Junction Jack: Revolutionizing SEO Services with Mrs. SEO

0:00Stephanie LongHey, I need an SEO expert. Where do I go? I go to Junction Jack.

0:03businesses can just sign up. There's no application process.

0:05When you come in, you can pick project, you can pick, Oh, I want to do, keyword research. I'll use that as an example.

0:11Then it'll match you with an expert. So it's like a dating app if you've been on one.

0:15Welcome to the third season of the Simple and Smart SEO Show. The podcast dedicated to empathy driven, brand building SEO.

0:22Crystal WaddellI'm your host, Crystal Waddell. I leverage my obsession with user experience to help business owners just like you optimize your website with confidence.

0:29Thank you so much for being here.

0:31Let's jump into another great episode.

0:33welcome back to the simple and smart SEO show podcast. I am back with essentially a friend of the show at this point.

0:39Stephanie Long, who's also known as Mrs. SEO everywhere on the internet.

0:44So Stephanie, Thank you so much for coming back to the Simple and Smart SEO show. I can't wait to tell everybody what we're talking about today.

0:50Thanks for having me again.

0:52Let's just get straight to it because I've got tons of questions to ask you about this new thing that you've created.

0:57You have created an SEO marketplace and we are going to dive into like how you came up with the idea, like why you came up with the idea and when, who it's for.

1:06So let's just start from the beginning.

1:08Where did you get the idea for this marketplace?

1:10Stephanie LongSo I've been in SEO over a decade. I think 15, 16 years now.

1:15And there's never been a place where you can truly find solid SEO experts. There's Fiverr and there's Upwork, but they're not I wouldn't call them solid SEO experts. They aren't vetted.

1:27And just the last five years that I've been doing my own business, I've noticed that people just really struggle to find a really good SEO person. And, I can't take on everyone in the world.

1:38So I just think that it's important to have a People that are vetted. That you can refer people to because SEO is this like dark hole, as and people can get screwed by other SEO people and ghosted by them.

1:51So having someone that has been referred to you or vetted, I think increases the likelihood that you're going to have really great, solid SEO and a partner.

2:03Crystal WaddellYeah, for sure. I think I told this story a long time ago on the podcast.

2:07But when I first started helping people with their Shopify stores, I had a client who came to me with a new Shopify store that she had paid someone to set up for her and they had said the SEO elements were included.

2:19Which at that time, I was learning about meta titles and descriptions and all that type of stuff.

2:24So it's okay let's start there. Let's see what you've got going on. Let's optimize those. She sold candles. And her store was optimized for jewelry. Wow. Yeah.

2:33Stephanie LongYeah.

2:35Crystal WaddellSo the first question she had asked me, it was like, I don't understand why I'm not showing up in the search results.

2:40I told her, I was like it's because Google doesn't really understand what's going on your website.

2:43That's the thing. People don't know sometimes what they're paying for and what they should be getting for that money. And when someone tells them, hey, I'm going to set up your SEO. They're like, okay, cool. I don't know anything about that. That sounds great.

2:54I'd like to, just have that taken care of, but then come to find out.

2:57It wasn't done or it wasn't done correctly and they just have no idea.

3:02Stephanie LongAnother thing is a lot of people come to me from an agency. So the web team told them that it's optimized.

3:09And as but other people probably don't know CMSs will default to whatever that first paragraph or whatever that title is.

3:16So the web team usually says it's optimized because CMS is already defaulted. But they didn't actually go and do the keyword research.

3:23So each page is whatever the CMS assumes it is. So they tell the client it's optimized because it's filled in.

3:31Crystal WaddellYeah. And then what's really not awesome about that is when they've made copies of the pages.

3:36So then you have this copy of the original page that now shows up. Just like you said, wherever, that first line and first paragraph comes up, it's just a copy of a previous page.

3:46So it just all gets so convoluted and wrong.

3:49I'm so glad that you've created this because now people have to go a place that they can go where people, they can actually trust.

3:54Let's talk about like the development of this marketplace. Okay. What was the biggest challenge?

4:00Stephanie LongI will say. Just getting started. Trying to find who could help me. I was quoted in the hundreds of thousands to start and that's obviously out of my budget. So I just felt and again, this has been over like a five year period.

4:14So I just, I put it on pause. And then really I can't, I don't, I'm not going to get funding. I'm doing this all myself.

4:21Just last year in one of the women's groups, I randomly posted, if anyone knows, see, I thought I was going to do an app, right? I was like, does anyone know app development?

4:28And a woman in one of my woman's groups was like, yeah, me and my husband are starting a company. We'd love to help you. So that's how it started.

4:35And from there It's just been you know, I thought I was It was last january started. I thought it was just done in a month, right?

4:41We both did, we didn't know. They were starting their company i'm starting mine.

4:45So it's been a process and very, I have to say if I didn't have solid like you and women's groups, I'm in and just other colleagues. I don't know how I would continue this. You really need a solid network and advocacy group. It's so hard. It's hard. I cry some days like it's really tough and people don't talk about this enough.

5:07It's really hard.

5:08Crystal WaddellThat's so interesting that you brought that up because for the last few years I've looked for that silver bullet. I was like, you know what? There's gotta be an easy button. There's gotta be a way to put all this stuff together because all the people who teach about business online are like, Oh, just, have this funnel and people will come in here and spend all this money and just do this.

5:25And everything's great. And I'm like, what am I doing wrong? And it wasn't until over the last year and a half, probably where I realized, Oh my gosh.

5:32That silver bullet doesn't exist. I feel so embarrassed to admit this, but I was like, there is no easy way to get there. You just have to go through it.

5:40And you just have to do it and you just have to fail and you just have to learn.

5:44And then you just have to sometimes get a little bit lucky. And then, like you said, you have to build your network. So that have great people around you to help pick you up when you fall.

5:52Stephanie LongYeah. Yeah. And I've had to pay for some experts. To be totally transparent.

5:56Like it's not all been free advice.

5:58But without that I couldn't be where I'm at today So it's still a work in progress, it's wonderful. I love it and I don't want to give up. But I think we don't talk enough about the hard parts and the bad days and the tears so Yeah.

6:12Crystal WaddellFor sure. For sure. So I'm thank you for sharing that.

6:15Now you talked about vetting personally.

6:18Can you tell us a little bit about that process? Like how you chose the experts and what the vetting process look like?

6:24Stephanie LongYeah. Initially, when I launch, I'm going to, it's going to be all the SEO experts that I know in

6:29my network.

6:30So they will, I've already talked to most everyone. They will be on there because I trust them. I know them. Just like Crystal, she is a Shopify expert. She's a Wix partner, e commerce obviously. So she will be on the platform.

6:43That is the initial vetting quote unquote, because I know them.

6:46However, you can apply. And when you apply, you will fill out an application just like a job.

6:51And then I will be the one interviewing you to make sure you are qualified.

6:56To be on there. Because this is not entry level SEO. You need to have solid experience. Cause I will say on Fiverr and Upwork, I did the whole process and you just take a quiz and a lot of the questions actually aren't even applicable to SEO.

7:09I don't know any SEO experts that actually would do some of the questions. So you take a quiz, you can Google the answers.

7:15And then you're an expert. I don't have quizzes. I just need to talk to you. And get an understanding for if you know it. How long you've been doing it. There's no quiz and then you're an expert.

7:25Crystal WaddellGotcha. Yeah. I signed up for Upwork and I didn't even have to take a quiz.

7:28Yeah, I think it's pretty easy now that everybody could just put SEO expert behind your name.

7:32Stephanie LongLike I said, this has been a process for a while, so that's even, okay. That's even more, wow.

7:37Crystal WaddellAnd maybe I could have upleveled my profile a little bit more, but I just created the profile and said, okay, here we go.

7:43But so what type of key qualities and skills are you looking for with the

7:48Stephanie Longexperts?

7:49I want them to have, I'm not going to put a set amount of years on. But I want to make sure that they have enough experience that they're not going to have to You know ask questions to Someone else in the sense that oh, I have to hire someone because I don't know the answers to these questions. I want that person to be able to answer my questions.

8:09I want the quality to show in their work.

8:13I want like examples. What have they done? I may even ask to talk to a former client.

8:17If you know the restaurant the high end sushi restaurant.

8:21This is the Nobu to McDonald's. You want drive through quick service. You go to Fiverr Upwork. You want white glove, high end, you go to me.

8:30That's why it is going to be a process. It's not going to be easy. Because I want to really vet you.

8:34Of course I'll probably make mistakes along the way like we all do. But that will be the vetting process. It's going to be, pretty intensive.

8:42Crystal WaddellSo in the world of SEO, what do you think separates a good expert from a great one?

8:48Stephanie LongI think being honest. I think because I know so many people that will go and do seo on their website.

8:56But they don't know what they're doing and they'll say it's optimized and it's not.

8:59A good seo expert can admit. I don't know this industry, I need to research it. I'm not going to just throw keywords on there.

9:06They are open and honest. About what they know.

9:09And I think that's good versus great. I think good we'll just do average work.

9:14Not explain, what they have done. They aren't very good at articulating it. I think great people are articulating it are okay to say, I made a mistake.

9:22I don't know. And let me fix this.

9:24Crystal WaddellI think that's such a good point. And I think sometimes with SEO and being new at it.

9:29There's this pressure to Provide data immediately and be like, okay, this is what's going to happen, or this is what's happening or whatever. And really the first step needs to be strategy.

9:40And like you said, I just want to clarify, because you were talking about, you don't want people coming on that have to do research.

9:45I know you're talking about you do want an SEO who wants to research the industry that they're about to serve. Because. Every industry has its different quirks, and it's different strengths in terms of where to be found in search. And all sorts of different things.

9:59And so you're so right. That, if you're getting this kind of cookie cutter feedback right away for your SEO Work or quote or whatever, I would question that.

10:09Because it's really, how much do you know about my actual industry and my actual website? Have you looked at my website? You know what I sell?

10:15Because I've been Approached online for, from people who are SEO experts trying to help me with my website.

10:22And I'm like, have you even taken the moment to understand like what my business actually does?

10:28Stephanie LongI get that too. I'll get you a thousand backlinks. Which is links from other sites to my site. I get that in my LinkedIn DMs all the time. Yeah, and good point.

10:36Thank you for clarifying because, I don't want somebody applying and then they're just googling the latest SEO trends.

10:42I need like solid work experience.

10:44Crystal WaddellOkay.

10:45So for a business owner who may not fully understand SEO. What do you think is the benefit of using your marketplace versus just trying to find someone independently?

10:56Stephanie LongWhat usually happens is small businesses will go to Fiverr or Upwork. And then they'll come to me to clean it up.

11:02So you're gonna pay a little bit more but you're gonna get a solid SEO, great SEO person from the get go. That's going to set you up for success. So do you want to pay a little money now and not have an optimized website?

11:15Or do you want to come and pay a little bit more money and have a great seo expert do this for you?

11:20So you don't need it cleaned up. And you don't wonder why you're not showing up in the search results.

11:25Crystal WaddellSo if i'm a business owner, how do I?

11:28Get to your marketplace because we haven't even, said the name of the marketplace. So we should probably do that. And if you have a domain name, like, where do I go?

11:36And how does going to the marketplace simplify me finding what I need?

11:41Stephanie LongIt's Junction Jack. And my URL is JunctionJack. co. So J U N C T I O N J A C K. co.

11:49I want to say a little bit backstory about the name.

11:52So I will say naming something is one of the hardest things I've ever done.

11:55I did just a kind of a generic name in the beginning. And I thought it was great. And then I was asking around.

12:00Which again, you need your community, your network and a trademark lawyer. And one of my woman's groups actually approached me and said, I think that you're going to run up against legal issues because I was using the similar name to another big company.

12:12Which I didn't even think about, I didn't know.

12:14And she's like, they could sue you if you become big.

12:17And you take some of their marketing. Essentially is what they would say. So I had to get out my thinking, cap hardcore, like for a whole weekend. I just sat and thought.

12:26She's like, think outside the box.

12:28Like Bumble, the Bumble app is all about women and queen bees.

12:32And then there's hinge, the dating app, like connector, like a hinge door connects, right?

12:37So I did Junction. Because Junction is a connector, it forms two things.

12:42And then Jack, because my cat passed away from cancer.

12:47Right around the time I was thinking of the name. And I thought, because I wanted to give up at that time, and I knew he would want me to keep going.

12:53So Junction Jack is how the name got formed. And it's now in the trademark process.

12:59So yes, that is the little story behind that.

13:02Crystal WaddellThat's an amazing story. Thank you for sharing. It's like super cool. And I think everybody's going to remember that now. Because I was I wonder what Jack stands for, but now I know, and now I remember, and I'll never forget that.

13:11So how do I go to Junction Jack and connect with the right person for me?

13:15Stephanie LongSo when you go, businesses can just sign up. There's no application process.

13:18When you come in, you can pick project, you can pick, Oh, I want to do, let's say, you know what you want.

13:23Keyword research. I'll use that as an example.

13:25Then it'll match you with an expert. So it's like a dating app if you've been on one.

13:29So you have a project. Let's say you do keyword research.

13:32Like I mentioned, it will show you all those. SEO experts that filled out their profile that said that they do these kind of projects.

13:38Or these they do keyword research. So you can choose from that, or you can search on your own and find somebody else. If you didn't like any of those matches.

13:47But if you don't know what you're doing, like you know you need SEO. I have a quiz, that ask you some prompts. And then at the end, it will tell you, we think you need this.

13:56And here's the experts that match to that. So that is the different processes.

14:01And again, you don't have to do either. You can just start searching.

14:03And SEO experts on the flip side can search for projects.

14:06Crystal WaddellThat's very cool. I like that. Okay.

14:10And so do you foresee in the future, maybe expanding the marketplace to do other digital marketing services? Or will it stay focused on SEO?

14:20Stephanie LongI. Right now, obviously things can change. But right now I just want to really focus on SEO.

14:25And get this really solid. Maybe a partner, maybe I sell, I don't know. But right now I just feel there's just this deep need and I want to just get this solid marketplace.

14:36For SEO experts and businesses that know, Hey, I need an SEO expert. Where do I go? I go to Junction Jack.

14:42Crystal WaddellI love that. Okay. So you've invited me to be a part of Junction Jack.

14:46I know you mentioned a little bit earlier that, that I'm a Shopify partner.

14:50And a Wix partner, and that my background is in Etsy and e commerce, but.

14:55Could you share with my audience, like why you thought I would be a good fit for Junction Jack.

15:00Stephanie LongYou and I have been talking for several years. I've been on the podcast before. So just being able to talk to you about SEO, you understand.

15:07I have total confidence that putting you on there, if somebody found you for their project, that you would, they would be in great hands.

15:13That's what I worry about. That's why the vetting process is going to be more rigorous.

15:18Because I want to make sure that everyone on there will be in good hands when they find their SEO expert.

15:24So you are very fluent in it. You post about it all the time on social media.

15:29Again, we've chatted multiple times.

15:31So I already trust that, you know what you're talking about.

15:34Crystal WaddellI appreciate that.

15:35So what advice would you give to an SEO professional right now that's listening and says, I want to become a part of the vetted community. What would you say their first step should be?

15:44Stephanie LongYeah. So right now there's just a landing page to sign up for Information.

15:49But if you just go and put your name and email address in there, I will be announcing when I'm looking for experts come January. And then I will send out the application.

15:57You will just get in my email list, to send that to you.

16:01Crystal WaddellAwesome. Okay. So let's go back to the business owner perspective. Like looking at SEO now versus how it's changed over the years.

16:08Like what SEO trends are you seeing currently that business owners should be aware of?

16:13And how do you feel the marketplace will adapt to those changes?

16:17Stephanie LongYes, I recently wrote an article on AI and machine learning and how your phones, Alexa, Siri, whatever you use as your voice assistant. Is really going to become your assistant. Voice search is going to be so important coming up.

16:30If you are continuously serving up good content, your voice assistant, so your assistant, will know, okay, this is a good website.

16:38They keep serving up content that my owner, as in you, is interested in, clicks through. So they will start serving up your website again and again.

16:49So doing voice search and back when I first started, it would be very short terms, sEO Seattle, what does that mean? Now it's longer.

16:57Where can I find an SEO expert in Seattle? So more it's how do people actually talk? And to the voice assistant, they will start recognizing how their owner is talking.

17:09And so it's very important to write content for voice search.

17:13Because that's becoming huge.

17:15Crystal WaddellYeah. And that is so interesting because I would say that was my very first like exposure to SEO.

17:21It was back in maybe 2016.

17:24When I heard someone talking about voice search.

17:27And the fact that like you wanted to be the company that Alexa served up.

17:32Or any voice assistant served up when someone, was looking for what you sell. And for me, I sold senior night gifts. And so I remember that moment exactly. That I thought, you know what?

17:42I want my business collagewood. com to show up when people say, where can I find senior night gifts or a gift idea for my senior athlete ?

17:50It all started with voice search. And that was before I knew anything about SEO.

17:54So I think it's so interesting that it's this whole thing is coming full circle.

17:58Stephanie LongIt's like fashion trends, right? They go out of fashion, they come back. Keyword stuffing.

18:02When I very first started, that was a thing. That's never going to be a thing again, right? Some trends just never come back. But yeah, I think a lot of trends, come full circle.

18:11And that is one that's, as AI and machine learning are becoming so prominent in our everyday world, we need as SEO experts to think about how do we adapt.

18:20To how people are searching. And people are on the go more, right?

18:23And so Google my business is important for local. Making sure your Google, my business profiles optimized. For those local searches.

18:30Crystal WaddellYeah. It reminds me also of QR codes, because there was a point where they were like, Oh, QR codes are done for.

18:35And they are like, so here to stay at least right now in 2024!

18:39Because Even on commercials, it's Oh, that's so smart. I can just hold my phone up to the commercial and go to whatever page they want me to land on.

18:46So exactly. Okay.

18:48As we see SEO evolving in the next few years, what role do you hope that Junction Jack's going to play in that evolution?

18:55Stephanie LongI want people to continuously be learning that are on my platform. So I want them to always be updated on the latest trends.

19:00But I really want Junction Jack to be the go to platform.

19:06Oh, you want the latest SEO? You go to Junction Jack, like that is who you go to.

19:11And I'd love to be able to partner with agencies. So that when they have clients that need SEO, they come to us.

19:18Because I know agencies do SEO. I started at an agency.

19:21But I know it's not their bread and butter and their main thing. I hope that they want to give their clients great SEO.

19:26So then Junction Jack is their partner for that. That's what I hope evolves over the years, I guess we will see.

19:32Crystal WaddellI love that. And I just, the name Junction Jack, that is just such a fun name to say.

19:37How would you say that your personal experience as an SEO expert, not only as an agency owner, but as a freelancer.

19:43How does that influence the way that you're going to run Junction Jack?

19:46Stephanie LongSo I want every customer to have white glove service, right? So that's what I expect from people on there.

19:52If they don't want to give excellent customer service, this is definitely not that platform for them. And I know that could sound well, duh, everyone's going to give excellent customer service.

20:02That's not true. So I just want that to be out there.

20:05But I also want to be fair. Like I'm, I want people to know that while this is where you get your greatest SEO experts.

20:15I want the partners also to like, for instance, if they need social media people. That I will have a partner on there.

20:20You had mentioned if I'm going to go out, to other digital marketing.

20:23i'm gonna have partners that will do Web development, social media. So just because I am only doing seo, you can maybe find a partner to do social media.

20:33It's continuously evolving.

20:34Crystal WaddellAnd I really liked that because again, people are constantly looking for referrals.

20:38And the word of mouth phenomenon that has always existed continues to persist.

20:43Even in a world dominated by large language models and, Big fancy terms like SEO.

20:48Stephanie LongTotally. Yeah. My client base is referrals.

20:50I only use everything that has been built from Mrs. SEO to Junction Jack, is all referrals. Everything from every lawyer I've used on Junction Jack, which is a whole nother thing, getting that legally sound. To the web development, to the design. That has all referrals.

21:06So it's a big referral.

21:07Crystal WaddellSo I'm curious, going back to this whole development process have you fallen in love with developing something like this? Is that something that you want to, explore more in the future, or do you think that you've had enough?

21:19Stephanie LongI've had enough. I've had enough.

21:21Yeah I think the next thing I would do would have to be a passion project. Because this is. So much time. And I do have a deadline cause I'm speaking at conference next year and I would like it to have some legs before I go. So it'd have to be passion project. That if it doesn't launch for five years, I'm okay.

21:38I work on it little by little. So yeah that's where I'm at right now.

21:42Crystal WaddellSo what conference are you speaking at next year?

21:44Stephanie LongYeah. Possible in Miami.

21:46Crystal WaddellOh, nice. Going to the warm places.

21:49So you have your website, mrsseo. co and you have JunctionJack. co.

21:54Where else can people find you if they want to talk to you a little bit more about becoming a part of Junction Jack? Or finding an expert.

22:00Stephanie LongYeah, so you can email me. So it's stephanie. That's with the ph at mrsseo.

22:06co or on linkedin.

22:08That's where i'm most the social media that i'm most active on is linkedin.

22:11Crystal WaddellAnd before we head off, is there anything else you wanted to add or share about? What's coming up for you in the future?

22:19Stephanie LongI think that this is just going to be a really exciting venture.

22:22I can't wait to get off the ground. And if you are a business listening,

22:26I think that you definitely need to check this out and see what SEO experts are on there.

22:31And how they are going to transform your business in the coming years because you need to be on top of the latest SEO trends. And I don't think other marketplaces offer what I will offer.

22:43After I get this all done, I want to launch courses on there as well. That you can purchase, but that's what I hope to do in later 2025.

22:49Crystal WaddellI'm really excited to be a part of your community. And I'm excited to get started, as part of Junction Jack and just really grateful that you included me in your launch.

22:59Yeah. Absolutely. All right, guys. That's it for today. Go check out JunctionJack. co so you can stay updated on everything Stephanie's doing there and be ready for the launch in January, 2025. I'll see you next time.

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