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The Recipe For SEO Success Show

Chart-topping SEO podcast. SEO is a giant pain in the bum right? Full of jargon, snail oil salesmen and dodgy tactics. No! Search Engine Optimisation is 100% doable by normal humans and in this podcast award-winning SEO Educator Kate Toon chat with her expert guests about all things Googley including - DIY Optimisation tips and techniques - The latest SEO news and updates - Real life SEO case studies - Other related marketing tactics Find out more by Googling 'The Recipe for SEO Success'
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Now displaying: Page 1
Apr 29, 2024

Hello, I just want to explain that we're going to be taking a little bit of a break on the podcast, probably about a month or so.

This is sadly because I've had some bad news from home and I need to return to the UK and spend some time with my family. So I hope you can bear with me while I get through this difficult time.

We will be back later in the year with more great episodes.

Thanks for listening. I wish you all well. Thank you.

 

Freebies:

  1. Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. SEO SOS Challenge

  4. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Apr 2, 2024

How to make your ecommerce store stand out with SEO

 

Do you struggle to get your products to rank high on the search engine results pages? 

 

Last year we went through how you can improve user experience on site with Louis Smith.

 

And today we’ll cover some common mistakes ecommerce owners make that can lead to their products ranking poorly, or sometimes not at all. 

 

Tune in to learn: 

  • How ecommerce SEO differs from service-based business SEO

  • What features ecommerce owners can access in the SERPS

  • Why you should get set up on Google Merchant Center.

  • The biggest mistakes ecommerce sites are making

  • What the best structure for product pages is

  • Patrick’s top tips on how to make more engaging product descriptions

  • How to use internal linking to cross-sell your products

  • Why having a personalised brand can help you stand out

  • What role schema plays in ecommerce sites

 

Useful resources: 

 

Head to episode notes

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. Free challenge: SEO SOS

  3. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  4. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Mar 19, 2024

Today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me.

My tips, my advice.

These shorter, more succinct episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they’re 100% jargon and gobbledegook free.

Today I’m answering a question that was posted in the I LOVE SEO group about whether someone can optimise one web page of their website, and if that will be enough.

 

Listen to all the tip episodes

 

Freebies:

  1. Free online training: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. SEO SOS Challenge

  4. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Mar 5, 2024

There is a mountain of SEO advice out there, but how much of it is actually doable for the average business human?

In my reality SEO episodes, I talk to real humans and get the truth about how they use SEO and digital marketing to improve their businesses.

Today I’ll be talking to a former student of the Recipe For SEO Success Course, Jane Fonti.

We’ll chat about how Jane got her start in SEO, the digital marketing highs and lows, and the challenges she’s faced along the way.

Head to the episode notes

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO SOS Challenge

  4. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

 

Feb 20, 2024

Today is a tip episode, we’re going to be talking about easy ecommerce SEO, five things for store-owners to focus on in 2024. 

I’m gonna be honest, I think that most ecommerce stores need to focus on some foundational elements.

So let's jump in. 

Listen to all the tip episodes here.

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Feb 6, 2024

Knowing your audience and cutting through the noise

In 2024 with the rise of AI, it can feel like we’re moving further and further away from our humanity. If we can chatbot our customer service, analyse spreadsheets to decide our next move, and Chatgpt our content do we really need to build relationships with our customers any more?

Well obviously, yes, yes we do!

But where do we start? 

How do we really know who our audience is, what they’re talking about and how to reach them?

Can we use data and insights to find out what podcasts they’re listening to, which social accounts they follow and the websites they love most?

And when we know all that information, what the hell do we do with it?

Today’s guest is an all-time favourite of the show and is going to help us understand what the eff is going on in the world of digital marketing and social media this year - and how we can be better marketers.

Tune in to Learn:

  • How much influence AI has actually had in digital marketing 

  • The biggest challenges marketers are facing n 2024

  • What ‘dark social’ means

  • What the future of paid ads looks like

  • What is working in social media

  • How SparkToro works

  • How to use the data you find using SparkToro

  • Why email marketing is the way forward

  • What you should be investing your time in marketing right now

Useful resources:

 

Head to the episode notes. 

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Jan 16, 2024

Today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me.

My tips, my advice.

These shorter episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they’re 100% jargon and gobbledegook free.

Today we’re going to be talking about what the first steps are for a new website when it comes to SEO.

Check out all the Toon tips here.

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Jan 2, 2024

So here we are, a fresh new year to grapple the Google beast and get our site found online.


But what should be our SEO priorities in 2024?
What’s coming down the pipe?
And what is old hat?

Today I’m joined by one of our favourite guests on the Recipe for SEO Success podcast, Cyrus Shepard.


We’re going to be rubbing our crystal balls together and chatting through what we think are the big things to focus on in 2024.

Will AI ruin SEO once and for all?
What algorithm updates do we see coming?
Can we finally forget schema?

We’ll answer all this and more in today’s episode.

 

Tune in to learn: 

  • What impact Generative AI will have on the Search results

  • The importance of User signals in ranking

  • What Cyrus learned as a Google quality rater

  • Whether backlinks still matter

  • If you still need to keep using schema

  • The three-second rule and why it matters more in 2024

  • What Cyrus learned from the recent Google privacy trial

And so much more.

Head to episode notes 

Useful resources: 


Freebies:

  1. SEO SOS Challenge
  2. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  3. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  4. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Nov 21, 2023

Taking testing one step at a time

Do you ever wonder how effective your site’s SEO is? 

You’ve put all this time and effort into finding effective keywords, your images are slim, your page loading time is faster than a fast thing. 

 

But is it bringing in the clicks and sales?
Because at the end of the day, ranking is nice, but you know what’s nicer? Making money!

Today we’re going to look at some tests you can run on your SEO to make sure it’s all ticking along, and what needs some work.

Tune in to learn: 

  • What SEO testing is

  • Where to start - simple tests for small business owners

  • How to measure how successful your title tag is 

  • How long you should run a test before looking at the results

  • How you can test the effectiveness of a featured snippet

  • How to look at your highest conversion pages and see where the clicks are really going

  • What tools Logan recommends for SEO testing

  • Logan’s top tip to get started with testing

 

Useful resources: 

 

Head to episode notes 

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Nov 7, 2023

Today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me.

My tips, my advice.

These shorter, more succinct episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they’re 100% jargon and gobbledegook free.

Today we’re going to be talking about the 4 most common website issues I see every day.

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Oct 24, 2023

Embracing techy SEO to get found online

Getting SEO advice is one thing, but how much of it is really doable for the average business human? 

In my reality SEO episodes, I talk to real humans and get the truth about how they use SEO and digital marketing to improve their businesses.

Today I’ll be talking to a former student of the Recipe For SEO Success Course, Elisha de Jonge.

We’ll chat about how Elisha got her start in SEO, the digital marketing highs and lows, and the challenges she’s faced along the way.

Useful resources:

SEO META in 1 CLICK

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Oct 10, 2023

Today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me.

My tips, my advice.

These shorter, more succinct episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they’re 100% jargon and gobbledegook free.

Today we’re going to be talking about how much should SEO cost?

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Sep 19, 2023

Now here’s me thinking that being online means I’m pretty green.

My entire business is up in the cloud, with very few physical products, not much post, and a little shed in the back garden that uses minimal electricity.

 

And I never use my printer, not because I’m green but because I can’t hook it up to my computer properly.

 

But today’s guest is going to explain how even hosting your website has environmental consequences and some simple steps to minimising your environmental footprint.

Tune in to learn: 

  • What it means to be green online
  • How your digital footprint is connected to your carbon footprint
  • How climate change is being affected by websites, apps and email
  • Common practices online that are more harmful than helpful to the environment
  • What steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint
  • Why hosting is a big issue when it comes to being green
  • How True Green® can help reduce energy output
  • What to focus on when choosing a hosting platform

 

Useful resources: 

 

Head to episode notes 

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Sep 5, 2023

So today is a tip episode, no guest to interview, just little old me. 

My tips, my advice.

These shorter more succinct episodes are here to help with easy learning and quick wins and I promise they’re 100% jargon and gobbledegook free. 

Today I’m answering questions about ecommerce SEO.

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Aug 22, 2023

Setting up a website is not a one-off process. 

In many ways, it’s like having a plant. 

Building your website and optimising it to be found is like setting up the nutrient-rich soil. 

Hitting publish for the first time is like planting a seed. 

Now you just sit back and see what happens right?

No, much like that little seed, if you ignore it, it will wither away, much like your website traffic. 

You have to monitor it, remove any bugs, and give it plenty of water and sunshine. I’ll leave the plant metaphor there.

So how do we keep it healthy and thriving? The answer? Well, one answer is Google Search Console. I often describe it as Google Analytics ugly cousin, but in fact, it’s a rich source of website nutrients, helping you diagnose, and understand your website, and if necessary bring it back to life.

Today we’ll look at the benefits of using Google’s Search Console as a tool in your SEO garden shed to keep traffic high and problems low.

Tune in to learn:

  • What Google Search Console is

  • Two metrics to focus on when you’re getting started

  • What Sodiq thinks of Search Console Insights

  • Where to start looking when your traffic is way down

  • More advanced ways to use Google Search Console

  • Sodiq’s tips for getting acquainted with Google Search Console

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Aug 8, 2023

Need a speedy SEO Fix? 

These micro SEO tip episodes are a fast way to digest a little SEO knowledge for easy learning and quick wins and I guarantee they’re 100% jargon and gobbledegook free. 

Today I’ll be giving you some top tips on Local SEO.

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Jul 11, 2023

Showing Google you've got the goods

Hey you, ecommerce store owner.
I know you got a sexy theme for your website that promised it was responsive, conversion-focused and all that jazz.
But is it?
So many ecommerce sites fall down on the basics of user experience.

Terrible navigation - check
Confusing home page - check
Bland category pages - check
Cut and paste product descriptions - check

And don’t get me started on that checkout experience.
Well, today we’re honing in on carts, shopping and making the sale.
Telling you how to turn casual browsers into eager buyers.

Tune in to learn

 

  • The three main differences between service-based business SEO and ecommerce SEO

  • How small businesses should build out the primary nav structure

  • Two ways to start driving more relevant traffic to your ecommerce site today

  • How to avoid the duplicate content issue with collection and product pages

  • How to do keyword research for collection pages and product pages

  • How to improve time on site and key information you should add to encourage customers through to the sale

  • How to stand out in the SERPS against the bigger brands

  • Optimising your product pages - where to start

  • Why generative AI isn’t going to doom ecommerce stores

  • The importance of your brand story, and taking consumers on a journey with your brand

Useful resources

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Jun 20, 2023

Okay, are you ready for a rant?
I know I share interviews and chats.
I’ve now started sharing tips and advice.

But today it’s rant time. This Toon is angry and I want to share why.

So today I’m getting stuck into shitty SEO agencies.
What they do.
Why they do it.
And how to see the red flags before you get screwed.

Ready? Let’s go.

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

 

Jun 6, 2023

Understanding how Google classifies context.

The Google beast has come a long way since 10 blue links, doorway pages and exact match domains.

But what’s changed the most is probably how we consider and use keywords. 

At beginner level we’re gathering keywords, grouping them by content and then using them on our pages, but as Google strives to improve the search results, it has started to dig deeper, and look at more than just the words on the page - now Google thinks about both context and the relationships between words.

And this, my friends, is what we mean when we talk about entity-based SEO.

Tune in to learn:

Today we’ll cover:

  • What entities are

  • What a knowledge graph is

  • What semantic search is

  • How semantic search helps users find relevant information

  • Keyword research: how relevant it is with entities in the mix

  • Nik’s top 5 tips for content writers with Natural Language Processing in mind

Head to episode notes

Useful resources:

Freebies:

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

May 16, 2023

I’ve started a new style of episode. 

I’ve had an amazing run of interviewing other humans but often you don’t hear that much from me. 

My tips, my advice.

So I thought I’d start sharing that with you. 

After a long 5 years, shorter more succinct episodes for easy learning and quick wins, 100% jargon and gobbledegook free. 

Today I’ll be covering Core Web Vitals: what are they, why do we care about them, and how we can make them better.

 

Useful Resources: 

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

May 2, 2023

Leaving your audience satisfied with every click

So you have your beautiful new website.
You’ve carefully written the copy and paid an arm and a leg for a fancy pants design, you’ve even done a little SEO, optimising your images, writing titles and metas and making an effort to speed up your site.


But you’ve noticed something odd when you look at Google Analytics.
Your time on site is low.
People are only viewing one or two pages.
And your conversions are lower than worm doing a limbo.

‘What went wrong?’ you cry, gnashing your teeth.
Well it could be your user experience.
How people enjoy and consume the content on your site, and travel from point a to point b.

Perhaps there are 15 steps before I can check out.
Perhaps the font is so small it needs a microscope to read.

Or the buttons have grey copy on a grey background.

User experience is crucial not just for … the users, but also to please the Google beast, so lets dig into this topic today.

Tune in to learn: 

  • User experience: what it is, and how it differs from accessibility

  • How to measure user satisfaction

  • Why engagement is so important to SEO

  • Which good engagement metrics to focus on

  • The pros and cons of heat mapping tools

  • Kevin’s best heat mapping tool recommendations

  • Which GA4 reports you should focus on

  • How marketers should approach SEO content in 2023, compared to 2013

  • Kevin’s number one tip to improve user experience

Useful resources: 

Head to episode notes

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

 

Apr 18, 2023

A complete history of algorithm updates (and why they matter)

Google appears to be fiddling with things all the time, which can feel overwhelming for your average site owner.


But the truth is most of the updates don’t impact small business website owners, and Google is pretty open about the big changes that you really need to take action on.

In this episode, I’ll run through a complete history of the algorithm updates since 2011 and explain what they mean and how they help.

 

Tune in to learn: 

  • What is an algorithm?

  • Why are all the updates named crazy things?

  • The biggest updates you need to know about

  • Why Google changes things all the time

  • Bonus: top tips on how to use pop-ups on your website.

 

Useful Resources: 

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

Apr 4, 2023

Brendan Kelso and Kate Toon get back to basics

It’s time to get back to basics.

If you’re a regular listener to the podcast you’ll know we dive deep each episode into a different SEO challenge and adventure.

 

But today I though it would be useful to have a recap of common mistakes that we often see small business and professional services websites making.

 

Because the truth is it’s often not bleeding edge SEO that makes the difference in this market, but ensuring you’ve ticked off all the essentials. 

 

So today put your mind at rest as I chat with Brendan Kelso about the core things you need to fix up to ensure your website gets the Google love.

 

Tune in to learn: 

  • Easy site changes that make all the difference

  • SEO basics that most people forget

  • Why Google My Business should be a priority

  • Why it’s not the cutting-edge things that matter

And so much more.

 

Useful resources: 

 

 

Head to episode notes 

 

Freebies:

 

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

 

Mar 14, 2023

Building quality backlinks and promoting your content

I know, I know, backlinks are well-trodden ground, we’ve covered them before and we’ll likely cover them again.

Because still after all this time, debate rages about whether backlinks really do make a difference to you ability to rank.

Google encourages us to earn, not buy links.

SEOs tell us to focus on quality not quantity.

We dutifully keep our backlink profiles clean, disavowing on a regular basis.

But is any of this working?

And if the black hat tactics don’t work (PBNs, comment spam and the rest) why do so many SEO types still do them?

Today we’re getting back to basics on backlinks and it’s a refresher that’s definitely worth your ear time.

Tune in to learn: 

  • Do backlinks matter to Google? 

  • If backlinks from social media have any impact or authority

  • Where to start setting up your first 3 backlinks

  • How to recognise good backlinks

  • How to recognise the red flags

  • How content promotion ties in with link-building

  • Ranking locally - what effect local backlinks will have

  • Alan’s favourite tools to track backlinks

  • Dodgy backlinks - are disavows worth it?

  • Alan’s top backlink tip

 

Useful resources:

 

Head to episode notes

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

Feb 28, 2023

I’ve started a new style of episode. 

 

I’ve had an amazing run of interviewing other humans but often you don’t hear that much from me. 

 

My tips, my advice.

So I thought I’d start sharing that with you. 

 

After a long 5 years, shorter more succinct episodes for easy learning and quick wins, 100% jargon and gobbledegook free. 

 

Today I’ll be answering the question that comes up a lot from my course students: Should I target zero-volume keywords?

 

Freebies:

  1. Free webinar: Increase your website traffic (and sales)

  2. The Ultimate SEO Checklist

  3. Free SEO Nibbles Course

 

Sign up for the Recipe for SEO Success Course

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