Consistent Leads With SEO—Despite Being Sick For 3 Months

podcast

May 14

“Oh this is how they’re doing it, they’re doing it with SEO!”

-Courtney Andersen

LEARN HOW TO GET CONSISTENT LEADS WITH SEO

Courtney & I originally connected because she wanted help writing email sequences. We hit it off & haven’t stopped Voxering since 😂

Late last year, I got a message from her…

“Britt! 2025 is the year I SEO the sh*t out of my business!”

So… we’ve spent the last few months doing just that.

1️⃣ started with a solid website SEO strategy (since she didn’t have a dang thing plugged in!)

2️⃣ then moved on to optimizing some of her podcast episodes (you’ll be shocked to see what changing a title can do)

3️⃣ next up is creating optimized blog posts from those podcast episodes (just as soon as we’re done going gaga over these podcast stats!)

I invited Court on for a podcast episode convo—

1. Because I adore her & her energy is infectious! And

2. Because I need you to see just how EASILY & QUICKLY SEO can work for you!

Courtney’s story is the perfect example of how SEO can support you while life is lifing.

Oh, did I not mention that she did ZERO marketing for her business in the first quarter of 2025?

…AND she still had consistent leads coming in the door?

Uh, thank you SEO 👏👏👏

These are just some of Courtney’s SEO wins so far (and yes, I blabbed about her in the SEO workshop 😉):

→ HOT leads straight from Google while she was recovering from every illness known to man

→ 40% increase in downloads for this ONE podcast episode (all we did was add keyword “Tags”)

→ But my favorite “aha!” moment of hers? Realizing that PAYING leads come from SEO—not Instagram

Topics covered in this podcast episode:

When Courtney knew it was time to start doing SEO for her business
Why it’s a lie that any industry is “too saturated” for you to get found
The importance of really knowing your niche for SEO to work
Why SEO content works so much better than social media content
How SEO is supporting Courtney’s coaching business in 2025
What Courtney thought of the process of improving her SEO
Why Courtney decided to also optimize her podcast for SEO
What SEO wins Courtney is having QUICKLY with her podcast

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Meet: Courtney Andersen

Courtney Andersen is a sober life coach, podcast host, and author. She is the founder of Sober Vibes and National Sober Day. Courtney helps women quit drinking alcohol and thrive in sobriety.

This episode of The Basic B podcast is brought to you in partnership w/ Leah Bryant Co.! Help me reach more service providers like you by following the show & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!

The unedited podcast transcript for this episode of The Basic B podcast follows

Brittany Herzberg:

Welcome back to the Basic Bee podcast. I am so happy to have you here and I'm thrilled to get to introduce you to yet another client of mine and a really good friend, Courtney Anderson. We're going to be talking all about SEO for websites, for podcasts. Who knows where else the conversation is going to go? But before I bring her on, here is a little bit about Courtney. Courtney Anderson is a sober life coach, podcast host, and author. She's the founder of Sober Vibes and National Sober Day. Courtney helps women quit drinking alcohol and thrive in sobriety. And it has been really cool because by working with her, I've gotten to know her story really well. I'm still so impressed that she even founded, like a National Day. Like, I don't even know how you do that stuff, but it's really good to have you here and I'm so excited to talk with you.

Courtney Andersen: I'm so excited to be on the Basic Bee podcast. I love it. So thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.

Brittany Herzberg: No, of course. It's been really fun working with you. I know. We did website SEO, We've launched into podcast SEO. Now we have lots of wins that we get to talk about. But I think to tee it up, why don't you take us all back to where this started?

Courtney Andersen: Well, wait, hang on. We started with email funnels.

Brittany Herzberg: Emails. We did.

Courtney Andersen: That's what we started with. And then it's branched out into this relationship. And that started two years ago. Yeah, yeah. Because it was before my book came out and I wanted to get those funnels, like, tight. Right. So. And then Megan introduced us and it's been a beautiful relationship ever since.

Brittany Herzberg: I know my favorite thing is just like boxering with you and the Betty White gifts, like, makes my heart happy.

Courtney Andersen: Well, it's such a good gift, you know, of just Betty White shaking her boobs.

Brittany Herzberg: It's a good one, especially for me. I'm like, yeah, that's my jam.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah, that's a good one. I love that one. I send that one to a lot of people.

Brittany Herzberg: It's great. I love it. But yeah, we did start with emails. So way back when I was doing copywriting.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah, it's been a minute. It's been a minute.

Brittany Herzberg: Tell us about your journey. Whenever you want to share.

Courtney Andersen: Well, with what I specifically do. My journey technically started back when I got sober. So that was August 18th of 2012. I was in a decade long relationship with alcohol. I call it a very toxic relationship. There was an addiction, all the things. And when you start drinking you know, nobody starts drinking being like, oh, I hope I have a problem one day, right? So, like, my drinking started off very innocently, and then it escalated. And by 25, I knew deep down inside I needed to quit drinking. I just didn't know when it was going to happen and where and all of the things. And so 25 to 29, I tried the moderation game and, like, try to control it. I mean, Brittany, I would be like, don't do any shots. Make sure you eat. Like, okay, I'm only going to drink once a week and I don't have an issue, right? Like, and then that becomes very exhausting. So if anybody's listening, who's in that cycle, that is one of the most mind boggling exhaustion cycles you'll ever be in, because you're trying to control something that is just not controllable anymore. So then at, finally, at 29, I was about six weeks shy of being 30. I had my quote unquote, rock bottom, which I just believe anybody's rock bottom is the next morning when they wake up and they're good and tired. You know, it doesn't matter what happened to you, but you're just good and tired of where the relationship with alcohol took you. Because I did worse things in those ten years to when I finally had had enough. And I was really tired at that age. I felt like an old man who had lived four wars, you know, and like, just like tired, emotionally tired. So I quit drinking. Them insert a couple years after that into my recovery. I was sitting down at a AA meeting and I was like, you know, there's just got to be more than this because I'm sitting there listening to ladies being like, I want to be able to go to a Tigers game, a baseball game, and sit there and not have to worry about drinking. And these were women like, well into their sobriety and wanting more. So out of that summer that I participated with the program, that's when I was like, I want something more empowering, right? And I had already kind of been doing the same thing because I kind of ripped the band aid off those first couple couple months in to be able to socialize in a world that really is embedded with alcohol that's not going anywhere. So out of that, I started Sober Vibes. And then it has created into my coaching company and the podcast, the book National Sober Day, all those things. So that was a long story to your answer.

Brittany Herzberg: No, but that's what I wanted because I feel like I've been able to listen to at this point like 20 plus episodes of your podcast and I'm like, I know Courtney very well so I highly recommend going and listening to that. Not just for the download numbers but like I don't have this like struggly relationship with alcohol, but even I was able to learn quite a lot from you. And just hearing your story and listening to you talk to guests and you and your sister having like your side conversations. Like we also discovered that we have dads who worked at Red Lobster in common. Like it's kind of, kind of crazy.

Courtney Andersen: I know, I love it.

Brittany Herzberg: I know, it's great. One thing I love about working with you is that I know that the work I'm helping you with is going to then go even further and help so many people who are really battling this terrible disease and they want help. And you're over here and you're like, I can help you. I understand where you've been, I've been where you've been and I'm over here. Like, let me help connect you.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah, absolutely. Like I said in the beginning, I've thoroughly enjoyed our partnership that has grown into a friendship. And that is the thing is that when I got sober all there was was rehab and aa. Like that was like the things, you know. And nowadays especially I want to say in the last five years since the pandemic, a lot has really boomed with help and more awareness towards sobriety and that it's okay to live an alcohol free life or a sober life, you know. And that is what has been great. Like honestly, because there's no one way to recover. There's no one program that's going to help you. And when I created sober vibes too, it was meeting a person with where they're at. Yeah, because you can't treat everybody the same. And a lot of like my one on one is coached towards like the okay, let's meet you with where you're at, you know, because again, what worked for somebody maybe 25, 30 years ago might not going to work with you, you know, and that's what I really underst when I quit and I went through a process of that is that I have really done all of it. Majority like I mean therapist coaches, myself, trying 12 step programs, really diving into personal development. And I do believe that majority of all of that it wasn't just a one thing that has really helped me in my recovery.

Brittany Herzberg: The one thing you're reminding me of as you're sharing that is that there is no one size fits all for anything. Whether it's SEO or sobriety. Like, there is no one size fits all. And I don't believe that any market can really be too saturated because we all have our unique personalities and our stories and even, like, the methods that we take people through, the way that we approach whatever the problem or the desire is. So there's going to be a whole bunch of other sobriety coaches. Cool. There's going to be other memberships.

Courtney Andersen: Cool.

Brittany Herzberg: There's going to be other SEO providers, and that's great and fine. And I don't find that intimidating, but so many other people do, and it can be pretty scary.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah. But you know what, though? That is a lot of work you've done on yourself, and that is, like, a huge growth mindset, because when you started it, you're like, oh, my God.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah.

Courtney Andersen: Like, there is a sea of people. Like, and it can get very frustrating to give up and whatnot. But, like. And that's also to the growth of your entrepreneurship. Yeah, I felt the same.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah.

Courtney Andersen: And I've worked with, you know, been in communities with other sober coaches where they've had that just because they first started it. And I'm like, well, people are going to work with you because they want to work with you. And it took me some years to wrap myself and really now be committed to it. Like, I had a client fill out an intake and being like, I have on there, like, why do you want to work with me? And she sometimes on my podcast, I like to say bag of dicks. I hope I can say that here on the basic fee podcast.

Brittany Herzberg: And.

Courtney Andersen: But she put in there where she was just like, every time Courtney says a bag of dicks, an angel gets their wings. Which was so funny, I was giggling out loud to myself. But it's true. People will work with you if there's a million other sober coaches or SEO, you know what I mean? It's you. And when you understand that, I do believe that, that flows more and more and more and more. So one time I had a woman, we did, like, a cross post. And so she responded to my story and was like, that Anderson likes to swear. It made me laugh. So I responded to her and I said, I sure do. But again, too, the person that I was doing, like, this cross promotion with, I think it was a podcast post too. Like, I understood who her audience was.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah.

Courtney Andersen: So I wasn't gonna disrespect that, but I was just like, I sure do, because that's me. I mean, I'm not gonna apologize because I like to say bag Addicts or drop F bombs. You get to a point in your entrepreneurship journey where you're just like, this is me.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. And that's what I feel like SEO really helps my people do because I always start everybody off with the who do you help? How do you help them? What do you want to be known for? And I've had people who are like, I don't have an answer for that and they don't even want to probe and they don't want to explore that. That's okay. That's just not the right person for me. They're going to end up putting in general keywords and you'll have some success, but you're not going to have, like, long lasting, sustainable success for when really bad things happen in your life or like your dishwasher breaks or something happens and you're like, oh my gosh, I have to go deal with life. You can still have clients coming in with that. I'm curious, how did you feel when I was like, here's the three questions. Answer them, Courtney.

Courtney Andersen: Well, you know, it's funny because I think a lot of people have a hard time answering that because you want to go so wide because you're singing to yourself. It's like, well, I want to help everybody. But that just doesn't work because then when you say you want to help everybody, then you're not attracting the right person. So I feel that because even when you ask me, I'm like, okay, I have to get like, deep. And especially too, if you work with one on one clients, like, look at your one on one clients and that person is the same. And I think then when you ask me like those three questions, that's when I looked at it and I was like, holy moly. Like, I am coaching the same person over and over and over again. And then what it comes back down to, it's a mirror of yourself. Yeah. I cannot tell you how many of my one on one clients are big fans of Bravo, because I love Bravo. Do you know what I mean? Like, so it's like that you're attracting that person. So to answer your question, it was a little bit overwhelming because it's like sometimes it's just like, oh, man. You know, it really does does have to make you think. But then if you just look at your one on one clients, it's like, there's so much in there. And if you work with a lot of people, especially to business coaches or people who are like, you know, get leads on Instagram, it's the Same there. What you asked, it's the same. It's like, who are you helping?

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. People want to know that information, so at some point we're going to have to answer those questions. And I was the same way when I made myself sit down. And I did this at the beginning of the year when I was coaching a workshop.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah.

Brittany Herzberg: All about blogging and SEO. And I was like, I'm going to make myself do this. And I was like, oh my gosh, like I have to sit here and answer these questions.

Courtney Andersen: Right.

Brittany Herzberg: It is very confronting. It can be. And if you're willing to sit there, I mean, it doesn't take that long once you actually get your tushy to start writing.

Courtney Andersen: Right.

Brittany Herzberg: Like once you start writing 15, 20 minutes or something like that, if you do that work, it's going to make all the difference to the content you create, to the keywords that I end up finding, to the strategy that we end up plugging in everything.

Courtney Andersen: Right.

Brittany Herzberg: Because like you said, it touches on everything.

Courtney Andersen: It really does.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. So we started out with those three questions. We did website SEO first. So take me back to. I remember at least part of your message when you reached out because again, we're like in and out of boxer pretty consistently. What was the moment or what was the thing or what was the inspiration where you were like, okay, fine, I gotta do SEO. You know how business owners are getting burned out by social media marketing? Well, I help them go from feeling tethered to their phone 247 to having their content actually work for them by using the magic of SEO. It's incredible to see them getting leads from Google even when life is lifeing. How do we do it? With my three step SEO and grow method, they easily go from frustrated, ashamed and doubtful to empowered and excited by SEO. I know, believe it. It's true. All they really want is to have clients flocking to their websites without social media. And my approach gets them there. The first step of the SEO journey is understanding, getting familiar with terms, learning how to find the best keywords, getting a good foundational knowledge of SEO. It's where you start to see how simple SEO can truly be. You can be a part of this same adventure by joining SEO Foundations, my five week SEO mentorship program for entrepreneurs. Check out the details below and take advantage of the opportunity to save $150 for a limited time. I'll see you inside.

Courtney Andersen: Well, it kept coming up. I've heard SEO more, especially more in the past two years, I would say.

Brittany Herzberg: Right.

Courtney Andersen: And I just got To a point. And I think it's because. So I have a three and a half year old. So my little dictator. It's like, let's just say for this January, February, March, I was sick every month with a different strand of whatever was going on in this godforsaken country. Do you know what I mean? Like, it was just like every month. I have had a stream of income since then. And I wasn't really on social media because it was exhausting. So in the past couple years, I'm like, I need to focus on this and not understanding really what it was. And then that was my goal this year. Cause I was like, something isn't right for my website of how glamorous it is. I say glamorous because it is a pretty website. Yes, Taryn did a really good job doing that website. But I'm like, something is not right here, right? Like, people talking about SEO. I'm like, I should just have been having leads come in. And then when I looked at it when we started working together and I was like, where you were showing me? And I was like, oh, my God. Nothing was on that page. What would that page be?

Brittany Herzberg: Well, there's the SEO title and the meta description, which for anyone listening, if you're not familiar, those are the two pieces that show up in the Google search. Like when there's that list of stuff, that's how someone decides if they want to come to your website or not. So Courtney had nothing.

Courtney Andersen: I had nothing. Not a thing. It was like crickets. And I was like, this was my answer. And not that I was mad about it or anything. And I was like, well, this makes sense of why I have not been getting any type of traffic. So it was more preparing for the future. And like I said, not having to be on social media all the time and just really, when it comes down to it, working smarter, not harder.

Brittany Herzberg: That's Courtney. And my theme this year is like, how can we be smart finally?

Courtney Andersen: Yeah. Like, even that post you made the other day where you were talking about being off social media and that your bank account is more full. Right? Like, it is the truth. It's like, that is a machine, that social media machine. It's one that gets exhausting and can send you into a burnout. And like, depending on what's going on in your life, it's like, just work smarter.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. It's so ironic because I know that my people are posting on Instagram and they're getting burnt out on Instagram, so I need them to see my Stuff. So I'm going back to Instagram finally after like a year and a half of not posting anything but stories. And I'm like, there are days where I'm like, I really don't wanna post on social. And so, like, I actually have those things I get to talk to, but I know that they're there.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah.

Brittany Herzberg: That their people are hanging out.

Courtney Andersen: Everybody who has an online business and a brick and mortar, you need social media. It's the way of the world. But I do think that you can work a little bit. Like I said, smarter, not harder.

Brittany Herzberg: For sure. Yeah. So I think what I was saying in that post, one of the main points I was trying to make, is that you put your blood, sweat, tears, money into creating content. If you put it on social media, you're getting maybe a day or two, or if you're lucky, like a week out of it. With blogs and even with podcasts, you're getting that for years. And it's actually kind of like having a retirement fund where you put some money in there and then it grows for you compounds and you end up having, like, more and more success with it over time.

Courtney Andersen: Right.

Brittany Herzberg: Which is pretty cool. So, all right. We were intimidated and a little bit overwhelmed with SEO and with my questions, and we were, oh, holy crap. When we saw that there was nothing. How else were you feeling at that time? Like, as we were kind of getting started.

Courtney Andersen: I still don't get. I mean, I get it now. What you told me of, like, this is what people are searching, right. And like, this is where your site needs. And that's why I was like, can we please just do plug and play where you just do it and I will plug it in. I have no problem doing that. But, like, that is the whole thing, SEO, the website stuff, it's not in my wheelhouse. So if that's the best way I can describe it of like, my feeling is like, this is not in my wheelhouse. I would like to hire somebody to do this for me and who understands it. And you got it.

Brittany Herzberg: I got it, man.

Courtney Andersen: Okay. You're a wizard.

Brittany Herzberg: Like, I've been in your world for a few years, which also I would have understood yourself, though, very quickly, had I not even known you. Because you have a really dialed in brand. You know who you're helping, you know how you're helping them, you know what you want to be known for. So it was very easy to step in. If I hadn't had history with you, I would have been able to figure it out. But your answers Your branding, your messaging, like, all of that stuff. All we were doing was taking that, doing keyword research, and then plugging in a strategy in only a few places, really. But you're plugging some stuff in that. Actually, I think of it like, extra credit. SEO, to me, just seems like extra credit for business owners.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah. But like, even the other. A couple weeks ago, I. I messaged Brittany and I was like, oh, so blogs are like a new post for a social media algorithm. It has taken me a long time to connect these dots. Like, oh, okay, this is building more and more momentum on Google. Like, if you do a blog. Right. So then I was getting it, because I think I told you too. And I know we're probably going to go in that route too. But, like, listen, I'm just gonna say it. Cause this is just me. A lot of people have a podcast. Not everybody are good podcasters. This is true. So I said this to Brittany. This is full transparency. I'm like, sometimes I don't understand how some of these podcasters have like millions of downloads. Right?

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah.

Courtney Andersen: Or a million. Or got there quickly or launched and then had like 5,000 downloads within a matter of a year. And I remember talking to a couple podcasters a while ago, and they're being like, I really honed in on SEO. And I was like, so this. And then with working with you, and I was like, this is how these animals do it. Right? Like, and I say animals with love. Like, I'm like, this is how they do it. They do it with SEO. It was like, mind blown to me that. It's just like, this is how people are doing it.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. People aren't born with this knowledge. I was even born with this. I kind of stumbled into it when I realized that's how clients were finding me. And then I was like, oh, let me go and figure out more about this. So it's not that, like any entrepreneur who's listening, like, you should know this by now. No, you shouldn't. You're not expected to know anything. And even Courtney coming into me and being like, I know nothing. These things are blank. I don't know, can you help me fill them in?

Courtney Andersen: Right.

Brittany Herzberg: That is what I love doing. So kind of like a side note. But all I need from people when they come to me is just, I need you to be really clear on who you help, how you help them, what you want to be known for. I do the rest of the. And then at the most, you're like. Like you said, you're plug and playing it into your website, which was that part very hard for you or was it pretty doable?

Courtney Andersen: It was pretty doable. I have kajabi and I do think that Kajabi, how they have it laid out that it is. So I can't speak on any other hosts, but kajabi is pretty easy.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. And I've even had clients where they've come in and they're like, I don't really know where to find this. So we do a Google search because maybe I'm not familiar with their website host, but you go to Google and it'll tell you where to plug in the magical SEO stuff.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah.

Brittany Herzberg: But that part is the easiest part. It's like copy, paste, save. Copy, paste, save.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah.

Brittany Herzberg: So we did the website stuff. We ended up plugging it in like December. Ish. And I was actually going back and looking through some of the wins. I know you had a hot lead come in. And I say hot lead because they actually said in your inquiry forum for how did you find Courtney Google search of sobriety coach. And they even put it in quotes. And I was like, you magical unicorn, I love you. And it was plugged in or they came to you like two months after it was plugged in.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah. And I mean, it was in quotations. Like, she straight up said, I googled sobriety coaches and quotation marks. And I was like, hot damn. And I send this to Brittany and then with a couple of Betty White gifts, like, I'm like, holy moly. And honestly, it was straight up Google because she never had listened to the podcast at that point. So it was straight Google.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, you've had some cool stuff. So that was one of them. You had a 200% increase in website traffic the month after we plugged it in. Now granted SEO, like, the traffic is a little bit of a wave. That's okay. Totally normal. And I saw pretty much across the board, my clients traffic start dropping like January or February. But like, we're coming up. So we're like, we're on the upswing of the wave. But I just thought that that was a really cool win that you had. What other things were happening? Was there any benefit for your membership or book sales or anything like that that you noticed?

Courtney Andersen: Well, the book sales, I don't know because that's what their publishing company.

Brittany Herzberg: Dang it.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah. Like they just sent me for royalties. But it was back from like July to the end of the year, like, so like, I won't get it until probably the summertime. So the book sales, I don't really know, but definitely, I have to say some more signups obviously on my email list, but yes, those one on ones have been coming in.

Brittany Herzberg: Oh cool. So the more one to one coaching clients. That's exciting.

Courtney Andersen: That's what I'm telling you. Like January, February, March being sicker than sick, like and not really putting a lot of energy into Instagram. So. Yeah.

Brittany Herzberg: So you really have just had the podcast and the SEO like working for you. Oh man.

Courtney Andersen: And lately too it has been like what? I've been listening to the podcast. Right. Or the search. So it's interesting to see how this is going to keep going. Yeah, like I said, it's been consistent. So compared to last year, it was not.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, I'm excited to hear that. I didn't know that you had so many one to ones coming in. Okay, so website happened. We were very excited. What inspired you to then be like, brittany, let's do podcast SEO.

Courtney Andersen: Because again, going back to like my podcast where I was like, ken, something's not right here. You know what I mean? How I started that podcast, I was actually coming out of a partnership where I did a podcast before and I was just starting to learn. So that partnership ended and then I started doing my own in February of 2020 and I was like, all right, I'm just gonna still keep going and put it out there. So I didn't really know all the technical stuff. Again, I didn't know about the SEO. And like I said earlier of like talking with podcasters where they're like, oh yeah, I really focused on SEO and I was like, what is, you know, happening? And even too, I had somehow got it on somebody's email list. I'm sure I signed up for something. Right. And they in their email was talking about podcast SEO and how it's different than website SEO. And then I think that's when I reached out to you and I was like, I think I probably asked you, like, is podcast SEO different? And then that's how we started with the SEO train.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. And now we're, we've already done and implemented optimization for 20 episodes and we have 10 more that I'm working on. So we're kind of doing them in batches of 10. But even with those first 20 episodes, I mean when we're optimizing the podcast episodes, we're doing the title sometimes, not always. Cause we even have some examples where we did not change the title because your titles were actually pretty solid. And then we are always with all of them adding in these tags Which I call keyword tags, because you and I both host our podcasts in Buzzsprout. And there's a section at the bottom that most people don't know that it even exists because you have to click a link for the thing to drop down. When you drop it down, you can add tags in there. So I, from the get go, was like, well, I'm going to add in keyword tags and just see where this takes me. And by doing that, you've had something incredible wins. But, like, what was that process like for you for doing the podcast SEO?

Courtney Andersen: Well, again, you know, we did the plug, plug and play pretty much. So, I mean, all I had to go in there is just copy and paste.

Brittany Herzberg: It's the.

Courtney Andersen: It's the easiest thing. Like, you are doing the work. And again of going back with. Let me just give Brittany her flowers right now, is that she does this because she's listening to the podcast episodes. So this is all based on intuitiveness. And that's. I believe, the greatest thing about a woman is that intuitiveness and honing in on that. When people do this stuff with AI, because I've done some AI generated show notes. No shame in my game. But when you have human being who's actually sitting there listening and understanding this and know what needs to be put in and then it. What you say the percentage was? 30%. One went up or one of them went up.

Brittany Herzberg: 40% and we didn't touch the title. 40% increase in downloads. Yeah.

Courtney Andersen: So that was just those tags. Because I wasn't doing those tags. Right. Like, it was so easy. Your method of how you do it, that is a gift. It is a gift because these numbers, they don't lie. And that is what you sat and you listened and know what needed to be done.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. My favorite thing is listening to podcasts in 2X. It's my favorite thing ever because, like, I can hear the entire conversation. There were even a few where it was like, oh, Courtney, you might want to link your book in here. You might want to link the membership. Like, just things that I'm noticing because I'm treating it like I'm the listener.

Courtney Andersen: Right.

Brittany Herzberg: I'm like, oh, I'm intrigued. I want to go find out about the CBD thing. Oh, I want to go find out about this thing.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah.

Brittany Herzberg: So, yeah, I mean, there were things like that, but really, if we touched anything, every single one, we added those tags and then some. I would say most of them, we updated the titles and it may have been shortening it, adding a guest's name in there or changing things like numbers or symbols to make it a little bit more eye catchy. But yeah, like, I mean, you were doing a good job. You have the most amount of downloads. You were like the largest podcast I've ever worked on. I told you this last week. And I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to help you. And then here we are. And it worked.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah. A couple years ago, I did a paid marketing thing with my podcast, but I didn't like how that ended up. Like, yes, it got you the downloads, but it messed up my reviews. And it's like, lesson learned. Right. And in the entrepreneurship space and the business space, you live and learn. So that was when I was like this year too, where I was like, something is not right here. I do believe that there should be more. And it just then came down to this and understanding SEO some more.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. So some of your other podcast ones that I just have to shout you out. Cause you had some major ones like, this has been a fun show to work on. So you had the one show where we didn't touch the title. The only thing we did was add those tags. 30% increase in downloads after two months. The 40% one was the big one without changing the title. We had another one that had 30% increase in downloads. And then you have had, over two months, 8,000 increased downloads. And in two days. This was the coolest thing. The first time we plugged in that first set of 10, you optimized those. You gave me the date. In two days you saw a 16% increase in downloads and you didn't put out an episode in that time. It was just like naturally happening.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah, that's crazy.

Brittany Herzberg: That's crazy sauce, man. And I tell people that podcast SEO works faster than website SEO. And actually going back to what you were saying about having like duplicate clients where you're like, I'm helping these same people and they have the same things going on. I sat down recently and I was like, all right, favorite clients. So spilling the beans. Courtney is one of my favorite clients, like all time. So Courtney was on the list and there were a couple of other people. You all have memberships, you all have nicely designed websites, you all have podcasts, and you do like the one to one stuff too. I was like, this is nuts. I didn't even realize that everybody had a podcast or a membership. So I was like, this is working. This is my jam. These are my people and the whole ecosystem, we get it to work. Together.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah, exactly. That's amazing.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah.

Courtney Andersen: And even just listening to you spout out those numbers, it's just imagine if I didn't do that. Do you know what I mean? And going back for anybody's podcast, like whatever that you do for a living, is that someone does need your service or someone needs to discover that to hear it. Even if they don't opt in to get into a membership or get a one on one thing, but that they have the option to sit there and listen to that knowledge. And, and that is so valuable.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah.

Courtney Andersen: You know, and even too, of going kind of back with the podcast compared to social media, I cannot with the long form content for me personally on social media anymore. I just can't. And I get people in my DMs asking me to elaborate on stuff. And I was like, there is a podcast that you can listen to for free with 222 episodes. Do you know where? It's just like, this is the long format and this is where I want more of my energy to go as the year goes on and whatever ends up happening. But yeah, so, yeah, you've helped a lot.

Brittany Herzberg: I mean, thanks. Like I said, going back to what I said earlier, like, I'm really grateful that I have been able to help you because I know that me helping you is helping you help even more people who really need it.

Courtney Andersen: Well, yeah. And even too, on the intake, Freddie was asking me about the podcast SEO. I said, we are going to F this podcast SEO up. Like, that is my plan.

Brittany Herzberg: But.

Courtney Andersen: And then look at what we've done so far in just a short couple Months of just 20 episodes so far of that. So. And I have to go and say this too. When you start podcasting, you're not automatically great right off the bat. Like, this is what I'm saying with everything where you understand how it completely 1000% works. Because you might be putting in even to SEO, I'm not saying you in particular, but like a person listening, like, you might do the show notes now and then a year from now you might be like, go back and look at those show notes and be like, oh my God, what was I doing right? You know, because that's what I'm learning as I've done the plug and play with my episodes with some of the earlier ones where I was like, oh, I did not really care what I wrote. I think one was like two sentences, you know what I mean? So it's like you are learning, but with SEO, it's a game changer for sure.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, It's a game changer. And like, you make a good point. You can do it at any point.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah.

Brittany Herzberg: Like, so often we forget that the O of SEO is optimization, meaning you can go back and make things better.

Courtney Andersen: Yes. And that is something too. When doing that, I was like, okay, I have a hot. Like, because, I mean, I think I was at like 200 maybe when we started. Maybe like 210, something like that. And so I was like, oh, God, are we gonna have to go back and do all of these? And then I kind of thought to myself, like, is there a point of doing this? And I was like, well, no, because I spent especially too. If you spent a good amount of time on something, you can go back and make little tweaks and make it better. Not saying that you need to take out the episode, but just fix of what we've been talking about.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. And like I said, I didn't even touch, like, show notes. It was the title and the tags are what I was really looking at. And then we've had some extra tweaks here and there. Just because my brain can't stop, won't stop. And Courtney's all about, like, what else can I do? How about this other thing?

Courtney Andersen: Yeah, absolutely.

Brittany Herzberg: Any final thoughts about, like, I don't know, just for the person who's like, okay, maybe it is time for me to look into SEO.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah. Hire you. I mean, hire Brittany. I'm not even kidding.

Brittany Herzberg: I didn't pay her to say that.

Courtney Andersen: No, she didn't. Hire you. Work with you. You have great options too, to work with you. What is the one that your SEO.

Brittany Herzberg: The program thingy. Yes, the SEO foundations. Yeah. It's a five week mentorship.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah. So like, with that, it's just you can learn so much from Brittany, you know, and if Brittany is not your cup of tea, then find somebody else who can do it. Because that is what I have learned in being in business. I started on the online space in 2015. What I have learned as the years have gone on is if it is not in your wheelhouse and you are sitting down and being like, wanting to throw your laptop out the window because you're just like, what is happening here? Because nobody knows it all, you know, and if it is just something where you're like, okay, I'm going to make this investment and this is going to save my time and sanity. Do it. And for me, SEO and podcast editing is one of those two things. And Pinterest, like, this is like, what I have hired people to help Me with. And website design, which Tara and my Pinterest and website design. But, like, these are three things where I'm like, I don't even care to learn. I don't care. And if anybody asks me about it, I'm like, I have a person for podcast, SEO and a website. Right? Like, and then I have my sweet chinny for podcast. Like, so that's what I mean. Just for when it comes to that, save yourself the time and money. And if you are starting now and starting to build a website. We started podcast SEO in 2024. Do you know when I built that website?

Brittany Herzberg: When?

Courtney Andersen: 2019.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. No. Website SEO from 2019 to 2024.

Courtney Andersen: Correct. That's wild, because I didn't have a.

Brittany Herzberg: Clue, but I didn't either. My very first website, back with the massage practice. I think I had that 2015, it was built, and I didn't plug in SEO until 2021.

Courtney Andersen: Yeah.

Brittany Herzberg: And at that point, I was like, switching from massage to copywriting and then eventually to SEO.

Courtney Andersen: Right. Why did you switch from copywriting to SEO? So you don't do copywriting at all anymore?

Brittany Herzberg: Well, like, very selectively. And when I do it, it's website copywriting, blog copywriting, or case study copywriting, but it's very selectively. I just realized my reach could be so much bigger with SEO and that it was also easier, frankly, to talk about one thing. Because for so long, I was like, massage, copywriting, SEO. And then I was like, I am walking this ridiculous tightrope situation, and no one understands what I'm doing. So I really just had to pick one.

Courtney Andersen: Right. No, I mean, I'm grateful that you did. I'm just wondering, like, why you made that switch.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, no, I'm glad you asked because I don't think I talk about it enough.

Courtney Andersen: But do you then have a lot of people then who just are like, yeah, I got you from Google.

Brittany Herzberg: It's growing because I was putting so much focus and effort on my client's SEO, and I wasn't really caring about my own. I plugged in, like, the main SEO strategy, like we did for your website, the SEO title and meta description and H1 headlines. And then I didn't really pay much attention to my blog. And then I wasn't really making the most out of. This is my second podcast. So I wasn't really making the most out of the first podcast by having blogs on my website. So in 24, really, that was when I was like, all right, we're getting serious. We're creating content Long form content on my own website. Just what I tell other people to do. And that's when I've seen the traffic increase, the inquiries increase, my like street creds, like authority. What Google knows me for, what people know me for. That's when that really took off.

Courtney Andersen: So what was your first podcast?

Brittany Herzberg: It was a co host situation.

Courtney Andersen: Well, God bless you if you have a partner out there who is like very, very supportive.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah, that's what I realized is that I had my own creative vision and I really wanted to bring it to life. And so I've got Leah helping me out and I sound good, my guests sound good, and even this year I'm making changes where the focus of the podcast is changing and even how I do the episodes. So yes, I still have guest episodes, but I'm gonna have more solos coming out too because I realized like, I want to talk to people and you know, share more of those things like you were saying earlier. Just like, even if it's a quick tip, like, what's something that you can do?

Courtney Andersen: Yeah, well, and people will listen to that. I mean, I've had solo episodes where they're like in 10 minutes. Like, it's just like it doesn't have to be 45 minutes, you know, it just does not have to be that much because sometimes people just want quick tips and quick wins for sure.

Brittany Herzberg: Yeah. Well, this has been really exciting. I'll keep everybody posted on like the wins that you're having because I'm constantly stalking your website and your podcast. Like, what's going on with Corky this week? Tell us how people can get in your world, what you've got going on. Because you've got a lot of cool stuff happening on your end of the Internet.

Courtney Andersen: When it comes to all those social medias that are out there now, I party the most on Instagram. So I am connected on Instagram at Sober Vibes and then my podcast, Sober Vibes, you can find me. My website is courtneyrecovered.com and all of my information on there. I do have a membership, a community, one on one coaching. I have a bunch of free resources as well. So that is how you can find me in your book. Yes, my book. So it's called Sober Vibes, a guide to thriving in your first three months without alcohol. And that really just walks you through those first three months of quitting drinking alcohol. And there's journal prompts and it's a coach support book. And you can find that on Amazon. Barnes and Noble again, you can find it on my website too.

Brittany Herzberg: All the things. Well, you're amazing. I adore you. I'm sure I'll see you in Voxer later. Thank you so much for joining me.

Courtney Andersen: Thank you for having me on the basic Bee podcast. Because I love the title of your podcast. I do. I love it.

Brittany Herzberg: I love it. I mean, just like I love sober vibes. It's great.

Courtney Andersen: Exactly.

Brittany Herzberg: Well, thanks for joining us and I will catch you next time. SEO is a lot like dating. Hear me out. You want to explore your options, narrow them down based on things you have in common or shared values or whatever, and then you want to connect with that person. You do not want every single available human on the planet to jump out in front of you while you're driving to the grocery store. You don't even know if you like the same music, let alone if this person has the same vision of a future that you do. It's dangerous and just annoying. Ew. SEO provides that good dating experience. It's not making you uncomfortable chasing you down the street. SEO, when done correctly, makes it so people, products, places, or programs someone wants to find magically pop up when they run a search. SEO is like, hey, I'm available over here. Which is how SEO gets more people flocking to your site, saying yes and experiencing you. I'm revealing how all of this SEO stuff works inside SEO Foundations, my five week SEO mentorship experience for entrepreneurs who want to consistently bring in new leads without burning out on social media. Explore SEO foundations@brittneyherzberg.com or by clicking the link below.

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