In this video Sam talks to Jamie McAnsh from See No Bounds about SEO. What is it, and how can I use it for my website?

Jamie: Hello and welcome back. I am joined again with Sam Hollis, and today we’re going to be talking all about SEO. So in recent shows, which you would have already seen, we have talked about the power of website and also the content on a website. But now let’s delve into to the SEO of a website. This is the stuff that gets your platform in front of your audiences. Sam, welcome back. Welcome back to the show. All right, SEO, what does it stand for?

Sam:  Search engine optimization, which for most people is basically getting found on Google.

Jamie:  Yeah, although there are other brands are available. But let’s be fair, it’s Google if you’re not like Bing and Yahoo and all of these, they’re like sectors.

Sam: Maybe if you’re marketing to elderly people because Bing comes up automatically. I haven’t changed it.

Jamie: I never really thought about do you remember Ask Cheese?

Sam:  I have no idea. Seen it for a long time.

Jamie: Good on ask cheese. Okay, so target is getting it onto Google. That’s like the fundamental goal. But how does it work?

Sam:  So there’s a few different sides, but a lot of it is about content is just what are you saying? What are you talking about? It’s just about your blogs, your written content, saying the right things about the right stuff. So it’s the content side, and it’s also the actual thinking about what do you want to be thought of? Because lots of people go, I’ve got great SEO.I am on the front page of Google. And then my question is, well, for what?

Jamie:  Yeah, see, this is my goodness, this is like that burning question because people say to me, oh, we’ll get you on the front I get all the, oh, we’ll get you on the front page of Google. I’m like, cool, type my name in. I’m on the front page of, you know, what do I need to be on the front page of Google for?

Sam:  Exactly. So that’s the first stage. Well, there are a couple of things in the first stage of SEO. For me, it’s two things, is one is working-out where you are already, and lots of people go, I’ve searched myself, and I’m at the top. And it’s like Google is highly personalized. Google knows your search. It knows where you are. So often you’re sat on your own business, so it will prioritize where you are. So searching isn’t a good way of testing your SEO. There are Google tools out there will give you a much more sort of robust view of how you were found. That’s really where you are. Some of these are free as well.

Jamie: What’s?  The one that Neil Patel is. It SEO. I’ll put it in the chat. But there are tools that you can actually put onto your Chrome Uber search, which will put it into your Chrome. And then they’ll .

Sam: yeah, there’s some Google tools that are free, and there’s a lot of premium tools like Mars and stuff that yeah, they’re a premium, but there are free bits. But, yeah, the key yeah, that’s it. You need to know where your ID and then you think about what terms you want to appear for and where that’s really key, because you’ve got to then aim for those, unless you know what you’re aiming for, the whole thing.

Jamie: So I haven’t prepped you, which we don’t do. So the next question, Sam, you’re either going to love me or you’re going to hate me. Right. Can we mention Chat GBT? Can we go into this little minefield? What’s your view on this? Because I love Chat GBT, it’s a real help in aid for me as Dyslexic. It gets rid of the white page syndrome, that blank, where do I start? It gets rid of all of that. What’s your view on it?

Sam:  Yeah, I think it can be useful tool for that sort of thing. I think you need to be careful. So Google doesn’t like duplication. One of Google’s big things is duplication. If you’re saying the same thing as somebody else, you don’t get credit for it and it could even mark you down. Now, what Chat GBT is AI, and AI has to be trained effectively on something. And what’s it’s trained on? It’s trained on data that’s already on the web. Effectively, it’s read lots and lots of WebPages, thought about it, and then it cannot regurgitate stuff, but it can using what it’s learned from those, say, other stuff. But effectively what it’s saying is what it’s learned from other web pages. So there’s always going to be a degree of how original is it, and then there’s also how many other people are doing it, and there are techniques on the like I think one of the keys, isn’t it, keys in using chat UTi s giving it as much information as possible, isn’t it?

Jamie: Yeah.

Sam: If I gave it, write me a blog on SEO, that’s going to be so generic, but if I gave it, then it’s different, then it will specialize. But I think it’s a good starting point. But I think you do need to tweak it a lot. And, yes, it does have an issue with that originality. The source of its information is other website.

Jamie: Yeah, because there’s a lot of, like I’ve heard a lot of controversial sort of comments about it, but actually, the truth of that is I don’t think anyone really knows that’s it except Open AI. Okay. I know you use Word Press a lot, don’t you? We use Word Press for our site so easy. I think anybody who isn’t contemplating Word Press.

Sam: Unless you’ve got a very complicated setup, it’s great, but there are certain points at which you can’t cope with. You’ve got to have a really quite big, complex, personalized site to get to that.

Jamie: Yeah, our site is quite complex and personalized and lots of users and stuff going on, and yet our foundation. Even though it’s been highly coded. Our foundation has been pressed because it’s simple, it’s easy to use, and there are tools on there, like yoast, that will help you and guide you through that SEO process. But I think you need to have it started. And I think this is where you come in, because otherwise, if it’s not done periodically, it becomes a mammoth task.

Sam: That’s it. Especially if you’re adding content all the time and you’re thinking about how you’re adding that content. If you’re doing things right as you go. Yeah. It becomes just part of your daily routine, while if you suddenly two years down the line, go, I want some SEO, then it’s a lot of work to go back and go through everything and get it all right.

Jamie: Because there’s some very simple tricks. Right. So some of the tricks is your keyword, your key phrase.

Sam: which, again, is going back to what we talked about, what do you want to be bound for? So they’re thinking about that, getting it in your content, getting it in your title and getting the right amount in your content. Not overdoing it.

Jamie: That’s right, because you could over key phrase. So a top tip is usually to have it in the title of the page, then have it in the first sentence. Have it in the URL. Even have it in the URL is another really good one. Yeah, that’s a really good one. Actually. Have it in the meta description, which is the text that Google chose when people do a search.

Sam:  Yeah.

Jamie: have it in the first line, the first part of your title as well. So, like, say I was Google, I wanted to be known for networking. What I wouldn’t have is a whole title. And then have networking at the end. I’d make sure the networking comes at the beginning. Simple things like that. It really are. I think it’s thought of as a bit of a dark art.

Sam: Yes. But in some ways it is, because Google don’t tell you what you need to do, but in some ways there are some basic rules like that, that if you follow yes. It really starts to get good results.

Jamie:  So this is an area you work in great detail. You know your stuff when it comes to SEO. So how can you help a company? So is it best? Say, for example, I’ve been running my business now for a couple of years. Okay, actually, I’m going to throw another bag of words. How many people do you know that have built websites even years ago and have never done anything with it?

Sam:  A few. Yeah.

Jamie: I’m going to tell you something now, ladies and gentlemen. I’m going to literally sit down. You’re going to need to hear this. All of a sudden, if you haven’t touched your website in like a couple of months or even a couple of weeks, you may as well not have it. That sounds like a pretty broad statement, but it’s fairly true, right?

Sam:  Yeah. You need to keep adding content.

Jamie: And this is where blogs come in.

Sam: Yeah.

Jamie:  Blogs help you so much with SEO. Why don’t people do it?

Sam:  Time a lot. So yeah, I think whenever we talk to people about websites and getting visitors there, the key is you need to spend one of two things time or money. Spending time. Money yourself. Write some blogs; get them on their if you don’t have the time. spend the money. Get somebody else to write the blogs. And writers do a really good job and people worry that the writers won’t know the special stuff. Sit down with them for ten minutes, they will get the gist. They can write your blog and get it on there. So, yeah, spend time, all money.

Jamie:  And I think when you talk about time and money, things like Chat TV Two are flipping that around now. And even for professional writers, they will get rid of that white page syndrome, give them a structure,

Sam: and even if actually they’ve completely rewritten written it. You’ve just got something, haven’t you an idea?

Jamie: I think it is so important and something else that someone gave me a top tip once, and I’m going to ask you your opinion on this. So someone said, look, go on your sites every now and again and just add something to the page. But then don’t just save the page. Change the edit date to the date that you because then it brings it further up, the whole Google thing. What’s your opinion on this?

Sam: No, I’m not sure. Yeah, I think just adding content is the key. New blogs, new stuff, the dates and stuff. I mean, the bots just go they read it and if there’s a change, they’ll make. Okay, cool. So, yeah, about once a month they get type should get.

Jamie: trying to I’m very good with Cena Bounds. I’m not very good with Jamie McCann. I got ad content on Cena Bounds, not so sharp with Jamie McCann, so I need to kind of change that myself. Okay, cool. Just sort of finishing up SEO, right? I mean, SEO is not a subject you can manage in ten minutes. But why should someone come and speak to you about SEO? Because there is a little bit of a dark eye in there, right? There is a little bit of a skill set to it. Well, not even a little bit. There’s quite a significant skill set to it. And I think some things just need to have the professional touch. Why should someone come and use you?

Sam: So, like we talked about in the other podcast, I’ve got a team that works with me, so I know a certain amount of SEO.I don’t know everything, but within my team, I’ve got people who are real experts on it that really have worked on this for a very long time, have got there and other websites really well ranked in Google. And they know their stuff and they come in, join us, we work on it together, and we really think about where your website is now, where you want it to be, and what we need to do to get from one place to the other in the most cost effective way possible. Because you can spend a huge amount on SEO that you’re trying to work out the most cost effective way. And also is it the most cost effective way? Because for some businesses, SEO yes, absolutely brilliant. Will get you great rewards. For others, actually, there are better ways to get people to your website, which is really what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Jamie: Yeah, that’s a good tip. Do you also, then, whilst you’re working with people, do you also tell them what they need to be looking for? So I write blogs all the time. One of my big things is I’m like, what am I looking to actually rank for on this particular blog? And I think myself, well; I’m not going to rank off one block, right? So there needs to be like a build up to it, doesn’t it? And signing back and kicking back and forth and that sort of stuff.

Sam:  Yeah. Yes and no, you can get some really good work from one particular page if you’ve really focused it, and you’re thinking geographically focusing it too. You can from one page, get some good SEO on a very particular topic. But yeah, in the broader sense, as well as the SEO of the whole site as well, it’s balanced.

Jamie:  And I think also, I think a top tip as well, if someone was asking me a top tip, I would say, actually Google the title of your blog and see what Google comes up with.

Sam: Yeah, no, that’s good. And there’s websites we’ll send the link at the end because what it is off the top of my head, where you can put in like a title for blog, some ideas, and it will give you a whole host of other questions.

Jamie: Yeah. So take this away from you, right? Answer the public and have a look on Google, because when you type something into Google, it will give you a list of suggestions. Use those suggestions. Really that’s fundamental. Sam, it’s been brilliant having you on the show again and some real gold good stuff. And then anyone tuning in takes some of those notes away with you, because this is what it’s all about, right? This isn’t just simple information. This is stuff that will literally add value to your business and help you when you are running your content and getting people to your site. You may be good at what you do, but if no one knows you’re there, it’s pointless. Sam, thank you so much for taking the time out and sharing your extensive knowledge, and I look forward to chatting again soon. And that’s it for this show. Tune in again very soon, where we’ll be interviewing Sam again, but this time we’re going to be talking about a completely different subject, which I’m very excited about. So if you want to know more, tune the next one. Take care. Goodbye.