#189: Get More Traffic With These New SEO Tactics
Today, Paula Rollo and I are sharing how to get more traffic with these new SEO tactics we outline. Paula is my friend and SEO expert, who loves nerding out on how to have success on Google.
In this episode we talk a lot about “search intent,” thinking about what problem someone is having and how to make your content the exact right solution for them. By thinking about search intent, you gain a deeper understanding of what kind of content to create.
We also talk about how to target certain keywords for success, how to create content that shows your authority, and how to analyzing your past posts to determine how successful they are.
We also talk about how to speak Google’s love language so you can build a strong relationship with the platform. You might not get love back, but at least you’ll get traffic. 🙂
If you’re trying to grow your organic traffic, don’t miss this one!
Table of Contents
Show Notes:
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- Paula Rollo
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Intro 0:04
Welcome to the Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here’s your host, Jillian Leslie.
Jillian Leslie 0:11
Hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Blogger Genius Podcast. I’m your host, Jillian Leslie. And if you know anything about what I do, I build online businesses with my husband, David, and I help others build their blogs and businesses too.
So, if that is you, you are in the right place. In today’s episode, I am talking to my good friend, Paula Rollo. And she is an SEO expert, Search Engine Optimization, getting your posts seen and found and served up by Google.
But before I start the interview, we’re going to be talking about creating blog posts. And I have a blog post checklist that I recommend you get. So, if you go to milotree.com/blogpostchecklist, you can download it and it’s free.
And really what it is, it’s a guide that you can use when you are writing a blog post to make sure you have covered everything, it probably has 20 different steps. What I know people have done is printed it out, put it on their desk.
And when they’ve written blog posts, they go through it just to make sure they have covered all their bases. I think it is really useful. I use it myself. So again, before I start the episode, it is milotree.com/blogpostchecklist. I think you will find it incredibly useful.
In this episode with Paula what I love about her is she shares real actionable tips. So, let’s say you’re creating blog posts and they are not ranking on Google. Probably what you need to work on is search intent.
What that means is there is an audience out there searching for stuff, how do you get your content in front of them. I think you are going to find these tactics really useful, especially when it comes to finding the right keywords to target.
And how to layer your content so that you can build your authority around these keywords. What I love about Paula is how strategic she is. As traffic from Pinterest is getting harder to come by.
We are all leaning into SEO getting traffic from Google. I think this episode will help you. So, without further delay, here is my interview with Paula Rollo. Paula, welcome back to the show.
Paula Rollo 2:50
Thank you for having me back. It’s always great to be here.
Jillian Leslie 2:52
It’s always great to be here. And it’s like we can talk about so many different things. But today, we are talking about your specialty because you are an SEO expert. And the thing that you mentioned this topic and I went ding ding ding. Yes, we need to talk about it.
What to Do When Your Post Doesn’t Rank in Google
And that is what happens when you spend all of this time writing a blog posts. You think it’s going to do great and it turns out, all you hear are crickets. And one last thing in my previous blog on my previous podcast episode, I’m going to link to it.
I went through best practices for structuring a blog post and there’s a free blog post checklist I recommend you download it and work through this.
But you’ve now spent hours writing your best blog post, and you’re getting no traction and you are demoralized. Paula, what do you say?
Paula Rollo 4:01
I say this starts for me, because I start everything from SEO, not from social. This starts with the search intent of what you’re trying to rank for.
Jillian Leslie 4:14
So, what does that mean doing search intent?
What is Search Intent?
Paula Rollo 4:18
Search intent. So, this is something that means what is the person looking for when they’re typing in this into Google. This question or this statement. We think of it in terms of keywords, like this keyword is what I want to rank for.
On the user side, they’re thinking of it as what is their intention when they’re typing this into Google? What results are they looking for? Because a lot of the time you can write spectacular articles.
But if the keyword you’re going after doesn’t match the intention of what the person is looking for when they type that into Google, you’re not going to show up because Google is very smart to figure out what people are looking for.
And so, we talked about this, we barely covered it a couple of years ago, when we were talking about Christmas affiliate income. And we kind of tied it in as we’re like, if you’re writing an article on where to buy LOL Dolls.
That might be a great search term that a lot of people search for, but you’re never going to rank number one. No matter what you do to optimize that post or whatever, when you type where to buy LOL Dolls into Google, it will always be Target, Amazon.
Literally the places to buy LOL Dolls, because the intention of the person typing that in, they just want to know where to buy them. They don’t really care about me and my opinion on where to buy them.
They want to see, here’s a link to them on Amazon, here’s a link to them on Target. Here’s a link to them on Barnes and Noble, and Google serving them up what they’re looking for.
And so, we talked about that, like a lot of people think about it in regards to purchasing. But the same thing happens with article types. And I’m going to give you an example. So, let’s say you want to write a blog post about how to change a diaper.
It’s probably a big term, I didn’t actually look it up. But it’s probably a big term, it would be great for a mommy site. And you’re like, you know what, I want to beat out everybody else who covers diapers, and I’m going to talk about the history of diapering.
And I’m going to cover a cloth versus disposables. And it’s going to be the most thorough, wonderful resource like the ultimate resource about diapering. And I’m going to win this big keyword how to change a diaper because I have the best most thorough post out.
Jillian Leslie 6:32
And I got a video.
Paula Rollo 6:33
I’ve got a video. Yeah, people love videos, and you got a meta description. And you’ve optimized everything that you know to do about diapers, and you’ve included every detail that you can. And you have absolutely failed with the search intent.
Because the intention of someone googling how to change a diaper is they’re probably standing at a changing table going, “Oh my gosh, I don’t actually know how to do this.”
And they get on their phone real quick while they’re holding the baby down, scrolling and trying to figure it out. And they need 1-2-3-4-5 steps and short and sweet and to the point.
They don’t need your history of diapers; they don’t need your cloth or disposable they need none of that. They need a quick answer and to the point because that’s their intention.
And so, sometimes, we get very caught up in writing because we love writing and we love creating. And I was a writer first before I knew anything about SEO. So, I did that and I want to write all of the words.
But you really have to look at the keyword that you’re targeting and say, “Do I need all the words for this?” I need to answer every question about this in this post, maybe in another post you answer those questions, but not in this post.
Because this person needs an answer this moment.
Jillian Leslie 7:47
Totally. So, if you are following my checklist of how to write a blog post, I’m saying what are those questions you can answer? How can you explore cloth versus, I don’t know.
Paula Rollo 8:02
Disposable.
Jillian Leslie 8:03
Disposable, synthetic, we know, bad for the environment type diapers. How do you know you could go off on that? But you’re taking it a step further, or you’re stepping back from the post?
How Do You Put Yourself in the Mind of Someone Looking for a Solution?
And not just saying I want to target this keyword kind of like because I want to target it, and I think it’s going to give me a lot of traffic. But how do I put myself in the in the mind of the person with the problem?
Paula Rollo 8:35
Yes, exactly. And really look at the top results. So, looking at the top results and saying, who’s ranking here and what does that tell me? What clues can I get from the people who are ranked up at the top position for this post.
And sometimes how to change a diaper, you need to be very short. But if they’re asking the benefits and risks of disposable diapers, well, then you need to be very thorough, and you need to write out every possible thing you can about that.
Because that’s a very, like, intellectual question. And they’re probably wanting research based blog posts, and they are wanting the history of diapering. And if there’s some, bad reason that we have diapers where we do, I really don’t know.
My youngest is nine, so I don’t even know. I was like this is an easy example. So, there are some posts where you really need to dive deep and answer every possible question.
Why You Should Create Supporting Content Posts
And then there are supporting content posts, which I think a lot of bloggers miss out on because they want to put all of the content in that one post but there are other posts that you really just need to answer one question quickly, but thoroughly and be done.
And then let it link out to you’re more thorough, bigger the history of diapering in the United States type posts that answer 15, 20 headers they have the Table of Contents. They have all of this information in it.
But you also have to answer the questions for the little guys who just need to know I’ve got a baby on the changing table right now. And I need to know how to change this diaper.
Jillian Leslie 10:11
Well, it’s funny, I had Casey Markee, who’s also an SEO expert, on my podcast. And I said, “How long should your post be?” Now, Yoast will say at least 300 words. And I think that I kind of use that to make sure there’s enough content.
However, what he said is, it doesn’t matter how long your post is, if you can answer how to change a diaper in three steps, and it is incredibly thorough, and you’ve got it.
And that person standing there with the diaper issue, gets the answer they need, you’ve solved their problem. So, then building it out and adding all of this extra stuff feels just like extra stuff that’s unnecessary.
So, let’s talk about then, and I love that our children are both way out of diapers. But let’s say though, that I love diapers. I know what the history of diapers is. And I have a very strong opinion about cloth versus disposable.
Who knows, but like you were saying, “Answer the small questions, and then have that cornerstone post about diapers.” Explain what you mean by that. And how you’re linking to all of this?
How are you building out the content so that when somebody types in diapers, they might think, Oh, Jillian Leslie, like, she’s the diaper expert? And I might get traffic or wait, I’m going to make this even more complicated.
Do I not even go after diapers, or types of diapers or something, because those keywords are just too competitive? And I can’t be competing with Amazon or Target or any sort of major baby site like BabyCenter.
Paula Rollo 12:01
You can totally compete with BabyCenter.
Jillian Leslie 12:04
So, talk to me about structuring this kind of collection of content?
How to Structure Cornerstone Content for SEO
Paula Rollo 12:14
So, it really depends on where you’re starting from, because I know a lot of your listeners have been around a while. And so, if you’re starting from a point where you’re like, I have a post that I feel is strong.
I feel is maybe even better than what’s ranking at position one. For this keyword, I have captured the intent, it’s really, really well, but it’s a highly competitive term. And I’m not ranking where I want to be.
So, that is going to go back to a couple of Google updates ago, and it was a lot about authority and your site’s authority. So, even though you know a lot about diapering, if you’re on a food blog, it’s not going to rank.
Or even if you’re on a mom blog, but you’ve never covered diapers before, you’re also not going to rank. And so, there is a lot to be said for going after, if you’re trying to win big keyword up here, going after 5, 6, 10 depending on how competitive it is.
And how small your site is to start with small keywords, and I’m talking like 200 searches a month. But it’s quick to write it’s 300 words, max. I totally agree with Casey that it doesn’t matter the length of your post.
But really, it takes me 250 words to say anything that I want to say, because I’m wordy. I never really had that issue. But writing out those little ones and winning them and then going after a 500 a month term and winning it and up and up and up.
How to Link Your Related Posts Together
And all of those little ones should be linking to the big one that you really want to win. One thing a lot of people do wrong is that they link all the little ones to each other. And that’s one, overwhelming for the reader.
And two, it usually doesn’t make sense. So, if you’re covering a topic from 10 sides, the topic in the middle can link to everything.
So, this is where people use silo strategies, they use cornerstone, or they can use I think of it like a wheel like one of the old wheels with spokes on it. So, you have like the thing in the middle. And that’s the big keyword that you’re trying to win.
And so, all the smaller content, all the supporting content makes sense to link into that. But sometimes there’s not crossover.
Sometimes you’ve got something on one side of the wheel and something on the complete other side of the wheel. And those two things don’t make sense to link to each other, at all. But they do make sense to link to that center point.
Jillian Leslie 14:43
But what if some of them do make sense to link to each other?
Paula Rollo 14:46
Then, yes.
Jillian Leslie 14:47
Naturally.
Paula Rollo 14:47
Absolutely, link to each other naturally.
Jillian Leslie 14:50
Okay.
Paula Rollo 14:51
If you can mention it easily as you’re writing in the body of your text, and it’s not just going to be a wall of links at the bottom. There are times and places for walls with links at the bottom.
I’m not saying that’s wrong to do. But if you’re just throwing in a bunch of like, “Hey, this is everything I’ve ever written about a diaper, ever.” No.
If you’re writing a comparison of newborn diapers on one side, and then you also have a post about pull-ups, don’t link those together, that doesn’t make any sense because pull ups are for toddlers and newborn diapers are obviously for newborns.
But definitely link that to your history of diapering posts that you’re trying to get to rank in the middle of your wheel.
Jillian Leslie 15:31
Now in this, let’s call it the center cornerstone post or whatever other term.
Paula Rollo 15:40
Silo, everybody uses it in different ways.
Jillian Leslie 15:41
Okay. This is your mega post; how do you then not repeat yourself? How do you make this stand out as the authoritative post on diapering without then copying yourself and having that content, living in both places?
So, to answer these 10 questions, but these questions are kind of what make up my large Cornerstone post, but I don’t want to be verbatim copying them. I want it all to be additive.
Paula Rollo 16:20
So, for the most part, should not overlap. And what I mean by that is if you go through 10 things in your center post, that should not be the 10 things that you write content on to try to support it.
The 10 things in your center post should be things that you think that that post can rank for, or that are helping support, the main idea of what you’re trying to rank for.
The things that you’re writing outside of it are the same concept, the same topic, but covered differently covered in a different way. Or I’m trying to think of ways like another example, I could use other than diapering to really bring it home.
But if you’re writing the history of diapering in the middle, and then a comparison post outside, well, that comparison would not live inside that middle post, because you’re talking about history.
But a comparison of the diapers now and 2021 does make sense. And that makes sense to link both out from the center post and into the center post. But that’s not content that you would have written out in that original post.
Jillian Leslie 17:31
Got it. Okay, that makes sense. So, do you think it is worth it, then to use the strategy to go after big keywords?
How to Get Ideas for Keywords to Target in SEO
Paula Rollo 17:45
Absolutely, I do it the other way, as well. So, we talked about taking a piece of content that you already have that’s ranking. And the other thing I’ll do to get ideas of what to write about that, is I’ll put that post in Google Search Console.
And I’ll see, what is it ranking for on page like 10 of Google that I didn’t answer in the post. And that tells me I could write that blog post and I could rank for that blog post. So, that’s another way to find ideas.
Jillian Leslie 18:08
Wait. Say that again, more slowly. So, Google Search Console, let’s start there. Remember, I said this, Google Analytics tells you what your audience thinks of your site, what posts they’re coming to, where your traffic is coming from.
It is audience based. Google Search Console tells you what Google thinks of yoursite. It tells you, if you’ve got broken links, it tells you if there are problems with your site, and it will also tell you what keywords Google has you searching for.
And we talked about this the last time if there are keywords you are searching for, and you don’t have content specifically for that keyword. That is the easiest content then to write because you’re already searching for it.
So, go create that blog post. Now, how are you using Google Search Console in this strategy?
Paula Rollo 19:13
So yeah, in this context, I would put the URL of the posts that I want to be ranking into the performance area of Google Search Console.
Jillian Leslie 19:22
So, in that box, just copying and pasting the URL and then it’s going to tell you what keywords you’re ranking for.
Paula Rollo 19:31
Everything you’re ranking for.
Jillian Leslie 19:32
Where?
Paula Rollo 19:32
URL. On the page you are, it’s a number system. So, like anything 1 to 9 is going to be page 1. 10 through 19 is kind of page two and so on.
So, what I do as you can under the search appearance, you can make it where your top things are showing first. Like all of your number ones, or you can flip it and make it all of your like number 99.
And so, it can be helpful to flip it and say what here is related but out of left field, like I said nothing about this. Maybe somebody commented on this post with this sentence, this long tail keyword, but I did not cover this in this post. It’s adjacent.
But I don’t know why it came up for that. On page 99, it didn’t really come up for it. But it’s there somewhere. The algorithm noticed it. It was seen by the algorithm out of the corner, the algorithms eye.
Write that post and support this post, it doesn’t mean, “Oh, I should go add this heading into this post.” No, you should not, you should leave that post how it is and go write that post and link to your bigger post.
Jillian Leslie 20:43
That’s interesting.
Paula Rollo 20:44
So, if you find a heading that you’re like, oh, my gosh, I can’t believe I didn’t cover that, because I’m covering the history of cloth diapers, or the history of diapers. And I didn’t cover this big, influential thing that happened in the 1920s with diapering.
Again, I know nothing about the history of diapering. I didn’t cover it, that should be a heading in the post, if you’re realizing like this would enhance this post. And it makes sense in the context of the posts that I’m writing, and I left it out.
Then absolutely add that as a heading in your post, but you’re going to find in Search Console, a lot of left field things on the topic that you can write about. And that’s the gems that you’re trying to pull out to write supporting content that’s not repetitive.
I’m going to link to this post where they’re going to see the exact same information, again, just written differently, so that I don’t have repetitive content in the eyes of the algorithm. Absolutely not, you want to write something new and different and fresh.
Jillian Leslie 21:34
Ooh, so you’re not worried about the fact that this is ranking on the 99th page in Google search, you’re looking at it from the perspective of there are gems in here, like I don’t care where it’s ranking.
It’s much more for sparking ideas for me that on some level, there’s some connection here. And it’s not like Google’s going to go, wait a second, this was ranking on page nine. It’s much more as an idea generator.
How to Know What Keywords You Ranks For
Paula Rollo 22:03
So, one thing that search console does that’s both annoying and helpful is that it will give you content, like your ranking number on something where it only put you on that page for five minutes. But it will still tell you your rank there is whatever.
So, you have to click the search result and see the little graph at the top will tell you if it’s dots instead of lines. That means Google has put you there and taking you off and put you there and taking you off.
And so, you can also find gems where you’re like position one for this big keyword. But your impressions are 10. But you know that the search results like 100,000 people search that a month or whatever the case may be.
You know that Google kind of threw you on the first page and removed you. But you know that you’re also starting to get authority for that topic. Because Google’s put you there and then was like, and no, this post isn’t quite right for the search intent here.
This post, maybe it’s not optimized enough. It could be any reason Google has in its mind, I have no idea. But it gives you the information that Google starting to see your value on the concept. And maybe you should write that post as well.
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Jillian Leslie 24:30
Google is always testing. Remember your results for a certain keyword and my results could be different. But Google is constantly shifting. So, if for example, you are in the number one spot for a certain keyword, assume that that spot is vulnerable.
Be Aware of Your Competitors in SEO Ranking
Like it’s not like yeah, I got there and it’s going to be like that for the next 10 years. You’ve got to continue to update that post and watch the post and watch what your competitors are doing.
And by the way, this is kind of how the internet works. I think people feel uncomfortable like, wait a minute, it’s a competition. And guess what? It is, it is a competition. And you play it, though, by doing even better work.
So, it’s not by that yes, there are things called, like blackhat strategies that people are using to try and game the system. You’re not trying to game the system. You’re trying to do what Google wants, which is provide the best answer to the question.
Paula Rollo
What is Google’s love language?
It’s content!
How to Align Yourself with Google for SEO
Paula Rollo 25:47
Serve Google, treat them well, like we’re in a relationship with all of these things. But like, my relationship with social media is more abusive than it is loving and kind. But my relationship with Google, it’s really a two-way street.
And this is why I love Google and I love SEO is because their goal as a business aligns with my goal as a business. And that’s to serve my readers well, because my readers are also their users. So, that alignment is there.
And then it’s also to have a good internet and make sure that people are getting the answers that they need. Google wants us to get traffic. Google makes money when we make money.
Because all of our ads, no matter what network you use, you’re running Google ads on your site. So, Google makes money when you make money. And they have literally a financial interest in sending you traffic.
And that is very different than Facebook, and Pinterest, and all the other things which I still use. I’m not like anti social media. But the goal of social media is to get people to stay on their platform.
The goal of Google sometimes, they do results where it’s like, you ask a question, and they put the answer right up there at the top. And that’s frustrating. But also like I get it, it’s serving the reader best.
And I need to go after things that can be answered in more than two words. And so, that’s fair.
Jillian Leslie 27:14
What I like about what you’re saying is that it is like any relationship. Like, David and I, we’ve been together now 20 years, and we’ve had to learn each other’s I don’t know, like how best to communicate with each other.
Each other’s quirks. How to navigate all of this stuff. And so, really, that’s like learning Google, and what Google’s looking for. But also you serving up your content in the best way, so Google can understand it.
I’ve used this example previously, what I have found in my relationship is if I say to David, “need you to be more helpful around the house.” To him, he has no idea what that even means. And he’s not a mind reader.
But if I say to him, “Hey, I need you to take out the trash on Thursdays.” Which he automatically does, or I need you to cut back this tree, or I need you to who knows what, fix my computer. Those are things that he can then do.
And to him, he goes, “Oh, this is what Jill wants from me.” Versus I need you to be more helpful around the house. And I learned this probably 15 years ago. Again, think about that as a relationship. How do I serve up to Google?
Paula Rollo 28:47
Literally search intent in relationship with David.
Jillian Leslie 28:50
It is. It’s like I need to feed him the information that’s going to come back at me in a really positive way. And saying be helpful around the house doesn’t do that, like, not good.
Saying trash on Thursdays. Ding, ding, ding, it works. So, I love this as a way of describing it. Because we see ourselves in an antagonistic relationship with Google, instead of–.
Paula Rollo 29:26
We’re really not.
Jillian Leslie 29:27
–having relationship.
Paula Rollo 29:30
Exactly. And even like, their algorithm updates, and it’s terrifying every time I’m on pins and needles. But it’s different because their goal is really how can we make sure that we’re putting the best sites up at the top of search results?
So, that people will continue to enjoy searching for things on the internet, and all of us as creators, need people to enjoy continuing to search for things on the internet. It’s just like, Facebook got so toxic during the election and things like that.
I’m not being political at all, but regardless of political leanings, that was bad for us as content creators, because no one wanted to be on Facebook anymore where we were serving up our content.
Even if we weren’t talking politics, nobody wanted recipes from Facebook anymore, either, because they didn’t want to be on Facebook. And so, Google makes changes and switches up their algorithm and does all these things. Well, it’s not arbitrary.
They’re going after those blackhat people who are cheating the system, they’re going after things that are like, way to the top of the algorithm that shouldn’t be there because they’re horrible serving users. as well.
And it’s good for us that that happens.
Jillian Leslie 30:40
Absolutely. How many times have you clicked on like a link farm, which is just a bunch of links? And you know that this is spammy. So, one thing that David and I talk about a lot is this idea of the more authentic you are as a person.
We all kind of click on stuff, with a little bit a tiny bit of trepidation. Am I going to go where I want to go? Am I going to land where I want to, especially on a site like Pinterest?
Is this pin going to send me somewhere that looks like this pin that I’m clicking on? Or am I going to go to some place?
So, how do you recommend I signal to Google, I am a real person, this is real content. I’m not trying to cheat the system. What’s your recommendation?
How to Signal to Google My Blog Has Authority?
Paula Rollo 31:25
Oh, gosh, we could do a whole hour on that. That is going to get into technical things. Because Google is going to be looking at both your content, which is wonderful, but also the technical side of your blog.
Are there vulnerabilities because you aren’t updating your plugins? Did you fill out everything in your descriptions? You can go on WordPress and settings and fill out things like a meta description for your blog, a title thing for your blog.
And that shows up in Google, you don’t see that front facing. So, your users aren’t going to come across that when they’re on your site. But when they search for things in Google, they might see that.
Have you filled out your profile information for yourself personally on your blog? Again, that’s backend but it’s still important because Google sees it. Do you have a page that describes your qualifications and who you are, and your name, and all of those things?
That adds value, and that communicates who you are to Google. So, there are a lot of things that are behind the scenes that are easy to ignore, because it’s not as fun. Like I said, updating things, making sure that your site is secure. And on HTTPS.
A lot of that technical stuff is not exciting. But it is important to do, and to maintain. Because when something goes wrong, you can lose some trust with Google. And Google is very forgiving, like you can get hacked and things go terribly wrong.
And you can recover from it if you recover correctly. But you still want to not have to go through something like that. So, you want to make sure that you’re being very clear in your communication with Google on the backend as well.
Show Up Authentically
Jillian Leslie 33:05
And with your audience too which is that you let them know that you are who you say you are, that you’re a real person.
One thing that I was talking to another blogger about is how do you create, let’s say, the diaper post with all the information about the history of diapers, and all of that, while not sounding like a diaper business?
That you are actually a person writing this with a point of view, I always say be your audiences. For female bloggers, their best girlfriend, the one who hooks them up. So, if you sound like a store, or you sound like Wikipedia or something like that.
See if you can put it in the perspective of like, I’m your best girlfriend. You always have that girlfriend. When I was a new mom, I had that new mom friend who took me to Babies R Us who said you need this, you don’t need this, you need this, this, get this, and stuff.
I didn’t even know what it did. But she was that person, when you’re a blogger, be that person. Give that insight information, where you say, I’m going to hook you up with whatever information that you need to live a better life.
And that separates you from just being some boring authority. Like, this is what I use. Here’s what I like it. Here’s why I think this could benefit you. What’s your thought about that?
Paula Rollo 34:49
I agree. I think that the authenticity piece of data is the most important because a lot of times bloggers will try to create a persona for themselves that mimics other popular Youtubers or Instagramers, or whoever the case may be.
And one, you can tell, and two, you end up dating your content, which is not good. If you’re using the popular catchphrases in your posts. Just know because a year from now people are going to read that and be like, “What? Why are you saying this or that catchphrase?”
So you want to interact in the way that you authentically interact in real life and bring your real tone into it. Because it’s not going to become dated as quickly as if you’re trying to force in the latest hip thing to say. And you’re going to be able to maintain it,
Jillian Leslie 35:48
I would say put your personality, your authentic personality in your post.
Paula Rollo 35:51
Yes. Your actual personality into it.
Jillian Leslie 35:53
This is how you then build a relationship with your visitor. And you’re not Wikipedia. So, think about that. What is my special sauce? What can I hook you up with that I know that will make your life better? How can I lead you on some sort of journey?
Think about it from your own personality? Now, here’s my last question. I do all of these strategies.
How Long Until I See My Posts Rank?
How long does it take for me to see results? This I get all the time, I post something, let’s say on Instagram, and let’s say I’ve got swipe up and I can drive traffic and I can see it. And the half-life of an Instagram post is just a couple days.
So, I can get that immediate feedback from social media, let’s say, even on Pinterest, I know it’s slower. It’s a slower build. But it’s still I can get traction in a week or two or a month. Google slower. How patient do I need to be?
Paula Rollo 37:03
A lot more patient than you are. So, one thing that messes people up with Google a lot. There’s a thing where Google crawls to, they’ll crawl your site. And that’s the guide, you want them to crawl.
When you update something, somehow it sends a message to Google and Google goes, “Oh, I should go check that piece of content out because something was updated in it, let me recrawl it.”
And they’ll usually do that if you publish content regularly, it’s probably within two to three days. If you’re obsessive in your search results, you know exactly how long that is. I’m obsessive in my search results.
So, I can tell you from site to site, how long it will take Google to crawl something, but Google crawling something and Google changing your rank on something two different things.
It takes a little bit longer for Google to crawl it. Kind of look at it again, if we go back to a relationship. If you’re building trust with someone, you can say something nice to them.
And they’ll be like, okay, let’s see, if you back that up with your actions for the next couple of weeks. I’m not just going to take you at your word. Let me watch, observe, see what’s happening.
And then over the next probably two to three weeks, if you’re getting crawled regularly. If you’re a site that ranks for other things in Google, for other substantial keywords, this will be what the process looks like and the timing.
So, about two to three weeks later, you can go into search console and see the movement and see, first it’ll look like a heartbeat monitor up and down, up and down, up and down for specific keywords. Because Google is testing you.
They’re like, okay, you said I love you. But let’s test this. Let’s see this. Let me just observe. And so, you’ll be on the position you want or close to it and then off and then on and then off.
And the thing about search console is it’s going to show you those things. This is again, where it’s helpful for like little five minutes, it’s on there and then pulls it off.
You’re not going to see that in Google Analytics, because you’re not going to get traffic from those five minutes. But those are the tremors you’re looking for that like “Hey, I did a good job.”
And this is where a lot of bloggers get it wrong because they go, “Oh, it was only there for five minutes. But it was there. Let me go in and let me tweak some things.” No, leave it be and wait a couple of weeks.
How to Know How to Improve Your Posts
Again, what you’re waiting for is for those up and down lines on the keyword that you’re going after in Search Console to become a flatline when they become a flatline for probably at least a week.
If that flatline is not where you want it. Then you can reassess say, “Hey, do I need more supporting content? Are there some headings that I missed? What other keywords am I showing up for that I wasn’t previously? What does this content telling me that I’m seeing in Google Search Console?”
But you really want to wait for that flatline before you do anything and that might take a month. Might take six weeks. It depends. But if you’re going in there daily and tweaking. “Let me add this image. And let me change this. And let me change that.”
You’re not building trust for that piece of content with Google. Because Google’s like, well, I saw it, you said this. And then you did this. And now I have to recrawl you and see. Okay, what does it say now? How is it different?
You just changed the sentence, okay, can I trust that this sentence is going to be there tomorrow. Maybe, maybe not. So, it’s going to take longer to figure out what changes you made, were effective.
And what you need to do, you’re giving yourself way less data to work with. And it’s going to take way more time. And you go in there and keep messing around. Instead, make your changes, make sure you know what you’re changing and why.
And then let it flatline and see where you ended up. Then go in and change more things. I’m very pro changing things and updating and tweaking. But do it once you’ve got your flatline, and you know where you’re going to be ranked.
Like I said, I do say a week instead of like a two day flatline, because sometimes you’ll get like two or three day flatline, and then you’ll jump up. And you’ll flatline a little bit higher.
Because Google saw, oh I put you in number one for this 500 a month keyword and people liked it. So, now I’m going to jump you up to this 1,000 a month keyword, and see if people like you there.
And so, that’s kind of the progression that you want to happen, and you don’t want to mess with while Google is crawling you and deciding where you should go with your update.
Jillian Leslie 41:27
So, let’s say that I’ve published my post, and like, it’s kind of settled somewhere with certain keywords, how often are you going in then and updating that post?
Paula Rollo 41:44
Depends. It really depends on how competitive it is. If it’s a very, like highly competitive term, I might go in there, it really depends. If I feel confident that it is the best post that it can be, I’m going to leave it be, okay.
If I feel like I could have done it better. Or there’s an image I could put in there, you really want to take the time to make sure that your updates, get your posts to be the best it can be, where you don’t feel like you have a lot of room to update.
When to Update Your Post
And then you can focus on the smaller content. Sometimes you write a post, and then you learn more, or you write a post, and then you have more resources to add to it later. And that’s okay, go in and update and optimize.
So, your biggest ones, you definitely want to be looking at multiple times a year but that doesn’t mean you need to update them multiple times a year. It means you need to look at it and really assess do they need updated, who else has ranking in the top positions?
Have they changed anything? Has something changed in the world where I might need to add more information or take information away. All of those things, you need to reassess a couple times a year, for very large keywords.
Jillian Leslie 42:58
I love this. So, my biggest takeaway is you are in a relationship with Google. And you need to behave well. And you need to figure out how best like what your love language is. What Google’s love language is, and how to make that relationship solid.
Just like you work at your own relationships in your own life. Stay in there and continue to work on that relationship.
Paula Rollo 43:29
Absolutely. And let Google change and grow as a person and continue to love and support Google as they do.
Jillian Leslie 43:37
And hopefully Google then will do the same for you.
Paula Rollo 43:41
They will. That’s the thing. It’s a good relationship, because Google always does do the same for you.
Jillian Leslie 43:45
I love that. Alright, Paula. If people want to reach out to you if people need SEO help or have SEO questions, what is the best way?
Paula Rollo 43:58
Paularollo.com or paularollo@gmail.com. It’s R-O-L-L-O is my last name. So, I have a site with my SEO services. There’s like a content package that I have on the site. But then I do also do deep dives.
And one on one calls if you email me. And then if you just have a question or something, just shoot me an email, and we can talk.
Jillian Leslie 44:20
I love that. Well, Paula, thank you so much for coming back on the show. You will be back again because we have a lot to discuss.
Paula Rollo 44:29
There’s always more to discuss with this good relationship we have with Google.
Jillian Leslie 44:35
I hope this episode gave you insights into how to build a strong, healthy, long lasting relationship with Google. What I like about SEO is if you do the work, if you’re strategic, it will pay off for you. It’s not like trying to figure out how to go viral.
It’s really serving up the best answer to the problem you are solving. Before you go grab my blog post checklist. If you haven’t already, head to milotree.com/blogpostchecklist, and you can download it and start using it.
I’d love to know what you think about it. And if you are wanting to start a membership, I have a solution for you. I think you will love this.
Again, if you’re on MiloTree, go to milotree.com/betatester. You could do both of these things really quickly all at once. And I will see you here again next week.
Other Blogger Genius Podcast episodes to listen to:
- How to Write a Killer Blog Post with Ease + FREE Checklist with Jillian Leslie
- How to Grow Your Traffic with the New Google Update with David Leslie
- Get More Traffic with These Cutting Edge SEO Strategies + New Google Update with Casey Markee
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Let it pop up in front of your visitors and ask them to follow you on Instagram Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, join your list, check out the exit intent but really get your community growing. And we’d love to help you with MiloTree. And I will see you here again next week.
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