“You’re totally capable of doing SEO on your own—my story is proof!”
There's a lot of bologna out there on the internet about a lot of different topics, but especially about SEO.
I hosted an in-person SEO workshop recently where we got to talk about a lot of the nuttiness that’s out there. That whole exchange made me realize some of what I say on repeat.
I thought it would be fun to bring some of my most repeated phrases into an episode & dig into them a bit more!
Topics covered in this podcast episode:
How my SEO journey proves you don’t need an SEO agency
Why I firmly believe you're not too late for SEO—even if you've been putting it off for years
The research mistake I've seen completely backfire for SEOs and their clients
One-liners from my clients about SEO
My non-negotiable timer rule for keyword research
Why I call SEO "extra credit" for business owners
SEO really can be simpler, and you really aren't too late! To get started, you need to know your North Star and then it’s just about plugging the right words in the right places.
Ready to get found online by your dream clients?! Join the November SEO Challenge!
Mentioned Resources:
→ Sign up for the 🆓 Nov SEO Challenge
→ Join the December 5-Day SEO Sprint (bonus expires 11/15/26)
Connect w/ Brittany:
This episode of The Basic B podcast is brought to you in partnership w/ Adrienne Cruz! 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
Hello and welcome to the Basic B Podcast. I'm your host and favorite SEO coach, Brittany Herzberg. Look, there's a lot of bologna out there on the internet about a lot of different topics, but especially about SEO. I hosted an in-person SEO workshop at the mastermind retreat I was at recently, and we got to talk about a lot of what is out there, and the whole exchange made me realize that I say a lot of things on repeat.
And I thought it would be fun to bring some of my most repeated phrases into an episode and dig into them a little bit more. Now, if you join in an SEO sprint, you'll hear even more of these on coaching calls and in Telegram. And you'll also see them show up in comments I leave in your workbook. Whether you join the December five day version of the sprint or a future two week version of the sprint, know this. You've got me all up in your business. Literally, I'm helping you workshop your North Star.
So you can use that to find really effective keywords so you can build a better bat signal that actually brings in a line leads and opportunities through your website while you're off living your life. You do not need to be tethered to your phone all day to get found online or to make sales or to get good inquiries, period. All the details will of course be in the show notes. I'd love to have you there. For now, we've got this episode together. So back to those sayings of mine. First up, SEO is simpler than you think.
You do not need an agency. You are perfectly capable of doing SEO on your own. You need a proven process to follow and a guide who quite literally speaks your language. That is it. That is the magic sauce. I don't know what else to tell you. Like it's way more simple than we think. It doesn't have to be this techie thing. It doesn't have to be this costly thing. And that is really what I set out to prove to myself and eventually to clients when I started doing this whole SEO thing. And what I keep coming back to is.
At its core, it's really about using the right words in the right places and following the right format. That's it. It doesn't have to be, like I said, this techie thing. So many people are like, how much coding am I gonna have to do? What new crazy like techie software skill am I gonna need to learn? Nothing. It's just about finding the right words and plugging them in the right places. I've worked with trauma therapists, massage therapists, photographers, doulas, astrologers, energy healers, literally you name it, and I've probably helped one or two of them.
Brittany Herzberg (02:24.79) And they were able to do all of the stuff that I showed them in the SEO sprint in the Done For You SEO service. It's easier than you think and it gets to be simpler than you think. And you're gonna feel weird because we're so used to making things more complicated. That's one of the funnest things I've been able to do with this sprint is remind people. This is another thing, just remind them and repeat to them that if it feels too easy, you're doing the right thing. It is such a trippy situation. Another thing that I repeat, you're not too late for SEO.
You can absolutely start with SEO early in your business, and some of us need to live a little, experiment a little, fall on our faces a few times before we're like, these are the clients I want to work with, these are the offers I want to facilitate, and this is how I'm different in my field. It doesn't matter which scenario is yours, they both work. They say the best time to have planted a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today. I certainly don't want to be having this conversation with you in a year from now, two years from now, this is truly happening in my life.
Please know that right now is a perfect time to get started with SEO, especially if you're clear on your North Star, which I'll keep talking about in this episode. Look, I didn't even have my own website like created with SEO. I intentionally added SEO to my site. I think it was six years into being an entrepreneur. And I did it piecemeal. So the effect was slower. You had the advantage of having me, my experience, my clients' experiences, and this framework I finally realized I have all at your fingertips.
Part of what continues to come up with my astrology and especially my human design is that I am built to help you skip steps, meaning you find me and I'm able to help catapult you so much faster through this process than I got to move through it. It's one of my greatest joys with this work. So please, please use me. Next one. Your SEO needs to start with you. So many SEOs include competitor research in the early stages of SEO, but I have seen that completely backfire.
People get too distracted by what someone else is doing. You fall into comparison. You talk yourself out of your vision. No, I'm absolutely not here for that. What works best is you locking in your vision. This is why I tell people you don't need to have the most amazing flowy messaging for SEO to work or for you to be ready to do SEO. You need to know your North Star. And remember, that's made up of your answers to three questions. Who do you help? How do you help them? And how are you different from others in your industry? AKA, why you?
Brittany Herzberg (04:52.362) Dr. Cecily summed it up beautifully after going through my SEO program. She said, I feel like a savvier business owner, and I will never forget that quote. She said that because by focusing on her vision, what she wanted her business to look like, the clients she wanted in her office and sitting across from her on Zoom, she was able to more confidently talk about her business and her work in the world. She was able to make better, more aligned business investments. She was no longer jumping at every freebie or low-ticket resource or coaching program. In fact,
She was all up in my DMs trying to rejoin things that she'd already gone through. She loved it. It kept her focused. And that is the needle-moving type of activity your business needs from you. Another one that I say all the time is to set a timer for keyword research. I beg of you, 30 minutes. It's all you need. Set the timer, click it, when it beeps, you're done. I say it in every single workbook I make, every single workshop I host, every coaching call that I run.
And there's not a set number of keywords that you're looking for. There's no like 10 keywords, 20 keywords. You want to make sure you're finding phrases that clearly articulate who you help and how you help them. But no matter what number of keywords people find in that initial search session, you're gonna go back and find other keywords for a specific services page or a landing page or a freebie page. Like it's inevitable. So there's not a set number that you're looking for.
Just this last round of the sprint, there was one business owner who went down a two-hour rabbit hole. And look, that sounds wild and not even like a real scenario, but I've been there before. I think one time I even had a three hour session. It's crazy. It's so easy to start going, What is this? What is that? and just getting distracted by things. And I think the reason so many of us go down these rabbit holes is that we think there must be some fancier, more complex way of saying something. When really what you need to do is just be clear. People aren't
Being that clever when they're searching. They have a thought. They type it in a search bar, and boom, they need to see you. And your final one, SEO is extra credit for business owners, and there are opportunities everywhere. In my opinion, SEO is not and never has been only about your website. From the moment I learned about SEO, I was searching for every single extra credit opportunity everywhere. Services pages, sales pages, freebie landing pages, blog posts, image titles, podcast episodes.
Brittany Herzberg (07:12.994) social media profiles. If you are looking for an SEO opportunity, there is one or more to be found. One of my favorite new client stories to share is Chelsea's. We worked together this year on three websites for her. Every single one she optimized for SEO. She also has a podcast, which she also optimized for SEO. And that has been one of the coolest things to watch unfold because in the first 30 days of the show, the very first month, strangers found the show in search, they listened.
And they booked consultations and several of them even went on to book strategy sessions and other services with Chelsea. There are opportunities everywhere. I promise you. And that's one of the things that people actually reflect back to me that they really enjoy learning with me, whether it's a workshop, a coaching call, a program, whatever it may be. They love learning all the little things that you can be doing it. All those little things add up and they add up to people finding you, booking with you, paying you money, working with you, sending you referrals.
That's a beautiful, beautiful upward spiral that just continues to grow. SEO isn't the sexy strategy, but done right, it is incredibly effective. And yes, it absolutely can replace social media marketing, which gives you your time and your life back. You don't have to post every single flipping detail just to stay top of mind or work so hard to interrupt people's scroll. You just get to show up when and where they're looking for you. This is your reminder, the December SEO sprint is five days long.
There are 10 seats and we are starting on the seventh. This is really going to be one of those sessions, because it's five days, that it's for the people who are ready to get in, get stuff done, keep it moving, and you know, just do the dang thing. The bonus a one-to-one kickoff call with me expires on November 24th. So be sure to save your seat by then to get even more of my brain on your business and your goals. You're doing a lot right. It may not feel like it, but you are doing a lot right.
And you deserve support as you branch out into this new world of SEO. Alright, until next time, I'm cheering you on on your SEO journey.
