Follow Through Fridays: iSEO and Lessons From Google Search Console

Welcome to Follow Through Fridays... on a Saturday!

[00:00:00] welcome to follow through Fridays. It's actually Saturday, very early Saturday morning. 

[00:00:05] But I am excited to review the week with you. 

Diving into International SEO with Sarah Presh

[00:00:08] I hope you have had a wonderful week. 

[00:00:10] If you haven't listened to this week's episode on the Simple and Smart SEO Show Podcast, I'm following up on the international SEO episode I did with Sarah Presh, who is an international SEO expert.

The Shopify Theme Dilemma and SEO Insights

[00:00:22] And the reason why I wanted to talk to her was because Earlier in the year, I had purchased a Shopify theme off of Etsy for my crystalwaddell.com domain. 

[00:00:35] When I opened it up to customize it, there were three different options and I didn't realize it.

[00:00:41] And somehow I had gotten onto the U. S. theme, I believe. 

[00:00:47] But there was also a default theme and an international theme. 

[00:00:50] I created what I wanted to create. And then I went to look at it and edit it again, and it looked like nothing had been done. And that's when I noticed that there was actually the default theme in addition to the US and the international.

[00:01:04] And so I thought to myself, I was like, wow, do I need this? 

[00:01:07] Thankfully, I crossed paths with Sarah about that time, and I realized, okay, she's somebody I can ask about that. And after our conversation, I realized, I don't really have any reason to do international SEO right now. 

[00:01:20] For my business, I think this year I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've shipped internationally. 

[00:01:25] And I know that, shipping costs. And, the fees that are sometimes charged by the country that I'm shipping to. 

[00:01:33] Can give us some nasty surprises both as seller and buyer.

[00:01:38] So that has not been super fun to experience. 

Leveraging Amazon for International Sales

[00:01:41] Sarah did give me one really great idea. 

[00:01:42] And that is to leverage Amazon. My favorite word I think is leverage! 

[00:01:47] So what can you use to leverage, to help your business grow? 

[00:01:50] So Amazon, I actually had sent some photo props this year to Amazon for fulfillment, and it was my 2024 photo props.

[00:01:59] And in the past, I've had some issues with photo props being used by Amazon buyers. And then returned. 

[00:02:06] And crazy enough, I think I sent like 15 of these photo props to Amazon this year. 

[00:02:12] And 14 were sold and used. 

[00:02:16] And then one was returned and then resold. So I sold out of the inventory. So I definitely plan on sending more for the 2025 photo prop season.

[00:02:26] Now. The reason why I bring this up is because Amazon has markets in Canada, in France, pretty much globally. 

[00:02:33] So if you heard the podcast episode, I was having some pretty great results from searchers in France. 

[00:02:41] And I may consider sending some of those photo props. 

[00:02:45] Or, even just like 15 inch numbers to the Amazon warehouse in France. And see what happens.

[00:02:51] So right now that's falls on my never ending to do list of things that I'd like to do. 

[00:02:56] But it's definitely something that I'm putting on the list and if there comes a time where it makes sense I will follow up on it.

Exploring New SEO Strategies and Product Ideas

[00:03:01] So, that's what I took away from the international SEO episode.

[00:03:05] I did also want to say that I think it would be a fun experiment if, say, Google search Console shows that you are getting searched for in Spanish. 

[00:03:14] Let's say in the United States. 

[00:03:15] I think it would be a fun experiment to put the product that they are searching for in Spanish as a product page. 

[00:03:23] And also maybe have a blog in Spanish, about that product. 

[00:03:28] And then obviously interlink between the two. 

[00:03:31] And I'm, really i'm going to be pitching this idea to one of my clients that i've been wanting to do this for so long for. 

[00:03:37] Because another thing I took away from sarah was that you don't have to translate your whole site. 

[00:03:42] And if you're, not planning on shipping globally, you don't have to do it globally. 

[00:03:46] If you Don't have an immediate need for a bunch of people searching in a different language, then you don't have to convert your entire website into a different language. 

[00:03:56] And then also she said that google doesn't like it when you mix languages on a page.

[00:04:00] So I thought well, what about just creating separate pages of you know a product?

[00:04:05] And so I think that would be a fun experiment. 

[00:04:07] If that's something That like, appeals to you too. 

Launching New Products Based on SEO Data

[00:04:09] I would love to talk to you I think that would make a really fun episode. 

[00:04:12] So definitely reach out to me on social media at simple and smart seo. 

[00:04:16] And maybe we could collaborate on something like that. 

[00:04:19] The last thing was in relationship to google search console. 

[00:04:23] And finding search terms that lead to new products. 

[00:04:26] Because i've talked about this a little bit before, but I found out that people were not searching in spanish for this. 

[00:04:32] But they were searching for Marquee letters to rent or buy. In my shopify store. And that's not something that we had created before so I thought you know what?

[00:04:41] It looks like it's time to launch a new product. 

[00:04:44] So we're building these letters as people order them. 

[00:04:48] We charge a hundred dollars per letter to rent. 

[00:04:51] And we got our first wedding rental for nine letters. 

[00:04:54] So that is super exciting And if you can't tell, I'm a little bit sick right now, and part of it is because my body is really sensitive to chemicals.

[00:05:02] Thankfully, I have a friend that lives in my neighborhood who is also a teacher. 

[00:05:07] Although I don't teach anymore, we used to teach together years ago. 

[00:05:09] And she also side hustles as a painter! 

[00:05:12] We're meeting today to talk about her painting these letters. 

[00:05:14] And It's gonna be a really fun project in collaboration because even though we're making them as they're ordered.

[00:05:21] There are a couple that I want to make that I've seen, that are popular online. Like Baby. 

[00:05:27] Or MR. & MRS. Like, the ampersand, "&" sign in the middle. 

[00:05:31] This is something that we can work on together in the meantime. While people are placing orders. 

[00:05:36] So that's happening. 

[00:05:37] And It's just it's such a fun time of exploration and then realizing that The answers truly are in google search console.

[00:05:44] If people are searching for it You don't have to Build it and they will come. 

[00:05:49] It's like they're already there. They're already ready They're already looking. So why not fulfill the need? 

[00:05:54] And so super excited about how that project's going. 

Join the SEO Squad: A Special Invitation

[00:05:57] I want to let you know that you can still join the SEO squad. We are in our second round of the founders members launch. 

[00:06:03] So as of March, 2024, you can still join as a second round founding member for only $29 a month.

[00:06:10] And we meet every week to talk about your website. And how to get more sales. 

[00:06:14] So we talk about all things, optimization, all of the things that I do for my clients. 

[00:06:19] You get to pick and choose where you want to start. 

[00:06:21] Choose your own adventure to optimize your website for your perfect product! 

[00:06:25] So I have something in the works on that's going to match up with a three day challenge. 

[00:06:31] So if you like podcasts and you like three day challenges, make sure you continue to listen in as I give more details about that in the future. 

Looking Ahead: Website Building with Sarah Jensen

[00:06:39] And of course, I'd like to invite you to join me next Wednesday when I'm talking to Sarah Jensen. 

[00:06:44] She is also a North Carolina native, which is cool because I live in North Carolina. 

[00:06:49] And she is going to be talking about how she demystifies marketing for small business owners. 

[00:06:53] So, you'll definitely want to tune into that.

Closing Thoughts and Next Episode Teaser

[00:06:56] And with that, I hope you have a great weekend and I will see you next time. Oh, and don't forget, keep moving forward. 

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