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How 5,000 SEO Visits Got Her Client's Local Business Bought by Private Equity

The Edward Show · 2026-06-24 · 57 min

0:00--:--

Key moments - from our scoring

Substance score

61 / 100

Five dimensions, 20 points each

Insight Density12 / 20
Originality11 / 20
Guest Caliber13 / 20
Specificity & Evidence13 / 20
Conversational Craft12 / 20

Tiffany shares a case study of a local Florida landscaping and pest control business that generated enough organic traction through strategic SEO content to attract acquisition interest from a private equity buyer. The strategy relied heavily on bottom-of-funnel informational content - posts like "What does cockroach poop look like?" and "How to grow grass in sandy soil" - paired with service pages targeting local keywords like "South Tampa Lawn Care Services." Rather than running ads or building a large social presence, the business let SEO do the heavy lifting. Tiffany emphasizes writing with personality and dad humor as the brand voice, which made the content more relatable and memorable. She advocates for an SEO storytelling approach: start by researching real human problems (she scouts Reddit for genuine pain points), validate keywords with research tools, then write for humans first while naturally incorporating SEO elements. She stresses answering questions immediately in blog posts, formatting for skimmers with bold text and bullet points, and injecting personal details and open loops that create curiosity - techniques that work alongside AI overviews and ChatGPT references. Tiffany also recommends updating and editing published blog content over time rather than waiting for perfection before publishing.

Key takeaways

  • →A local landscaping and pest control business reached 5,000 monthly organic visits by focusing mostly on bottom-of-funnel informational content and service pages targeting local keywords, which made them attractive to private equity acquisition despite no paid ads or social media presence.
  • →Use Reddit and keyword research tools to identify real human problems, then write blog content from your personal perspective or client perspective while injecting relatability (humor, storytelling, details) to differentiate from generic AI-generated content.
  • →Always answer the question in your opening paragraphs beneath H2 headings, create open loops with bold text that make readers want to keep reading, and anticipate follow-up questions to structure comprehensive content that satisfies both humans and AI algorithms.
  • →Publish blog content even when it's not perfect, since it takes time to rank on Google anyway; you can edit and update it later, which is unique to blog content compared to video or social posts.
  • →Write primarily for humans by thinking conversationally and considering what readers are thinking and feeling, while naturally incorporating keywords and structure that also work for Google and AI search systems.

Guests

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content

Topics in this episode

AI OverviewsBottom-of-funnel contentprivate equity acquisitionCompact KeywordsSEO storytellingFeatured snippetsLocal keyword targetingReddit research for content ideasPersonal brand voice and dad humorContent updating and pruning

Questions this episode answers

How did a local landscaping business get acquired by private equity from just 5,000 monthly organic visits?

The business had strong traction from strategic SEO content (both informational and service pages targeting local keywords) with no paid ads or significant social media presence, making them an attractive acquisition target for a private equity firm buying multiple landscaping companies in Florida.

What type of keywords should I target for a local service business like landscaping or pest control?

Use a mix of top-of-funnel informational keywords (like "what does cockroach poop look like" or "how to grow grass in sandy soil") to drive awareness and traffic, plus local service keywords (like "South Tampa Lawn Care Services") to capture people ready to buy.

How do I write SEO blog content that sounds personal and relatable instead of generic?

Research real problems people are having on Reddit, write from your own experience or client perspective, inject personality through humor or brand voice (like dad jokes), and use open loops with bold text to create curiosity that keeps readers engaged.

Should I wait until a blog post is perfect before publishing it?

No - publish blog content even when it's unfinished, since it takes months to rank on Google anyway; you can edit and improve it later, unlike video or social media content that's harder to revise.

How do I balance writing for Google, humans, and AI search systems?

Start by thinking like a human and researching real problems people have, answer the main question immediately in your opening, anticipate follow-up questions, use clear formatting with bold text and bullet points, and write conversationally while naturally incorporating keywords and comprehensive information.

What our scoring noted

Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.

Insight Density

12 / 20

The episode contains practical, actionable advice about SEO copywriting, personalization strategies, and content structure that an operator could implement. However, much of the discussion circles around repeating core concepts (write for humans, answer questions quickly, add personality) without sufficient novel depth or surprising claims per minute. The guest covers familiar territory like topical authority and keyword research without introducing genuinely non-obvious frameworks.

It's just words. It's, I think that's what I've always looked at it, and probably why just naturally, like as a writer, I started off as a blog writer not knowing SEO, and then of course you learn SEO as you go. And, uh, and I'm like, 'Oh, this is easy.' You're just using a certain word as like the topic, then just putting it in there a couple times and answering the question that people have.
One sentence storytelling, but with the SEO altogether, SEO storytelling just makes it more personable, and also people will find you.

Originality

11 / 20

The core thesis - personalize content, write for humans first, answer questions immediately - reflects widely circulating best practices rather than contrarian or first-principles thinking. While the guest offers useful execution details (side quest links, one-sentence hooks, topical authority), these are refinements of existing frameworks, not genuinely fresh perspectives. The AI overview and social SEO discussion show awareness of recent trends but lack counterintuitive claims.

I think it's the same concept. I think just… So as an example, my three cheapest SEO tools, like one of my last Instagram posts, because I never post on Instagram, is my favorite SEO… I just used the same keyword on Instagram, and it was like a TLDR, like, f- for the blog.
people have a question and you answer it. Like the keyword is the question or, you know, it, it doesn't have to be a question, it could just be copywriter near me or r- restaurant near me, but in their head they're thinking, 'Where's a good restaurant I can go to?'

Guest Caliber

13 / 20

Tiffani is a practitioner who has done SEO copywriting work at scale - managing a dental client to 130k monthly visits, a landscaping client acquired by private equity at 5k monthly visits, and consulting for various clients. She is a writer first, SEO second, with hands-on case work. However, she is not a household name or widely recognized operator in the space, and her example wins are solid but not exceptional (5k-130k traffic is respectable but not enterprise-level). She is credible but not marquee.

you took a local dental client from zero traffic to 130,000 monthly organic visits with just doing basically, I think it was, like, one blog post a week.
I had a client who owned a, a landscaping business, and he ended up selling it because their traffic was doing so well. And, um, and it was just like, I guess there's a lot of - there's a company buying a bunch of landscaping companies in Florida. But, uh, they had good traction on their website. I think we were at, like, 5,000 a month.

Specificity & Evidence

13 / 20

The episode includes specific examples: the dental client (130k visits), the landscaping client (5k visits, sold to PE), keyword rankings ('cheapest SEO tools' ranking, 'AIO copywriter' ranking), named tools (Ubersuggest, Keysearch, Semrush), and concrete tactics (side quest links, H1/H2 structure, topical authority 4-pillar system). However, much advice lacks quantified outcomes - what conversion rates did these clients see? How many leads? How much revenue? The specificity is good for tactics but thin on business impact metrics.

I think we were at, like, 5,000 a month, which is, you know, pretty good for a local landscaping company.
Um, and the biggest one is, that they got traction from, was something like what is the keyword, uh, what does mouse poop or cockroach poop, one of the two, look like?

Conversational Craft

12 / 20

The host asks logical follow-up questions and probes concepts (e.g., 'How do you balance writing for humans vs. Google vs. AI?', 'What content formats are winning?'), but rarely pushes back hard or challenges the guest's assertions. The conversation feels collaborative and warm but lacks productive disagreement. When the guest makes claims (e.g., that social media SEO works the same across platforms), Edward doesn't pressure for evidence or devil's advocate. The host also goes on long tangents (WPBeginner rant) that derail focus rather than sharpen inquiry.

Do you think, do you think, uh, the way to do blog content with SEO has changed over the years?
How do you balance writing for humans versus writing for Google versus writing for AI search?

Conversation analysis

Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.

Most-used words

content143edward103sturm103creative103tiffani102keyword35blog33page29google28back19writing19keywords19answer18blogs18question18website16

Episode notes

E1086: Tiffani Daniel is back on the show to talk about how SEO copywriting can turn into real business value. Last time, we talked about how one blog a week helped take a local dentist to 130,000 monthly visits - This time, Tiffani shares another local SEO story: a landscaping and pest control client that reached about 5,000 monthly visits, got calls from all over Florida, and ended up being bought by private equity. What makes the story interesting is that the traffic did not come from a huge ad budget or a massive social media presence. The blogs were doing most of the work. In this episode, we talk about how to write SEO content that people want to read, how to use keyword research to find new business opportunities, and why local businesses should pay more attention to service pages, blog topics, and the way real customers describe their problems. We also get into AI Overviews, social media SEO, About pages, copywriting voice, and why "just answer the question" is still one of the most important rules in SEO.

Full transcript

57 min

Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.

Edward Sturm: Tiffany, welcome back to the show. Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming back on. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Thanks for having me Edward Sturm: All right, so second time on, just to… I'm gonna give your background real fast.

Before SEO, you were doing copywriting for Screen Rant. You were writing, like, 20,000 words a week, which is insane. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Way too much. Edward Sturm: yeah, now you're doing a ton of SEO copywriting.

You specialize in SEO copywriting. You took a local dental client from zero traffic to 130,000 monthly organic visits with just doing basically, I think it was, like, one blog post a week. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yep, yep. Edward Sturm: And, and, Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: but yeah, Edward Sturm: okay, for a few w- for years.

And then, and you said each post should, should naturally lead people to the next one Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yes. Yes. Edward Sturm: And you're… Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: like a Edward Sturm: Yeah. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: like a series.

Edward Sturm: Yeah. I, yeah, I love that. I love that. Uh, you, you talked about one-sentence storytelling, which is, like, tiny personal details that make content more memorable Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yes.

Yeah, um, I call it SEO storytelling. Um, well, one sentence storytelling, but with the SEO altogether, SEO storytelling just makes it more personable, and also people will find you Edward Sturm: Yeah. That's actually Google just started talking about it, calling it non-commodity content. I don't know if - Yeah, saying basically you wanna have, you want to actually have the personal details in.

You want to make your content, especially top-of-funnel content, feel more real, more authentic Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah. Yeah, especially with titles and things like that, with the AI overviews taking over, if you can put something personable in the title, people are gonna be more likely to click on that. I'm… That's my theory. Um, but if you say like, you know, how I did this thing versus five ways, you know… This is for blog titles obviously, but, um, you know, versus like five ways to grow on Go- like, or grow your website traffic, um, you would say something like, "How I grew my website traffic to 130,000 in two years," Speaker: This method of marketing is so effective I had to make sure it wasn't against Google's rules before I kept doing it.

It's a form of SEO I call compact keywords. Whereas most SEO focuses on putting up articles to answer questions how, what, when, compact keywords focuses on putting up dozens of pages that sell to searchers who are actually looking to buy. These pages rank on Google and convert so much better than normal that when I discovered this years ago, I couldn't believe this was allowed. It's less work too.

The average compact keywords page is only 415 words. Compact Keywords is a 13-hour deep course on getting sales with SEO. A customer recently said, "Each lesson is dense with information. You're giving years worth of experience boiled down into 15 to 30-minute lessons with no filler or fluff.

I feel like I'm gaining a new superpower." Compact Keywords is about setting up an SEO funnel that brings you sales for years and years and years. It works with AI, it's less work than traditional SEO, and it makes way more money. You can get it now at compactkeywords.

com. Back to the podcast. Edward Sturm: how does that come into play with AI overviews? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I think that when people are searching on Google AI overviews, you know, they, uh, Google will ideally link multiple people, um, as references in the AI overview.

I think people are more likely to click on something, uh, that's more personable, uh, if they do at all. You know, we're going into like this zero-click world. Um, but you know, think we have a long way to go in terms of figuring out how AI, like ChatGPT, Claude, and all that is gonna reference, uh, our websites and our blogs and things like that. Uh, but hopefully they'll inject… Because they will recommend Reddit a lot, and people go to Reddit because they want the personable stories.

So ideally, if you start injecting more of your own story and personality into your blogs and your copy, uh, ideally AI would also take that into account. Like, "This person says they did this," kind of thing. Edward Sturm: Well, that makes a lot of sense. You would think that someone would be like, "Okay, so the AI overview has all these citations.

It's citing all these different, uh, all these different blog posts, maybe some pages, a variety of content." But you would, you would be more likely to click on something that said, like, "I did this," rather than just a generic blog title Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Right. Right. And to be fair, like the, like the dental client I had - did back in the day, we didn't do that at all.

It was traditional, like, I mean, it was kind of boring topics like, uh… Well, not boring for them, but, you know, how - the procedure for root canals, like how it works or what you should know about root canals procedures. You know, so kind of boring titles. And nowadays, obviously, AI, ChatGPT can kind of just give you the rundown of that. Um, but it's also why I think that getting SEO and good copy on like the main pages of your website, not just your blogs, is gonna help you more than anything Edward Sturm: How do you, so how do you… And, and, and the last thing that I was gonna say for your background is you've worked in all niches, and I think, uh, let me know if there's, like, anything that I should add to your background.

But how do you, how do you do, uh, those, like, more personal titles in, yeah, uh, in, like, something like dental, something like roofing, um, or something like software Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Um, so something like roofing, for example, I always think of, I c- I can't remember his name, but it's not… He's not a roofing guy, but landscaping, um, is what he does. Like, there's a Edward Sturm: Jake, Jake Hundley? Oh, who goes around. Okay.

Okay Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: He goes around and he does free yard work for people's yards. Edward Sturm: Ah. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Um, and he just, like, films it all, and it's usually somebody who can't handle it on their own, things like that, or can't afford it. And I'm pretty sure he has millions of followers, and it's just that kind - like, that storytelling, that's something people wanna see.

They wanna see, like, the good in the world and things like that. So he's not even promoting his services. But, um, so s- but something like that, I guess, you know, putting it into a blog. You know, I'm trying to think of what you could do.

I mean, really just at the end of the day, you have to decide if you wanna tell it from your own perspective, like, "Here's what I learned," or do you wanna tell it from your client's perspective, like, "Here's what I did for my client." And, you know, that way you could also get testimonials in there and, like, "Here's what they said about it. Uh, here were the direct results from, you know, this blog getting on page one of Google." Um, like I have a client who owned a, a landscaping business, and he ended up selling it because their traffic was doing so well.

And, um, and, and it was just like, I guess there's a lot of - there's a company buying a bunch of landscaping companies in Florida. But, uh, they had good traction on their website. I think we were at, like, 5,000 a month, which is, you know, pretty good for a local landscaping company. Um, but just taking - For him, what I did was more, like, dad humor in his blogs.

Like, it was his - That was, like, the brand voice I was trying to do. So just trying to be relatable in that way. So yeah, decide if you want to tell it from your own perspective and using statements like I, um, and telling your own stories, even the one-sentence storytelling where you just, like, slide in a tidbit, you know, about you, um, or if you wanna tell it from your client's perspective. But then I think also a big part of storytelling is having that voice that you can differentiate from others.

So injecting dad humor, if that's your style, or swearing, if that's your thing, so Edward Sturm: What type of, what type of content with the 5,000, uh, it was a, the landscaping business, was that like a, a mix of, of, so you have like the top of the funnel, the middle of the funnel, the bottom of the funnel. Was that like a mix of all of them or, or was that like w- just one part? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: It was mostly, um, ho- honestly a lot of bottom of the funnel.

Like their, Edward Sturm: Great Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: they did, they did landscaping and, um, pest control, so their biggest one is, that they got traction from, was something like what is the keyword, uh, what does mouse poop or cockroach poop, one of the two, look like? Um, so super fascinating, s- riveting stuff to write about. But, you know, then you talk about, you think about the problems and, like, how much people are freaking out, like, if they find that stuff in their house, and you try to relate to that.

With him, it was, like, dad jokes and humor. Edward Sturm: So that's, so that's, so top of funnel Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah. I say? Edward Sturm: You s- yeah, so top of funnel, like informational stuff Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um, and then, then of course we also wanted people who are, like, ready to spend money on, um, pest control or lawn care services. So they were in Tampa, so they showed up for, um, I think it was Tampa Bay Lawn Care, South Tampa Lawn Care Services, which that was for their service page. people who are ready to spend money would Google South Tampa Lawn Services or s- you know, if they're in South Tampa, "Lawn services near me," they would pop up. Those people are like, "Perfect, we love the copy on the page.

We like what they have to offer." They would hire them versus somebody googling, "What does mouse poop look like?" They could be living in California and it still, you know, showed up on, uh, the front page of Google or the first page of Google. Um, but they - And they told me, like my client said they got cl- calls from all over Florida, like for, um, another big of theirs was how to grow grass in sandy soil, which I picked that topic because I had problems with that at my house at the time.

and so I was like, "Well, people could relate to this." So, and then checked the keywords. Lots of people were searching for it. So they were getting calls from all over Florida, so then they thought about expanding, um, but ended up just selling the whole Edward Sturm: That's interesting.

Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, so you're saying that they were getting basically just like, just from 5,000 clicks a month, and it w- a lot of it was, like, top-of-funnel content. That was, uh, that w- literally was enough for another b- for, I guess, maybe a bigger lawn care and pest control business to just buy them for the SEO that they have. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Mm-hmm.

Edward Sturm: Or maybe it was a, it was, like, a private equity or something that bought them. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: exactly, it was a private equity firm, yeah. Edward Sturm: Yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: and they, they had, they no, they didn't run any ads that I was aware of, um, and no social media. Like, I did their social media, like got them some, you know, carousel posts and gave suggestions on how to do, like, TikTok SEO and everything, and videos they could shoot, like the founder could shoot before they sold.

Um, but people, business owners are busy, and they're like, "I wanna do this, I just don't have time." So, and the blogs were doing all the legwork, so Edward Sturm: It's really cool. I mean, like 5,000 a, a month is very attainable for a lot of, for a lot of people listening, and just to, to have an exit, just a really easy exit like that Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah, yeah. I, I don't think it was part of their plan.

I think the opportunity just presented itself and they're Edward Sturm: Yeah. " Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah, let's, let's do something else now." Edward Sturm: How, how do you, how do you balance writing for humans versus writing for Google versus writing for AI search? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: So I don't, because I've always written for humans.

Um, I, I guess I've always looked at it even when I, you know, and I still focus on SEO. Um, I pick the keyword first. Well, actually, I guess in terms of picking keywords, you know, you start with like your content buckets or, you know, your topical authority pieces. I always say like three to four.

Um, and then pick one, and then you start bra- brainstorming like, okay, well what problems do people have like, you know, from bottom of the funnel, top of the funnel content to the bottom. Um, and so start there by literally brainstorming or I'll even research on Reddit what problems are people having, and then I'll double-check. So as an example, you know, like let's say like SEO Edward Sturm: the, I like the Reddit thing, by the way. I like the Reddit, I like the Reddit approach.

Going on Reddit, seeing what problems people are having Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Mm-hmm. I had this, um, really, really bad habit a couple years ago for a couple years of my guilty pleasure was reading, uh, like best of Redditor updates, just people's stories. And I'm such a curious person, I'm like, "I just wanna know what's going on in people's lives." So I kind of do the same thing naturally, I think, just as a writer in general.

Um, 'cause I do writing - Like I'm a writer first, SEO second. Um, so just naturally I'm like, "Well, what are people wanting to do?" Like, you know, if I'm an expert in the topic, so SEO, for example, or copywriting, I know based on just doing this for such a long time instinctually, like what problems people are having. Like where do the keywords go?

How many keywords should I have? Um, you know, those are all p- questions that people have. Um, and then you take the questions you think people will have, double-check them in a keyword research tool, um, and then see if the volume's good enough to create content around. And then from there, all I really do when I am - whether it's, know, sales copywriting for like your homepage, about page, service pages, or a blog, I just try to think of what they're thinking and what they're feeling.

So the dad humor with my other client, like, you know, saying stuff like, " Oh, so you've seen these little bits of pieces of, you know, it looks like coffee grounds, and you think it might be cockroach poop, and you're freaking out." You know, like something like that. You know, obviously not that verbatim, but kind of just like a natural conversation. So that's the way I write, like you're talking to a person.

Um, which is also what, what AI wants. I think AI more than anything wants things to be more comprehensive. Like they want all the questions answered, which I think with blogs, but also sales pages and everything, you should have been doing anyway. That's what the FAQ section is for.

That's why on your sales pages, you wanna list your deliverables, your, your pricing because that's what people want all - as much information as they can. Like they are - s- so many people are so hesitant to buy from people nowadays that they want as much information as possible, and that goes into like, you know, the buyer types and everything. There's analytical buyers, there's amicable b-buyers, you know, all the different types. But I think people are becoming a lot more analytical and wanting to know and everything.

So terms of like how to write for SEO, AI, and humans, start your research with wondering like a human first approach. Like what are people having problems with? Double check that with a keyword research tool to see if there's volume, so SEO. Um, and then when it comes to actually writing the copy, the blogs, anything like that, you know, throw in the keyword a couple times.

I still do that. You know, people say it's not about putting the keyword as much as you can. It's not. It never has been, in my opinion.

I thought we quit keyword stuffing years ago. But, you know, if you're saying, you know, uh, you're writing a blog on how many times should I use a keyword in a blog post, well, what would a follow-up question for that be? Include that as well, and usually that's another keyword, and that's usually something AI would do instinctually is answer your next question before you even ask it, Edward Sturm: Do you think, do you think, uh, the way to do blog content with SEO has changed over the years?

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Um, yes. Uh, I would say especially like three years ago when ChatGPT became so big, uh, answering the question immediately became like you have to do this be- so you'll get recommended… Well, now the, it's the AI overview, but, um, or was it the featured snippet? Edward Sturm: Yeah, yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: know, um, if you wanted them to quote you verbatim, you know, you wanted to answer the question right away, right underneath your, like, H2 headings.

so that I think needs to be done. Also, just formatting I think is such a big thing. You know, people, as much as they say they don't wanna read, and they, they truly don't, like a lot of people don't. They skim.

I skim, you know. Um, formatting with bullet points and things like that, just making things pop out as people are skimming. Um, but as much as people say they don't read, now so many people are using ChatGPT, and it's mostly words, so I think people are maybe are hopefully reading more than they used to Edward Sturm: I think the biggest, I think the biggest thing is giving the answer right away. I feel like very fluffy… It's a d- it's, it's a different, it's, uh, there's a difference between adding, like, a few words here and there to, to make a blog post more personal versus paragraphs of fluff, which is what was the norm, I think, three years ago.

And th- there have been a lot of huge blogs that have had their downfall because they were putting out SEO content targeting keywords, but they weren't actually answering the things that people, yeah, the question until, like, way down in the content. And, and, yeah, it's, and it's te- it's terrible, and people really hate it. And it, it's, it sends the worst user signals to Google as well. It's, yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I think the best thing you can do is answer the question right away, and then again think like a human, um, think what their follow-up question would be.

So I have a blog if you Google, um, cheap SEO tools. Mine is the top one there. And the title, I can't even remember. I'll have to look it up.

Edward Sturm: Beep cheap SEO tools, huh? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: yeah. Edward Sturm: That's cool. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: So the first one, Edward Sturm: Oh, here, there you are Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah, Three Cheapest SEO Tools: My Honest Review of Each One.

So Edward Sturm: a cool, that's a cool title. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: yeah. Edward Sturm: each? That's what's up.

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Each one. Edward Sturm: Yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: But… And then l- so, like, if you look at it, which can't right now, but, Edward Sturm: I'm looking, I'm looking at it. I'm, uh, I'm, I'm, I, I have it on my screen. Okay.

You say, "All right, it's time. Let's talk about the cheapest SEO tools." So you have the keyword right there. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: See you, Edward Sturm: Yeah.

"Personally, I've been using Ubersuggest since I went full time with my business in 2019. Lately, I can't stand it." Oh, why can't you stand it? There's the hook.

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Oh, yeah. Also, okay, so that… I just wrote an email about this last night. So it's kinda, it's an open loop. Now people wanna know why.

Like, so immediately in the beginning, do some storytelling from your personal experience, your client, whatever. And then also, you can see I bold- bolded it in case people are skimming. So if I say something like, "I can't stand it," they're gonna be like, "Why can't… Which one can't she stand? Which keyword tool, and why not?"

So it's an open loop. It creates a question in their head, and they want it answered now. And, and then, you know, I say stuff like, "The past few months, I'm being a silly goose and using three different tools." Never do that because it will drive you crazy.

but, but then, of course, you have things like my first H2 heading is what is a keyword research tool? I… You know, likely somebody looking up cheap SEO tools already knows what a keyword research tool is. But just in case there's somebody who might not know, you wanna have that there. But I'm - I have it in my head people will probably, like, scroll past that part.

Um, Edward Sturm: Do you think the content would be better without it? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: The, the blog Edward Sturm: Yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Um, I, like, looking back at it now, 'cause I wrote this a year ago, I think, um, I can see it working better maybe towards the Edward Sturm: That's, but that's, but that, that, that's a lesson as well, which is, like, you, when you actually look at things with fresh eyes, like, the improvements to make become so clear.

And I think, and I think that's the case, that's the case with, with everybody. It's, it's why content pruning and updating content is such an important thing in SEO. It's really an overlooked thing. Your first version of what you wrote likely is, like, garbage compared to what it could be Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Mm-hmm.

And honestly, I always tell, like, I have a, um, membership called SEO Storytellers where like, writing blogs. I'm like, "Just get one done a week." And I was like, "Actually, just publish it when it's not done," because, one, it isn't gonna rank soon. Nobody's on your website like they are social media checking for your newest post, like, for the most part, you know?

You're just waiting for that to rank on Google or get recommended in ChatGPT or Claude or whatever. unless you're, like, sending it out to your email list. But even if it's not finished, you can go back and edit it. It's, like, the only type of content where you can do that.

You know, you can't go back and… Well, I guess you can, like a YouTube video, but, you know, usually a YouTube video sits as it is forever. You're not gonna go back and edit it. I know you can adjust Edward Sturm: Nah, it's too, it's very hard. You don't want to do it.

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: It's not anything, and you can't, Edward Sturm: It's not like, yeah, uh, w- ver- versus an article on your site, you can edit it a- as many times as you want Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah. Yeah, just publish it. Go back in a couple months when you remember it. Edward Sturm: Yeah.

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: do. Edward Sturm: Mm-hmm Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: uh, and yeah, just give it a quick edit or add to it Edward Sturm: How has your style of, uh, of writing changed since you were writing for Screen Rant versus writing now? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I was very long-winded with Screen Rant. Like, I've reread some of my stuff, and I'm like, I'm trying to sound so… Just it was too much.

um, I also think, in terms of formatting, I had really big blocks of text. Um, and they didn't really, like, teach us anything about how you should be writing. They just taught a little bit of SEO, like have your related links, and make sure you link to other posts about, you know, if you're writing about Harry Potter, make sure you link as many other Harry Potter posts from your, uh, previous writing to, you know, internal linking or other authors as you can. And, um, so definitely a lot less… I'm still long-winded, clearly.

um, I try to be more concise, and I definitely use a lot more personality now than I used to. So, like saying, "Silly goose," using swear words because I do that occasionally in real life, so. Um, I also, like, uh, an example, like the three cheapest SEO tools, I'm like, uh, people are gonna be scrolling, so I put what I like, what I don't like. You know, you could also do pros and cons or whatever, but again, sounds a lot more personable if you're like, "Here's what I like.

Here's what I absolutely despise," if you wanted to be, you know, a little bit funny about it. But yeah, basically just more personality and watching formatting and in mind people are skimming Edward Sturm: How often do you see cool copywriting things and you're like, "Oh my God, I gotta steal this. I gotta remember that. This is awesome"?

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Um, I actually keep like a running list on, like in my notes app of that if there's like a phrase or a way of doing it. Um, Edward Sturm: Can you open it? Yeah. I, I, I'm, I'm curious.

I'm curious to things that, that a, a copywriter like you would write Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I, um, okay, so, like, I really like wit, um, so I have something called witty words on my app, uh, or my notes app. Um, so I can't remember, like, where these came from. Some of them Edward Sturm: That's okay Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: TikTok comments 'cause people in TikTok comments are hilarious. And just, like, trying to, like, understand how it looks or whatever, but, um… Or, like, what the formula is to writing it.

But I had written s- um, saying something like, "There's no way to know when something's, like, easily Googleable." Like, so there's no way to know how many hours there are in a day. I mean, Edward Sturm: Yeah, the jokes, the jokes. Yeah, yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah.

And so witty words, and then I have another one for, um, if I'm writing for a client who's more… can't remember the, the brand voice, but, like, different brand voice, you know? Like, I'll keep an eye on all of that because all of my clients have different ways they want to present themselves. So there's the witty one I think is the most fun to write. But then I've had a client, like a photographer, who wanted to be more vulnerable, um, because she's a birth photographer, so her website copy that we did was very, 'cause it's a, you know, very personable process, and she wanted to take her a little bit of her own story.

She didn't want to make herself obviously the center, but she wanted to be like, "Hey, I've been where you've been. I understand you." So, you know, saying like, you know, she's had babies in the NICU and stuff like that, you know, we would one-sentence storytelling, just throw it in there just, like, as a relatable thing, um, to make that connection with people so they'll trust you more. But, uh, Edward Sturm: Makes sense Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: yeah.

Like, think brand voice is gonna be such a big thing. Um, and I, like, I personally like practicing it because I'm not somebody who likes to myself out there and, like, my own stories. Like, I- that's why my business is Your Creative Content. I wanted it to be about you and your content and your copy.

Um, but over the years, like, it's just, it's so much easier to get people to trust you if you are a little bit more of an open book is what I say. I've always said I'm v- very much a closed book, but if you can just Edward Sturm: Yeah. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: bit, Edward Sturm: Especially as a business owner, if you're authentic and that comes across in, in the content on your site. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Mm-hmm.

Edward Sturm: Are there key places on a website where you really try to add, uh, authenticity? Like places that- pages or places that people always look. It could be an about page, it could be the footer, it could be the- somewhere on your homepage. Just important places to actually like add that like personal touch so people know that there's a real person behind this business Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah.

Uh, I think probably where I focus the most is the homepage and the about page. also like to do bits of microcopy, um, like inject personality in there. So in, for example, in my blogs, um, I always do links to other related blogs, and what I was taught at Screen Rant is just capitalize related, you know, colon, title of another blog. Well, instead of putting related in my blogs now, I put side quest Edward Sturm: Yeah.

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: say Edward Sturm: That's cool. That's cool Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: read this blog." Um, so that's a fun thing you can do, like, in, like, even your footer, just, like, little microcopy, just, you know, if you want humor in there, inject it at the bottom. Like, "Oh, you're down here?"

Like, "Check out these," like, you know, Edward Sturm: That is cool. Yeah, that's fun Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Like, "What are you doing down here?" Or, like, your f- your, uh, error page, like 404. Edward Sturm: I do.

I did that with mine. I have a GIF. I have a GIF on my 404 of me facepalming. It's just, it's a looping GIF of just me facepalming with then, like, helpful links.

And I, and I spent so long on my 404 page. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I know. I - There's so many opportunities, but it's usually, you know, funny. Mine is Britney Spears, and it says, "Oops, I did it again," or something like Edward Sturm: Yeah, yeah, yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: remember.

And then I was like… Or no, it said, it says something like, "Oops, I swear I won't do it again, but this page doesn't exist anymore," or something like that. but yeah, your, I think your About page could be the most fun you could have because there's no rules. Um, you know. Well, actually, I would say the biggest rule about your About page is, one, target a keyword.

So many people are not targeting, like, a keyword on their About page when I think it's so easy to. Like, for example, um… Well, I'm redoing my whole website right now, but… And it's hard to choose, like, where you want keywords for, you know, your main, I call them your, like, your core pages, your homepage, About page, Services page. But your About page, I always say to pick a keyword that you might have wanted for your homepage. Like, I have website copywriter is the keyword for my homepage.

Um, because if you l- Well, again, I have to double-check, but SEO copywriter was coming up in my keyword research as an informational keyword because I guess a lot of people don't know what that is. Um, so I was like, "Well, let me try SEO copywriter for my About page." So my About pa- page is gonna target the keyword SEO copywriter. And because so many people don't know what it is, I'm gonna make it this whole funny storytelling thing about how I was trying to explain to my uncle what I do, and, you know, it, it's like a whole story.

Because every time people are like, "Oh, SEO, what's that?" Or if I say, "I'm a copywriter," they're like, "Oh, law?" And I'm like, "No." Edward Sturm: Mm-hmm.

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: So just injecting some, know, just what I get in real life onto my About page. Um, but I would say the only rule for your About page is not to do - don't make it cliché, like, "We founded this company in 1922 because our core values are A, B, and C." Like, a lot of people… I think having your core values is very important. Edward Sturm: Having your founding date is very important, but, but I, I get what you're saying, not generic copywriting that sounds like ChatGPT wrote it Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, and, and it's hard for bigger companies that have a lot of people, like… And you don't have to inject humor or anything like that, but, you know, Edward Sturm: I wanna, I, I wanna, I wanna ask you, I have a side question. How do you… So something that I hear from people is, like, that they hate copywriting and it's just not fun for them. And so how do you make it fun?

How is it, how do you make it fun for you? Like, if you were to give advice to somebody, like, how to have fun with co- with SEO copywriting, uh, how to actually enjoy the process, what would your advice be? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: a good question. Edward Sturm: I mean, I l- I, I love it.

For me, like, I like researching. I have good music playing. I'm getting in flow state. It's going ba-da-da-da, ba-da-da-da.

But I'm doing research. I'm like Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Okay. I've never thought of that. That's such a good question.

Um, I think it's fun in general. Like, it can get overwhelming and you're like, "Oh, what am I trying to say? Like, I don't even know. Like, what are words?"

Um, Edward Sturm: What are words? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah. Um, I mean, I say this, but, know, I don't do it all the time either, is like don't take it so seriously. So one of the best exercises you can do, and I do this, like, not for my copywriting, but, like, just in general.

Like, I've found that I'm better sometimes at, like, journaling or saying my thoughts, just talking to my phone, like voice recording. Do that. Like, the first thing… It's so hard to explain what you do, like even for me, and I'm like, "So here's what I do," and I'll voice record how I would explain it to a real human. Um, and then you can also do this… And I, I always give my clients what I call your business book, and the first tab is your stories, and it's going through, like, why you started your business, where you want it to go, why that's important to you.

Um, because then as soon as you figure out, like, your, your own self, you'll, it'll become easier to know what you want to say about yourself. So even, even looking back on your childhood and being like, you know, for me, I was like, I wanted, I knew I wanted to be a writer in third grade after I read Harry Potter. You know? Like, is that something that will make it to the end copy of my About page?

Probably not. You know? But it might end up somewhere. And it's just like the more you understand yourself and your own history and story and what you value, the easier it is to explain, like, what you do.

like, for example, I, I call myself a hobbyist because I, you know, I have so many hobbies I want to do, like so many different things. And so for Edward Sturm: I remember you talking about that last time. You talked about, I think it was like windsurfing. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I think, Edward Sturm: It- or Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: yeah, I still haven't done it yet.

Edward Sturm: oh, no. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: But Edward Sturm: And then you, and you ne- then you talked about some, uh, blog that was like, some windsurfing blog that was crushing with SEO Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yes, they never got back to me. So embarrassing. Edward Sturm: okay.

They never got ba- back to me either. I invited, I invited them on the podcast to talk about their SEO. I mean, I understand though, a lot of businesses don't want to reveal if they're crushing with SEO. The, the last thing that you want to do is, is tell an SEO podcast about how you're crushing with SEO.

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Right. Like, here's exactly how I did Edward Sturm: Yeah, here's if you want to come into my niche and, and take and, and compete for my keywords, here's what you gotta do Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I mean, if they hire an SEO person, they're gonna be able to tell what keywords they're using anyway and just steal them. Edward Sturm: Yes Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: uh, but yeah, I Edward Sturm: Yeah, but, but attract- yeah, that's true.

Yeah, that's true. But even just attracting the f- just even just announcing the niche as being amazing is like… Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Oh, Edward Sturm: 'cause there's lots of people who are listening who are, who are just thinking like, "Yeah, I can do SEO, but what should I do? Oh, wow, windsurfing? Okay.

Like, let me dr- do windsurfing e-commerce." Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I, I think they're so… I, I posted something about, I think it was therapists. I'm like, "Therapists, there are so many opportunities for keywords. What are you doing?

Why are you running ads?" Like, the competition is really low. Um, a lot of the top of the funnel stuff, again, like it's so hard now with like AI and everything, that top of the funnel think should still be a focus, but I think focusing on, you know, your services and homepage and keywords on Edward Sturm: Services, yeah. Yeah, yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: are ready to buy right now.

They're not like, Edward Sturm: Yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: you know? I had a, a therapist client, and one of her top performing blogs is why do I get sad at night, you know? And that was a big keyword, and she gets a lot of traffic from it, and it was so underutilized because I'm sure, one, therapists are busy, you know, they… they also don't know SEO, you know? Like, are people googling this?

Well, use a keyword research tool and you'll know. Edward Sturm: What are, Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: and then- Edward Sturm: we… So what are the, what are the best, what are the best cheapest SEO tools actually? I, I, that's the open loop that we gotta tie. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Oh, yeah.

Edward Sturm: Yeah. Yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: okay. So the, the main ones I talk about in that blog, the ones that I've personally used is Ubersuggest, Keysearch, and Semrush. I know Semrush isn't cheap.

But, um, I've always used Ubersuggest. I know people have problems with all of that, but, um, I love it. I think the interface of it is really good, and the data, I think, is more accurate than, like, Keysearch. haven't used Keysearch in a minute, but I still have, um, an account and everything with them.

But I… Keysearch reminds me of how Ubersuggest was back in, like, 2020, where you look up a, a keyword, like, you know, um, copywriter, and it's like, oh, this gets 10,000 monthly searches, and the, the SEO ranking difficulty score is 8 out of 100, w- which means it's really easy to rank for. I'm like, "There's no way a keyword with that much volume is that easy to rank for." Like, that… I've just seen that a lot on Keysearch for some reason, which is what it was at the beginning with Ubersuggest.

But I also have a lot of SEO, like, colleagues who love Keysearch, and the prices are comparable, so. Um, but I also think the interface, the back end of is more seamless and prettier and easier to use than Keysearch. Um, but Keysearch is really… If you wanna feel confident about your keywords and, like, you're definitely gonna rank, I think w- seeing the, the data there might give you the confidence boots that you need to go after keywords. Um, Semrush, I think, is just… I think Semrush is good if you're a copywriter or maybe even a web designer or an SEO specialist of any kind.

Um, then it's worth the price. It's, like, I can't remember, over 100 bucks a month or however much per year. Um, but that one just has it all. So are my top three.

Edward Sturm: Are you, are you looking at Google Discover at all? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: No. Edward Sturm: Oh my gosh. Okay.

That, uh, well, I'm having, I'm having a Google Discover person on, um, in two days, but w- what's happening with Google Discover is, like, so anybody who has a Google app, you, you open up the Google app, and then you just see articles or, or social media posts, and you can get so much volume from that, um, so much, so much traffic from Google Discover. And a lot of it is just top-of-funnel interest pieces. It's, it's like, yeah, a lot of it is just, like, interesting blog posts, or actually I get Xpo- X posts recommended to me all the time with Google Discover.

That's like a new thing. I c- I'm always clicking on something with Google Discover that I think is going to be a blog post, and the headline is, is pretty good, but it's just an X post, which kind of makes sense because I f- I really feel like for a very long time, Google has been prioritizing bite-sized content, content that is, that is very short, very easy to get, where you're gonna kinda get your answer quickly. It's like one of the just worst feelings ever if you, if you click into something, and it takes forever to get, to get what you want.

It makes sense with videos. There's like, like MrBeast-style videos or something, or MrBeast-style TikToks, where you give the hook, and then you're, you're telling a story as you're actually getting to the results of the hook. So it's like, "How long did it take us to, to stack a billion pennies onto this Honda Civic?" And, like, a- and, and there's a whole story involved.

"Well, actually, first we had to find where we could even get a billion pennies." Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Right. Edward Sturm: uh, yeah. And, and, but, and that's, and that's, and that, that's fun.

But, but p- and you know what? I think with fun-style content like that, you would see that in Google Discover. But then there's also, like, the helpful content where you just want… Wow, I just kind of, I just talked, I just understood Google's had this thing called the Helpful Content Update, which decimated a lot of small blogs. But, uh, when as I'm talking this through, it's like helpful content, what do you want?

You want your answer really fast, and the, a, a lot of blogs that got really decimated were ones that were writing helpful content, but giving the answer really slow. Just, yeah. And, and this, yeah, this, I could talk about that endlessly because it's, you still see it non- nonstop. One of the biggest WordPress blogs, WPBeginner, I just made a episode about them.

They went from 2.6 million clicks a month in May 2021, and now they're down to 27,000 clicks a month, and that's because all they were wr- like, a lot of the stuff that they were writing, it was overly self-promotional, so people were searching for, for things looking to get an answer, but instead they were getting promotion. And it was just a ton of fluff, where you would have to dig and sift and scroll and scroll and scroll to find your answer, and your answer wouldn't even be good enough because it's so filled with self-promotion And you're looking for helpful content about how to do a WordPress site.

Okay, and you're not getting that. Okay, I'm done Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I, I, that's probably something I could be better at is the self-promotion, but that's something where I always save self-promotion till, like, the end. I might inject it a little bit, like, here and there, like three times Edward Sturm: you're, well then you're doing it, you're, you're going way on the, like, you're, you're really playing it safe. That's like, like compared to the stuff that people are doing now, like, I don't know, have you seen the, the stuff that people are doing with self-promotional listicles?

Where they're, the, where self-promotional listicle is you write like a, a listicle, like 10, 10 best SEO experts in Nevada, and you put yourself number one. And, and- Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah. I've- I'm not gonna say I haven't done that before. Edward Sturm: It's working, well, it's working really well until, until people abuse it.

It works really well until, until w- and then, and then what happens, you're like, "Oh my God, this is amazing," and then you abuse it and you pump out, you pump out dozens or maybe hundreds, and then there's a pattern in your content and, and in your user signals and, and then either your subfolder, your blog subfolder will get hit, or your entire domain will get hit. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah Edward Sturm: "Oh, where did my traffic go?" Well, you abused this tactic that you should've only done, like, a handful of times.

What… Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I'd probably do it once. Edward Sturm: Yeah. That, and once is, like, really playing it safe. Yeah, that's really… What, what, what content formats do you see winning right now?

Guides or more listicles, tools, user-generated content? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Um, I don't know. I'm real big on, it's not website at all, it's, like, social media SEO I think is gonna be huge. I mean, I think it already is.

I just don't think anybody knows how to use it. Edward Sturm: Oh yeah. Wait, wait, fill that hook. Fill that hook.

Fill that hook. Yeah, fill that hook Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I think it's the same concept. I think just… So as an example, my three cheapest SEO tools, like one of my last Instagram posts, because I never post on Instagram, is my favorite SEO… I just used the same keyword on Instagram, and it was like a TLDR, like, f- for the blog. Like if you… So, and it's more storytelling.

It's like my perspective. Like it's instead of, you know, if you go to the blog, you get the full details, here's what I like, what I don't like, versus cheapest SEO tools. If somebody were to look that on, look that up on Instagram, um, ideally that would come up, which I think it, it does come up. I haven't checked in a minute.

But, um, but it's like the too long, didn't read of the blog, and it's just like, I like Keysearch, Ubersuggest, and Semrush. If you wanna Edward Sturm: Oh my gosh, yeah. See, I searched cheapest SEO tools and the, and you're number one, and then, and then there's the AI overview below your answer, which is… That's really cool. The AI overview is actually below what you wrote.

Then I'm seeing Reddit, then I'm seeing Rank Dots, and then I'm seeing three videos from Kasra Dash, who was on the show a few weeks ago, from ToolTester, and from SE Ranking. Oh, man. Yeah. And, yeah, but you're seeing, you're seeing the u- you're seeing the UGC.

You're seeing the videos there Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: See, that's my other thing too, is I just like repurposing content too. So, you know, you could also just do a TikTok video. Use this… And granted, like, this, people aren't searching the same, like, from Google to ChatGPT to Pinterest to Instagram, but I don't think it's as different as people like to say that it is. Um, because cheapest SEO tools, like, there's cheap SEO tools.

Like, you know, it's just semantics at that point. Um, people… Like, the search volume might be different, the competition might be different from platform to platform, but I think, and I, I know people disagree with me, but I've been doing it for years, and it works, so try it out. But if you pick a keyword to write a blog about, use that same keyword and make the too long, didn't read version for Instagram or TikTok or YouTube Shorts, um, and give the condensed version, and just use the same keyword.

Give the answer right away. Um, Edward Sturm: No, that's the best, that's the best strategy. Everybody should be doing that. Yeah, every - People don't wanna make video content, but, like, if you w- if you can, if you can do the, if, if you can do it, it, what you just described is the best.

Have a keyword. As you're writing the content, may- it depends on people. Like, maybe it takes a few days to write a, to write. It's a blog post or a conversion-based SEO landing page.

But every day, just make a different social post about… And honestly, it doesn't have to be video. It could be a, just a short post on LinkedIn and, and X. You take the same written content that comes out on X and LinkedIn and Threads and Facebook. You, you just use the same wr- and 'cause all of these places are ranking extraordinarily well.

I saw somebody who, uh, who he, he named himself. He just, like, wrote a LinkedIn post about, like, the top AI visibility experts in 2026. He wrote this as a LinkedIn post, and then when you search top AI visibility experts in 2026, or something like that, he was number one from the AI overview, which was citing his own LinkedIn post. And yeah Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I, uh, I was talking to a friend who's, like, a marketing director at like a, you know, she had a 9 to 5 kind of thing, and we were talking about AEO, AIO, whatever acronym you wanna use, and I wrote a blog called… It's, like, I think it's my, the last blog I wrote was AEO vs AIO vs SEO and Why It's All Bullshit.

And so it's this whole blog explaining, like, the differences and, like, whatever, and I think if you Google AIO copywriter, I show up. Edward Sturm: Great. What, what, why do you think, why do you think people, like, you, uh, you, you meet business owners all the time who are just like, they're like, "I don't understand SEO." What is, like, h- why do you think, and, or, or even SEOs who have been doing SEO for, like, a few years, and they're still like, "This is the hardest thing ever."

And, and why do you think so many people still struggle with SEO? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I think a lot of people still … I think back in the day it used to be very technical. don't think it's been that way for since I've been doing it. Um, I've not ever done, like, I've not used Screaming Frog or done a lot of the technical, like, I think a lot of people think you have to know, you know, you say H2 H1 heading, and people are thinking, "Oh, coding."

And it's like, you can get that technical and get into it, but you don't have to, especially nowadays with, you know, you go to Squarespace and you just change your heading from an Edward Sturm: You really can use Squarespace and do some awesome SEO with Squarespace. People, people don't, don't realize Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah, any, any website, honestly. And, um, Edward Sturm: And, and yeah, Squarespace out, it's out of the box as well. Squarespace is like, you, you don't have to do any special technical setup with Squarespace.

You can just create a Squarespace and then start doing SEO Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Literally just, it's just words. It's, I think that's what I've always looked at it, and probably why just naturally, like as a writer, I started off as a blog writer not knowing SEO, and then of course you learn SEO as you go. And, uh, and I'm like, "Oh, this is easy." You're just using a certain word as like the topic, then just putting it in there a couple times and answering the question that people… The way I explain SEO is people have a question and you answer it.

Like the keyword is the question or, you know, it, it doesn't have to be a question, it could just be copywriter near me or r- restaurant near me, but in their head they're thinking, "Where's a good restaurant I can go to?" You know, "Where's a good Italian restaurant?" Like, you know, if you wanna get super niche on the keyword. But that's how I explain SEO.

And same thing with like AIO and everything. People just want answers. Just answer people's questions. That's really all it is, and just answer them like a human, you know?

So what is AIO? You know, what is SEO? Just answer it how you would answer the person in front of you if they were asking. Which is why Edward Sturm: Puri Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: to text, if you're not a writer, really helps Edward Sturm: Before, uh, before we go, 'cause, 'cause when I, when I said, "Hey, come back on the show," I said, "Let's just do a short copywriting episode."

Um, do, do you… No, no, no. No, no, no. I'm having, I'm having fun. This is exactly what, what I hoped it would be.

Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Perfect Edward Sturm: like, I li- I like you sharing your, your copywriting stories and things that you've written about recently and just things that you're seeing. So, like, any, any cool things that you're excited about that you've done recently? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Um, I recently did, um, some copy for a local chocolate shop actually, um, in Tampa, and they're, like, huge. They're viral on Instagram and TikTok.

And, uh, they… Basically, like we did their messaging, and the messaging kind of, what I was suggesting played into needing to change their whole brand strategy and their look and everything, so they're working on that, um, 'cause it kind of all ties together. But I'm really excited to see how it all plays out, because they already did pretty well showing up, like, locally, but they're trying to get more into, um, corporate gifting. So, uh, to see how that goes. That's my thing too with SEO is like once you do it, you start seeing how many monetary opportunities there are, um, 'cause you'll find keywords and you're like, "Oh, I can sell this extra thing, and maybe it's not as much work," or, you know, "A lot of people are searching for this thing."

but yeah, in general, like, I was real excited about that. I love s- and maybe it's a, a problem that I have once I do copywriting and SEO research for clients, I'm like, "You could also have all these other pages and sell all these extra things. Here are all of these other monetary opportunities." And, uh, Edward Sturm: What did the client say?

I, I actually, I just had, I had another SEO on a few weeks ago, and she said the same thing. She's, like, doing keyword research. She had, like, some candle client, and she's like, "Oh," like, "we found that there was this opportunity for these types of candles that we didn't offer, and so then we started offering them, and it became our b- best-selling item because we saw that so many people were just searching for this." We used keyword research as business development or, Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yep.

Edward Sturm: or a- as business, excuse me, as business research. A- and, uh, yeah, and Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I, Edward Sturm: huge Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: when I do, uh, copy for my clients, like n- not the blog and, you know, the homepage and everything, nine times out of 10, I have to have them restructure their offer suite or I give, like if it's e-commerce, like say like, "Hey, do you sell this too? Because this is a good keyword," s- like your, the candle client from your other guest.

Um, but usually it's keyword research and then offer suite restructuring because it's like, "Hey, here's all these other, other opportunities. Like, figure out you want to do. Like, h- you know, here's all these other things you could be offering. Figure out, like, what drains you.

You know, maybe this service wouldn't take as much or, you know, physical labor. Um, so maybe we'll start, we'll create a page for this as well so that, you know, we can expand your business." And it's always like it's in the background. You don't have to promote it on social media or anything like that.

It's just, "Let's see if we can get this ranking, this service page ranking on Google, and if that does well, then it's an supplemental income for you." Edward Sturm: You're… Wait, so when you, you're working with this company that's already successful on TikTok and I guess IG Reels as well, and so are you, are you also saying like, "Take these keywords and please use them on TikTok. Please use them on Instagram"? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: We didn't get, that wasn't… I always offer social media SEO, like consulting.

That wasn't an add-on because it was kinda, they're already doing pretty well. Edward Sturm: Okay. And so they, they, they're like, so they just wanted to do it with their, with their website Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: They're doing, yeah, their homepage, their about page, their e-commerce, um, their collection pages, and mostly, like, their corporate gifting, 'cause that's… Their fo- focus this year is corporate gifting, so that was the big one. Um, and then, you know, I gave them a plan of here's the first, I think it was, like, four blogs you should write to point to the, your corporate gifting page.

Um, but then we also did messaging, so talking about messaging, they're like, "Okay, maybe we need a little rebranding." So I think that's what they're doing right now. But, uh, there's just… Edward Sturm: I, I think the opportunity when you have a platform like that and you want to actually do SEO with your website is really big, because you can make something like a linkable asset that people will actually wanna link to. And then, and the thing, the, the problem with linkable assets for a lot of people is they're like, "I made it.

I, I made… But what do I do now? How do I get people to see it? How do I get that spark so that people are actually gonna share it?" So maybe you, you have, like, some cool research report, or you have a tool, a really cool tool on your site, or you, you made some, like, really funny page on your site that's, like, full of jokes that people are gonna share.

But how do you get people to see it? "Oh, I gotta s- I gotta send it to journalists. Oh my God, I gotta start cold emailing journalists and, or, or cold emailing influencers." But if you actually already have the platform, so you're big on TikTok and you're big on Instagram, there you go.

You just need to start sharing it to your audience, and that's - And then, and, and then hopefully you share it a few times, and then it gets seen by some relevant blogs, and they're like, "This is cool," and we link to it, and now you're getting backlinks, and like, it- which is exactly what you want. And so it, it's really exciting like that. Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah. And I think the problem people have too is they don't know where to focus.

They're like, you know, e-commerce, for example, they're like, "Which product do I promote? Like, I wanna promote all of them," and it's so hard to focus, and that's why I always tell people too, pick your… You know, like Starbucks is known for coffee, but they still sell their tumblers, they still sell food, they still sell cake pops. Um, but people go there primarily for coffee. There might be a, you know, some people, like my sister, who will go in there and buy the tumblers every time the new one comes out, but they're not primarily known for that.

So I always tell people, pick your known-for topics, or if you're e-commerce, pick your, your known-for product and be known for that one first, and take that to the moon, and then, you know, have SEO working in the background for all your other products or y- you know, if it's a service, all your other services Edward Sturm: I have one more last, last question. I said the other one was the last question, then my, my other last question. Do you, what do you think the difference between a blog that's successful and, and a blog that's not is?

And do you, like, do you know, like, people who are still doing blogging and that's their life? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Um, I don't know if I… I know I'm aware of some people who are still doing really well blogging. Um, I think a lot of people have taken to YouTube, podcasting, TikTok, and things like that, which SEO is available for those as well. Um, I think, I don't know, blogging, I th- And, and then of course there's like Substack and everything now too that people are going towards.

I still think you should do blogging on your own website versus Edward Sturm: But when you talked about this topical, you said we s- we do topical authority pieces. What do those look like? You said that at the beginning, and I wanted to ask you about that too Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: Yeah. I think, um, I call 'em your, again, your known-for topics.

So, um, or like just four things you wanna be known for. So, you know, for me, it… And it can change. Mine, I did a whole TikTok series on this, um, and it's, mine has changed since then, but it's, you know, blogging, copywriting, storytelling, and SEO are my four things. So pick, let's say, four contact, content buckets, uh, or content pillars.

That's what people call them. categories. Those are gonna be the categories on your website. The categories, like if you were to create a, a playlist on YouTube, it'd be like copywriting playlist, SEO playlist with, you know, with all your stuff.

Um, pick four, then pick one and create content on that one topic for like three months, at least once a week. And then you create, you know, authority, three months' worth. So e- even if you only posted once per week, YouTube video, podcast, whatever, um, you're gonna have 12 pieces of content, and ideally, that'll show AI, Google, and humans, this person knows a lot about this topic 'cause they have a- at least 12 pieces of content, which isn't a ton, but it's a library, you know?

Um, so start building your library on that one thing, and then if you get bored or if you wanna change it up, you know, quarter two, three, four, whatever, go to your next known-for content pillar, bucket, whatever you wanna call it Edward Sturm: Tiffany, thank you so much for coming back Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: You're welcome. Thank you for having me Edward Sturm: W- where should, where should everybody go and find you? Tiffani @ Your Creative Content: I am @purecreativecontent, mostly on Threads these days, trying to get back on TikTok, also on Instagram kind of.

Um, and then my website, purecreativecontent.com Edward Sturm: Tiffany, you're awesome. This was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun last time, and it was a lot of fun again.

Thank you for coming back. This is episode 1,086 of the show, 1,086 days in a row doing this podcast. If you watch us on YouTube, thank you so much for watching. If you listened on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, thank you so much for listening, and I will talk to you again tomorrow.

Bye now.

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