WP Elevation WordPress Business Podcast

Watch the video of this podcast here.

[Note: Some of the video footage gets a bit funky in this podcast. Unfortunately, Skype wasn't having a good day. Audio is fine though.]

As of right now, there are 6.5 million people with the Yoast plugin, and that number keeps growing. But it wasn’t until he had reached a million users that Joost de Valk began to build a company around it, and even then it was at his wife’s suggestion!

That was about 5 years ago, and the company continues to evolve and grow every day. With Joost’s background in marketing and development, he and his team are at the forefront of SEO and innovation. In fact, Joost and his staff speak to Google’s search consulting and search quality teams on a weekly basis. The Yoast team wants to be sure they are always finding ways to better serve their users.

On this episode of WP Elevation, Joost and I discuss the latest in video SEO and how the other tools in his product suite can help you. He also explains the biggest benefits of the premium version of Yoast and whether or not we should optimize for multiple keywords on our sites’ pages.

As far as that last topic - whether we should optimize for one keyword per page or multiple keywords and phrases - Joost said it depends. When you have two keywords/phrases that tie in closely together, and they both feature prominently in a lengthy article, then it's okay to use both of them. It’s also okay if you have a cornerstone piece of content on your site and again have two keywords/phrases that tie together, then you can also optimize both of them.

With the Yoast premium version, you can use up to 5 keywords, but he doesn't suggest having 5 separate keywords. However, you can have 5 synonyms as long as you properly optimize for them.

When I asked him what we should do if we cannot optimize an entire site for our clients, Joost said to start by reworking and focusing on 3 or 4 cornerstone articles - the ones with the most important keywords. Optimize them, make them really good, and then go through the other posts and make sure they all link back to your cornerstone articles.

Another frequent question I hear is about the bare minimum WordPress web developers should be doing in terms of SEO. Joost says it goes beyond just installing a plugin, and in fact, turning on a plugin is just the bare necessity.

While going beyond that is vital you also have to remember that SEO takes time. He jokingly tells people that SEO stands for Seriously Effortful Optimization because good SEO takes a lot of time.

Joost thinks a web developer should deliver a website that, at the bare minimum, is fast and user-friendly and has a site structure that is meaningful. By meaningful, he means that if you start a website about a new topic or for a new company you should start with keyword research and then create a site structure that is well-thought out. Otherwise, you're going about the design process the wrong way.

We wrap up with our discussion with a chat about what’s coming up in Yoast’s future. Be sure to tune in for that and so much more on today’s edition of the podcast.

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Watch the video of this podcast here.

Amy began her career in media and the arts. In her mid-twenties, seeking a change, she enrolled in psychology to pursue her interest in the human story. Now with a Masters in clinical psychology, Amy also hosts a podcast for early career psychologists where she interviews psychologists from various backgrounds. She also enjoys working with Smiling Mind (a mindfulness meditation ap), in training and content development.

Amy begins her discussion with Mike by noting that mental health is important in all industries, but there are additional issues facing people like who work alone. The way workplaces are set up can add to potential isolation, and working from home means that there are none of the benefits of a face-to-face team environment in terms of social support and connection. On top of this, managing deadlines, challenges, and even remote staff on your own can be a stressful situation.

“Too much tech time is not good for our wellbeing!”

We need to manage the boundaries around tech time. 8 -10 hours at a computer each day can be draining. That screen time takes you away from interactions with people, time in nature, getting sun and Vitamin D. Amy explains that just like we take care of our bodies, we need to take care of our minds and pay attention to our mental health. If we ignore it, it can easily decline.

Mike mentioned that not having his phone in his bedroom at night has been a game changer for him. Amy goes on to explain that your mind receives a dopamine hit every time your phone flashes. Attending to that flashing alert means that you lose time via the distraction of checking your email or message. She recommends getting phones out of your bedroom and turning them off. Amy does it and wakes up in the morning with a much clearer head.

How do we start to look after our mental health?
We need to slow down and look at ourselves. Amy suggests starting by asking yourself what’s going on in your internal world. Check in on how you are interacting with your environments.

Cultivate a mindfulness practice in a non-judgemental and open way.

You can do this by regularly checking in with yourself. Through mindfulness training, we gain a lot of information that can help us respond more positively to the various problems that life throws our way.

The act of simply stopping and paying attention can help you find calm and clarity in the moment. Once you’ve increased your self-awareness, you can them implement an action to help you, whether it be calling someone, a breathing routine, reading a positive affirmation etc.

Mental Health vs a Mental Health Disorder

Amy explains the difference at the 14-minute mark of the interview. Mental health sits on a continuum of optimum functioning, moving right up to a serious disorder. We all sit somewhere on the continuum and can move up and down it during different phases of our life. The severity of a reaction to a situation can inform where you are on the continuum. Tune in as Amy delves further into this concept, explaining the difference between a short-term response as opposed to a slow building response over time.

What can we do to work our way out of these things when we feel them happening?

When things get bad for Mike, he notices that he begins to think far into the future, catastrophizing events that ‘could’ happen. He’s learned that if he takes the time to sit down and write out what could happen, he comes to the realization that the worst case scenario isn’t that bad.

He’ll also take a break, cut the spiral of thinking by putting the thoughts aside; taking a walk and focussing on something else. Amy confirms that by acknowledging the thoughts and not judging them, you are giving them less power.

Develop Self-Awareness before jumping into strategies

Amy explains that you need to cultivate self-awareness before diving into strategies. “How can you dive into a strategy if you don’t understand it, or know what’s happening?” You can start to do this by looking for your patterns of behaviour, your physical and emotional responses to situations - check in and ask yourself how you’re feeling. Remember to also pay attention to your environment, including people and places and how they impact us.
These things can help us identify our triggers.

Did you know that we have 50 - 70K thoughts a day? Many of them - about 90 percent Amy says, are thoughts we’ve have had the day before; so we’re actually on repeat to some extent. Our core beliefs (often repeated thoughts) remain quite similar. Become aware of this and realize that you don’t have to respond to all your thoughts as if they are ‘factual.'

What else can you do to aid mental health?

• Exercise is one of the greatest antidepressants available. Amy explains the need for prioritising exercise, sleep, and diet in order to prevent mental health decline.
• Check in with your values system and how balanced you are in your life. We’re often hitting the quadrant of work, but not balanced in family/relationships, spiritual growth and health.
• Set boundaries as a solopreneur: define your negotiables and non-negotiables by figuring out the value of your work, what you’re willing to do and sticking to that.
• Work during your peak hours. People often work more efficiently at different times of the day or night. Not having to work in an office gives you the flexibility to work at the times that suit you. Make the most of it!

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Watch the video of this podcast here.

Andrew begins the interview by explaining the varied symptoms of anxiety including: sweats; a fast-beating heart; feeling shaky; overthinking; doubt and/or worry.

He points out that the ‘fight and flight’ response is hardwired into our DNA, which is why these reactions can come about. There’s an important differentiation that he points out though when Cath asks him about what to do when you just “can’t handle” a problem or situation...

“I can’t handle this,” actually means, “I don’t want to have to handle this.”

We are creating the experience in the first place with what we tell ourselves and the way we frame our thoughts. Much food for thought there based on the cognitive behavioral therapy way of thinking.

Preventing Anxiety

Cath asked Andrew for some helpful tips on preventing Anxiety. He had two main strategies:

1. Be aware of how and why you are doing something in the first place
2. Look at the big picture and then break it down into smaller sections - this approach creates a different experience from where you’re at. (Go to the 7:45-minute mark for more detail on this.)

Cath adds weight to this by giving an example of how she breaks things down herself - almost be ‘tricking herself’ to get through her feelings of overwhelm.

Self-Care

When asked about self-care, Andrew's response was emphatic - you must prioritize it by making it valuable.

Entrepreneurs always ‘just have to get stuff done’ before they relax, so they sabotage their self-care more often than not. You need to put time aside and then commit to it. Something will always come up, so unless you set this time on your calendar and honor that booking, it won’t happen.

Ironically, you’ll be more productive by doing less work.

The final part of this process is to just slow down - “You go faster by slowing down,” claims Andrew. Otherwise, you spread yourself too thin and aren't working to your full potential.

It’s well worth heading to the 15:50-minutemark of the interview where Andrew goes deep on explaining how we often sabotage the one thing we’re chasing as entrepreneurs because on a deeper level we’re actually resisting the success or higher income. Ultimately, we need to feel worthy of and open for the results we want to happen.  He’s currently developing a program called “Entrepreneurs in Flow” all about this.

“If you do the work on yourself, you can cut your working hours down and increase your money! “

Managing Expectations

Finally, Andrew offers some tips on how we can manage expectations.

He explains that the process of putting an expectation on ourselves, is actually what creates the stress and anxiety around that expectation in the first place.The belief of, “If I don’t meet this, I’m not good enough” is now set up. Then when you do reach that target that you wanted to reach, it’s

The belief of, “If I don’t meet this, I’m not good enough” is now set up. Then when you do reach that target that you wanted to reach, it’s still not enough.

Having an expectation is outcome dependent. Andrew suggests instead, making a goal that is ‘input’ dependant. Avoid self-judgment by aiming to give your best each day. If you give your best day in and day out, there’s not too much more than you can ask than that! Remember that your best will vary from day to day. If you’re feeling sick, your best isn’t going to be as good as when you’re feeling 100 percent well.

Andrew uses a great ‘house’ analogy to explain this concept at the 26-minute mark, which makes the concept crystal clear.

Finally, Andrew recommends that if you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed or worried, the first thing you need to do is to take responsibility for where you’re at. If you’re ready to make a decision to do something about it, take action that you feels right for you - see your GP, tell a friend, buy a book. Don’t wait for things to happen - take responsibility and take action.

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Watch the video of this podcast here.

Cory Miller started iThemes back in 2008 as a premium theme company for WordPress. Today he and his company are best known for their Backup Buddy plugin and iThemes security. He’s also the co-author of WordPress All-in-One for Dummies and the current Communications chair of the Oklahoma chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

Today he joins WP Elevation to talk about mental health topics like depression and emotional resilience for entrepreneurs.

You probably recognize Cory Miller because of his company iThemes and their plugin and software offerings for WordPress. However he’s here on the WP Elevation podcast for another reason.

As part of our mental health awareness campaign, Cory Miller is here to share a few of the topics he boldly shared in a WordCamp talk he gave in Denver recently. If you want to hear that talk in full you can find it in the links below. Although we can’t cover everything he talked about in that presentation, we are digging into a few areas.

The first thing I asked him about was the concept of not being responsible for other people's happiness. Even if you don't have a boss or co-workers and you work at home solo, this still applies to you and the work you do for your clients.

Cory says this belief and perspective came out of personal experience as he's been a people pleaser for most of his life and still has those tendencies. But in a team meeting about six years ago he said this same thing to his people: no one is responsible for their happiness but themselves. And when he said this he realized he's also responsible for his own happiness. That realization freed him in areas of his life where he had previously been held captive.

We also talked about his struggles with depression and the tools he now uses to help himself. Because entrepreneurship itself is one of the toughest, loneliest jobs a person can take on, Cory has a few things he does to ensure his happiness.

The main thing is the people who surround him, he calls them sidekicks. For a long time he didn't have someone to bounce ideas off of and vent to, but he has found a few key people to do that with now. And his wife is at the top of that list.

His second “sidekick” is his COO Matt. With Matt in his role Cory knows he can step away from the business for a few days and everything will run smoothly, he doesn't have to worry. Matt has been in the job for a few years now and it’s made a big difference in Cory’s overall mental health and state of mind.

Next is Cory’s local entrepreneur group. For the last five years Cory has met with this group for three hours a month. These are all entrepreneurs and business owners who have reached the $1 million sales revenue mark in their businesses. They all come together to talk about business, life and do so in a confidential way. Cory says these folks have been lifesavers for him.

And the remaining people are Cory’s mentors, including his coach Michael Smith and Cory’s counselor Kyle. Cory says these are all the type of people who rush into his life when other people would rush out. If there’s a crisis of any sort they are there for him and for Cory’s family.

Speaking of family, I also asked Cory how his wife holds him accountable to his blind spots. He describes the importance of open communication with his wife as well as their planned day dates and road trips together. And when they have difficult conversations he knows she is coming from a place of love and not a place of criticism.

And we wrap up our conversation by talking about how having kids has changed his mental health landscape, and his insights on emotional resilience and why it's so important in the life of an entrepreneur. Find out about all of that on today’s edition of WP Elevation!

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Watch the video of this podcast here.   It’s estimated that roughly 20% of the population will deal with the medical diagnosis of mental health issue every year and among IT professionals that percentage is even higher. Ed Finkler is a lead developer who has been in the tech world for several decades now. Because of his own mental health experiences, he has started a group to help IT professionals suffering from mental health disorders and to help those who employ or work with those professionals.

Today that organization is called Open Sourcing Mental Illness (OSMI). OSMI works to raise awareness about mental health within the IT community through research, education and organizational outreach. It’s called Open Sourcing Mental Illness because OSMI uses the ideas of open source culture to fight the mental health issues in the tech community.

When I asked Ed about the specific origins of OSMI, he shared he has ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder along with episodic depression (the first two are chronic). He describes feeling isolated and different from everyone in the earlier days of his career.

That shifted about five years ago, he opened up about his struggles publicly on a podcast he co-produces with his friend Chris, called Development Hell. Ed talked about a particularly difficult time at a conference and how his mental health struggles made the experience even more challenging.

That episode remains one of the most listened to shows they have ever released! Ed has talked about mental health over 60 times since then, and OSMI has grown from an idea to today’s group of over 30 volunteers, including a Board of Directors.

Since Ed is at the forefront of mental health discussions in the tech world, I asked him what the discussion is like right now within the community. He says the biggest issue is that we don’t talk about it, and we don’t talk about it because we’re afraid of the stigma attached to mental health problems.

According to his research within the OSMI community, roughly 93% of people believe being labeled with a mental health disorder could or definitely would negatively impact their careers. Even just talking about a mental health issue with their employers or their clients is seen as potentially damaging: 20% believe raising the discussion could or would negatively impact their career, or their business if self-employed.

Yet we have little trouble talking about a physical health issue: a mere 4% thought it would hurt their job if they raised the discussion of a physical ailment, that’s 5x higher for mental health ailment versus a physical health problem.

Which leads to a conundrum: how do you get resources to people if they can’t talk about a mental health issue? How do people become educated if they are afraid to talk about it? The first step, according to Ed, is to speak openly about it. The next step is for others to listen without judgment and to know that a mental health problem is not a personality flaw or a moral failing within someone. People with mental health issues are not weak or lazy.

When we start to change these attitudes, and we begin to have discussions openly with compassion and empathy, then anyone with mental health issues can get the help they need and have the support they need.

And that is what OSMI does, on two different levels: the individual level and the organizational level. Hear Ed describe both on this episode along with why it's okay to seek professional help to feel better, and why having professional help is like having a business coach. Tune in for that and more on today’s WP Elevation podcast.    

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Watch the video of this podcast here.

David Hobson has been working online for most of his career, and when he can’t find a way to do something he turns to technology for the answer. Since working at Foundr with Nathan Chan, he’s been using LinkedIn as a tool for business development. He likes it because it’s measurable and practical. In fact, he’s had such great success with it that he has become the go-to guy for growing and accelerating a business with LinkedIn.

When I asked him why WordPress consultants need to be savvy with their use of LinkedIn, he said it is an important social media platform especially for consultants. The primary reason is that LinkedIn is the professional social media platform today. It’s important to remember it exists and it is part of your brand and your online presence.

The reason LinkedIn is so key is because a lot of people trust what they see on LinkedIn versus websites and other platforms. LinkedIn has a high trust rating; it's verified versus a website which is not. It confirms your image if you are doing it right. It's recognized as social proof, and it's expected you show up as a professional on the site.

I also asked him to explain the basics of setting up your profile and presence on LinkedIn, and how to do it properly. David said it’s about consistency. LinkedIn started as a resume platform but has now morphed into a personal branding platform and should be treated as such.

He says based on studies people look at profile pictures or avatars first. These are important for that reason and also because of something called “thin slicing”. Thin slicing is a sociological term and explains why people within a split second will form a very strong, almost permanent impression of you. This impression is a very hard one to shake, even if they've never met you in person!

Based on your photo they will look at your profile and judge your warmth, your competency, etc. and will do so all within a microsecond. So if you're going to spend time and money anywhere, that's where to do it! Be sure you are either smiling or at least be neutral in your profile picture/avatar as well.

After the profile photo, you should spend time on your professional headline, and then your summary. If you're going to spend 30 minutes on your profile, these are the three areas to focus on.

Regarding your headline, David recommends getting straight to the point. Headlines are used to grab attention and pull people in, don’t list a job title. Instead, say you’re a WordPress consultant for physiotherapists in Melbourne. That is a good headline because it is specific and talks directly to your target market so do something similar for your headline.

Finally, with your summary, keep it short. All you need to list is who you are, who you work with, how you can help them and the next step to get in touch with you. You want a call to action here, get them out of LinkedIn and onto your website, or sending you an email or phone call.

Today David also explains what endorsements are, whether or not they are worth it and why you should have a minimum of 5 (preferably 10) recommendations on your LinkedIn profile. He explains how to get them, even if you don’t have clients.

Speaking of clients, David also gives you a step-by-step description of how to find reputable, good-paying clients to work with through LinkedIn. And he describes the multiple ways to approach and connect with these potential clients once you find them.

Lastly, we wrap our chat with the topic of content marketing on LinkedIn. David tells you how often to post, what to post (curating content vs. original content) and some scheduling tools to use to make it easier for you. Plus he gives away 2 LinkedIn secrets! You’ll definitely want to tune in for those. Have a listen for that and more on today’s WP Elevation podcast.

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Watch the video of this podcast here.

Have you ever noticed the same ad popping up on different sites while you’re surfing the web? That’s a form of retargeting, and it can be highly lucrative when done properly.

An expert on that subject and all things pay-per-click (PPC) is Mike Rhodes. Mike is a PPC and AdWords specialist and the founder of Web Savvy, a done-for-you digital marketing services agency. He joins us to talk about the three steps to properly using Google’s display network and more on today’s edition of WP Elevation!

Mike Rhodes has been in the PPC and AdWords space since 2004 and has grown from a one-man shop to a team over a dozen people. He credits that team and the culture they’ve created to the tremendous growth they’ve seen over the last decade.

One of the things they’ve learned to do so well is using Google’s display network. I asked Mike to share his insights on using that network with a lead gen system that is working. He said there are two parts to Google: the search network (ads at the top and bottom) and then the display network. Only about 2% of advertisers are using the display network on purpose because it’s harder to use.

Mike likens it to a game of chess, using a quote by Perry Marshall:

If search is a game of checkers, then the display network is a game of chess.

He says there are many more moves with the display network, but with that flexibility comes power and the ability to scale.

So if you are going to use the display network, Mike has three steps you must take to ensure success. First, you need to measure. You must understand what you're going to measure and what success looks like. While you’ll often hear others tell you to measure your results, Mike says you can't leave that till last, or you will be flying blind.

Instead, think about what you're going to measure first and set that up, then you can build and run from there. You've got to start with the end in mind. In fact, you'll get a lot more data by doing so which means you can move faster and spend less money to snag a good result.

Your next step is targeting. This is assuming you have an offer, and you have a website of course. Once those pieces are in place, you must think about targeting and how you’re going to do it.

Most people think that with the display network they can put ads on certain sites. For example, if you want to get people who are interested in sports you can put your ad on ESPN's website. While that’s true, it's just an iota of the display network game and what is really possible!

There are many other ways to target traffic, and the one most of us know about it is remarketing. Remarketing has been around for six years, and Mike and his team have been using it for 5 and a half years.

The form of remarketing most of us recognize is this one: someone comes to a website that uses cookies, those cookies follow the person around the web and put ads in front of the person on various sites.

However, there are other types that don't involve someone having to visit your website first. Mike gives a few of those examples on this show, including retargeting based on people who visit your competitors' sites! His biggest caution with remarketing is to be sure you don’t overstep the creepy line, as long as you do that this technique can be very profitable.

The final step is your message and testing it through ads. You can have the same landing page but understand which ad attracts people to your web site. Mike shares exactly what size works best for them, and he also explains why you should test different ideas and ad concepts – but you should avoid animation.

He gives greater detail on that final step including how to make sure your messaging stays consistent once you know what ad works best. Also on this episode, Mike and I talk about why carefully screening incoming prospects and only working with select people has helped his agency grow and produce even better results.

You’ll hear his thoughts on that and so much more on this episode of the WP Elevation Podcast!

 

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Watch the video of this podcast here.

Nik Thakorlal specializes in lead generation products and helping businesses grow through high yield lead generation. He also owns a software company, despite not having a background in software development.

The first thing we talk about was how he recruits his team members. He explains the initial step when building your team is to understand what you want to get done now and also in the future.

His strategy is to build a team that scales as the business grows, no matter what industry you serve or what position you are hiring for. To do this you need to get a vision of where you want to be in the future and recruit from that vision.

From there, come up with a project or test case that replicates what it would be like in the future and test the candidates with that and then hire people based on who delivered the best results. Nik created his contests so the winner gets a prize of a few hundred or a few thousand dollars.

He has done this effectively after discovering interviews weren't indicative of whether the person would be a good performer or not! After some disastrous hires he devised this strategy instead and it has worked out well for him.

When I asked him why lead generation, Nik explained that lead generation is the core of all businesses. If you can get your lead generation working properly then you can solve any other problem in your business. The primary function of any business in any industry is to acquire customers, lead generation does that for you. But without lead gen, you don’t have a business.

And that’s his advice to anyone who wants to start a business - go out and find a customer! 

To dig a bit deeper, Nik describes what high yield lead generation actually is and how it works. When most people think of lead gen they think it's about getting a name and an email address or a physical address if it's an offline business. But that doesn't tell you very much about the person. With just an address we don't know enough about them yet except they are interested in whatever you offered them in exchange for their name and email or mailing address.

While having their contact information is a start, from there you want to gather other data from them too and find out where they are in the buying continuum. Are they ready to buy something to solve their problem? If so, then you can direct them to solutions. But if they aren't in buying mode yet and you present the offer too early, you won't be effective and you won’t make sales.

High yield lead generation means you want to capture more about them so you know where they are psychologically from a behavioral perspective, and what their beliefs are about their problem. You can do that easily with quizzes, survey questions, and the like.

If they someone tells you they haven't quite bought the problem yet (meaning they aren't in a place where they acknowledge that the problem is hurting them) then you have to sell them on the problem. Once they are sold on the problem, you can move them along the sales continuum. 

But you won't know where they are by just getting an email address and their name, you need more information from them.

Also on today’s show, Nik explains how a dynamically created offer or thank you page gathers that collect additional information from your leads, the optimal funnel and the optimum path from opting into buying, and how his team has developed this technique in their high yield lead generation software.

Hear about that and more on this edition of the WP Elevation Podcast.

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Watch the video of this podcast here.   Nate Wright is a developer at heart. In fact, for the last three years as the creator and founder of Theme of the Crop, he’s built a suite of plugins using hooks extensively and has always designed his themes to deliberately integrate with his plugins.

When asked how he recommends finding the right niche for you, Nate has some advice borne of personal experience. The first thing he recommends if picking an area you are interested in, otherwise you might bore yourself working on something you don’t care about!

His next recommendation is to get a sense of who you will be dealing with within that niche. Is it mainly business owners, small organizations with lots of red tape, or hobbyists? Once you know that then you can get a clear idea of what the relationship will be like with your people. You can take it a step further and narrow the niche down even more once you know the groups within it.

Nate explains a struggle he’s experienced in his niche. He has discovered he has two very different audiences who want very different things: restaurant owners and web site developers for restaurants.

So he's settled on pitching to the niche on a broad level by targeting the owners and results-oriented people. From there he feeds in the details, which is what the developers are interested in. Because they are the ones looking for that kind of information he knows they will dig a little deeper to get it so he can put that content below-the-fold and the business owners/results-oriented people’s content is above-the-fold.

In essence, Nate says he tries to not overwhelm the restaurant owners with problems he solves but are problems they don't even know they have yet! He's clear and upfront about the results he delivers, and later on he gets into the details on how he delivers those results.   Speaking of content, I asked him whether he segments his content with one focus on developers and one on restaurant owners? Nate admits he does neither well; he has figured out he isn't good at content marketing!

While he does run a blog about restaurant web site tips and he sends those tips to his mailing list along with giveaways, he struggles to come up with ideas and to create content consistently. It's simply not his strong suit so he's pivoting towards an evergreen content strategy. Right now he is putting together the ultimate guide to Facebook for restaurants. It’s a step-by-step guide to help restaurants utilize Facebook.

I also asked Nate where he goes to find his audience and he said to date he's focused on channels that exist within the WordPress space. He does so because to use his products you need at least a basic understanding of WordPress, themes, and plugins. He doesn't want to educate his customers on the basics!

On today’s show he goes on to explain his biggest sources of inbound traffic, and any industry trends he sees currently. He shares what his biggest challenge has been to date and why he’s now focused on adding features like capacity management and table assignment. You’ll want to hear his reasoning behind that move and so much more on today’s episode of WP Elevation with Nate Wright!

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Watch the video of this podcast here.

Kate Toon has been working in the advertising world for almost 20 years, and she got her start in the digital era back in 1997. She’s worked with such notable clients as eHarmony, Curash, and Kmart; her first major digital job was creating Marks and Spencer’s e-commerce website which was one of the first online shops in the UK.

Today she has evolved her expertise to SEO copywriting and consulting, and also offers SEO courses, memberships, conferences, and podcasts. Kate is the founder of The Clever Copywriting School and The Recipe for SEO Success eCourse, as well as co-host on the Hot Copy Podcast. She also just wrote her first business book and is now promoting it. In other words, she’s incredibly busy and productive!

Because of her extensive experience and knowledge, I was excited to bring her on the show today. We talk about why it's important for you as a developer to create a solid SEO foundation for your clients and why you need to pay attention to copywriting, in general, for search engine ranking purposes.

Kate says that content has always been important, but as it continues to play an ever-growing role as Google improves their algorithm for understanding the context of your content, and Google becomes better at crawling content to find out whether it's quality or not. The basic rule to remember for SEO is if you can bring in humans through good quality content then you'll please Google in the process.

But if you're just starting out as a developer and SEO feels mysterious to you, what do you do to lay a proper SEO foundation for your clients? Kate has given us her top 5 considerations for a solid SEO foundation for your clients in 2017.

But first, she says the most important thing you can do as a web developer is to understand your limits. Don't over-promise and under-deliver! Don't say you've delivered an SEO-friendly website unless you are 100% confident that the website you have completed is in fact SEO-friendly. Remember to be realistic about what you have done for your client.

And that concept overarches these 5 points:

1. Crawlability

This is the foundation of all SEO. If Google can't crawl your site, then anything else you do won't matter. Google needs to crawl your site in order to index it properly and make it searchable. To make a site crawlable you need to use a plugin like Yoast or All In One SEO. And you need to do this so you generate a sitemap. She explains more about why sitemaps are important during our conversation.

2. Speed

We all feel the need for speed! Slow sites don't perform well. As more of us search from our mobiles this becomes even more critical. Kate says it's something like 60-65% of all searches are now done from mobiles rather than desktops. And mobile speed has to be even faster than desktop. A good benchmark is a small business site loading in about 1.5 seconds - that is what to aim for.

To ensure the site is fast, test it after you build it. She loves Pingdom and GT Metrix for this because they will not only tell you how fast your site is, but also why it's slow (whether it’s giant images, big java scripts, etc).

3. Responsiveness

This term simply means that the website responds to the device in which you are viewing it - whether that is a mobile phone, tablets, iPads, desktops, etc. Kate loves the Divi theme but recommends that whatever you choose, test the responsiveness of the theme. Try it on a variety of devices and see if it works quickly and properly.

4. Content

For this step, you must decide where will you draw the line and when your responsibility stops for the site you have created. At a minimum, Kate says you need to add titles and meta descriptions for all the pages you create.

Unless you understand SEO copywriting and keyword research, it's not your responsibility to draft those. But it is your responsibility to add the terms to all of your pages properly. It's equally important to find an SEO copywriter or content person you feel comfortable working with and refer your client to them.

And it's also your duty to be sure your client knows where your SEO responsibility ends.

5. Training and Maintenance

Finally, don’t just give someone their site when you’re done! They will go away and break it without help from you. Be sure you give them an hour of WordPress training or refer them to a resource that offers training and support (like Video User Manuals or WP Elevation).

Kate also recommends that you explain to your clients the importance of maintenance and regular updates. Maintenance is important for functionality of course, but also for SEO. Your client needs to know that if their site goes down repeatedly then Google will lower the site in its rankings.

To address this issue you can put together a maintenance package for your clients that includes updating plugins, Google search console monitoring for broken links, etc, and adding more content for them.

But if you don't want to do that then explain to them what they will need to do for ongoing maintenance, and let them know poorly maintained sites will be penalized by Google.

To wrap up the show we recap those points, and Kate also explains why her experience and research has led her to focus on these 5 steps as being the key components to a website’s proper SEO foundation. You’ll learn about that and more on this edition of WP Elevate with Kate Toon!

Links

• Kate Toon's website
• The Clever Copywriting School
• Recipe for Success SEO Course
• Kate Toon on Instagram
• Kate Toon on Youtube

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