Welcome to Follow Up Fridays: What A Week in SEO

[00:00:00] Hello there and welcome to follow through Fridays. 

[00:00:04] I'm your host, Crystal Waddell. Super excited to have you here. 

[00:00:06] What a week it has been in SEO. If you work in SEO, You know what I'm talking about. 

The Impact of Google's Crackdown on Black Hat SEO (Latest Update)

[00:00:13] This has been the week where Google brought the hammer down on some Black Hat SEO techniques that have been happening.

[00:00:22] If you've been following a lot of the brand strategies that I've shared here on the podcast, then you're in good shape. But unfortunately. 

[00:00:29] There have been different sites who have been mass producing AI content. And of course doing it to manipulate Google's rankings and all of that type of stuff.

[00:00:39] Yeah, it's going to be interesting how it plays out, but. 

Sophia Vega's Insights on SEO and Backlinks

[00:00:42] Coincidentally this week, Sophia Vega was on the show. 

[00:00:46] And we were talking about bad backlinks. 

[00:00:47] And as a business owner, you probably receive emails on a regular basis about. 

[00:00:53] SEO help from an SEO expert, right? They see that you have purchased a domain or they come across your website and they reach out to say, Hey, I can help you. 

[00:01:03] Sometimes this can be great. Sometimes not. 

[00:01:05] You just have to vet your person. 

[00:01:07] And one of the benefits of being in the SEO squad is that you learn enough about SEO to know if somebody is giving you good advice or not.

[00:01:16] And one of our members. She actually hired someone off of Upwork. And then once they started talking back links and we talked about it in the group.

[00:01:25] She realized I don't feel comfortable with the backlinks that they are trying to get for me. And so she cut ties with that person and has since, hired someone different.

[00:01:33] Unfortunately you don't know what you don't know. 

[00:01:36] And so my goal for business owners. I hope you take away from this week's podcast is that you just need to be, you need to consider due diligence when it comes to someone handling your SEO.

Practical SEO Strategies and Personal Reflections

[00:01:47] Now, in terms of follow up Friday, Sophia gave some great ideas about capturing search traffic that may be competitor related. So on my website, collageandwood dot com, I sell giant wooden letters and numbers and also gifts for seniors who are celebrating their athletic senior night.

[00:02:05] But in this case, I wanted to optimize my wooden letters collection and add in that We are a Hobby Lobby alternative for wooden letters. 

[00:02:16] We are an Etsy alternative for wooden letters and even throw Pinterest in there as well to let people know that, Hey, if you saw something on Pinterest and you want to bring it to life, we can help you do that.

[00:02:26] So that was the main optimization that I made this week.

[00:02:30] Another thing Sophia said. 

[00:02:31] She said that a great way to get backlinks is to pitch yourself to podcasts. And I obviously have a podcast, but now I'm making a list of all of the people that I would like to be on their podcast. 

[00:02:44] So those are the two takeaways that I had this week. Number one, add, my competitor, plus the word alternatives to my collection page.

[00:02:52] And then the second thing is to make a list of podcasts where I can go on and finding podcasts that align with what I can share about.

[00:03:01] Yeah. 

[00:03:02] And then just a little philosophical thing to close us out. 

[00:03:05] I have spent the last few years looking for the easiest way to do something. And not just for me, but because I wanted to share it with other people. 

[00:03:15] Because I see people overwhelmed with trying to, do their website, do their social media, do, create a content plan, worry about who's linking to your website.

[00:03:23] It's like the list never ends. But I heard something on the Brainy Business Podcast, which I suggest everybody listens to. 

[00:03:30] There was a guest on the show and his name was Rory Sutherland. And he said that it's the journey, that's the value, not the outcome. 

[00:03:40] Many thanks again to Sophia Vega for being on the show this week. I'm so glad that we were talking about backlinks and it was a great conversation. 

[00:03:49] If you haven't checked it out yet, I'll link it in the show notes so you can go back and take a listen. 

[00:03:53] And next week, we're going to be talking even more about backlinks and public relations. 

Join the SEO Squad: An Invitation

[00:03:59] And I just want to take a minute to invite you to join the SEO squad. We are now accepting our second round founding members. 

[00:04:07] We meet every Wednesday at 10:00 AM. And I am there to answer all of your SEO questions. Even take a look at your Google search console and just provide the support that you need to know what to do with your website. 

[00:04:22] Email me@helloatsimpleandsmartseo.com. If you're interested in joining and I will send you more information.

Closing Thoughts and Invitation to Join SEO Squad

[00:04:30] Thank you for joining me for follow through Fridays. I hope you have a great weekend and remember, keep moving forward.

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