1 00:00:00,799 --> 00:00:04,480 Let's talk about the real, the raw, the updated 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:08,160 version of the Google algorithm. Because y'all, it has changed a 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,920 lot in the years. I used to work at a SEO agency, twenty five 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:15,555 years ago and or twenty years ago, and, a lot 5 00:00:15,555 --> 00:00:19,235 has changed with our friend Google. And today, we're gonna talk all about that with 6 00:00:19,235 --> 00:00:22,755 Lindsey Busfield. I'm excited to have her on the show to talk 7 00:00:22,755 --> 00:00:26,370 about the myths and the magic behind our favorite 8 00:00:26,370 --> 00:00:29,190 algorithm. But first, a word from our sponsor. 9 00:00:29,970 --> 00:00:33,730 Riverside is the all in one podcast recording and editing tool 10 00:00:33,730 --> 00:00:37,410 that I use for this right here show. 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The link's in the show notes, and make sure to use my code drea, 22 00:01:18,025 --> 00:01:21,545 d r e a, at checkout to get 15 off your 23 00:01:21,545 --> 00:01:25,290 membership. Lindsay, welcome to the 24 00:01:25,290 --> 00:01:29,130 show. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to 25 00:01:29,130 --> 00:01:32,830 just be a little nosy because I'm like, how does this all work now? 26 00:01:33,290 --> 00:01:37,115 I know the, you know, general SEO strategies, but 27 00:01:37,115 --> 00:01:40,555 I'm excited to get into this this algorithm, the the the 28 00:01:40,555 --> 00:01:44,315 world's number one search engine as well. But I wanna talk a little 29 00:01:44,315 --> 00:01:48,075 bit about your background. How did you get into the world of 30 00:01:48,075 --> 00:01:51,710 SEO? So my entrance into the world of SEO 31 00:01:51,710 --> 00:01:54,290 actually started with a bunch of Amish chicken farmers, 32 00:01:55,390 --> 00:01:59,149 which is about as far removed as you can be from the world 33 00:01:59,149 --> 00:02:02,725 of SEO. My family started a pasture raised 34 00:02:02,725 --> 00:02:06,485 egg business, and I, worked with the 35 00:02:06,485 --> 00:02:10,285 farmers out there, but I also worked with the company and helped to get 36 00:02:10,285 --> 00:02:14,005 it some traction, get it to grow, help with its digital presence. And 37 00:02:14,005 --> 00:02:17,145 then as that took off and is now the nation's 38 00:02:17,670 --> 00:02:21,189 largest organic pasture raised egg company, I decided to step 39 00:02:21,189 --> 00:02:24,629 back and really focus on marketing a little bit closer to 40 00:02:24,629 --> 00:02:27,769 home. So I went to go work for a law firm here in Raleigh 41 00:02:28,230 --> 00:02:31,935 and started working with their digital marketing team, And 42 00:02:31,935 --> 00:02:35,775 they needed somebody to help out with this SEO initiative that 43 00:02:35,775 --> 00:02:39,375 they had just taken on. And I really wasn't all that savvy when it came 44 00:02:39,375 --> 00:02:42,755 to SEO. I was still kind of venturing into marketing 45 00:02:43,135 --> 00:02:46,739 and, you know, taking that on as a new career. But once 46 00:02:46,739 --> 00:02:50,420 I became familiar with how SEO works, how that 47 00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:54,099 Google algorithm works, and it became demystified, it actually 48 00:02:54,099 --> 00:02:57,560 became a lot of fun. So I worked with this law firm 49 00:02:57,620 --> 00:03:01,254 doing SEO for them and kind of learning the ins and outs of 50 00:03:01,254 --> 00:03:04,775 that and fell in love with it. And then, happened to 51 00:03:04,775 --> 00:03:08,314 meet my now business partner, Len, who had 52 00:03:08,375 --> 00:03:12,215 an SEO agency that exclusively worked with law firms, and 53 00:03:12,215 --> 00:03:15,709 it seemed like a dream come true. So about seven years ago, 54 00:03:15,930 --> 00:03:19,610 I partnered with Lynn, and now I'm at Optimize My Firm, and I'm the 55 00:03:19,610 --> 00:03:23,209 vice president here and doing my dream job of 56 00:03:23,209 --> 00:03:27,049 doing SEO for law firms. Oh my gosh. From chicken 57 00:03:27,049 --> 00:03:30,625 farmer to law firm SEO business 58 00:03:30,625 --> 00:03:34,465 owner. I love I love it. You never know where life's gonna take 59 00:03:34,465 --> 00:03:37,584 you. Life takes you. I have all the ups and downs. So for those who 60 00:03:37,584 --> 00:03:41,349 are new to SEO, can you give us a quick definition? So SEO, 61 00:03:41,650 --> 00:03:45,409 is search engine optimization. And usually, by the time I finished that 62 00:03:45,409 --> 00:03:49,090 last syllable, people's eyes just kind of glaze over. So 63 00:03:49,090 --> 00:03:52,515 really, in a nutshell, what SEO is, is I work with your 64 00:03:52,675 --> 00:03:56,435 website to make it rank highly on Google. So if somebody 65 00:03:56,435 --> 00:04:00,194 is looking for a law firm, somebody has just been in a car accident 66 00:04:00,194 --> 00:04:03,955 and they search car accident lawyer near me, I work with their 67 00:04:03,955 --> 00:04:07,510 website so that it shows up on that first page so a prospective 68 00:04:07,510 --> 00:04:11,350 client can actually find that lawyer. And the same is true no matter 69 00:04:11,350 --> 00:04:15,110 what business you have. So whether you are working, with 70 00:04:15,110 --> 00:04:18,870 law firms or a pizza place or any 71 00:04:18,870 --> 00:04:22,715 other type of of service industry or store. If you have a 72 00:04:22,715 --> 00:04:26,495 website that you are using to attract clients, search engine optimization 73 00:04:26,715 --> 00:04:30,555 is going to get your website to show up for the search terms that people 74 00:04:30,555 --> 00:04:34,380 are using when they're trying to find a product or service like yours. Yeah. 75 00:04:34,380 --> 00:04:37,840 I love this because I think a lot of especially local businesses 76 00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:41,660 need need need to do this so that people can find 77 00:04:41,660 --> 00:04:45,259 you. Hello. And I also think it's such a 78 00:04:45,259 --> 00:04:48,645 powerful way for businesses to just be strategic 79 00:04:48,645 --> 00:04:52,485 about, how people are finding them as well. So what what 80 00:04:52,485 --> 00:04:55,605 is the first thing we should think about when we're when we're thinking about SEO, 81 00:04:55,605 --> 00:04:58,325 when we're looking at our website and we're like, I want people to find me, 82 00:04:58,325 --> 00:05:02,060 where do we start? So I think you have to start with thinking 83 00:05:02,060 --> 00:05:05,819 about what is Google looking for. And people 84 00:05:05,819 --> 00:05:09,659 think about SEO and, like, all this technical metadata and, like, alt 85 00:05:09,659 --> 00:05:13,419 tags and descriptions and stuff and all that is quasi important, but 86 00:05:13,419 --> 00:05:17,235 it really doesn't matter. What Google is looking for time after 87 00:05:17,235 --> 00:05:20,835 time, no matter what algorithm change happens, they're looking for good 88 00:05:20,835 --> 00:05:24,455 content. So they're looking for your website to have information 89 00:05:24,995 --> 00:05:28,295 that is relevant for the people who want your product or service. 90 00:05:28,639 --> 00:05:32,400 So having content on your website that is informative, and 91 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,240 accurate and reputable is what Google is after. So that's 92 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,680 80% of it. And the other 20% of that is 93 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,485 gaining a reputation for being an authority 94 00:05:43,485 --> 00:05:46,865 in your market. And you do that by attaining quality backlinks. 95 00:05:47,245 --> 00:05:51,025 And that's another one where people's eyes kind of glaze over. But in a nutshell, 96 00:05:51,485 --> 00:05:55,290 a backlink is getting a mention to of your site from another 97 00:05:55,290 --> 00:05:58,830 website. So it's like if somebody is quoting you, 98 00:05:59,130 --> 00:06:02,490 then that is giving you a little bit more authority. So when another 99 00:06:02,490 --> 00:06:06,330 website quotes your website and links back to it, that gives your 100 00:06:06,330 --> 00:06:09,805 website more authority. So Google trusts it a little bit more, trust that 101 00:06:09,805 --> 00:06:13,565 content a little bit more. And that's all SEO is. That's it. Oh, 102 00:06:13,565 --> 00:06:16,845 yeah. I knew about the backlinks thing. Honestly, I get the spam emails all the 103 00:06:16,845 --> 00:06:19,485 time where people are like, can I put links on your website? And I'm like, 104 00:06:19,485 --> 00:06:23,250 I'm just deleting this. Is that bad for my website if you if I 105 00:06:23,250 --> 00:06:27,009 do that? Right. Right. And there are a lot of websites 106 00:06:27,009 --> 00:06:30,629 out there that do that, that they monetize their websites by selling backlinks. 107 00:06:30,930 --> 00:06:34,610 And that is one way to get links. And there are, you know, 108 00:06:34,610 --> 00:06:38,015 some other more organic ways to to get backlinks 109 00:06:38,395 --> 00:06:41,515 that are a little bit more reputable, that actually give your website a little bit 110 00:06:41,515 --> 00:06:45,355 more credibility than just buying links. But, yeah, there are a few ways to 111 00:06:45,355 --> 00:06:49,060 go about doing that. But most of the sites that are either trying to put 112 00:06:49,060 --> 00:06:52,520 a link on your website or sell links to you, 113 00:06:53,220 --> 00:06:56,979 probably probably not something that you wanna engage with. Yeah. It feels like 114 00:06:56,979 --> 00:07:00,825 those, those fake magazine sites too where it's like, oh, do 115 00:07:00,825 --> 00:07:03,384 you wanna be an art magazine? We'll feature you on the front page. And then 116 00:07:03,384 --> 00:07:06,425 you're like, yes. And they're okay to give me all your money. Like, you're like, 117 00:07:06,425 --> 00:07:09,944 oh, never mind. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I totally see 118 00:07:09,944 --> 00:07:13,260 that. I'm I'm curious now. Is there a way to 119 00:07:13,660 --> 00:07:17,420 see how reputable your website is? Because this past year, 120 00:07:17,420 --> 00:07:21,180 I was featured on BBC, and I was like, oh, the the bbc.com. I 121 00:07:21,180 --> 00:07:24,940 mean or .co.uk. That's gotta be, like, a really 122 00:07:24,940 --> 00:07:28,435 strong website. Right? Yeah. That's that's a decent link to 123 00:07:28,435 --> 00:07:32,215 get. And, yeah, there are a few tools out there like Semrush, 124 00:07:32,915 --> 00:07:36,435 and then there's Ahrefs. There are a few different places that you can go to 125 00:07:36,435 --> 00:07:39,810 see your backlink portfolio, and those will show you what 126 00:07:39,810 --> 00:07:43,650 websites have linked to your website. It'll also show you this 127 00:07:43,650 --> 00:07:47,490 funky metric called domain authority, and that's something on 128 00:07:47,490 --> 00:07:51,090 a zero to 100 scale of how credible your 129 00:07:51,090 --> 00:07:54,620 website is. And a lot of people get hung up on this 130 00:07:54,620 --> 00:07:55,120 metric 131 00:07:59,865 --> 00:08:02,505 a lot of these backlink places will be like, I'm gonna get you a link 132 00:08:02,505 --> 00:08:05,485 on, you know, 45 d a plus. And, 133 00:08:06,025 --> 00:08:09,625 like, some of those are fine. Some of those are still kind of cruddy 134 00:08:09,625 --> 00:08:13,330 sites. But for your own domain authority, what's 135 00:08:13,330 --> 00:08:17,009 more important is how you rank in relation to the 136 00:08:17,009 --> 00:08:20,629 other businesses that are in your geographic area if you're providing 137 00:08:20,690 --> 00:08:24,435 a local service. On a national level, you wanna look at 138 00:08:24,435 --> 00:08:28,135 the businesses that are your direct competitors on the national scale. 139 00:08:28,275 --> 00:08:31,955 So it's not necessarily where you rank in terms of zero to a 140 00:08:31,955 --> 00:08:35,475 hundred, but more so how you rank in relation to the other 141 00:08:35,475 --> 00:08:38,855 websites that are competing for the same search terms that you are. 142 00:08:39,299 --> 00:08:43,059 Yeah. I mean, basically, context matters. Right? I mean, I feel like 143 00:08:43,059 --> 00:08:46,820 this is looking at any sort of report or data, I think sometimes 144 00:08:46,820 --> 00:08:50,440 it's very easy to go, you know, oh, I'm number one. It's like number one 145 00:08:50,500 --> 00:08:52,920 where compared to what? You know? 146 00:08:53,954 --> 00:08:57,635 Okay. Cool. So I mentioned earlier that I used to work for this SEO 147 00:08:57,635 --> 00:09:01,475 agency when I worked in Atlanta, Georgia, and I was, like, the the lowest 148 00:09:01,475 --> 00:09:05,235 totem pole, basically, inter interning there. And my job 149 00:09:05,235 --> 00:09:08,670 was to go around to local businesses that were, their 150 00:09:08,670 --> 00:09:12,430 competitors are ranking really high and then basically pitch them, 151 00:09:12,430 --> 00:09:15,550 like, we will rank you high. And I was the grant person, so I was 152 00:09:15,550 --> 00:09:19,310 doing all this research, like, all of the surrounding cities, all of 153 00:09:19,310 --> 00:09:22,765 the ZIP codes, and then would give the list to my boss. It'd get 154 00:09:22,765 --> 00:09:26,445 approved. And then I basically just paste, like, a thousand ZIP codes and 155 00:09:26,445 --> 00:09:30,285 city names into a web page. This was twenty years ago. 156 00:09:30,285 --> 00:09:34,079 We can't do that now. Right? Like, this that's very dated advice. So tell me, 157 00:09:34,079 --> 00:09:37,920 like, what what's the latest greatest updates when it comes to, like, how 158 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,519 do we speak the algorithm's language? So you're 159 00:09:41,519 --> 00:09:45,120 right. Oh, man. Like, that I just that takes me back. So, I mean, you 160 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,915 know, fifteen, twenty years ago, you mean, really even five years ago, people 161 00:09:48,915 --> 00:09:52,595 were trying all of these tricks. And so, you know, putting this putting 162 00:09:52,595 --> 00:09:56,435 all the ZIP codes in or putting h ones in white text 163 00:09:56,435 --> 00:10:00,215 on a white background that, you know, we're, like, trying to game the system. 164 00:10:00,850 --> 00:10:04,450 And then there are, you know, the good old keyword stuffing where you 165 00:10:04,450 --> 00:10:07,970 have, you know, all these keywords that are just kinda, like, hidden in the background 166 00:10:07,970 --> 00:10:11,410 on the page and, you know, Google would see these a million times over and 167 00:10:11,410 --> 00:10:15,170 start ranking you for those key those keywords. Google has gotten 168 00:10:15,170 --> 00:10:18,775 so much savvier and, and, like, those tricks just don't work. And if Google 169 00:10:18,775 --> 00:10:22,475 catches you doing that, they will absolutely tank your site. 170 00:10:22,695 --> 00:10:26,455 So there are a lot of tricks that used to work 171 00:10:26,455 --> 00:10:30,230 that just don't work anymore. And Google with 172 00:10:30,230 --> 00:10:33,910 every algorithm update is getting more and more savvy. The big one 173 00:10:33,910 --> 00:10:37,670 was was the penguin update. And then there are 174 00:10:37,670 --> 00:10:40,890 some specific fields that are targeted more than others. 175 00:10:41,725 --> 00:10:45,165 The big one that comes to mind is the health care field. So 176 00:10:45,245 --> 00:10:48,545 Okay. Yeah, Google went through a giant 177 00:10:48,685 --> 00:10:52,445 revamp in the health care field, because they know that it is so 178 00:10:52,445 --> 00:10:55,589 incredibly important that people are getting accurate information. 179 00:10:56,129 --> 00:10:59,269 So there are a handful of sites that Google will inherently 180 00:10:59,649 --> 00:11:03,189 prioritize and rank over others. So, like, your WebMDs, 181 00:11:03,889 --> 00:11:07,250 hospitals, government websites, which are 182 00:11:07,410 --> 00:11:11,095 but a lot that historically have been credible 183 00:11:11,095 --> 00:11:14,714 information sources, and they will rank those first. 184 00:11:15,095 --> 00:11:17,435 And so if you have a local, 185 00:11:18,774 --> 00:11:22,500 health care website or a blog that's about health care, it's gonna be 186 00:11:22,500 --> 00:11:26,100 almost impossible to get those to rank because you are not a 187 00:11:26,100 --> 00:11:29,940 trusted credible source. So Google did a huge revamp over the 188 00:11:29,940 --> 00:11:33,725 the health care industry and has actually extended that to pay per click 189 00:11:33,725 --> 00:11:37,565 ads. They have a lot of really strict regulations on what you can 190 00:11:37,565 --> 00:11:41,105 and can't say with that. There are a lot of really strict regulations 191 00:11:41,405 --> 00:11:44,865 on websites in general. So, for 192 00:11:45,005 --> 00:11:48,570 aestheticians, there are some products and services that you 193 00:11:48,570 --> 00:11:52,330 can't have on your website, or else Google will never rank your 194 00:11:52,330 --> 00:11:55,210 website highly. So there are a lot of things that Google is trying to get 195 00:11:55,210 --> 00:11:58,270 more savvy about, all with the intent of providing 196 00:11:58,730 --> 00:12:02,415 accurate credible information. So to answer your 197 00:12:02,495 --> 00:12:06,175 question, in pretty much any other field, having 198 00:12:06,175 --> 00:12:09,855 that credible information on your website is the 199 00:12:09,855 --> 00:12:13,295 best thing you can possibly do. And having more 200 00:12:13,295 --> 00:12:17,134 in-depth information, that's answering questions that people 201 00:12:17,134 --> 00:12:20,760 are asking, that is going to be the most helpful. And 202 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,300 then if you wanna get into some more depth there, looking 203 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:27,500 at topics within your certain sector 204 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:31,660 that haven't been covered a million times over by your competitors 205 00:12:31,959 --> 00:12:35,745 is gonna be some low hanging fruit that you can use to 206 00:12:35,745 --> 00:12:39,365 get people to actually come and visit your website because you'll automatically 207 00:12:39,425 --> 00:12:42,945 rank higher if there's not as much competition. Wow. 208 00:12:42,945 --> 00:12:46,545 Yeah. I mean, honestly, to me, this goes to, like, the 209 00:12:46,545 --> 00:12:50,260 human experience of it all. Like, as a person who goes to Google and 210 00:12:50,260 --> 00:12:54,100 types in, like, toddler dinner recipes, I 211 00:12:54,100 --> 00:12:57,860 want the most reputable ones to hit the top and 212 00:12:57,860 --> 00:13:01,700 not the person who's, like, trying to game the system, which is 213 00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:05,455 interesting. So how how does AI play into 214 00:13:05,455 --> 00:13:09,135 all this? Because I've noticed this cute little box at the top of 215 00:13:09,135 --> 00:13:12,895 my Google that gives me the AI result. And, like, 216 00:13:12,895 --> 00:13:15,935 as someone who uses Google, I'm like, oh, that's it. That's the answer I was 217 00:13:15,935 --> 00:13:19,780 looking for last night. I was looking for, like, when when's the next, Leafs game? 218 00:13:19,780 --> 00:13:23,300 Because they're in the playoffs right now at the time recording this. K? Oh, I 219 00:13:23,300 --> 00:13:26,420 may regret saying that when this goes live later, but they're in the playoffs right 220 00:13:26,420 --> 00:13:28,900 now at the time recording this. When's the next game? Gave me the answer. I 221 00:13:28,900 --> 00:13:32,555 didn't have to click anything. I'm like, oh, great. As a user? Great. But then, 222 00:13:32,555 --> 00:13:36,154 like, as a business owner, I'm like, oh, I just, like, stole website 223 00:13:36,154 --> 00:13:39,675 traffic from, like, nhl.com or something. Like, they're looking at their 224 00:13:39,675 --> 00:13:43,514 website results, like, what is happening? Is that this is bad. 225 00:13:43,514 --> 00:13:47,190 Right? Or is it good? Oh, this is not bad at all. Oh, okay. So 226 00:13:47,270 --> 00:13:50,790 no. This is this is actually a really great thing because you have to look 227 00:13:50,790 --> 00:13:54,470 at the intent of a user search. So let's say you are 228 00:13:54,470 --> 00:13:58,149 wanting to find out when the next game is and you type in when is 229 00:13:58,149 --> 00:14:01,845 the next game? That's going to be an informational search. This 230 00:14:01,845 --> 00:14:05,625 is some some information that you would have otherwise been pulling from another website. 231 00:14:05,845 --> 00:14:09,525 That informational search isn't costing them any money because you weren't going to 232 00:14:09,525 --> 00:14:13,365 another website in order to purchase a service or a product. So 233 00:14:13,365 --> 00:14:17,100 you are directly able to get whatever information it is that you're 234 00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:20,720 needing. And what Google is doing and how they're generating 235 00:14:20,780 --> 00:14:24,220 that response is they're pulling from some of the most credible 236 00:14:24,220 --> 00:14:27,815 websites out there. So this is information that's probably coming from the 237 00:14:27,815 --> 00:14:31,335 first or second page of the Google search results, and they 238 00:14:31,335 --> 00:14:35,175 are cross checking the answers against each other and pulling 239 00:14:35,175 --> 00:14:38,949 this information together, synthesizing it, and presenting what they believe to be 240 00:14:38,949 --> 00:14:42,470 the most accurate piece of information. It is not 241 00:14:42,470 --> 00:14:46,230 always accurate, so I will put that put that in there 242 00:14:46,230 --> 00:14:49,910 as well. Sometimes Google does just give really 243 00:14:49,910 --> 00:14:53,555 bad answers because they're pulling from information that's not 244 00:14:53,555 --> 00:14:57,255 always a % accurate. They can only pull from information that's available 245 00:14:57,635 --> 00:15:01,395 on the Internet that, you know, is in line with what their algorithm is 246 00:15:01,395 --> 00:15:05,075 looking for in terms of being inherently trustworthy. Also, there have been 247 00:15:05,075 --> 00:15:08,270 some issues with, the AI hallucinating 248 00:15:08,490 --> 00:15:12,250 answers. So sometimes it'll just make something up out of 249 00:15:12,250 --> 00:15:16,030 thin air. And this has been really well documented and 250 00:15:16,090 --> 00:15:19,675 kind of problematic. And we've we've seen this in the law 251 00:15:19,675 --> 00:15:22,975 industry a few times and there have been some big issues. 252 00:15:24,395 --> 00:15:28,155 But Google in that section is really just pulling from the 253 00:15:28,155 --> 00:15:30,735 information that it has available on other websites. 254 00:15:32,475 --> 00:15:36,200 Wow. I mean, I'm a huge proponent of AI. I love it, 255 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,820 especially as someone who use like, I use ChatGPT and Gemini 256 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,959 daily. It's, like, embedded into everything I do. But I 257 00:15:43,959 --> 00:15:47,420 can't help but get a little nervous for the, 258 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:51,515 you know, the blogger who was, like, on page two 259 00:15:51,515 --> 00:15:55,115 anyways. You know, what are the hockey results? Or, like, a hockey blogger. I'm 260 00:15:55,115 --> 00:15:58,715 never gonna see that now. What does 261 00:15:58,715 --> 00:16:02,160 that person do to try to still 262 00:16:02,220 --> 00:16:06,060 get search traffic to their website? That's a 263 00:16:06,060 --> 00:16:09,500 really good question. And I guess it depends on what the 264 00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:13,180 purpose of their website is. So, yes, it could be 265 00:16:13,180 --> 00:16:16,944 challenging if somebody is looking for the, you know, the time of the next game 266 00:16:17,084 --> 00:16:20,845 would have otherwise gone to that website and said, oh, here's the 267 00:16:20,845 --> 00:16:24,605 next game. By the way, let me continue searching through this website 268 00:16:24,605 --> 00:16:27,964 and go down the rabbit hole and maybe, you know, click on an affiliate 269 00:16:27,964 --> 00:16:31,730 link or, you know, some other monetizing feature on that 270 00:16:31,730 --> 00:16:34,470 blog. And, yeah, that that could be problematic. 271 00:16:35,490 --> 00:16:39,330 But my assumption would be is that for somebody who is looking 272 00:16:39,330 --> 00:16:43,010 for that information and looking to go down that rabbit hole, they're 273 00:16:43,010 --> 00:16:46,334 gonna get the information they need, and then they're going to still 274 00:16:46,714 --> 00:16:50,475 look for a website that's in line with the type of article or information 275 00:16:50,475 --> 00:16:54,235 that they're looking for. Otherwise, it's somebody who probably was just 276 00:16:54,235 --> 00:16:57,915 looking for this information and will probably x out of it once they have it 277 00:16:57,915 --> 00:17:01,650 anyway. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And I think that is, again, the 278 00:17:01,650 --> 00:17:05,330 human experience of it all is we kinda have to think about the human behind 279 00:17:05,330 --> 00:17:09,170 the search. Right? Like, that person's experience, what is it like? This 280 00:17:09,170 --> 00:17:12,930 reminds me of, so I mentioned recipes a few times because whenever 281 00:17:12,930 --> 00:17:16,415 I go to, like, the recipe site, I'm instantly scrolling past, like, the the 282 00:17:16,415 --> 00:17:19,935 story. Just give me the recipe. And I feel like that's really what it is. 283 00:17:19,935 --> 00:17:22,895 It's like, just give me what I came to search for and, like, let's cut 284 00:17:22,895 --> 00:17:26,655 out the fluff, which again, like, as the blogger, as the business owner, we 285 00:17:26,655 --> 00:17:30,130 kinda wanted that, you know, for the for the for the person 286 00:17:30,130 --> 00:17:33,890 who, you know, happens to click on something. But this really is 287 00:17:33,890 --> 00:17:37,490 creating just a better user experience all around, the 288 00:17:37,490 --> 00:17:40,850 hallucinations aside. I think it it could 289 00:17:40,850 --> 00:17:44,235 be a better, thing all 290 00:17:44,235 --> 00:17:47,675 around. But the other thing that I'm so curious about is 291 00:17:47,675 --> 00:17:51,115 search within some of these tools like a 292 00:17:51,115 --> 00:17:54,715 Gemini, like a ChatGPT. You know, people are saying now I 293 00:17:54,715 --> 00:17:58,555 found a coach that way or I found you know, I bought a product because 294 00:17:58,635 --> 00:18:02,260 that recommended it. Are there things that we can do 295 00:18:02,260 --> 00:18:05,940 to enhance our rankings in 296 00:18:05,940 --> 00:18:09,779 AI tools? Sure. And it is really looking at kind of the 297 00:18:09,779 --> 00:18:13,139 same algorithm features that Google is already looking 298 00:18:13,139 --> 00:18:16,684 at. So AI is only going to be able to 299 00:18:16,684 --> 00:18:20,524 recommend somebody if Google believes that they're a credible source 300 00:18:20,524 --> 00:18:24,205 in that particular domain. So the more that you can do to boost your 301 00:18:24,205 --> 00:18:27,644 credibility by creating those backlink relationships, and the 302 00:18:27,644 --> 00:18:31,370 more content you have on your website that 303 00:18:31,370 --> 00:18:35,130 points to you as being an expert or source, a trusted 304 00:18:35,130 --> 00:18:38,890 source for this type of information, then Google will be able 305 00:18:38,890 --> 00:18:42,585 to figure out who you are, where it is that you're providing the 306 00:18:42,585 --> 00:18:46,025 service, and whether or not you have the experience and 307 00:18:46,025 --> 00:18:49,785 expertise to be able to be a credible source for the 308 00:18:49,785 --> 00:18:53,145 people who are searching for it. And so this is the 309 00:18:53,145 --> 00:18:56,960 true, you know, whether it is a a law firm that you're 310 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,480 looking for or the best pizza place in town, having 311 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,000 that content and having, the domain authority as 312 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:07,385 established by the backlinks, that's all gonna work together to 313 00:19:07,385 --> 00:19:11,165 improve your odds of showing up as a recommended service provider 314 00:19:11,225 --> 00:19:14,825 within AI. Yeah. Okay. Great. So so someone who's 315 00:19:14,825 --> 00:19:18,505 listening to this podcast episode and they're like, I love everything that Lindsay is 316 00:19:18,505 --> 00:19:22,240 saying. I wanna optimize my website. I don't know where to 317 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:25,679 start. Where do I start, Lindsay? What's one thing that I can do today to 318 00:19:25,679 --> 00:19:28,980 help the search engines, help people find me? 319 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,760 Write content. So in your free time, just sit down and write 320 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,395 content. Write content about whatever it is that people 321 00:19:37,695 --> 00:19:41,294 are using as a search term to find a 322 00:19:41,294 --> 00:19:45,135 product or service like yours. So if somebody is, 323 00:19:45,375 --> 00:19:47,280 let's say, a lawn care provider, 324 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,120 business. So about mowing or about stump 325 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:00,740 removal or about tree trimming, write pages 326 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,645 about all that different type of content. And one place that you can 327 00:20:04,645 --> 00:20:08,325 go to find, topics to write about, one would 328 00:20:08,325 --> 00:20:12,165 be AI, chat g p t. Another thing that you could do 329 00:20:12,165 --> 00:20:15,865 is write in to Google lawn care service provider. 330 00:20:16,245 --> 00:20:20,030 And then on that, search result page, there's the people 331 00:20:20,030 --> 00:20:23,650 also ask. That shows questions that people are regularly 332 00:20:23,790 --> 00:20:27,630 asking after they are searching for a lawn 333 00:20:27,630 --> 00:20:31,470 care service provider or search terms that are really closely related to the 334 00:20:31,470 --> 00:20:34,925 initial search term that that you plugged in. So developing 335 00:20:34,925 --> 00:20:38,445 content that answers those questions is another way that you 336 00:20:38,445 --> 00:20:42,285 can, develop content for your website that shows Google what it is 337 00:20:42,285 --> 00:20:45,165 that you do and is going to make you eligible to show up for more 338 00:20:45,165 --> 00:20:48,625 search terms when people are trying to find a product or service like yours. 339 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,799 Yeah. I love the people also search for thing. Because I think 340 00:20:52,799 --> 00:20:56,399 sometimes we try to we try to just think up, like, what what are people 341 00:20:56,399 --> 00:21:00,080 asking? But, like, you you could just literally go to the tool, and it'll give 342 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:03,919 it'll give you the answer. I love that. Will tell you what to 343 00:21:03,919 --> 00:21:07,625 write. It's it's all right there. Yeah. Well, do you have an example 344 00:21:07,625 --> 00:21:10,985 you can share of your your company or maybe a 345 00:21:10,985 --> 00:21:14,345 client's where, you applied all of this amazing 346 00:21:14,345 --> 00:21:18,090 SEO expertise and got a good result from it? I mean, 347 00:21:18,090 --> 00:21:21,390 all of our clients. I and I know that sounds really biased. 348 00:21:22,410 --> 00:21:25,930 But let's, let me think about this. There's a client that we've been 349 00:21:25,930 --> 00:21:29,450 working with out in California for about ten years 350 00:21:29,450 --> 00:21:33,255 now, And he started off his law firm with, 351 00:21:33,255 --> 00:21:36,635 you know, him and a couple of other attorneys, a very small practice, 352 00:21:36,935 --> 00:21:40,395 but had this ambition to grow and trusted the process 353 00:21:40,855 --> 00:21:44,320 and invested in SEO, developed the content, built the 354 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:48,159 backlink relationships, and is now one of the largest personal 355 00:21:48,159 --> 00:21:51,700 injury attorneys in the state of California just by 356 00:21:51,919 --> 00:21:55,760 following these practices, developing that content, and really 357 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,305 nourishing those online relationships to give his 358 00:21:59,305 --> 00:22:03,065 website and now websites more credibility so that Google 359 00:22:03,065 --> 00:22:06,765 sees him as a trusted authority and shows up throughout the state 360 00:22:06,825 --> 00:22:10,340 for, for personal injury. Oh, wow. I love 361 00:22:10,340 --> 00:22:14,100 this. Ten years too. I think that that's something that people 362 00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:17,620 always think, like, oh, I'll work on SEO today and I'll help my business tomorrow. 363 00:22:17,620 --> 00:22:21,320 But, like, this is a long term strategy. Like, it's not just, 364 00:22:21,715 --> 00:22:24,915 you know, do something today for tomorrow. It's do something today for ten years from 365 00:22:24,915 --> 00:22:27,955 now. Like, we all want businesses that sustain us for ten years. I love that. 366 00:22:27,955 --> 00:22:31,235 Such a beautiful, beautiful example. Absolutely. And then and it is one of those things 367 00:22:31,235 --> 00:22:34,595 where it's like it's not like you pay for SEO for a month and, like, 368 00:22:34,595 --> 00:22:38,399 boom, faucet goes on. No. It's it's a long term relationship. 369 00:22:38,620 --> 00:22:42,139 It's just like investing in any sort of ad or 370 00:22:42,139 --> 00:22:45,899 PPC or any any other marketing strategy. This is 371 00:22:45,899 --> 00:22:49,659 a long game thing. And it takes a little bit 372 00:22:49,659 --> 00:22:53,304 of time after you first get started because you need to develop that content, 373 00:22:53,304 --> 00:22:56,585 and Google needs to see you as a trusted authority. So it takes time to 374 00:22:56,585 --> 00:23:00,345 build that credibility and start to outrank your competition. And then the 375 00:23:00,345 --> 00:23:04,184 other thing that you have to remember is that the other successful businesses in your 376 00:23:04,184 --> 00:23:07,590 sector are also running SEO. So it's a 377 00:23:07,590 --> 00:23:11,190 constant competition, constant battle for that top ranking 378 00:23:11,190 --> 00:23:14,970 position for clients to be able to find you before they find your competition. 379 00:23:15,910 --> 00:23:19,430 Yeah. Oh, gosh. Yeah. It is. And I think it's always shifting. 380 00:23:19,430 --> 00:23:22,554 Right? Too. So yeah, you kinda have to stay on top of it. I love 381 00:23:22,554 --> 00:23:26,235 that. Okay. So for everyone listening who's like, yes, I want to work with 382 00:23:26,235 --> 00:23:29,615 Lindsay. Tell us about your company and how we can connect with you. 383 00:23:29,914 --> 00:23:33,615 Sure. So my my company is Optimize My Firm, and we 384 00:23:33,674 --> 00:23:37,390 just do SEO. We just do it for law firms, but I'm 385 00:23:37,390 --> 00:23:40,610 happy to talk SEO with anybody who has questions. 386 00:23:41,310 --> 00:23:44,370 You can learn more about our practice at, 387 00:23:44,830 --> 00:23:48,270 optimizemyfirm.com. You can find me on LinkedIn. I'm Lindsey 388 00:23:48,270 --> 00:23:52,070 Busfield. I am the only Lindsey Busfield, so so I'm really easy to find. 389 00:23:52,070 --> 00:23:55,834 And, you can listen to my podcast, the personal injury marketing minute, where we 390 00:23:55,834 --> 00:23:59,598 talk about marketing and business operations for law firms. I love it. Thank you so 391 00:23:59,598 --> 00:24:03,362 much, Lindsey. I will put all of those links in the show notes, y'all. You 392 00:24:03,362 --> 00:24:04,366 can find it at 393 00:24:04,366 --> 00:24:07,770 onlinedray.com/36zero. 394 00:24:07,770 --> 00:24:11,390 Lindsay, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Thank you. 395 00:24:11,690 --> 00:24:15,290 And thank you, dear listener, for tuning in to another episode of the Mindful 396 00:24:15,290 --> 00:24:19,050 Marketing podcast. I've got more episodes coming your way. I've got Sam 397 00:24:19,050 --> 00:24:22,665 coming on the show next to talk about how to get clients from 398 00:24:22,665 --> 00:24:26,345 podcast guesting. It was amazing conversation. I can't wait till you listen to that 399 00:24:26,345 --> 00:24:29,785 one. And hey, if you love conversations like this and you wanna go even deeper 400 00:24:29,785 --> 00:24:33,165 in your marketing, come on in and join us in the Mindful Marketing 401 00:24:33,305 --> 00:24:36,639 Lab. Coming up soon, we're doing our summer SPF 402 00:24:37,259 --> 00:24:40,700 challenge to really help you streamline your marketing this summer 403 00:24:40,700 --> 00:24:43,580 season, especially if you're like me and you got kids at home all summer. You're 404 00:24:43,580 --> 00:24:47,340 gonna wanna come in to our SPF challenge in the lab, but you gotta be 405 00:24:47,340 --> 00:24:50,345 in the lab in order to join us. Check that out at 406 00:24:50,345 --> 00:24:53,945 onlinedray.com/lab. I'll see you there. Bye for 407 00:24:53,945 --> 00:24:54,445 now.