Leverage Local SEO to Thrive Off Social Media: Kechia Taylor

Thriving Without Social MediaKeisha Taylor's Local SEO Secrets

0:00Kechia TaylorI always tell people your website is never gonna be finished. And no matter how much you might say, it's launched. I love it! It's never finished. Like you always have to go back and update. And most people, they aren't web or tech savvy. And so they never go back and update. Or they get a templated site.

0:19And just don't know how to use it. And that could be a downfall.

0:23Crystal WaddellWelcome to the third season of the Simple and Smart SEO Show. The podcast dedicated to empathy driven, brand building SEO. I'm your host, Crystal Waddell. I leverage my obsession with user experience to help business owners just like you optimize your website with confidence.

0:38Thank you so much for being here.

0:40Let's jump into another great episode.

0:42Welcome back to the Simple and Smart SEO show podcast.

0:45I am here with the beautiful Kechia Taylor. Who I don't know. I just, I crossed paths with you digitally on LinkedIn.

0:53And I saw that you are doing these amazing things as a business owner and, franchisor. Which is a new word that I learned from you.

1:02Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your business?

1:06and what exactly a franchisor is?

1:09Kechia TaylorOkay, my name is Kechia Taylor. I'm founder, CEO and franchisor, a browsing company.

1:15And a franchisor is someone that owns franchises.

1:19So you, when you go purchase a franchise, the franchisor is the owner that you actually purchase from. So they're at the top of the food chain and then the franchisees is beneath.

1:29So pretty much like the employer and employee. I guess that's a better way of putting it. Except as a franchisee, it's your own business. It's not the franchisor's business. It's business to make sure that the franchisee's is operating according to a set of rules or laws. That was put in place to help the business succeed.

1:51So that's what a overall franchisor does.

1:55I am a permanent makeup artist. I'm an educator. I'm a trainer.

1:59And I guess speaker, too. Podcastor.

2:03And just been in the beauty industry for over 20 years. I'm growing my business.

2:08And one of the specialties I have, and this is how we probably cross paths, is local SEO.

2:13Crystal WaddellOne of the things I just heard you say in your podcast.

2:17Was that you took a break from social media.

2:20And to hear that not only are you a business owner. But you are a seller to business owners. I think people probably will just sit up straighter to hear that.

2:28Like a business owner in 2024. Took time off. Yeah. Like from social media. I thought everybody had to be on social media.

2:36Kechia TaylorNo. Actually I was very scared of not being on social media. But I really got tired of it. Like I really got sick of posting every day to social media. And I'm like, it has to be a better way.

2:49Just because you're a business don't mean you have to be on social media.

2:53And luckily for me, I had that local SEO Side.

2:58That organic strategy side. That I use with my website. Google business profile.

3:02So for me, I didn't have to hustle on social media. Because that wasn't like my main way. Or not my top of funnel way of getting clients.

3:11And I started to feel like It was just for visibility.

3:15I started to feel like the clients were coming less and less from social media.

3:20And more from organic traffic.

3:23So immediately, right after...- it was New Year's Eve.

3:27That was the last post that I made to social media as far as my business. And personal. And I just enjoyed it so much. I was like, okay. I don't want to go back.

3:36And I still haven't really... you I mean, besides LinkedIn, which I don't even consider LinkedIn a social media net because it's more of networking.

3:45So I'm on networking with LinkedIn, but as far as like Instagram.

3:51I just haven't been able to bring myself to get back on it. And then the accomplishment of everything I was able to do.

3:59Not being on social media was a big one for me.

4:01Crystal WaddellI didn't listen to the follow-up episode, so I'm not sure if it's out yet.

4:05And I didn't wanna steal the thunder from that follow-up episode. But I was just curious. I was like, could you share maybe one or two things that you did discover during this time being off the social media? Like maybe as a business owner and just, as even as a person.

4:18Kechia TaylorYeah.

4:19So as a business owner, I was able to launch my podcast, which was the Brows and co show.

4:25I was also able to take like this eight week, like business course within the County. And that was like a grant program. So that was huge. What else was I able to do?

4:35Open, a new location. So that was big. And not saying that I wasn't Like I wasn't going to be able to do it without social media.

4:44But it really helped that I wasn't worried about social media.

4:48And the thing is i'm not even all that social. So for social media to bother me, I can't even believe like what it would do to people who is social, you know?

4:57So those are some things that I accomplished without being on social media

5:01Crystal WaddellYeah, so i'm guessing you're saying like if you are super social and you're on it even more. You Like how much less time do you actually have to work on your business? Yes. Yeah.

5:10Okay.

5:10So before we get into the SEO stuff, I definitely want to back up because I love hearing stories. Like other entrepreneur stories.

5:18So can you talk, can you just talk us through like how you got started in your business and what brought you to this point today?

5:25Kechia TaylorSure. The SEO side or the beauty side? The beauty side. Okay. Let's start with the beauty side. In the beauty industry is, I used to do brows. Like I used to do brows a long time ago when I was a teenager. And I just became like extremely good at it.

5:40So then my friends would be like, Kechia, can you do my brows? And then I would have friends coming over the house, doing their brows.

5:46Having a house full of people. And then my family member was like, can you do my brows? So I'm doing like all my aunt's brows.

5:52And then my grandmother was like, Can you thread my brows?

5:56And I was like, I don't know how to thread. She's Yeah, some new technique like in India. So I was like, Okay, I don't know how to thread brows, but I'm going to learn. So I went to New Jersey.

6:05I learned from someone of Indian heritage. To learn how to thread. Came back and started doing my grandmother brows.

6:11And then I just started taking brows to the next level. So once I became like employed, I worked in healthcare. So for a long time, actually.

6:19And I used to do co workers brows in the patient rooms.

6:22And I didn't charge or anything. I was doing brows in my car.

6:27And I just became so good at it. That just became the niche for me.

6:31I'm gonna put it in short term. So after that, I opened up a spa. And I just became the brow person. And then I launched like my brow product line.

6:40And here I am like doing permanent makeup, like years later, but my focus is still on eyebrows. So we do everything, but that is my main focus.

6:49Crystal WaddellAnd so when you first started, you said as a teenager. So how long have you actually been in business?

6:55Kechia TaylorAs browsing co has been in business for 10 years. And I've been in the beauty industry for over 20. So a long time. So I'm like one of the OGs in the game.

7:06Crystal WaddellYeah. And I think that's interesting too, to know, because if one would, if I looked at you, I would think that you're much, much younger than I am.

7:12And a lot of people think. I'm a lot younger than I am. And you don't have to tell your age, but I will say that I'm 43. A lot of people think that I'm younger than that.

7:20Which is, to my benefit and probably yours as well.

7:23Because as an OG, you probably know a few things that maybe some people don't even realize that, you know, which is great.

7:27But it's just nice to hear the story because it's like, man, did this just happen last year?

7:33I used to be an athlete. And so for years I wasn't an athlete that was, super girly or whatever. I just, Threw my hair up in a ponytail, went wherever I went. For decades.

7:42And it wasn't until about three years ago when I hit my forties that I started getting interested in makeup. And that was probably another reason why I was, attracted to your profile because I thought, Oh, this is so neat. I was getting in eyebrows and all that type of stuff.

7:55And so to see a business owner in the beauty industry was just, it was great to get a look behind the scenes. But this whole world is new to me. And I just love exploring it.

8:04And it seems like it, it just started, but it's no, it's been around for a long time.

8:08Kechia TaylorYeah, it's been around. I always say I've been doing brows before keeping up with the Kardashians. So a very long time.

8:15Because the Kardashians has made it a hit, but I was doing it way back when, before all of that. So natural is always in.

8:22And I'm going to tell you that. So your makeup looks beautiful. Natural. Is always. A plus.

8:27Crystal WaddellThank you for that.

8:28I just love that you took this skill and then you seem to have. Like a knack for listening to your customer.

8:35Which seems to me like probably one of the driving forces behind your success.

8:39Because even before you were getting paid, people were asking you questions.

8:42Like your grandmother. Hearing about threading. And then you taking the initiative to go and learn directly from like, the culture.

8:50That did it. I'm like, I just think that's beautiful.

8:52Kechia TaylorOh, thank you. Oh my god. It was like Taking the train to New York. And getting on two buses to go to New Jersey. I was totally lost like out there in the streets. And guess what? It was no cell phones! It was no cell phones.

9:05Crystal WaddellWow. Yeah. So I and I just, I think that says a lot about you too.

9:08Like you, I, and I get this, it's you want to be the best. You want to learn from the best. It's like, don't tell me about it. I want to learn from the best who did it first. So kudos to you. That's really special.

9:19Kechia TaylorThank you.

9:20Thank you. It's exciting.

9:22Crystal WaddellOkay, so. As we're talking about and thinking about like business profiles and SEO. How did you learn about SEO? Where did that come into play?

9:31Kechia TaylorAnd that's the funny thing. That's like a whole different side of me that.

9:35A lot of people don't know about.

9:37But my, my degree is in graphic design. So building websites and doing all of that stuff. You get hip to SEO, like on the backend.

9:45So that's how I learned how to do SEO.

9:47But I didn't start doing local SEO until like my business opened. Until I opened a brick and mortar.

9:54Then that's when I started doing local SEO. Now I like regular SEO.

9:58But it is complicated. I like local SEO better.

10:01So then I started helping beauty business owners with local SEO. Because I feel like you're trying to attract everybody in the U S. When you only need to attract people within the first, like 10 to 15 miles of your business.

10:16So that's why I said it's a little bit. It's not a little bit easier. It's definitely a lot easier. But that's how I got started with SEO. It's just my background in graphic design.

10:25Crystal WaddellAwesome. Is that how you were able to stay successful off of social media? Obviously you'd already built up a brand. And clientele, and probably referrals, and all that type of stuff, but do you feel like it was.

10:36Having that kind of local search presence, it made it possible?

10:40Kechia TaylorYes, definitely. So being present in local searches and having those location pages like on your website. And being mobile optimized.

10:49Things that people just don't think about and not just being on Google. Apple Maps is another one, like people aren't really hip to Apple Maps for, business.

10:59They're all up, yeah girl, go ahead and put that down. But, people aren't really hip that, a lot of people use Apple Maps. Everybody don't use Google Maps. So you gotta be present on both.

11:10And Yeah, like the love for local has become overpowering, I guess for me.

11:16And that's how I was able and still able to survive and not be on social media.

11:21Crystal WaddellOkay, so you're right. We have to stop for a second and have a moment for Apple Maps. Because is this a different place of search than Google maps? Like they don't come from the same set of data.

11:33Kechia TaylorNo, it doesn't.

11:35And the thing with Apple maps, if you're a brick and mortar. And like I said, I specialize in beauty businesses. But I'm, sure that it works for other local businesses as well.

11:44But Apple maps pull your reviews from Yelp. And also, if you have a booking platform hooked up as a third party to Apple Maps, it pulls your reviews from that booking platform.

11:58So with me, my booking platform is Vegaro. And Vegaro is connected to my Apple Maps. So it's pulling in all of my reviews from Vegaro.

12:08So when you are looking for directions, you know how you're on your phone and you're looking for directions.

12:13Some people use Google maps. Some people use Apple maps. And more than likely a lot of people with iPhones are using Apple maps.

12:20Crystal WaddellYeah, because you have to install the Google maps. app, whereas the Apple maps is

12:25Kechia Tayloralready there. Yes.

12:27Crystal WaddellOh my goodness. Okay. So I knew that about Yelp. I'd forgotten. So do you recommend that people have a Yelp listing as well?

12:34Kechia TaylorI do. Now, I don't recommend that you do ads with Yelp. Yelp has gotten like a bad reputation, like over the years.

12:42But it's people that use Yelp. And you have to be present in front of those people. So I do recommend having a Yelp. Especially if you're a restaurant or beauty business. Or other brick and mortars.

12:55Definitely use Yelp because first, it has high domain authority.

12:59So number one, when people are searching for your business, Yelp is going to come up in search. Probably before your business domain address.

13:06So definitely being present on Yelp. It's a plus. It's a plus.

13:10They collect the reviews, why not?

13:12Crystal WaddellSo what about when you have reviews in multiple places?

13:16Is there a way to aggregate that? Or is it just there everywhere?

13:21Kechia TaylorIt's just there everywhere. I guess maybe. One day AI will figure this one out.

13:27But as far as like right now, the king of the reviews is Google.

13:32So all your reviews, try to get all your reviews on Google. That's the best thing that I can sell like any business. Because Google is the number one search engine.

13:42And then YouTube. And then we're not even going to talk about Pinterest. We, maybe we can talk about it. Okay. That's another one. It's a big one. That a lot of people just even for brick and mortar or location businesses, they should be on Pinterest. I'll put it like that.

13:56But I would get on Pinterest before Instagram actually.

14:00Crystal WaddellOh, my gosh. I love this conversation because Pinterest is my number one traffic driver of a platform. But I'm an online, e commerce business. Huh.

14:09So tell me more about why brick and mortar should be on Pinterest. Because I've never heard of brick and mortar SEO advocate talk about Pinterest.

14:18Kechia TaylorOkay. So Google is first. Apple is second and Pinterest is third for me as a driver. Now I do blog.

14:26And that's another thing that you should be doing. If you're a local business. Is blogging. It's not dead. It's definitely not dead. But for me, Pinterest is used as a portfolio piece.

14:37As you would to Instagram, you would post your before and afters to Instagram or promote your courses. Or whatever that you're doing in your brick and mortar. Just have a board and do it on Pinterest.

14:49Cause again, Pinterest search is going to come up before Facebook and Instagram, actually.

14:54When you search a business name is Facebook and Instagram is going to be underneath Pinterest.

14:59Pinterest is going to be ahead of that one. So for me, local boards, like having local boards, if you have like favorite restaurants in your area. Like use like your local network to pull traffic into your local business.

15:13Crystal WaddellOkay, I have to stay here for just a second. So on this local board, you're saying pin other restaurants or other businesses or information about other people local to you.

15:22And what does that look like in terms of pins?

15:25Kechia TaylorYes. So you might want to say, okay, best restaurants in. Sam Largo, Maryland or Crofton, Maryland. That's gonna pull that local like that local traffic into your board.. Or best hair salons. Like I'm a brow salon, so I don't do hair. We do permanent makeup.

15:43We do skin care. You could say best hair stylists in The Crofton, Maryland area. You're pulling in local people. And then you're using your keywords to build that board. And that's another, strategy, but you should be doing your keyword research as well.

15:59Crystal WaddellOh, my goodness.

16:00So for the local businesses that I work with in my small group, I have this small group called the SEO squad. We meet every week and talk about our businesses.

16:07And, Pinterest for e commerce or service providers who can work with anybody anywhere. It's been a no brainer for sure. I've had a little bit more difficulty, Understanding and sharing the value for local business.

16:19It's okay, I really think you have to have a presence. I really think you have to have a profile. But you are the first one that has laid out a strategy for Pinterest for local business.

16:28Kechia TaylorBecause I'm going to tell you like everybody who teaches like SEO or everything I've ever known.

16:35They would teach it as an online business, e commerce. Coaches and consultants.

16:39It's but I'm brick and mortar.

16:41What do I do? No one ever teaches that side of the business. And I guess for me, it's easy because I am a location based brick and mortar.

16:49So I'm not just saying it, like I'm actually doing it and using it in my business. But Pinterest is definitely one of my favorites. And actually having like I said, using it for a portfolio.

17:01If you're a beauty business, you could say, okay you can have your employee name, say, me. Kechia work by Kechia. And everything that. I do is underneath that board, or you can have another employee. They have a board dedicated to their work. So it's not just local stuff. It's also viewing everybody's portfolio.

17:22Cause for me, like posting on Instagram, I'm trying to cram everybody in. And tag everybody. Whereas if you just have a board on Pinterest and you just SEO the mess out of it, then you don't even have to worry about that. Like you're drawing in local traffic.

17:40Crystal WaddellOh, that is so brilliant. So brilliant. I cannot wait.

17:44I get it. Oh my gosh. We have a meeting tomorrow and I cannot wait to talk. Oh yes. Put them to work. Yes. That's awesome. Okay.

17:51So I just pulled up your Google business profile. Because I'm also very interested in how you use that.

17:57And I was wondering if you could just walk us through like your workflow for, updating it? Or, why you started it? How you started it? Just any. Any information on why it's important to use it.

18:08Kechia TaylorYes. So you should be using your Google Business profile as a landing page. It should be one of your top of funnels. If you are a local business.

18:18Google is always first. Like I said, then it's YouTube. But I use my Google business profile as top of funnel.

18:25Now in my profile, I don't have, I have a landing page. I don't have my website in a profile because to me, like my website. I love it. It's good, but it can be confusing because I'm talking about training. I'm talking about franchising. I'm talking about services. Whereas if you just click on the link in my Google business profile. I'm just talking about the services and to make it easier, you can just book a consultation.

18:51So I feel like. Using it as a top of funnel landing page is the best thing for any local business.

18:57And pulling like, the reviews. Now, I have a lot of reviews, but It's across the web.

19:04So it is very hard to get people to leave reviews. You have to ask for everything, maybe even their kidney to get a review.

19:11So it's hard to get local reviews. So you got to keep texting and emailing clients to leave reviews. And still they may be like, "Oh, I love my service!" But never leave a review.

19:20You want to definitely put your other social media links in your Google business profile, because now they allow that. At first they didn't allow that.

19:27And also make it easier for people to book with you from your Google business profile. Most booking systems can hook up with your Google business profile. Like I know they have the basic ones. Like if you're not a local business, if you're online business.

19:42I believe like they have acuity and stuff.

19:44I'm not for sure. But for a beauty business, before you even pick your booking platform, you need to make sure it connects with Google. Cause just to have that book online, button is important. Same with Apple Maps. You want to make sure that booking is third party integrated with Apple Maps. It will just make your life easier.

20:03And also doing your post updates. You have to post. You have to post to stay in Google algorithm. And so these posts are like mini blogs. Like I have mine's on autopilot. So I set mine's up like through a different platform. I set mine's up as autopilot. So it just automatically posts.

20:22And sometimes when things are not chaotic. Like I'll go on my phone and post myself. And the most important part is posting from your phone.

20:32Posting photos from your phone because of the geotags. Oh, okay. So let me explain that for, okay, let me explain that for local business owners.

20:44So if you are a local business and you're telling Google that you want a traffic in your local radius. And you're posting photos to your Google business profile, but it's photos that you took saying 30 miles outside of your local business. Then you could be deemed not relevant to search. You know what I'm saying?

21:04So for my business, every picture that I take inside of my business is posted on my Google business profile. Because of the geotag is saying it's at that location. So I'm relevant in Google's local search.

21:18Crystal WaddellIs there a way to switch those tags? Say a customer shares an image with you and it's Like from a different state.

21:25Kechia TaylorI think you can put it into some kind of map coordinate, but I'm not for sure. I never had to do that. Okay. But it's best to tell that customer to leave a review and post the picture with that review.

21:39Crystal WaddellOkay. Yeah. That's a really, that's really great feedback because sometimes I post pictures from say, my product photographer

21:46who is in Michigan.

21:48Which, I do serve, my service area encompasses the entire United States.

21:52So hopefully that's not a big deal. But whatever information's with his photos goes with them.

21:57Kechia TaylorSo another thing you can do is when you post your picture to your Google business profile, you have that pencil icon. So you can always put the state in it like the city state and maybe zip code.

22:08Do that and that will pull it in. Okay, as well.

22:12Crystal WaddellThat's so interesting. I had no idea. I had no idea. Okay. I noticed that you have products listed on yours and you have posts. Posts and updates, they're different, right?

22:22Kechia TaylorNo, they're the same. Okay.

22:23So when you click on the profile to do updates, you can either do like a promotion is special. But they still come up as posts.

22:31Crystal WaddellOkay.

22:32All right. And do you recommend using the promotions tab?

22:36Kechia TaylorI recommend everything that they offer. They have taken away a couple of things. Or they're going away this month like chat. And keeping up with like your phone call log.

22:46So a few things are going away. But I highly recommend. Doing Google Posts at least three times a week. It only takes a few minutes. Or you can go on Canva, create something. A template or something that you can use and just, do posts, different posts doing those different if you want it to look pretty.

23:06Crystal WaddellYeah.

23:06And I, so many people start with social media and they are like, bang their head against the wall, posting all the time to social media.

23:12And I'm like, okay, at the very least. Why don't you take those social media images and bring them over to your Google business profile?

23:20Kechia TaylorExactly. It will do you much more like in the terms of search.

23:25And even if you do video like you can upload video. It's not as robust as a YouTube like the video over there at Google. But it does show up in search.

23:36So that's another thing. If you click on images you're going to see these videos just rolling nonstop. So if you're already doing video over an Instagram and Tik TOK.

23:47Now they can't have the watermark of Instagram and Tic Tac.

23:51No, no platform likes that. I don't know what people do, sometime, but no platform likes the watermark. Of another platform. So if you can just record it and do the original video. Cause actually Google won't even let you upload it from your phone. When you go to upload from your phone, Google will, this is funny, it will give you an option.

24:11You're like, no, I took that photo. It's there. But Google won't even give you the option to post that photo. You won't even see it on your list to post or on a gallery to post it. If it has link from Tik Tok it won't even let you post it anyway.

24:25Crystal WaddellOh, wow.

24:26Yeah. I have a feeling they're going to get that much more territorial with everything that's going on right now.

24:31Kechia TaylorFor sure. So adopt it early.

24:33Crystal WaddellYeah, exactly.

24:34Now, the other thing I wanted to mention, I think my original fear with posting on my Google business profile, which I've since somewhat overcome. But my original fear was like reviews on Google. And when they're not Good. Like, how do you deal with a bad review?

24:49Because it's it's there forever, right?

24:51Kechia TaylorYes. And Google will never take it off. They will never take it off. I've had bad reviews, and not that I did a bad service.

24:59But Maybe someone called and the time has said that we were open. So that's another thing. You got to make sure that your time is correct.

25:08And so someone would be like, Oh I went there and they wasn't open.

25:11And so that could be a negative review. And Google will tell you that they have a right, they have a right to leave their opinion about your business. But don't be afraid of it. If you do get a negative review, then just respond back,

25:22Always address them by their first name. And it's the tone of the voice that people are reading.

25:29And I always recommend, as busy as us business owners are, respond to your reviews. Don't get an automated, or a chat, or even like an agency. It's just not, it don't even look like someone really thought about it. So another thing that could get you in search, of course, reviews is one of those things that Google say, Okay, we're looking at this.

25:54But when you respond back to the review with their first name. Hi, Kechia, thanks for visiting such and such in this location. Thanks for visiting Brows and Company in Gambrills, Maryland. I'm tagging that location in my response. So always respond, whether it's negative or positive.

26:12Always respond and respond immediately if you can. But at least within 24 hours. Or it becomes like irrelevant. Okay.

26:20Crystal WaddellSo what if say you respond quickly and you're angry and you, your tone of voice is a little rough. Can you go back and edit your response? Or is that forever as well?

26:30Kechia TaylorI think you can edit.

26:32I'm not for sure. I never had to go back and edit. And I understand because I had those moments. Because you're upset. That someone left a bad review about your company. So just take a deep breath before you write it. And think about what you write. Because think about another customer is going to be reading that response.

26:49Crystal WaddellYeah that's what I've noticed even with my Etsy shop. It's like for the most part, I've gotten great reviews.

26:55One person once who I had sent two boxes, but instead of putting box one of two, I just, sent them. So she got the first box and I make giant letters and numbers.

27:05And so the first box was small, it was what the numbers sit in or, helps them stand.

27:11And so her first response was to email me and chat with me and all these different things, like through my website, even though she bought on Etsy. I didn't see it.

27:21And then she, put this beware one star fraud.

27:25I was like, wow. Oh my gosh. Oh my God. She went from like crazy. Yeah. Zero to 100. And that's the thing I was like, I realized over time I was like. When you deal with people like that, they may be in a, just a state of mind, something in their world is falling apart and you happen to be there and, take the brunt of it or whatever.

27:42But at the end of the day, when other customers, like you say, scroll through those reviews, I don't think they're looking for perfection, but they do want to know how you respond when things aren't perfect.

27:53And it's Her ugliness, I could have elevated that with my ugliness. But that's going to cost me more customers in the future.

28:00Kechia TaylorAnd people love reading negative stuff. Like it's like a reality TV. Like people love like, Oh, she said this, she said that. But no one expects for a business to be perfect.

28:11We've all looked at bad reviews and still order something from Amazon. It's just when you have a slew of bad reviews.

28:18So for each bad review, you have to have 10 good reviews. And you want to bury that

28:23bad review.

28:24Crystal WaddellAnd like you said, it can also give you feedback. Like a brick and mortar with hours that are inconsistent. Obviously, that's something you want to fix.

28:31For my eCommerce store, people were saying, Hey, you're showing painted photo props in the pictures, but when I get it, it's not painted.

28:38I feel duped, it's Oh okay. That's good. Let's really make that clear. So the feedback. Although sometimes it doesn't feel good. It actually can help your business get better, too.

28:48Kechia TaylorYes. And sometimes like I feel business owners, even me. We're all over the place sometimes.

28:53And sometimes we don't update our website.

28:56I always tell people your website is never gonna be finished. And no matter how much you might say, it's launched. I love it! It's never finished. Like you always have to go back and update. And most people, they aren't web or tech savvy. And so they never go back and update. Or they get a templated site.

29:15And just don't know how to use it. And that could be a downfall. And so you're between your website and your local profiles. It could be some inconsistency. Down to maybe abbreviate in. Road as RD, but on your website, you have road totally spelled out.

29:33Hey, Google says that address is not matching.

29:37Yeah, I feel like it's a lot of inconsistencies with people profiles attached to their website. So your website is your home. And everything else supports it. So just try to update everything that make sure that it matches.

29:50Like I said, Google is king, so everything has to match from Google. If Google abbreviated road, then in your website, abbreviate road.

29:59Crystal WaddellOh, that is such great advice just to know which one is the better one to choose. Thank you for that. No, no worries. It's hierarchy. It's Google.

30:06And speaking of websites, this is the perfect time for me to talk about Wix Studio.

30:11Kechia TaylorYes. Let's hear it.

30:13Crystal WaddellDigital marketers, this one's for you. I've got 30 seconds to tell you about Wix studio, the web platform for agencies and enterprises. So here are a few things you can do in 30 seconds or less when you manage projects on Wix Studio. Work in sync with your team on one canvas,

30:29Reuse templates, widgets and sections across sites, create a client kit for seamless handovers, and leverage best in class SEO defaults across all your Wix sites.

30:40Time's up, but the list keeps going. Step into Wix Studio to see more.

30:44I think I have a couple follow up questions about websites and then I think i'm Like done picking your brain today, although I can talk to you for a year.

30:50Kechia TaylorNo problem.

30:51I know we can talk all day about SEO and especially Pinterest. I would love to go more in depth with Pinterest. But yeah, go ahead and ask. I'm all for it.

30:59Crystal WaddellThe first thing is about websites. Like when people are, franchising or become franchisees or you're advising them.

31:07Do you have a preferred website vendor that you use? Or that you recommend to them?

31:12Kechia TaylorFor franchisees, their website, they get location pages off of the main website. So my website is the hub, which is the main page. And then the franchisees location will get a location page. So everything feeds off of the main website. And that's how we do it. I don't know about other people, but that's how we do it.

31:32So just essentially. Whatever city and state you're in, you'll have a location page because all the services and everything is the same.

31:41And then in your location page, when they book, it goes to your booking page, that business, that franchisees booking page.

31:48Crystal WaddellOkay. So that makes more sense. To me now as well, because I was wondering about the location pages and how that fit into the SEO strategy.

31:56But it makes sense when you have, a head brand and then multiple locations, in multiple cities or whatever.

32:02Kechia TaylorYeah. So it's just, you have the location tab and then underneath you just have all of your locations. Now, each location have to have their own digital footprint.

32:12So they have to have their own Google business profile, their own Facebook, their own LinkedIn. Because it's their business.

32:18They're just a location.

32:20Crystal WaddellAnd then as a franchisor, do you handle the SEO for that site? Or do they, they have control over their own page?

32:27Kechia TaylorWe handle the SEO for the main site and the location page. So they never have to worry about marketing or SEO. That's a part of their fees.

32:35Like their monthly fees is the marketing, the training, the education. So they don't have to go in and do any of that.

32:42Crystal WaddellOkay.

32:43So I totally lied. Now I have another question about that, because you had mentioned it in your podcast. About how, if you're, An amazing artist, if you will, you may not have business acumen, you may not have business training or business skills.

32:56So how does one take like this amazing skill set that they have and turn it into a business?

33:02Kechia TaylorOkay.

33:03So you have to want to be in business. So for the industry that I'm in, you can either go two ways. You can work for someone, or you can go into a business. Or actually, or you can get a franchise.

33:14So it's. Three avenues. Sometimes being a business owner may not be the right direction for you.

33:20Because you have your ups and downs, your ins and outs. You have to hire and fire like. It doesn't mean that just because you want to be in business, that it's a great idea.

33:30So I don't promote everybody to be in business. Because some people have to work. What are we going to do if, it wasn't people out here working?

33:38Everybody can't be a business owner. But I would say. That if you do go the business route, then make sure that you're educated on business things.

33:49Make sure that you're educated on what structure to choose for your business, that's a big one.

33:54Make sure that you're educated on marketing. Organic strategies first.

33:59Because if you don't have the cashflow coming in, why are you paying for ads when you really don't understand the organic side?

34:05So with me, I did not run ads. I still don't run ads. I don't run ads. Like ads is not my strategy.

34:11Crystal WaddellThat's amazing.

34:11Kechia TaylorSEO is. And people. And partners. Your community. And that's the best thing about being local.

34:17Those become your partners, your word of mouth.

34:19Crystal WaddellYeah, absolutely.

34:20It took me a long time to realize that collaborating with other people, even just through this podcast.

34:25Like I would have never met you.

34:27And it's just been such a great opportunity to learn from other people and to network and to just, see how we can benefit each other or, whatever.

34:36Networking is such a powerful thing. And I feel like, especially in the digital age, so many business owners feel like they need to go at it alone.

34:44Kechia TaylorYes, for sure. That's why I like LinkedIn. Because I actually saw you on Kate Ahl's page.

34:51Because I've been a fan of hers for years. She's like the OG, like when it comes to Pinterest.

34:55Like, I've been a fan of her for a long, since she came out like a long time.

35:00And so I saw you on her page, you guys. And I was like, okay, yeah, that was good.

35:06Crystal WaddellYeah. I was excited when she came on. I was really grateful because she had taught me so much. Because like I said, Pinterest was the number one. Traffic driver from day one, and I was like, huh. And so of course she's, the one that has the Pinterest advice out there.

35:20It was like the first one. So yeah, it's just, it's amazing, and again, I would have never, had a chance to sit down and have a conversation with her without this podcast.

35:28Without saying, I want to go and just learn and connect with people. But. And for so long in my business, I was just head down working all the time.

35:37And it felt like it was like social media, it's I can stay busy doing these things. Then my business is going to grow.

35:44But not doing other, better things. Connecting and, investing in SEO and that type of stuff. That was going to have a bigger impact.

35:51Kechia TaylorYes, for sure. And for the local business owners, I'm gonna give a tip because I see so many people miss this one. And it's so easy, like on your website. Like if you're a local business owner and you're uploading photos. Especially stock, but stock photos, which I don't believe in. I don't believe in stock, some people have to use it.

36:12It's to name your images according to what you do in the city and state. So that's going to boost you up in search as well.

36:19Crystal WaddellYeah, that's a great tip. Okay. So tell us a little bit about like how people could work with you.

36:24Is it only brows and esthetician type women or men or whoever that can work with you? Or do you work with other small business owners?

36:33Kechia TaylorMy specialty is local beauty businesses. Now I can advise as someone owned like a roofing business, but I'm that girl that needs everything to be pretty and cute and stuff like that.

36:44But I can still advise them. But me, my specialty is beauty businesses and they can work with me.

36:49So I have a program called SEO For The Beauty Pro.

36:52And it's a program for three months. And you just get in and it's done for you. But you still have to do some things like gather up your stuff.

37:01I'm not a wizard, I can't, but yeah, and you have the website, but it's bogaro. com. I'm one of their business coaches, so I have to keep their domain. But it's https://vagaro.com/seofortheBeautyPro. Okay.

37:15Crystal WaddellKechia, you are amazing and so much fun to talk to. I hope this isn't our last conversation.

37:20But I will definitely link to all of those things and just know that you have a super fan here in North Carolina.

37:27And I meant it when I said I wanted to come up and see you. So that is a goal for 2024 slash 2025.

37:34Kechia TaylorOkay. Sounds good. And thank you again for having me on your podcast and I look forward to doing, many more things with you. Yeah.

37:41Awesome. And I'll link to Kechia's podcast in the show notes as well.

37:45So for now we'll sign off, but I will see you next time.

37:49All right. Bye.

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