Episode 18: What is SEO and why it’s still the best way to get in front of customers with Jon Dawson from Digital Ninjas

What you will learn in this episode

• What is SEO and why it’s important for your business
• Why it’s so important to be on page 1 of Google search results
  "As the search engines get better at indexing the results and showing the correct information to people, fewer and fewer people go to pages two and three. So if you're not on page one, particularly the first half of page one, then you're going to get very little traction from search engines."
• Why Google Ads is the best way to get in front of the customers who are looking for your services and products.
• The differences between SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing)
• If people search for something, the top two to three results will get 80% of the traffic. Those that are lower down the page get rapidly diminishing returns.
• The challenges of SEO (it’s not actually free! Time=money)
• Why you should always start with paid before organic
• You don’t necessarily have to pull back on your paid search if your organic SEO activity starts to take off
• How to increase your organic SEO ranking
• Important factors that search engines look for on your website
• What are H1 and H2 headings and why they are important
• Changes in SEO over the last 10 years
• Don’t be too concerned with Google Algorithm updates. Just stay focused on quality content and a good experience for your customers.
• How social media effects your SEO rankings
• SEO tools that Jon uses everyday
• When thinking about potential keywords for your business, think about queries and questions as opposed to individual words
• Why it’s important to measure your SEO activity through Google Analytics
• How to formulate your SEO plan if your business is in a competitive niche
• What is remarketing?

Resources mentioned

Digital Ninjas

Google Ads
It takes at least three to six months to see a return on the time and money that you invest in an organic SEO strategy.

If you're starting with SEO today, create content and create content for your customers. Don't worry too much about what the search engines want, worry about your customers. That’s the number one thing.

Google Trends

Google Analytics

Google Keyword Planner Tool

Ahrefs – helps you learn why your competitors rank so high and what you need to do to outrank them

SEMrush - Online Visibility Management Platform

Episode 3: How to build a voice first marketing strategy with Nick Myers and Brett Brooks from Redfox AI

Dr Dave Chaffey : Digital Insights

Search Engine Land

What business would you build on Mars?

Jon Dawson:
Okay, that's a an interesting question. So I'm the first settler, I think I'd probably go for something in the healthcare space, on the assumption that other people would be following behind me and some of those people would have healthcare needs. So maybe I'd have an integrated service like the GPs available, but also maybe a gym. I could start a gym franchise within there. People need health services wherever they go.

Brendan Hill:
So a maybe like an F45 on Mars.

Jon Dawson:
Yeah, I probably wouldn't allow F45 to franchise, I'd start my own franchise. But they're a very good business model. I do like the F45 model.

Reach Jon here

Jon on LinkedIn

Digital Ninjas

To see the full episode transcript and get a listener exclusive 3 month free trial of Metigy, visit metigy.com/podcast