The Recipe For SEO Success Show

Today I'm going to hand the mic over to our very own resident Shopify SEO expert on the big course, and also in the digital marketing collective, my VIP marketing membership. Her name is Kerri Bennett, her business is Yellow Door Digital. She is a legend.  Today she'll be sharing her tips and advice to help you on your Shopify SEO journey and avoid making all the wrong moves. Tune in to learn:  Why you should never buy a third-party theme Why Shopify is actually easier for SEO beginners Why you should always duplicate your main theme before making edits Why you should never let a website developer be the owner of your store Why it’s unwise to buy your domain name from Shopify Kerri’s tips for creating SEO-friendly content on your product pages Why you should steer clear of editing your robots.txt file What to do when you want to remove a product How to keep your discount codes safe Why you should never put your store on password-only access Useful resources:  VentraIP   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

Posting on platforms with purpose  For the last few years, we’ve all been a bit single-minded. Google, Google, Google And that makes sense, Google's market share has consistently been around 90-95% globally, but it’s slipping. And platforms like ChatGPT come along and blow everything out of the water, perhaps it’s time we got a little bit more search-agnostic. Not sure what I mean? In this episode, we’ll explain all. Tune in to learn:  What search agnosticism is What sites and social platforms are now used as search engines Why writing for humans first, search engines second is key How to decide what content works best for each platform How search agnosticism changes the way you write and do keyword research How to be more strategic with your content  Jessica’s top tips for being more search agnostic   Useful resources:  Connect with Jess on LinkedIn   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Getting started with quizzes, surveys and calculators Welcome to another episode of The Recipe for SEO Success, where we whisk together strategies for search engine glory. Today we’re sharing a little-known secret ingredient for capturing leads and boosting engagement on your website, calculators and quizzes. These interactive tools can be your golden ticket to increasing your audience and gaining more insights. We're joined by the brilliant Steven Schneider, who will dig into the magic of these interactive tools in SEO. So if you’re sick of average lead magnets and looking for something a little more special, get your ears ready to hear why calculators and quizzes are your new SEO BFFs. Tune in to learn:  How interactive tools and calculators can help SEO How to decide what kind of interactive tool is relevant to your audience How you can draw people to your site with keywords leading to an interactive tool How quizzes can lead to PR and backlink opportunities How to get started setting up surveys and quizzes to put on your site How to promote your new interactive tool once it’s live Why you should follow up with an email flow What to put in the email flow to keep customers in your funnel Why rushing the process is a common mistake people make when setting up an interactive tool or quiz Steven’s favourite tools to make online surveys, quizzes and tools   Useful resources:  Lovable   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

How Learning Language Models are affecting search Ah AI, it's all everyone's talking about and utterly fascinating, yet also boring as bat poo at the same time. While some are using AI to create new tools and innovate, my partner, the WordPress guy, is doing amazing things, most of us are using it to make AI versions of themselves as dogs or creating rubbish lists of two-word keywords in ChatGPT. So how will AI affect SEO, and what do we really need to know to make the best use of it in our small businesses? Today I'm talking to an AI guru who will shed some light on this hot topic. Tune in to learn:  What types of AI are relevant to SEO How AI overviews work Whether you should optimise your site for ChatGPT Why AI and LLMs are not the end of SEO Common mistakes business owners make when using Claude or ChatGPT to generate content for their sites What type of content is still relevant to add to your site  How to use AI in your business in a positive way Matthew’s thoughts on a ‘zero click’ future, and why it isn’t as dire as it seems   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Using keywords to showcase my creative business on Google Getting SEO advice is one thing, but how much of it is really doable for the average business human?  In my reality SEO episodes, I talk to real life people and get the truth about how they use SEO and digital marketing to improve their business.  Today I'm talking to a former student of the Recipe for SEO Success course, Rebecca Eddison. We'll chat about how Bec got her start in SEO, the digital marketing highs and lows, and the challenges she's faced along the way.   Useful resources:  Umina Beach Book Nook   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Understanding the stats that matter Hey there, it's Kate Toon, here to sprinkle some SEO seasoning on your day with the Recipe for SEO Success Podcast. Today, we've got a delightful dish brewing with the incredible Sally Mills. We're diving into Google Search Console—the boring, yet indispensable, cousin of Google Analytics. Often overlooked, this tool is a treasure trove for businesses, helping whip up insights into your website's performance, show you which keywords bring visitors to your door, and even help you spot those pesky errors that need a quick fix. So, grab your aprons and let's cook up some SEO magic that will elevate your business to new heights.   Tune in to learn:  What the point of Google Search Console is Why you should set up your Google Search Console account How to find out if your site has been crawled and indexed What to do when you have 500 errors What data you can get out of Google Search Console about mobile usability What Core Web Vitals are How to keep track of your keywords with Google Search Console How to see what backlinks are driving traffic to you Sally’s top tips for getting the most out of Google Search Console   Useful resources:  Google Search Console Lighthouse Keywords Everywhere Bing Webmaster Tools   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Building recognition for your brand and profile Welcome to another exciting episode of the Recipe for SEO Success podcast, hosted by yours truly, Kate Toon. Today, I'm thrilled to bring you an episode that promises to revolutionize your approach to link building. I've invited the incredible Christopher Panteli to join us, a master in the art of securing the most coveted links on the planet. Together, we'll explore practical strategies and insider tips that will empower you to craft these critical connections yourself.  Whether you're a seasoned SEO guru or taking your first steps into the land of Google, our insights will guide you to enhance your online authority and boost your search rankings. So, grab a cup of tea and prepare to transform your SEO strategy as we delve into the fascinating world of link acquisition. Tune in to learn:  Why link-building is so important How digital PR link-building differs from other nefarious link-building How small businesses can start building links locally and pitching for stories How to get value out of an unlinked mention online Different strategies for putting your expertise out there Why being featured or published can boost your trust factor What common mistakes to avoid when engaging with the media   Useful resources:  HARO SourceBottle Qwoted PressPlugs   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

Welcome to another mouth-watering episode of the Recipe for SEO Success podcast. I'm your host, Kate Toon, the head chef in this delightful digital kitchen where we whip up scrumptious SEO strategies to elevate your online presence. Today we're diving into the tantalizing world of e-commerce SEO, sprinkling a dash of insight on the latest search engine result pages changes. Joining us at the table is the insightful Jason Mun, who's here to guide us newbies through this ever-evolving landscape. So sharpen your SEO forks and knives because we're about to serve up some seriously actionable advice that'll have your e-commerce efforts rising to the top, like a perfectly baked souffle. Let's get cooking. Tune in to learn:  What Google has recently changed in the SERPs that impacts ecommerce businesses How to be featured in Google’s SERP organic shopping carousel What impacts your ability to appear in the carousel How product reviews can help boost your visibility How labels can help you advertise your sales in Google Merchant Center How you can reduce your workload and optimise your products How Google’s brand knowledge panel works Jason’s advice for ecommerce stores trying to build up their brand entity How important category pages are, and why you should focus on them.   Useful resources:  SEO-Friendly Product Description Template Google Merchant Center Ecommerce SEO in 2025 with Louis Smith (NEWBIE)   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

It's a Toon tip day, and I want to talk to you about intrusive interstitials (aka pop ups). Now, there's one funny thing about Google. Well, there's many funny things about Google, but one of them is the way they refer to things, they do have a rather la-di-doodle way of talking about things. So they talk about intrusive interstitials being a problem on websites, and what they mean by that is pop-ups. So, today I wanna talk about pop-ups and their impact on your ability to rank,  sell, build customer loyalty and keep people on your site. Listen to all the tip episodes   Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

If you’re listening to this podcast, you’re probably already trying to save money by doing SEO yourself.  But one of the biggest struggles for people doing DIY SEO is building backlinks.  That’s often why they resort to using an SEO agency, and let’s be honest, good SEO agencies aren’t cheap.   That’s because building quality backlinks takes a big amount of time. You’ve got to build the relationship, you’ve got to get the good content out there and even then it can take a while for those links to flow through.  But today I’ve got an amazing guest on to talk about a revolutionary idea: Can you still rank well without link-building? Sponsor love:  Ready to uncover what's really holding your website back from Google Glory? Firewire deliver detailed, no-fluff SEO audits that show you exactly what's working and what needs fixing. Get yours for just $100 at FirewireDigital.com.au/audit and turn search into your most profitable revenue channel. Tune in to learn:  What a backlink is, and what it does How you can still compete with competitors that invest heavily in backlinks How small local businesses can create great content that organically gets shared online How to assess what kind of content Google is prioritising in your niche or industry How using Google Analytics can show you how people engage with your website Why click-through rate is important to focus on   Useful resources:  What the eff are entities in SEO? with Nik Ranger (NEWBIE) Banned Books Brochure SEO Forecasting: How to Predict and Plan the Future with Dan Petrovic (NEWBIE)   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

If you bought a small bookshop in a coastal town, in pretty much the middle of nowhere, what would you do to make it a success? In this episode, I'm going to be telling you exactly what I've done to try and make my new bookshop, Umina Beach Book Nook, rank well on Google and build a community of loyal and loving fans. It's going to be a combination of marketing, copywriting, SEO, a whole lot of hard work.   SPONSOR LOVE:  Ready to uncover what's really holding your website back from Google Glory? Firewire deliver detailed, no-fluff SEO audits that show you exactly what's working and what needs fixing. Get yours for just $100 at FirewireDigital.com.au/audit and turn search into your most profitable revenue channel.   Listen to all the tip episodes   Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Connecting with community and promoting yourself Getting people through the door can be a constant struggle, which is why SEO is so important for local businesses.I know this for real now that I have a bookshop. But with all the changes Google has made, how do you stand out in the local pack? Is the local pack even a thing anymore? Today I’m chatting with a Local SEO expert about the latest advice, so stay Tooned. Tune in to learn: What local SEO is, and how it differs from normal organic SEO How search intent and local results work How to appear on the local pack Why your Google Business Profile is so important How to appear in the top three of the map pack Why the Q&A section of your Google Business Profile is so powerful How to manage negative reviews  How local link building differs from regular link building.  How to connect more within your community to raise awareness of your business SPONSOR LOVE:  Ready to uncover what's really holding your website back from Google Glory? Firewire deliver detailed, no-fluff SEO audits that show you exactly what's working and what needs fixing. Get yours for just $100 at FirewireDigital.com.au/audit and turn search into your most profitable revenue channel. Useful resources:  Google Business Profile Ultimate SEO Checklist   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

It's Toon Tip time, and your trusty host, me, is here today to tackle that ever elusive question swirling in the minds of digital marketing managers everywhere. How long does it really take for SEO to work? Is it a sprint? A marathon, or maybe a bit of both? Today we're going to be diving into timelines, managing expectations, and maybe even giving you the patience you need to see your glorious search engine rankings soar. Let's get stuck in. Listen to all the tip episodes   Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

When I started out, I was one of the few women in the SEO trenches. I remember joining an SEO Group on Google and realising I was literally the only female in there. I’m beyond chuffed to see that that’s no longer the case. At a recent SEO event in Newcastle over half of the audience were women. It’s great to see the SEO world and events trying to aim for more balanced, diverse speaker lineups. But we still have a long way to go. I still see articles featuring the top 100 SEOS and nearly all of them are middle-aged white men. (Usually with beards). Today’s guest is passionate about amplifying women’s voices in SEO, and even has an upcoming event I’ll be speaking at. Let’s get into it. Tune in to learn:  When Georgia got started in SEO What made Georgia want to focus on building a strong SEO community for women What has changed over the last few years in the SEO industry How men can help support women in SEO Who will be speaking at the Breaking Barriers IWD event What Georgia’s community do to support each other and make online marketing life easier What one area you should pay more attention to in your SEO   Useful resources:  Breaking Barriers Event: IWD Women in Digital Marketing   Head to episode notes   Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

Hello and welcome to The Recipe for SEO Success. Today it's Toon tip time. I'm going to share a short, sharp episode that gives you quick advice and helps make your SEO journey easier. And today I want to talk about E.E.A.T. (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).  Kate discussed the importance of Google's EEAT framework for content creators to enhance their authenticity and authority in the digital landscape. She emphasized the need for content to reflect firsthand experience, demonstrate depth of knowledge, cite reliable sources, and establish a brand as a leader in its space. Kate also stressed the importance of transparency and strong signals in terms of reviews and testimonials. Listen to all the tip episodes Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

In today's Toon tip I'm answering a question from the Misfits Entrepreneurs Facebook group from Jo Green: What are the top things to do to help your website and articles show up in Google AI overviews or AI search that are easy to implement? Listen to all the tip episodes Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course Join the Misfits Entrepreneur Facebook group   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Keeping your customers click-happy  What does the future of ecommerce look like? Now, we’ve already done our SEO predictions episode covering the broad strokes, but today I want to focus on eCommerce. What has changed, and what has stayed the same? How can you continue to compete with the big brand names in this new age of AI? Stick around and find out. Tune in to learn: What has changed in ecommerce over the last year What technical aspects you should learn What Google Shopping is How Google Merchant Center works Common UX mistakes ecommerce sites are making What differences you can make to product descriptions for voice search How AI is changing ecommerce business processes How Louis keeps up with all the changes in ecommerce Louis’s number-one tip for ecommerce owners Useful resources:  Ecommerce SEO-friendly UX: from crappy to kerching with Louis Smith (NEWBIE) Google Shopping Google Merchant Centre Microsoft Clarity Magai Hemingway Personal Branding Workbook   Head to episode notes    Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

It's time for my first SEO tip of 2025, and today we're going to be talking about SEO prompts for ChatGPT. Now unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that ChatGPT is an advanced natural language processing AI model. Developed by OpenAI, it's all about trying to understand and generate ‘human-like’, and yes, I'm doing air fingers when I say human-like, text based on the input it receives. It's a valuable tool, we love it, and lots of people are using it for SEO. Now, I want to give you some examples of how you can use it, say some prompts that might be helpful. Listen to all the tip episodes Useful links:  Magai Freebies: SEO SOS Challenge Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course  

What’s important to Google this year So it’s been a while, thanks for Tooning back in. As I mentioned in the kick-off episode for the year, I took a little break to deal with some personal stuff, but now I’m back and ready to face everything SEO has to throw at us in 2025. But what do we think is coming down the tube? How much will Chat GPT influence SEO? Do the old methods still work? Today I’m joined by one of my favourite SEO’s to talk through our predictions for the coming year. Tune in to learn:  Why it’s important to focus on UX (user experience) friendly sites Why Google AI summaries are here to stay Why SEO needs to become a multi-channel approach Why we need to move beyond keywords and focus on user intent behind queries Why everyone (including SEO pros) needs to work on building up their EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) Why video content is so important Why we should focus on collaboration instead of creation Why AI content is going to increase How building communities can lead to potential customers How you can use AI agents to streamline SEO processes Head to episode notes Freebies: Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Hey, we're back. It's 2025 and the Recipe for SEO Success podcast is back on the airwaves (or the earwaves or whatever podcasts are). For those of you who have been following my story online, you'll know that 2024 wasn't my best year. Very sadly, my dad passed away, and that caused obviously a lot of upset and changes. But never fear, we are back and I will be launching a series of episodes over the coming weeks and for the first part of this year, I really want to focus on Australian SEO talent. There are now dozens of SEO podcasts. When I started, there were very few. Now there are hundreds. Every software seems to have an SEO podcast, every publication. But we seem to see the same guests appearing again and again, and they're often the celebrity guests who are also on the speaker circuit.  And since my audience is primarily real people, small business owners, ecommerce store owners, marketing managers, often who are trying to do SEO themselves with a very tight budget, I feel often these tips from the glamorous superstar SEOs aren't quite as relevant. We'll also continue our reality SEO episodes where we talk to people who are doing the do who aren't necessarily getting paid as SEO experts. And also I will continue to do my tips,I really want to go back to the basics, what is happening in 2025? How is SEO going to change? And of course it's always changing as it always has, we can't ignore the rise of ChatGTP and AI. So of course we'll be covering those in the episodes, but still core principles stay the same.  So that's going to be the focus. Aussie Experts for now, more tips and advice, more reality, and a real focus on getting back to basics. So if that sounds good to you, put this in your favourite, listen in and welcome back. I'm so glad to be back in my little seat in my little hut in my back garden talking SEO again.  Listen to all the tip episodes   Freebies: Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales) The Ultimate SEO Checklist SEO SOS Challenge Free SEO Nibbles Course   Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course