218: Strategies for Optimizing Time and SEO to Drive Growth

Jessica: 0:00

at that point, had zero team Because, remember, this was like my first year, I was not a millionaire, and so I think the systems are what saved me.

Camille: 0:19

So you want to make an impact. You're thinking about starting a business, sharing your voice. How do women do it that handle motherhood, family and still chase after those dreams? We'll listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know this is Call Me CEO. Welcome back everyone to Call Me CEO.

Camille: 0:41

This is your host, Camille Walker, where we celebrate women building businesses and really the magic of mothers building businesses, which I think it takes it to a different element when you're wearing a different hat, and today we're going to talk about how important it is to be wearing the right hat with the right system. We're going to be talking about systems, SEO, how to make your time really impactful so that when things go awry or you're not making your own schedule every day which we know that happens as moms that we still have backup systems that keep things flowing. So our expert today is Jess from Jess Creatives, and she is an SEO strategist and also website designer, so she will bring not only the systems, but she'll make it pretty. Thank you, Jess, so much for being on the show today. Of course, I'm so excited to chat with you. Yeah Well, we've been talking about how you are in Georgia. Today's a big day for you. There's a storm outside. Tell us about the anniversary you're celebrating and a little bit about where you are from.

Jessica: 1:43

Yeah, so I live in Georgia. We are preparing for Hurricane Helene right now. It's about to hit. But today is 13 years since I launched Just Creatives and that really started, honestly, just as a Facebook page. That was like me officially being like I'm a freelancer, I design, like, yay, this is my business. And I think my website came a few months later. But I started as a graphic designer and then, just three years after I officially launched Desk Creatives, I took it full time and started doing websites and branding and SEO for other business owners. And here I am, all these years later, still going.

Jessica: 2:31

I feel like a grandma in the online space. I remember when I used to see websites of people that their bio would be like I'm an online marketer for 20 years and I'm like, oh my gosh, they've been doing this for so long. Like, how are they still relevant? I don't know why that made it seem like they weren't relevant. That was naive of me, but now I'm one of those people that I'm like, yeah, I've been doing this for 13 years. And people are like, oh, you've been around a long time. I have. I feel like I've seen the online space shift a lot over the last 13 years, but I really enjoy what I do and helping other business owners.

Camille: 3:14

That's awesome. I feel like we're on the same timeline because I was getting into this space at the same time and, just like you, I feel like a grandma, where I'm like I've been here for a while where it's kind of getting to the top of that. I heard it once described as getting to the top of the hill and then turning around to help others up, and I feel like that's a very that feels very real and akin to the way that I feel in this space, where I'm like, yeah, it's ever changing, but you have weathered the storm enough that you know how to kind of ride the waves and still pop up and keep showing up on top. Do you agree with that?

Jessica: 3:49

Yes, Agree Like cause. There's been so many evolutions Like I. Do you remember when Facebook groups were all the rage?

Camille: 3:58

in like 2017, 2018?.

Jessica: 4:01

And it was like so many business groups.

Jessica: 4:04

One person would post I'm looking for a designer, 82 comments later, they're like closing comments and you're like I hope I was one of the first ones and she picks me.

Jessica: 4:16

And then, all of a sudden, everybody shut down their Facebook groups and I was like, oh, I realized that I was relying a lot on those Facebook groups. Like I had other ways I was getting clients, but I didn't realize how much I was relying on those Facebook groups. So, but yeah, I feel like there's been a lot of changes and I always like, when I don't want to say younger, as in their age, but I guess newer business owners is the right word Reach out and they're like oh, you've been doing this for 13 years. Like, what advice do you have? How did like what's made you stick around for so long? And I'm like more than happy to help them, because I feel like when I started, everyone was like you can join my program or pay me. Everyone was like you can join my program or pay me, and not that I wanted a whole business plan for free, but it was like they were inaccessible and I love to like help and give back and do what I can for the, for the newer business owners.

Jessica: 5:17

Well, good.

Camille: 5:18

Well, I love that you're here on the podcast today because I feel like that I out of curiosity, I feel like you got in at a really good time where there there was a little more accessibility with Facebook groups. So if there was someone in that situation maybe not necessarily looking for a website design product per se, but like to do maybe online sales or getting clients what was a shift that you made that's been really impactful for today.

Jessica: 5:52

I think one of the big shifts I've made is, well, and not even a shift, but something that's always helped my business is content marketing. Like creating content on Instagram, on my blog, on a podcast, on YouTube, like content has always, always, always helped, and not to the point that I'm like you have to be on Instagram five times a day or you have to do this, but always putting myself out there to connect with people and build that relationship and trust with my audience. And it has shifted over the years and the ways that I've done it, the platforms, the method, what I'm talking about like that has always kind of shifted, because it used to be like when I started YouTube, I was very focused on like Ooh, what can I talk about that would get me a lot of views? Like. I remember the day that, like the Facebook creator studio like launched or whatever, and I was like oh, I could create a YouTube video about this and be the first one to post, and I literally stopped what I was doing it's like nine o'clock in the morning, recorded a video, edited it myself Cause this was before I had an editor and posted it on YouTube.

Jessica: 7:06

I don't do anything with Facebook. No, like you know, I was like I don't, I don't do anything with Facebook, never have like in terms of like what I do with for my clients. But it was like, oh, I can, this will help me be seen as like an authority and I'll be a leader because I'm the first one talking about it. And now I'm like, oh well, that was kind of dumb because it's not related to my work. And I think that's one of the most important things If you're doing content to teach your audience, really focus on what you want to be known for.

Camille: 7:41

Which seems really basic, but it's not because I think for a lot of us, especially creatives, entrepreneurs, we can get distracted by the shiny thing and be like, oh that this is getting a lot of eyeballs, like I need to jump on this.

Camille: 7:56

But I love that you said. Just because it's a good idea for someone doesn't mean it's a good idea for you if that's not your ideal demographic, your ideal client or even the topic that you generally want to be known for. That maybe it's a good idea for you if that's not your ideal demographic, your ideal client or even the topic that you generally want to be known for.

Jessica: 8:09

It's like oh yeah maybe I shouldn't do that one.

Jessica: 8:12

And I know as business owners, I'm sure you've experienced this. It's like, after being in business for so long, you do start to learn things, other parts of business that aren't what you do with clients, and so it's easy to be like oh, I could talk about this because I've used this app, this software, and I could just like teach people and it would you know, just to be nice, or reviews or whatever. Instead of being like I mean, yes, I know about it, doesn't mean I should teach it Because I've. You know, it's just after we've been doing things for so long, it's like oh yeah, I could help somebody and I'm like maybe save that just for like your DMs or when you're at like a networking event, you can be like, oh yeah, like that would be a great app for you to use instead of creating content around it. And then that, I feel like, can start to create brand confusion and people being like wait, so do you do this too? Like can I hire you to help with social media marketing, and then you're just confusing your audience.

Camille: 9:14

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So what would you say before we get into official systems? But as far as getting yourself out there with content creation, what's your favorite thing that you're loving right now?

Jessica: 9:29

I I have always loved video the most, which is funny because when I, right before I started doing video, I actually resisted it really hard for about six months and I was like I'm an introvert, I hate speaking, I don't want to be seen by people, I don't want to be on video, and I initially had a lot of fear and the first few videos were really, really bad. But now I really love video and so that includes both YouTube and I also really love Instagram reels because I love doing the like lip dub ones where it's like a funny quotes or scene from like Schitt's Creek or the Office or whatever. Just one of those like funny quotes, not necessarily like the dancing ones or whatever, but I love doing the funny quotes. Those are my favorite. I would do those every day if I could find enough audio clips.

Camille: 10:23

They are good ones. Where do you like to find those audio clips? Just from scrolling, or do you have a place that you like to go and gather?

Jessica: 10:29

I just do a lot of scrolling. Unfortunately, I sometimes if I'm like, okay, there's nothing funny right now, because sometimes you know there's like a funny one that's trending, that everyone's doing. If I can't find one of those, I will literally go to like one of the schitt's creek or office um fan pages that has reels and they have the little audio clips and I'll just find one, yeah, so then you'll just grab it and make it your own from there yeah, and I'm like I'm just gonna use this, we're gonna reference the office today.

Camille: 11:02

Oh, I like that. That's clever because then if you're, if you have a show that you relate to or you're familiar with the jokes, it wouldn't be so hard to translate it.

Jessica: 11:11

Yeah, and my husband and I love the Office and we watch it a lot, and so I often am like hmm, I feel like I could probably use something with Michael Scott today. I feel like I'm in a Michael Scott mood, so I will go make a reel with that.

Camille: 11:27

Ooh, I like that. That's smart yeah. All right, let's go into systems a little bit, because I know that you said that that is what has transformed your life, especially for moms that are wanting to build a business and need to get all the things done. So let's talk about that. What is a good first step and where do you like to?

Jessica: 11:47

center systems around. Yeah, so just like backstory for people, I started my business when I launched or not launched when I went full-time, that's the right word. When I went full-time, I had been freelancing for two and a half years at that point and at that point I had already built systems into my business. A lot of people I feel like, oh, I've been in business for five years, I've built up some clients. Now I want systems. I'm very type A and I was like I have to figure this out, build some systems, because I'm starting to get more and more clients. And that's eventually why I was able to go full time, because I had so many clients and I was like, okay, I have limited time because I'm still working full time and I'm doing this in the evenings and weekends as a side hustle, and so I need to be really organized because I have very limited time, just like moms do. Well, then, two months after I went full time, my mom passed away unexpectedly and that first.

Jessica: 12:51

So my first like year of being full time, I was depressed, grieving, trying to run a business full time with no business background. I had a design background, not a business background. I had a design background, not a business background, and I, when I look back at that year, I'm like I have no idea how I made it work, because all I remember from 2015 is laying on the couch curled up in a ball eating Cheez-Its like very, very, you know, depressed, and I at that point had zero team. Remember, this was like my first year. I was not a millionaire and so I did not even have a five hours a month VA. I had literally no help, and so I think the systems are what saved me that and just being good at my job. But the systems helped because it made it easy for me to just focus on the client work and not have to do as much of the you know admin stuff and the content create you know those kinds of things.

Jessica: 13:58

So I think, when you're doing your systems and trying to set that up no, I don't teach systems, I just have used a lot of systems in the last 13 years I think it should start with what is the easiest thing I can take off my plate what can I automate? We can't automate our client interactions and our client work a lot of time, because that's what they're hiring us for. I know there are tools. You know a lot of tools that might help us do it faster, but for me, like, one of the things that I first automated was my client onboarding experience. So in terms of like, okay, as soon as they sign the contract, the invoice automatically gets sent, because I use this CRM that manages all that, and then it automatically sends them a questionnaire three days later, so that I'm not having to do this.

Camille: 14:55

What CRM do you like?

Jessica: 14:57

I use HoneyBook. I have also used Dubsado, so I find them pretty similar. Other people think they're very different To me. They're very similar. But before I used either of those, I was that type of person who was like, here's a PDF you can sign and DocuSign and here's this invoice from this other platform. And then, okay, now I've got those pieces, now I'm going to send you this Google form questionnaire. And I was having to be a part of every step, whereas now and quickly, I automated all this. It was like, okay, honeybook activate workflow contract invoice questionnaire.

Jessica: 15:37

I do some education emails to kind of help people with. Like you need a privacy policy, you need this, you need to think about that for your website. Here's a link to book a call, like I don't have to manually do any of that and they have access to me for emails. I'm not like, sorry, you can't talk to me until our call, but sending all that information that they need and the links, it's all automated so I don't have to do that. Um, whereas again before I was like manually doing that, so every day sitting at my desk being like, okay, I need to send Kim this and Elizabeth, that has. Krista responded, ellie, finally booked your call, you know like checking in on everything, and now this removes that admin aspect that I don't have to do as much for that part. So that's like one of my go-to favorite recommendations for resources or like for onboarding and systematizing things in your business.

Camille: 16:42

That's what I recommend yeah so smart. I love HoneyBook I've had. I know that that's a lot, even for if you're doing any kind of independent contract work. It's really useful.

Jessica: 16:53

It is yeah, I really love it. So, anything you can automate, I'm a fan.

Camille: 16:59

So we have our HoneyBook, we do the administrative tasks. Are there any other systems that you've put into play that you love?

Jessica: 17:07

I also really love. So I do podcasting and YouTube as well. So I do a lot of content creation and I use Descript to record and edit. So that's obviously that's still like I still have to do it. And then I use a platform called Cast Magic and it does the transcript. It gives me kind of a blog post template. It gives me social media posts because they have this little AI. That's so good AI magic or AI chat, I don't know what. It's called AI something and it gives you this whole thing and it just simplifies and gives me so many ideas and I can just scroll and like oh, here's a good pull quote for the podcast, here's a good thread for threads, you know all that kind of stuff. So I really love that. And then I have virtual assistants now that help, and so I don't know if this falls under systems, but the part of the system is, once things are edited and posted it's in cast magic she takes it and turns it into a blog post, then puts that on Pinterest. So the content piece is also very automated. After I do the initial recording. That's all good to go.

Jessica: 18:34

But one of the other things that I used to do I don't do as much now just because platforms have changed and I'm not as worried about being everywhere.

Jessica: 18:44

But I used to use platforms like well, I still use it technically, but Social B, or there's one called SmarterQ, there's another one called Meet Edgar, and so we've all heard of these social media platform scheduling platforms like buffer and later and hoot suite.

Jessica: 19:05

But what makes edgar and social b and smarter q different is you have this library of content and it just recycles and repost, and so for me, I literally I mean I used to have like 400 pieces of content in this library and it would you. You would say like okay, every Tuesday and Thursday on LinkedIn, post something, and then on Monday and Wednesday, post something on Facebook, and it would just cycle through and go through all 400 and then start back at number one and go again, and so I don't worry as much about being active on my Facebook page. So I don't really use it that anymore. But it was really good for just having a presence, because I was like I am a solo business owner and now mom and I can't be everywhere at once. But I was like I know I want a Facebook page because sometimes I get tagged in Facebook groups and people want to go see your page and I wanted it to at least look active and not like, oh, that last post, Not a ghost town Like oh, they're not there anymore.

Jessica: 20:16

Yeah, they last posted in 2013. And so I wanted and that was also a way to kind of get more eyes on blog posts and videos, and so that helped me quote unquote be on Facebook without actually having to be on Facebook, if that makes sense.

Camille: 20:35

Oh, absolutely.

Jessica: 20:37

And not that I don't love social media managers and virtual assistants, but when I first started using those platforms, I was early in my business, didn't have the budget to pay someone $400 a month or $1,000 a month is more the going rate nowadays and I just didn't have the budget and I was like, oh, these recycled platforms, recycled posts, can be a way for me to be there, but even though I know, for me it was like Facebook isn't where I get my clients, like people aren't coming to my Facebook page. I don't have a million followers over there that are going to get traction. Or on LinkedIn, I'm, I'm on there, but I'm not actively getting clients there. But I at least have a presence, if that makes sense.

Camille: 21:27

Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. I love that. I've used programs like that too, where it recycles through and you don't have to worry about recreating it every single time, which, if you know your brand voice and you have a message that you're wanting to share around certain pieces of content, people aren't going to know that you posted it even six months ago or even two months ago.

Camille: 21:48

No one is obsessed enough with our content that they're going to see every single piece of content that we put everywhere that we put it. So I think that takes a lot of the guesswork out, but also gives you a sense of oh, I'm still there even though I'm not spending my time. So, yeah, that's really smart. Are there systems in your home that you use to help with your time. I'm just curious if you have a system in your home as well.

Jessica: 22:13

My probably favorite system is WeMealPrep.

Camille: 22:18

And.

Jessica: 22:19

WeMealPrep and MealPlan. I feel like very differently than a lot of people.

Camille: 22:23

Okay, let's hear it, I'm excited.

Jessica: 22:27

Someone listening might be like oh, we do the same thing, it's not that interesting, but I have over the year. We've been doing this for 10 years now. Literally I know when we started. It's been 10 years this year and I've never met anybody who does it this way. So if you're listening and you do, please message me, because then we can have a friend. We can have a friend, so we meal prep on Saturday or Sunday and we eat the same food all week.

Jessica: 22:54

So, I will be like okay, this. So, for example, this week I'm having like a breakfast taco burrito thing, week I'm having like a breakfast taco burrito thing. So I made like, cook the meat and then I'm putting hash browns and cheese on it and then it's a tortilla. So all I have to do every morning is heat up the meat and the hash browns because they're already cooked Sprinkle the cheese, put it on tortilla. I'm done. It's like three minutes. Sometimes I've done like an egg casserole. I just make the egg casserole and grab a scoop every morning or whatever Lunch. This week I'm doing like a makeshift Chipotle bowl. So I cooked the rice, the veggies, the meat. It's all in the fridge. When it's lunch I go down, scoop, scoop, scoop, heat it up in the microwave.

Jessica: 23:43

Done when it's lunch, I go down, scoop, scoop, scoop, heat it up in the microwave, done same thing for dinner, and so I just eat the same food all week. I just eat the same lunch, same breakfast, same dinner every week. We have done variations um, where we like for. So we were foster parents for a little while, like several years ago, and our foster daughter was a little while like several years ago, and our foster daughter was a little bit older. So she was like I don't, you know, she's a lot, she was in that picky phase, yes, and so what we did is we would just make like a big batch of like chicken and then either chop it or shred it.

Jessica: 24:19

And then it was like, okay, we will do like chicken and broccoli and pasta on monday and wednesday, and then chicken like nachos on tuesday and thursday, and then figure out some you know some kind of other chicken for friday, or just do whatever's left over. So still like, we're just doing the chicken, we just have to like do some bro, or like I think we also probably heat it up and like pre-cook the broccoli and pasta and whatever. Um, but we've done like variations like that, where it's the main kind of entree is done and we just kind of switch up whatever sides or sauces we're doing with it. Um, but yeah, we've done the same food all week and the number one thing I hear from people is like but I get tired of the same food, like I don't know how you do that. And I'm like for me, like my husband and I talk about so much, it has reduced decision fatigue.

Camille: 25:16

I was just thinking that yes.

Jessica: 25:18

And so I mean, yes, are there times where it's like I don't want chicken tonight or I don't want you know whatever, sometimes, but we have a few other things on hand. So if it's like, okay, well, let's just do a frozen pizza tonight or oh well, we have some like pasta. We could cook it up, but neither of us. When we're done working, we don't have to be like, okay, now it's time to cook dinner, but what do we do? It sounds amazing.

Camille: 25:50

I'm really liking this idea. I think the biggest challenge for me being a mother of four is that if there is something that's on repeat, my kids would be like oh again, which sometimes they do that anyway. So I'm like, maybe if that's just the way it is and they're used to it, it's good that you started early, because I am cute.

Jessica: 26:12

I will say cause my daughter's only three. For context for anybody listening my daughter's only three, so she typically eats what we eat or something similar. Or we're like okay, do you just want?

Jessica: 26:22

you can modify, yeah yeah, like she's pretty flexible for a three-year-old um, and so I am curious, honestly, to see how this goes as she gets older and will we have to go back to that kind of like oh, I'm going to do chicken and broccoli and whatever on monday and wednesday and something else tuesday, thursday, friday. You know, like we might have to do that um, because even before we did the same food all week. Prior to that, we would meal prep on saturday or sunday and then just eat, but it was a different meal. So now meal prep takes us like an hour to two hours, if that, but back then it was like I would like get all these ideas from Pinterest and whatever. I'd be like okay, monday we're having pot roast, tuesday we're having stir fry, and then we had just like all this food A huge mess, yeah, and it took six hours on a Saturday to meal prep and it was not great. But this is much more efficient and I love it.

Camille: 27:30

Do you ever share your favorite recipes that you love on repeat? Cause I would imagine, if you're eating them on repeat, they're tried and tested and they're ones that you love we yeah, so we don't really do anything fancy or like super fun which is okay yeah, because we act like we don't have an official rotation.

Jessica: 27:48

It's really literally like every saturday. We're like what?

Jessica: 27:51

do we want to do yeah um, but some of the easy ones, like if we're having a busy weekend and we can't prep hamburgers because you can bake hamburgers and they're super good um, so instead of having to, like, stand out by the grill outside, um, meatballs like, especially the pre-made ones, that's super then there's literally no prep. We don't have to do anything on saturday at all. It's just like each night you dish out like five meatballs or whatever, and whatever our side is Anything with taco meat. We are big Mexican food lovers, so we do some variation of tacos or nachos or taco salad, I feel like once a month at least. I'm trying to think what else we do.

Jessica: 28:47

Salsa chicken is what we call it, and it's a few pounds of chicken, either chicken thighs, chicken breasts, whatever and a jar of salsa in the Instant Pot and you just let it cook and then you take it out and shred it and then it is good on salad, in wraps, with rice, on nachos, like it's pretty pliable. You can go in a lot of different ways. Um, pasta does not do great, we've found. So we don't do a lot of pasta meals. We stick to usually rice or just a meat and a vegetable, like that's the pretty, that's the pretty simple part. So if you're someone who likes really like fancy gourmet things, like I found, pinterest is not great for searching for meal prep because it's always like, oh, look at this, like marry me butter chicken, whatever, and it's like that would be good fresh. It's probably not great reheated because it's like the sauce gets all like congealed and that kind of stuff and yeah, and that kind of stuff.

Jessica: 30:01

So, um, the other thing, we really love is like sausage and veggies, like a sheet pan meal super simple, lasts all week and like then you can change up the veggies and whatever each time you do it. So it's a little more variety. Um, I know somebody if you're looking for another meal prep idea, like you with the four kids and needing more variety I know a mom on tiktok who they have like it's just like year round and they do it until they get tired of it. But it's like monday is spaghetti every single week and it's just like forever and ever until they get tired of it. Tuesday is taco Tuesday and it's just like they stick to the same six meals all the time until enough of the family gets tired of it. And then it's like okay, our Thursday meal is now tacos or you know whatever, and so they never are thinking of new meals. They still have to, you know, make it.

Jessica: 30:56

I don't think they. I don't think they meal prep, but the decision is made. She's like we're not. I'm not thinking of something new every Monday, I just know that it's whatever she does so that's another way.

Camille: 31:07

That's very similar If you're familiar with food nanny, which I met.

Camille: 31:11

Okay, yeah, she has her own she. She actually has a flower product called Kamut which is gluten-free and they bring it in from Europe. It's amazing, but she came and spoke at a at my church when I was a kid and shared how she was doing themed night dinners for her family and never changed it. And it was just the family looked forward to it and she said and we will change it up, Like one night is pasta or Italian night, and we can mix up, like what that means, but it stays the same you know and it's.

Camille: 31:46

It just takes away that extra decision fatigue. Like you said, there are so many decisions but by the end of the day, that's like one of the last things we want to be thinking about when we're hungry and tired ourselves. You know, yeah, for sure yeah. Well, I love all of those system ideas. We're going to shift gears a little bit to SEO, which is a very interesting topic and I think for the grandmas of the internet space which we are, we believe in SEO because that's something that has made my website.

Camille: 32:18

mymommystylecom is a website started in 2011 and it's still living and thriving from SEO, and now I'm trying to do better at creating more SEO, rich podcast episodes, as well as Pinterest and YouTube being their own SEO engines, Like it's. So. There is always so much to learn about it, but it pays in dividends. It takes time but, it pays in dividends, so let's talk about that.

Jessica: 32:43

Yeah. So if you're like, I don't even understand SEO, what are they talking about? Because I know a lot of people just like get overwhelmed and shut down because they're like, yeah, totally confusing you.

Jessica: 32:55

Search engine optimization is what it means and it just means you are optimizing your content, the words on the page of your page, blog post, you know, podcast transcript, whatever to hopefully show up in Google for that search term. So if it's a cheeseburger macaroni recipe and you would be optimizing that post, mentioning cheeseburger macaroni like 15 times not literally, let's not overdo it but you're going to be using that talking about cheeseburger macaroni, talking about, like, variations of cheeseburger macaroni. And so if you are someone who looks up recipe posts and you're like why are they talking about all this like 15 ways to make blueberry muffins, and can you make it with this thing and can you substitute that?

Jessica: 33:45

It's all for SEO all of it and it applies to other things outside of recipes also. It applies to my content, your content, like literally it applies to everything. And so you want to optimize this because just because your website exists, first of all, google doesn't necessarily know you exist. And a lot of people are like huh when I say that just because you published a website a month ago six months ago, if it's been like a year they might, they hopefully should know that you exist. But just because you hit publish and launched it doesn't mean Google even knows you're out there. And just because you're out there doesn't mean your site and your content is optimized. Because the way, the language you are using on your site, the words you're using, the way you have it set up and structured, google might be like I don't know what Kim is talking about. Google might be like okay, kim's site is here but it doesn't seem relevant for anything. So it's just going to exist in cyberspace. So it's just going to exist in cyberspace, whereas if we optimize it and use the right language and that's when people are paying to be in that like top spot, that's where you see where it literally says, like sponsored, really small by it, they are paying for it. It's very closely related because it's also they're targeting certain search terms. Related because it's also they're targeting certain search terms. But SEO is you doing the free version of that, basically, and you're like I'm going to optimize and try to get up on page one, and I love SEO because it is like marketing that runs in the background. So, as moms, we obviously have sick days, our kids have sick days, digital learning days, fall breaks, all the fun stuff, and so we don't always have the bandwidth to show up on social media every single day, day after day. And so if you want more capacity to have time with your family, have more time for clients taking naps, reading a book, whatever you want to do with that extra time then SEO is something that you want to spend time on Now.

Jessica: 36:26

Like you mentioned, it does take time because just because you optimize a blog post today doesn't mean it's going to show up in Google tomorrow. What I am seeing right now because this can change, but what I'm seeing right now with clients and with myself is, if you are a newer website and you don't really have any SEO, it can take six months to a year to start showing up on the front page of Google or getting up there higher. That also has a lot of factors, though, because it could be you might have a really good niche that's not competitive and you can get to the top of page one a lot quicker. Or if you get a lot of press, you do podcast interviews, you have a lot of backlinks to your site, these things can help. If you're blogging, that can also help, but if you're someone who's like I'm going to do one blog post a month, it's going to take you a lot longer. So there's a lot of factors that go into that.

Jessica: 37:25

But on average, I'm seeing, like brand new websites taking six months to a year. If you've been around for a handful of years but now you're starting to optimize, then I'm really mostly seeing around three months to four months to like. Okay, now I see a bump in traffic. So, like, if you optimize today, end of September, end of the year, beginning of January is when I would expect to probably see a bump in traffic for your website. But again, even that, like, you might see it faster because of your niche or the amount of content you have, or you know any of those things Me. My website is 13 years old. My domain is that old. I have a lot of SEO built up. I put up a new blog post last week and it's already at the bottom of page one. Wow, so like and part of, also again that's authority with time.

Camille: 38:24

Yes, yeah.

Jessica: 38:25

Yes, so for um, I swear this is. I'm not just using this analogy because we're talking to moms, but I use this analogy, um, where when you launch a new site, you are like a toddler to Google. Google does not trust you. You're a toddler, Like you don't know what you're talking about, Right? They're kind of like who is this? Yeah, as you, as time goes on, they start to trust you more. Now it's not literal. I to be clear. You don't have to wait 13 years to see that much traction for SEO, but just remember that when you are brand new, you are a baby or a toddler, and so Google has to learn that you know what you're talking about. You are an expert, you have the authority to be talking about this. This information Because with the pandemic and all of AI like they're really cracking down on wanting to make sure that who is ranking is actually a good resource.

Camille: 39:28

Yes, and a real person.

Jessica: 39:30

Yeah, and a real person, because, I mean, think about it's also very much. They want to give their users a good experience. Because imagine if we all went to like okay pizza near me and then hot dog stands showed up in the search results and you're like I'm searching for pizza, google, what are you showing me? They want to show you the best results and so they're also paying attention to like okay. People searched like best mom jeans and then went to this website and left immediately. Like 1500 people Googled best mom jeans, clicked on this site and left. They're like hmm, this is suspicious. Why are so many people leaving like is the site slow? Is it not actually talking about mom jeans? Is it not helpful? Is it like isn't that just not? You know they there's a lot of factors and so then they might bump that person down a few notches and be like okay, let's show camille instead, and then go to that and like okay, more people are staying on this website, so let's keep her here because people are having a better experience.

Jessica: 40:45

So when you're writing your blogs or optimizing even other just pages on your website, think about like what are people coming to when they land on this page? Am I answering a question giving a resource. What's the point of this and how can I give that information the quickest way? Make it the most valuable, teach them something. You have to keep all that in mind and not start necessarily with like here's a six paragraph story about my Saturday morning, right Before I get into talking about mom jeans. So think about how you can make this valuable and keep their attention and make sure that like people are enjoying being on your site.

Camille: 41:30

What would you suggest for? I'm a big fan of Yoast for helping me to create SEO friendly blog posts, but I'm curious about the length of blog posts or content. What do you suggest for length and content, as well, as, what apps or little helpers do you use to help you figure out what to what to write about?

Jessica: 41:53

Yeah, so Yoast is great. That's a WordPress plugin that people use for SEO. I like Rank Math better just because it's a little bit lighter, so it's a little bit for page speed and they have more free features than Yoast. Like some of the features that Rank Math has for free, you have to pay for in Yoast, oh cool.

Camille: 42:17

That's good to know.

Jessica: 42:23

Yeah, but they do the same thing. And I always remind people, especially if you're not like in this world you might not know this, but Yoast. So it gives you kind of like a checklist. It's like, okay, your keyword is here, here and here, you've done this, you've done that, great. And then if you add up, you know, if you do all the right things, you get a green light. And so lots of people think, oh, I just need a green light and I will rank. But that's not how it works. Yoast doesn't have any impact on you ranking in Google. Like, obviously, yes, if you get a green light, it's more likely because obviously it means your content is optimized. But Google isn't like, hey, Yoast gave her a green light, let's show that to the top.

Jessica: 43:04

Yeah, it's just a guide, so keep that in mind. Like, I have blog posts that have the green light and rank and I have posts that have a red light and rank and I have posts with a green light that don't rank.

Camille: 43:16

Like, so what do you think the best advice is for ranking?

Jessica: 43:20

Um, what making sure it's valuable it's. It really goes back to, um, also making sure that the keywords you're using. So, even before you get to Yoast, um, you want to make sure that the keywords you're targeting are good keywords, and so one of the tools I was going to recommend is Ahrefs, which is A-H-R-E-F-S. It's a really weird spelling, for most people are like what Spell?

Camille: 43:47

that again.

Jessica: 43:49

A-H-R-E-F-S.

Camille: 43:53

Oh yes, I'll need to write that down. I'm like okay, so that's a good one. S oh yes, I'll need to write that down.

Jessica: 43:58

I'm like okay, so that's a good one.

Jessica: 44:03

Ahrefs keyword generator. That's their free tool. They have paid tools but that's their free one and you can put in, like I want to best mom jeans or whatever, and it will tell you if things are competitive, if they have good search or not. Cause you might be like, look, I got a green light, but you have blogged about making broccoli cookies and you're like no one is searching for broccoli cookies, Like, and so you want to make sure that you're actually creating content that people are searching for.

Jessica: 44:29

So that's where the keyword research comes into play, and then the other tool I like to recommend is actually ChatGPT, not to write the post. I don't think that's a great option, because it doesn't sound great and I think AI content is going to be cracked down on eventually, or labeled, or who knows, but it's really good for an outline.

Jessica: 44:57

So I always tell people go to ChatGPT and say I want to write a blog post about the best recording software for YouTube or whatever your phrase is, your keyword, your topic, and say give me an SEO-friendly outline for this blog post and it will outline it and give you kind of the sub headers and talking points. Now keep in mind, chat gpt knows the fundamentals of seo. They don't know actual like keyword search volume and keyword like those kinds of things. So if there's something in that post that you're like that's right or that's not something I want to talk about or like anything like that, leave it out, it's fine. Like it's not telling you hey, if you write this post exactly like this, it's going to rank. It's just giving you an outline based on what it knows about SEO fundamentals and so following that outline I have found typically gives people a very comprehensive blog post and that goes back to being valuable and showing Google that you know what you're talking about. Yeah, and so for length of the post.

Camille: 46:07

What would you suggest?

Jessica: 46:09

So that I typically say like minimum 700 words.

Camille: 46:14

I agree with that. I even like to do a thousand usually.

Jessica: 46:18

Yeah, I'm like. That's why I'm like minimum 700 words. Yes for sure there are exceptions out there, especially if someone's doing like tutorial type posts that are super niche, like if someone's like how to upload a favicon to Squarespace or something like that, that's very niche, that's going to be, it's going to be really hard to write 700 words about that, and so if it's something like that, it doesn't necessarily need to be the 700 words. But if you're like how to start a business, and your post is 300 words long.

Camille: 46:58

You are not going to work out.

Jessica: 46:58

That's a really hard thing to rank for too. Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's also really really bad keyword, but yeah, so doing the keyword research, there are other tools out there for keyword research. They can be iffy. Some of the free ones don't have good data, like. They show you like things aren't as competitive as they actually are or the data's wrong. So be careful. That's why I like Ahrefs, because they are a paid tool also.

Camille: 47:29

And I find that their data is fairly more legit.

Jessica: 47:32

Yeah, More legit, more accurate. But if you already do some SEO and you're like I, like my keyword tool, I've gotten results like stick to it. The number one thing is like stick to one keyword research tool, because you will drive yourself mad if you're like okay, I'm going to compare these three tools. And you're like they're all giving me different answers.

Camille: 47:53

And you're going to be like, oh my gosh, that's so true. Yeah, well, this has been so helpful. I feel like we could. This is a topic we could dig into forever, and I know that, on top of that, having amazing design is what draws the eye and makes people want to stick around longer. So please tell our audience where they can find you online and see your funny, cute office reels and connect with you on those services as well.

Jessica: 48:18

Yes, so I'm pretty easy to find. Just creatives S at the endcom is my website, and then I'm on social media pretty much everywhere at just creatives.

Camille: 48:30

Perfect. Well, again, thank you so much. I feel like I've learned so much. I'm sure our audience has learned a ton too. Please go ahead and support Jess and thank you so much. I feel like I've learned so much. I'm sure our audience has learned a ton too. Please go ahead and support Jess, and thank you so much for listening and staying to the end of the show If this was helpful to you.

Camille: 48:44

Any like or share is always appreciated, as well as a review, so people can find it more easily. Well, thank you so much, jess. I feel like this was so much fun and we'll have to have you on again. Much, jess. I feel like this was so much fun and we'll have to have you on again. Yes, thank you so much for having me. You're welcome. Hey CEOs, thank you so much for spending your time with me. If you found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment and a five-star review. You could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. Continue the conversation on Instagram at callmeCEOPodcast and remember you are the boss.