made Easy, and I'm on my. I think next week is going to be number 38.
Speaker 1:Wow, how does that feel.
Speaker 2:How does it feel it's kind of it's kind of exciting because I just it was something I wanted to do and I wanted to make sure like I fully committed to it and was very consistent, because I know that's like what's really important about podcasting. So I've just been really excited. I haven't taken taken a week break, Like if I knew something was coming up. I recorded more than one episode so I could schedule it and I just I don't know, I'm really excited and proud of myself. I've been doing it every week since May 2nd, so 2023.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's awesome, like it's like well, first of all, I just like congratulations. I always want to tell people like it's a huge milestone, like and I think that we forget that because we just get so like in the weeds of like I need to do it, I need to make it happen. And then here you are, like there's people listening right now that are like I want to be where Carrie is like one day, like that's their goal. So it's just so fun.
Speaker 1:I love celebrating members of this community and those milestones that you can hit, but the thing that we're here to talk about today is something that could not be so exciting for some people, and I will like just be like totally honest. This was me for a long time, and that is why, when Carrie and I were chatting about hey, you know, like I really want you to come on the show and break down the topic of today SEO. So, before I share any of my nightmarish type of stories about SEO, like what does SEO mean to you? Like in in like simple, simple terms, like what does that phrase mean for you?
Speaker 2:Well, it stands for search engine optimization, if the listeners don't already know that, but it's just. It's kind of a long game and it's a great way to get more visibility on your podcast or on your website organically, without having to pay for paid ads, and it's a great way to serve your customers and be found online if you use the right words when you're creating your content.
Speaker 1:Oh, this is such a simple definition and it's one that I think I first came across one that was the more technical version of how it works, and it scared me to death because, carrie, I mean, here I am, I was staying at home mom for several years and then I was like, oh, I'll try this blogging thing. And SEO came across you know, my desk pretty early on in my journey and I felt like quitting because it kept saying, like you have to understand SEO, like search in every, like SEO, like maybe people said that, but every time I just heard search engine optimization, every time all of those words strung together sounded so stressful or so technical and I'm like I don't know how to do any of this stuff. So if somebody is listening right now and they have encountered a more technical version of this, like, is there anything that can help us? Like take a deep breath and like just all calm down, because I feel like everyone is freaking out about having SEO and what it can mean for their content.
Speaker 2:Yeah, search engine optimization can actually be really simple and I feel like that's where you really should start with. It is the simple version of it, and what you really just need to keep in mind is your audience. What do they want to know, what do they want to hear? What words are they using to search? You know. So, depending on your topic, what words are they literally searching? And you can do simple thing is this going to Google, start typing your topic. What are the searches that show up underneath your as you're typing? You know you can just start doing simple things like that to figure out what are those perfect words people are looking for.
Speaker 2:It's search engines anymore are more tailored towards the consumer. So as long as you have the consumer in mind, you're going to do better. Versus back in the old days with really old search and optimization, you really kind of had to hack around things kind of and like, really try to stuff things. You might see keyword stuffing when you're searching. Just ignore that. We don't do that anymore. So it can be as simple as just trying to speak to your audience directly and very specifically.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. Well, this is. I'm so glad you brought up keyword stuffing, because that was one of the other terms that I would see, and I'm like I would see on one like blog like this is good thing, and then I'd see on another one, like this is a terrible bad thing, like your website will shut down if you do keyword stuffing. So there's been, like you know, pros and cons to it over a time. So I'm glad, like we're not doing that in 2024, beyond it's fine, we're not doing that. But now, because I know you were someone that you wanted a podcast for a long time and you have seen, because you've been in business now, like helping people with their websites. So how long have you been in business with BCS engineering?
Speaker 2:Over 21 years now, since 2002.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know a thing or two about doing everything online. So, from your perspective, has anything really like if you had a big shift in your thinking about SEO now that you're creating content for a podcast, or is it still similar? You're just kind of applying the principles that you already understood to everything that you're creating now.
Speaker 2:It is very similar and I'm not sure that there's really a whole lot different to do with podcasting search engine optimization, other than you might have some limited resources depending upon where you have your podcast and whether you have external show notes or not. Like the external show notes are kind of like a bonus extra. But if you're just starting out using something like you recommend Buzzsprout, and making sure you have your title written well, your description written well, and if you turn on the extra tools they have whether I'll do a transcript, that's going to help you as well be found in search engines. But yes, it's very similar to just searching and optimization for a website anymore.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, and that's good to know because, again, I'm so glad you mentioned Buzzsprout because it's one of the reasons why I preach about it so much. I'm like everybody knows how Crystal loves Buzzsprout, but it's because there's these features in there that can make marketing your show. So I want to touch on this real fast, because marketing is where search engine optimization falls under. I think people think of it as this like technical thing that they have to figure out once they do this or they do that, but it falls under the marketing umbrella. And is that really where you see clients like are they coming to you from a more technical perspective or from a more strategic business perspective when they're thinking about SEO?
Speaker 2:When it comes to podcasting, it's more of a business kind of strategic perspective when you're talking about like a website, so you had an external website for your show notes and for your transcript. Some of that can be a little techy, but most applications anymore will handle that for you and will handle a lot of the tech behind the search engine optimization. So you kind of don't have to worry about it as much as you used to have to, say, 10 or 15 years ago, as far as if you have an external website for it.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, that's good to know. And I'm so glad that we are not living 10 or 15 years ago, because I can't like when people start like talking about all the site maps and like all this other stuff, like my mind explodes. And that's when I'm like Carrie. I just like go to someone like Carrie and be like uh, can you explain what all this is to me? Because it's a little overwhelming. So I feel, like the apps that are out there today whether it's a good API or a software that can handle a lot of these tools it's just so much more helpful. And, speaking of that, are there any tools that you and your team just love for SEO? Is there something that the audience should know? Okay, these are pre-approved Like, go try these out, because these have been really helpful for maybe yourself or for your clients.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so one of the tools that we like to use if we really want to dig deep, deep into search engine optimization is it's a paid service called Mozmozorg and that one's really great at tracking tracking your keywords and this would be perfect if you have an external website for your podcast, for like show notes and stuff. It wouldn't be necessary if you're using just Buzzsprout, so it's a little bit more advanced, but it can really help. You see problems with your website. It'll find duplicate content. You may hear that get thrown out of search engine optimization. So you don't want many pages have the exact same content because that looks like old hat search engine optimization to them and they see it as spam. So software like that can really help you determine whether you have that. But again, this is super advanced.
Speaker 2:There are free keyword searches out there so you can like go free keyword search research and you'll be able to find some free tools. Usually you can use unlimited searches with them, maybe 10 searches a day or something. But there's lots of free keyword searches out there and you just literally can go to Google, like I said earlier, and just search. And then another thing you can do when you've searched something and actually search it. Scroll down to the bottom. There's going to be related searches under there and that might give you some really good ideas of other areas to go with your keywords.
Speaker 1:And that was oh go ahead.
Speaker 2:Oh, I was just gonna say that we also want to not be too, too short with our keywords, that we're thinking about. Keyword phrases are a little bit better because, like, say, you sell dog traits I like to use that example, I don't know why, on my podcast a lot, but like, you're selling dog traits, well, that's a word that a lot of people have targeted. Let's get them a bit more specific. So, using Google to help you be a bit more specific on your actual topic, rather than making it just a super short keyword and make it more of a phrase you know, grain free dog treats for picky dogs, you know something like that is going to get you an easier time to get a higher result than something really generic like dog treats.
Speaker 1:You've helped and that was like. They have their own podcast show notes, they have these external websites and they're ranking for all of these things and it just looks like it's too big of a mountain to climb. Do you have any advice for someone that's either brand new to SEO or they just kind of because this was me, I was just like Pat Flynn has the market on all podcasting and I don't have any space for this. Like who am? I am this little bitty person you know to start a brand new website and start putting stuff out there. Do you have any advice for someone in that position?
Speaker 2:I would say definitely get what were specific whenever you are trying to create those keywords. And something else you can do when you search Google, it'll tell you how many results approximately exist, website wise, for those keywords. So if it's a really large number, you know you need to get a little bit more specific. You just when you're really starting out. It may seem silly, but you really need keyword phrases that are probably five, six, seven, eight words in length until you get your momentum, and having other people link to you that are reputable websites is going to help you. You push up in those rankings faster too. So reaching out to other people and having them link to your podcast episodes, whether it's on broad sprout or on your own external website that's going to help boost you faster and help you with those keywords that you're trying to search for and get a pie for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, this is so good back links for is another one of those phrases that I was like what does this mean? Somebody explain it to me. So I'm so glad that you touched on that, because whenever I go into my SEO tool, I can see oh, there's like so many backlinks from Buzzsprout, because I have created so much content and I will use YouTube as well. So any of these other places where you're maybe repurposing your content, like, add those links for your website, because it will help you in that SEO process.
Speaker 1:But I want to go back to what you were saying earlier about, let's say, you're using a tool like I've always used keywords everywhere. It's a great one that I've used for Google and for YouTube and, I think, amazon as well like you can plug into all of these and it will let you know how many monthly searches are there. Is there a sweet spot that we're looking for? Are we looking for less than a million, but more than 50? Like what's a sweet spot? To say, oh, that's a maybe, that's a term that I can rank for, or one that I should use, or just any kind of guidelines around that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when you look at those tools, usually they'll tell you how many searches there are as well as how many results there are for that search. So you want to find that sweet spot where there is a decent number of searches for it and it's going to depend upon your niche, like what number you really want to target there, but then not an overwhelming number of results for it. So you kind of there's a term for it and I can't remember quite that there's a ratio, if you want to get mathematical, there's like a ratio as to how many results versus how many searches are for it. So I would probably kind of play around with it. I mean, you don't want something that's got millions and millions and millions of search results, obviously when you're first starting out, and so even if it's got a lot of searches for that topic, it may not be the best one because there's so many other results out there.
Speaker 2:So get a little bit tighter with your words and a little bit more specific till you find one that doesn't have lots of results and that you've, but still gets a decent number of searches. You know it could be just like a thousand searches a month. It could be as little as that and that's okay as long as you're getting the right people to your website. That's gonna then snowball effect and make it better, because search engines pay attention when you get clicked on from their search results. So even if you're only getting, you know, say 10, 50 clicks from one specific keyword phrase, that starts adding up. So the more you can do that, the more you're gonna snowball and you're gonna start ranking for other things that are harder as you get more experience and more in the searches and more important to them.
Speaker 1:This is so helpful and while you're talking about all of these different components, cause it is nuanced and I think that's where people get a little bit like, oh, seo is overwhelming, there's too many pieces to it, but it really is a simple strategy. But, like Carrie said from the beginning, it's a long-term strategy. It's not an overnight success. We're just gonna put these things up there, but one of the things that I was thinking about is someone that has a brand new website. Is there a timeline that they could expect to have something like? So all the things that we're just talking about, you know, feeding kind of the algorithms and making sure we get backlinks and having all the SEO set up properly on your website Is there a certain time that you've seen, maybe the clients or people that you've worked with? It takes X amount of months before they start seeing results, or is it really just dependent on the topic, the niche, like all of those pieces?
Speaker 2:I mean it really can depend on the topic of the niche, but you're probably looking anywhere from three months to a year. It just really kind of depends on. It also depends on how much you work at it. I mean, the more you link to your own webpage ethically, I wanna say that you've got to make sure you're not spamming yourself or you will get picked up. They will figure this out.
Speaker 2:But you know, when you're doing social media marketing, occasionally post the link back to your website. You know, have other people in the business that you know your business friends with. Have them link to you if they will. You know, doing things like that can help it happen faster, as well as making sure you sign up for Google Analytics and Google Webmaster. It kind of sounds a little scary, but they do walk you through it. But having Google Analytics on your webpage makes you more important to Google because you're giving them information. I mean, it's just kind of a. It's kind of just what it is right, and so signing up for Google Analytics for your external website will help you out, and then using their Webmaster tools will also help you out, and that and that one now actually that one's not too overwhelming Google Analytics can be a little overwhelming. I'm just gonna say that the Google Webmaster tools is a lot more simple, but it will give you potential problems with your website and tell you it's free too.
Speaker 1:So is that, does Google the cert console fit under?
Speaker 2:there.
Speaker 1:Or is that separate from the web? Cause I know that they've rebranded things and they're changing things, so I just wasn't sure if the console is part of that.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's a search console. I still forget that they renamed it. It's used to be Google Webmaster tools. It's all the same, it's search console Webmaster tools. You could search for either and probably find the right link for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I think that that's one that I had played around with the very, very basic version of Analytics and just kind of like laser focused, like it's kind of like you walk into Costco I love to overspend at Costco and I'm like we are on a mission, we're only gonna buy these four things and then we're out of here cause there's too many things to look at. It's overwhelming. That's how I feel when I go into analytics. I'm like there's so many cool things that I can do in here. I can, you know, look at these demographics. I can see, you know, top keywords.
Speaker 1:I had to like do all these things, but it was just there's a one point where you shut down. It's like you're two hours into a Costco trip and everybody's starving and you're like I have to pee but I'm carrying two baskets. Like it becomes way too much, and that's how I feel when you hit this point. So you got to like have your ripcord to be able to say, okay, I'm only going to spend a little bit of time in here, but is that something that is, I don't know, like cause, when I think about you're starting something brand new, cause I keep going back to the beginner.
Speaker 1:Cause the beginner is usually the person that is overwhelmed with a lot of things. They're starting a podcast, they're launching a website. I know many people in here are creating a course or services or lead magnets, like there's so many pieces that go into an online business, so is analytics one of those that we can outsource to someone else and then say, hey, can you come back and just tell me what I need to know from it, or should a business owner really have a pulse on that, and how often should they check it? That was kind of a layered question there, so go for it Got it Well.
Speaker 2:So, yes, you can definitely outsource it.
Speaker 2:I do recommend to my audience and I have a free search engine optimization mini course that, even if you don't want to do the stuff yourself, you should be at least a little bit familiar with it so that you can understand the information that's given back to you if you outsource it.
Speaker 2:And I feel like if you're starting out brand new, just simply looking at, pick one or two metrics, that's it, that's it, and just record it and write it down. Maybe weekly, maybe monthly, don't overwhelm yourself, but see how many visitors you're getting per month. Just pick out one metric, the number of visitors, see if that's increasing, see if that's growing. It's kind of like how you tell us when we're starting our podcast don't be obsessing over your numbers too much, right? Only check it so often, or you might get sad and depressed if it's not going up too high one week versus another week. Just keep a pulse on it. But yes, you can definitely outsource it. I do recommend, like I said, though, having a little bit of an idea of what's going on so that you can understand what's coming back to you if you do outsource it.
Speaker 1:Well, this is I mean I have to turn around and ask you this question then what are your favorite metrics to look at whenever you're in Google Analytics? If you had to pick, like three, what are your favorite three to look at when you're measuring a website?
Speaker 2:Well, you really want to look at the number of visitors, you want to look at the average time they spend on the website, and so this is actually another little search and general optimization tip is, if they're spending more time on your website, your rankings are going to go up. And they actually have this new metric now, where they and it's a little bit of a tangent, but they now know when you scroll on the website, so it's not just like sitting there, they also count how much you scroll. So probably the main things would be how many visitors on average per week? How long are they staying per week? They added back in the bounce rate. They actually kind of took that away.
Speaker 2:Bounce rate just means somebody lands on your website and leaves immediately, which means you probably weren't the right fit for what they were looking for. So making sure your bounce rate is decently low is probably another good thing to look at, just so that you know you're attracting the right audience, cause if your bounce rate's high, then maybe you're using the wrong keywords for your stuff, maybe you need to do some research and maybe you're not using the right words that consumers who want to consume your information are using. You know just a different slang, for example. So yeah, probably looking at visitors, how long people are on the website and bounce rate probably the top three to get a good pulse on your website.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is so, so helpful. And I mean, I know we've been talking mostly to the beginners here, but now I want to talk to someone because I know they're out there and they're going to say crystal, why are you calling me out? Because they feel it, because I know this is you, because this has been me before too. What about those people that set up Google analytics before the whole GA for stuff even happened and before all this? Like they have been ignoring it for months and months, maybe years and years, and now they're like okay, carry, my New Year's resolution was to get my SEO act together. Like I am going to look at my analytics, I'm going to do all these things. Where would you recommend, like, if they have historic information, how far back should someone go to measure this? Or do you just recommend Start from where you are today and measure forward? Like, what would you say to someone who's kind of in that predicament?
Speaker 2:Well, you could. You could do the start from where you are and move forward. Or another thing that's really good is Comparing your metrics, say this January till last January, because most businesses or you know listeners are cyclical. You know they might listen more in the summer or during Christmas time and they're more free and they're maybe off work. So you want to kind of compare to the previous time frame is a really good idea to see if you're growing or if you're going down. Another thing you can do in Google analytics is select a very large time frame to look at. So instead of just this week, maybe you want to look at the past four or five months and see what your general trend is, to see whether it's up or down, and kind of like you at doing your podcast Are you getting more visitors regularly? Is it is your weekly listening is going up, you know. So you can do something like that and really kind of look at a long term Time frame as well as comparing to previous time frames. Yeah, I really love the idea of comparing.
Speaker 1:January 23 to January 24, as opposed to January to February, because you are 100% right, there are most topics will have a calendar that is cyclical to them and it may be totally different, like my podcast stats and my website visits may look completely different than carries, and it's important that you understand that, because I know how we are like. We have business besties and we have people and we're like, oh, you know, I got so many downloads this month. What, how do you do? And you're like, oh well, crap, I didn't get that many, but you're your time to shine, maybe in the summer or in the middle of the fall.
Speaker 1:So be careful with how you like, share that information or talk to other people about it and make sure that you are all kind of of the understanding that things are cyclical and it will matter from business to business and it may not be like don't beat yourself up. That's what I'm saying like for anybody that's listening. Don't beat yourself up if you're besties started at the same time that you did and y'all are not seeing the same results, because those things do matter. And I'm curious for you is there a specific time that you see spikes in your content that you know is surprising to you that you're like I had no idea that this was going to be the month of people looking at website stuff.
Speaker 2:I had this weird spike in November. I was like I didn't even know where it came from. I had one episode just go completely crazy. It's still the highest listen to episode of all time and it's it's a topic I didn't even expect. So I guess, kind of on that note to you just never know what your audience wants to hear to, and keeping pulse on on what's working and what is the next step and what's working and what isn't, is going to help you. And I was actually just thinking about this too if you don't and a lot of people say this if you don't measure it, you're not going to improve on it. So pick one or two things to measure in search engine optimization, don't overwhelm yourself. And you're going to improve it because you're measuring it, because you're trying to do better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean you said this earlier, but that's why consistency is so important, you know, because people will say I'm doing this thing and it's not working. I'm doing this thing and it's not working, and I still remember a time. So and we can talk about this too is strategies for SEO may look different for different types of content, and we've been talking about podcasts. But I was thinking about for my YouTube channel, right, I was creating all this content for so long and it wasn't until I thought, okay, I'm doing this wrong. I need to think of how to title these videos different because Podcasts, because I did my Google research the word podcast in and of itself I mean we're talking millions upon millions because it could be the name of a podcast. It could be something else, and so I was never going to rank for that. But whenever I started creating videos on YouTube that had solo podcast in the title, my channel took off like my channel started getting it.
Speaker 1:Still, I can go into my YouTube analytics, because it's connected to Google, and see all these cool things behind the scenes, and so I can tell you that consistency matters so much and you won't ever have one of those opportunities, like Kerry said, for something to just all of a sudden take off. If you just try this once and you say, well, it doesn't work, I'm just gonna go, you know go. Do you know try to do something else. So I don't know, do you have any other stories of something that's just like man, like this? This one thing just surprised me so much, whether it was for you personally or someone that you've worked with.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to think that one thing I don't know why that made me think of something else or it's not quite directly related, but like Another thing that I'm going to do this year, just just so you guys know is I haven't been, and I'm going to admit this, I haven't been doing searchage and optimization for my podcast very much. I really haven't. I just haven't had time Because I wanted to just be consistent and get it out the door. So that's going to be something I'm going to be doing in 2024 is making sure that I do take five minutes and research the title I want to use that that seems natural to me and make sure it's optimized. So that's what I'm gonna plan on doing.
Speaker 2:Is you know when I love to use Bubbs, Sprouts, AI to get some podcast title ideas that they actually does a really good job. But then I wanna take it a little bit further. Put it in Google, put it in YouTube because, as people many times know they might not know YouTube's just another search engine. Put it in there, see what you're gonna get, and then you can build from there. So I think you should also think of if you're starting your podcast. Don't think you have to SEO it right away, you know, Be consistent and get it down. Didn't really answer your question, though, sorry, I was trying to think off the top of my head.
Speaker 1:But you actually prompted another question because now I'm thinking about someone that's listening, because you're just saying like, well, I can go back and change these things or update them. What does that look like? Cause I recently had someone ask me this. They said, Crystal, I have all these, all blog posts, and I just titled them. What I have in Buzzsprout but maybe it was something a lot more generic that their listener would understand but it doesn't have that sweet spot of this is SEO friendly or something that would really hit in a search engine. So if there's someone that's listening and they already have existing content on their website, maybe in the form of a blog post or show notes, what advice would you give to them to go back and update it? Or like, what would you say?
Speaker 2:Yes, I think they should definitely update it. I think they should probably not get overwhelmed and let's just pick the top five or 10 podcasts, episodes. That's really done really well. Let's optimize those first. So take your existing title you already have, start doing some searches, see what might other options might come up. Maybe only use part of the words in your title. You know I've got one that's like increase it for tactics to increase website traffic. That's like episode number two or three or four. It's really young, it's one of my early ones, but it ranks in Google now.
Speaker 2:But I could possibly tweak it a little bit more and be a bit more specific as to how you know, maybe be a little more specific with it.
Speaker 2:But if you take a few of your existing ones and really find those good keywords and if I to get a little bit techie here you really should have the keywords be really good in your title of your page.
Speaker 2:So if we're talking our external websites, we want the keywords really good in our title or page. And then most places like WordPress that you do blogs, you can use what's called headings, so you want to make it readable like you would read a normal Word document that somebody made you a report, put your heading as your title again. So you're heading ones. Your heading two should support your heading one title. So you kind of want to do this in an English way, like if you're writing not necessarily formal we don't necessarily want to have formal writing on our blog posts but the structure of the formal writing, because that really helps search engines understand what your page is about, what topic is it and what are your supporting topics to the main topic and that's really gonna help your rankings for that topic that you have for that specific page. Just to get a little bit more detail there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love that you said don't get overwhelmed and try it, because people will come to me and say, well, I got to go back to episode zero and start from there and go in chronological order, and I'm like, no, like red flag, do not do that and follow Carrie's advice. Pick the ones that you maybe. You just know that I love talking about this topic and it performed well. Those are the ones that I want to make sure, because there's some stuff on my website y'all. Let me just tell you, because this is how I know SEO works there's one blog post that still lives on my website that I put out on Pinterest in 2019. That still brings traffic to my website every year.
Speaker 1:It's not really public in that like. It has a link that you can just get to from crystalprofitcom, the podcast coach, content strategist. It's about why I don't walk my kids into school on the first day of school. It's the most random thing, right, Like this was in my early blogging days, but because I already understood SEO and it was working, it's still bringing traffic to my website and it's just on our normal blog page. It doesn't look like anything fancy, so people probably get confused or like who is this podcast coach? Like why is she talking about taking her kids into school? But I'm just saying, all of it works and it will continue to work for years to come, because there's so much out there.
Speaker 1:And I wanna go back to one last question, because you mentioned this earlier, about the ethics of the links and everything. So if you're using a tool like Pinterest or anything else like you already mentioned Instagram or somewhere else, is there a special formula for how many times you yourself can link to something from like cause? I remember back in the day, like I said, I used the tool when I was in blogging exclusively before I fell in love with podcasting. I used the tailwind tool to post on Pinterest. It was like 10 times a day and it would post all these different times, but it was all going back to the same link. Maybe it was a different picture or something like the format of it, but they were all going back to my website. Is that what you would deem still ethical in that realm, or what are some things that we should look out for when linking back to our own stuff?
Speaker 2:You definitely want to make sure that the website has a good reputation and that's kind of harder to tell. But, like you kind of know, when you're on a website that's kind of sketchy, so you don't want to have links from sketchy websites. So if somebody's like, oh, you pay me just a little bit of money and I'll link to you, no, don't do that. Now, usually you want it from free and from somebody else. That's also reputable. The social media aspect is a little bit more tricky because not everything shows up on social media all the time. As we know, it's here and gone like in minutes many times. Pinterest is a little bit different, obviously because people can pin it, and I think that's probably more okay because it's a reputable website, especially if you're not kind of like spamming the links. Like if you have a specific topic, you're not like repeating those words multiple times in your content that links to your webpage. So that would be probably a bit more on the spammy side.
Speaker 2:But it's honestly a little bit harder to do the unethical linking, although I feel like there's still some search engine people out there that aren't very ethical and will be like oh, I can get you on a hundred websites in like 10 days. No, don't fall for that. This is a long play. You need to be gentle with it and take things at a time. And one thing you can do yourself that you can control and it's something we haven't talked about too much is internal linking. So if you do go to a little bit more advanced route and have your own blog and your own website for your podcast, link to relevant articles, relevant previous podcast episodes, use the keywords you want to be found for that link that you're going to, and that's also gonna help your rankings too. A search engine so that's one linking you can control is links to yourself, and obviously you just you don't wanna have links everywhere, but have purposeful links, ones that help consumers Always think about your listener in mind and you'll be in pretty good shape.
Speaker 1:Oh gosh, this is so helpful and I feel like everybody's brain's exploding Like, okay, I need to go, like do this and do that. But if someone were listening to this today, do you have like one big takeaway that you would give to them? Or one thing that's like, okay, put on your blinders and only do this if you wanna be successful with SEO this year. What would that be?
Speaker 2:I think if you wanna be successful and just have one thing to concentrate on is, before you publish your podcast episode, just do some quick keyword searches and just make sure you kinda nail that title. If you're doing how-to's, start with the words How-to increase your website traffic, for example, you might wanna get a little bit more specific, but then that one's a little bit short. But yeah, just pick your keywords and really focus on those, without overdoing it. If you feel like you're repeating yourself too much, you probably are, and Google and the major search engines aren't gonna like it. So pick your phrase and go with that and keep your head down and don't worry about anything else until you're ready to do another step.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's awesome. This is so fun, and I knew that you would be the perfect person to talk about this, carrie, because we had a conversation before. I was like we just made this simple version of SEO. We need the user-friendly, the one that's like I'm not this big, scary search engine that's super hard to understand. So thank you so much for bringing all of these big nuanced technical things down to our level, because I appreciate it and I know so many people do too. But we're gonna move into our rapid-fire questions, which I just thought about. I was like wait, carrie has done this before. Carrie has done our rapid-fire questions and we're gonna do them again with a little bit of a twist. So are you ready for that?
Speaker 2:Sure, and I don't remember them from before, so we'll be good.
Speaker 1:So it's like a total. It's new to you, okay. So the number one is what advice would you give to a brand new podcaster or content creator and I'm gonna go a step further who is looking at creating a website this year?
Speaker 2:Okay. So what advice would I give them? I would say start simple, write down your goals. Try not to create too many goals at once. I'm talking three to five goals. That's not very many goals, like. It's kind of like how you do project management. Don't pick too many projects to work on and find somebody that you can trust, that you really go with your gut. Don't necessarily go with the cheapest person out there. If you need help building your website, you're probably going to spend more money because you're going to spend more time hand-holding somebody that's super cheap. So find somebody that's affordable to you but also that you have a good gut feeling about and can trust, because we've seen so many people get just you know, and not in a good place if they go with the super cheap.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I'm sure you and your team you're like we fix a lot of things that other people have done. Yeah, okay, my second question is what is the dream podcast you would love to be on and who is your dream podcast guest you'd love to interview?
Speaker 2:Well, since I'm already on your podcast, we'll go with, let's say, amy Porterfield. I think it would be super cool to be on her podcast, because I already wanted to be on yours and here I am. So that's great. And what was the second part of the question? I totally forgot it.
Speaker 1:So who would you love to interview? Who is your dream guest that you would love to sit down with and just pick their brain?
Speaker 2:Probably like Donald Miller or you know one of those, maybe Brian the 12-week-year guy, brian something, moran, I believe it is. Yeah, probably one of those. I'm just really into business and business learning and I think, even though our web, our podcast's, ecommerce made easy, you've got to have a business mindset behind it too. So I think somebody different, a little bit more of a tangent from what we do, I think, would be great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's so good. Those are great recommendations. And then the last question is do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Speaker 2:I am definitely a recovering perfectionist and sometimes I have my perfectionist days that get me so stuck and it's so frustrating.
Speaker 1:It's good. It's such an honest answer and I think that everybody can relate to that, so thank you so much for sharing. But, carrie, where can everybody find more about you and your business? Tell us, tell us, how do you help people with SEO or their websites? If somebody's listening and they're like I don't want to deal with any of this, I just want Carrie to help me. Where would they go to find you and all the things?
Speaker 2:Well. So we love helping people in any stage, really, whether it's they work with us or they don't. They want to have us hold their hand the whole time, or whether they want us to like run through it and just do it ourselves and be. You know, they're completely hands off. We like to meet our clients where they are, and you can find us on currently our really old website, bcsengineeringcom. Please don't judge me, we are rebranding. Right now. You can actually also find us at bcsesolutionscom, which is our new branding name, because people were so confused by the word engineering. So those are the two main places, and then the ecommerce made easy podcast is a great way to connect to me too.
Speaker 1:Perfect, Perfect. Yeah, I think that we'll link to everything in the show notes and please go listen to Carrie's podcast, Like, if this is something that you're just like. Oh, I just don't know where to start. This was so I didn't really like drop this earlier, but Carrie is a former client and like student of mine and one of the things that we worked on. I still remember sitting and talking about your podcast and you were like crystal. I work with people that are so smart and I don't want to overwhelm them with all these things. I want it to be so easy and I think that you've done a fantastic job. So again, I just want to like congratulate you on like fulfilling your vision with this podcast, because I think that you're doing such an incredible job and having Carrie in your ear to help walk you like, handhold you, like walk you through these things that could be a lot more technical. She's just a perfect person. So please go check out her podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I love, I love helping make it be relatable to everybody, of whatever technical ability they are.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, thank you so much for being on the show today. This was fantastic and we'll have to have you again. I mean you're getting up there in the Hall of Fame If we have you back for a third time. I mean, like you're going to get up there and it's, it's. Yeah, I just enjoy talking to you so much.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's like we've met in person and we're best friends of every time we get on the phone together. I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you so much. Have a good day All right, thank you.
Speaker 1:I knew having Carrie on the show would be such a treat and I love that she shares so generously on this episode today, but she does so even more on her podcast. So make sure you go check out e-commerce made easy. Go check out all of Carrie's incredible resources. I'm going to have everything linked in the show notes, so don't worry, we will have everything for you there. But make sure you go check out Carrie's podcast and don't let these tech things overwhelm you, because I get it Like I was someone who ventured into having an online business and I immediately felt overwhelmed.
Speaker 1:But the thing that has been key for me is finding the right resources that can help me get further, faster and just really take things that are more complex and break them down into tangible ideas, and I think Carrie does this so well. So go check out her podcast. Go check out all her resources and tell her that Crystal sent you Say I heard about you from the Prophet podcast, because that would be so fun, and actually I would love for you to take a screenshot where you're listening to this today and tag us on Instagram. Let us know what you thought about today. Tell us your number one takeaway and, if you're listening for the very first time to this show, make sure you hit that subscribe or follow button. That way you don't miss future episodes and interviews like this, for that's all I have for you today. So, as always, remember, keep it up. We all have to start somewhere.
