1 00:00:04,230 --> 00:00:05,310 Matt Edmundson: Well, hello there. 2 00:00:05,310 --> 00:00:09,690 Welcome to the e-Commerce podcast with me, your host, Matt Edmundson. 3 00:00:10,110 --> 00:00:14,970 The E-Commerce podcast is all about helping you deliver e-commerce. 4 00:00:14,975 --> 00:00:15,480 Wow. 5 00:00:15,540 --> 00:00:21,060 And to help you do just that I am chatting with today's guest, Kevin 6 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:26,549 Wiles, about why SEO is not just about the search engines but better websites. 7 00:00:26,700 --> 00:00:29,340 It's been such a while, such a long time actually, since we've 8 00:00:29,340 --> 00:00:30,600 had anyone on the show about seo. 9 00:00:30,630 --> 00:00:35,610 So I'm excited to get into this, Kevin, but before you and I jump into that, 10 00:00:35,910 --> 00:00:40,230 let me suggest a few other eCommerce podcast episodes that I think. 11 00:00:40,710 --> 00:00:41,970 You will enjoy listening to. 12 00:00:42,330 --> 00:00:47,310 So check out how SEO rankings can help you improve your customer experience 13 00:00:47,310 --> 00:00:49,080 with Nick Trueman, the legend. 14 00:00:49,085 --> 00:00:49,960 That is Nick Trueman. 15 00:00:50,310 --> 00:00:53,700 Uh, and also check out the three pillars of SEO with Alina Ghost. 16 00:00:53,940 --> 00:00:56,760 Uh, that two episodes definitely worth checking out. 17 00:00:56,765 --> 00:01:01,349 You can find them, uh, as well as our entire archive of episodes on our 18 00:01:01,349 --> 00:01:04,500 website for free at ecommercepodcast.net. 19 00:01:04,980 --> 00:01:08,020 Uh, and on our website you can also sign up for our newsletter. 20 00:01:08,535 --> 00:01:12,315 And each week we will email you these links that we mention along 21 00:01:12,315 --> 00:01:15,585 with the notes and the links from today's conversation with Kevin. 22 00:01:15,585 --> 00:01:19,605 You can get that direct to your inbox totally free. 23 00:01:19,995 --> 00:01:21,045 How amazing is that? 24 00:01:21,465 --> 00:01:26,655 Now this episode is brought to you by the e-commerce cohort, which helps 25 00:01:26,655 --> 00:01:29,185 deliver e-commerce Wow to your customers. 26 00:01:29,415 --> 00:01:33,155 Kevin, I am sure you have come across a whole bunch of folks. 27 00:01:33,155 --> 00:01:33,425 Right. 28 00:01:33,425 --> 00:01:37,725 Stuck With that e-commerce website, or they've got siloed into one or 29 00:01:37,725 --> 00:01:41,745 two areas they're just working on and miss the whole big picture. 30 00:01:41,745 --> 00:01:46,035 Well, enter e-commerce cohort to solve this problem. 31 00:01:46,335 --> 00:01:51,195 It's a lightweight membership group with guided monthly, monthly sprints that cycle 32 00:01:51,195 --> 00:01:53,685 through all the key areas of e-commerce. 33 00:01:53,740 --> 00:01:57,009 The sole purpose, uh, of which is to provide you with clear 34 00:01:57,009 --> 00:01:58,929 actionable jobs to be done. 35 00:01:59,050 --> 00:01:59,649 Yes. 36 00:01:59,949 --> 00:02:03,190 So you will know what to work on, uh, and uh, you'll get the 37 00:02:03,190 --> 00:02:04,300 support you need to get it done. 38 00:02:04,304 --> 00:02:07,750 So, whether you are just starting out an e-commerce or if, like me, you are 39 00:02:07,755 --> 00:02:13,420 a well established eCommercer slash e-commerce dinosaur, uh, I encourage 40 00:02:13,420 --> 00:02:16,359 you to definitely check it out. 41 00:02:16,450 --> 00:02:19,489 Visit ecommercecohort.com. 42 00:02:19,810 --> 00:02:22,465 That's ecommercecohort.com. 43 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:25,890 Uh, or if you'd like, just email me with any questions that you've got and 44 00:02:25,890 --> 00:02:27,510 I'll try my level best to answer them. 45 00:02:27,870 --> 00:02:32,550 You can reach me at uh matt@ecommercepodcast.net, and of course 46 00:02:32,550 --> 00:02:36,000 you can also email me with any comments or thoughts you've got about the show. 47 00:02:36,060 --> 00:02:37,620 We'd love to hear what you've got to say. 48 00:02:38,174 --> 00:02:42,704 Now let's jump into the conversation with our fab guest. 49 00:02:42,704 --> 00:02:48,315 Kevin is a passionate, technical SEO lead with a career history of working with 50 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:50,565 big household names across New Zealand. 51 00:02:50,894 --> 00:02:55,305 Oh yes, the Kiwis, uh, and the United Kingdom, including 52 00:02:55,305 --> 00:02:57,975 Halford's and Furniture Village. 53 00:02:58,215 --> 00:02:59,774 Kevin, thanks for coming on the show. 54 00:02:59,774 --> 00:03:00,704 Great to have you here. 55 00:03:00,709 --> 00:03:02,885 Super excited to be talking about SEO. 56 00:03:03,185 --> 00:03:04,225 How are we doing? 57 00:03:04,845 --> 00:03:05,225 Kevin Wiles: All good. 58 00:03:05,245 --> 00:03:05,695 Thank you. 59 00:03:05,695 --> 00:03:09,834 I'm recovering from brightonSEO, so my voice is a little croaky, but all good. 60 00:03:10,135 --> 00:03:12,834 Um, lots of knowledge takeaways from that. 61 00:03:12,834 --> 00:03:13,285 So yeah. 62 00:03:13,495 --> 00:03:14,635 Excited to be on the podcast. 63 00:03:15,325 --> 00:03:15,695 Matt Edmundson: Fantastic. 64 00:03:15,715 --> 00:03:18,535 Well, it's good to be here and thank you for, we were just talking 65 00:03:18,535 --> 00:03:21,954 before we hit the record button that you may be a little bit fatigued 66 00:03:21,954 --> 00:03:25,434 from the, uh, from all the stuff. 67 00:03:25,954 --> 00:03:28,380 Kevin Wiles: I feel like if you're an SEO and you woke up today and 68 00:03:28,380 --> 00:03:31,500 you're not tired and fatigued, you didn't do brightonSEO properly. 69 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:35,640 Matt Edmundson: is that, is that how that works? 70 00:03:35,790 --> 00:03:36,579 Is that just do 71 00:03:36,579 --> 00:03:38,700 Kevin Wiles: with the new model that they have on the website every year? 72 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,030 Matt Edmundson: the tagline, uh, on the, on the landing page. 73 00:03:45,030 --> 00:03:48,410 You guaranteed you'll be knackered and tired the day after. 74 00:03:48,790 --> 00:03:49,820 Pretty much. 75 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:51,090 It's a sign up now. 76 00:03:51,090 --> 00:03:52,140 You'd be like, Okay, I'm in. 77 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:52,590 I'm in. 78 00:03:53,010 --> 00:03:56,130 So what happened at Brighton SEO that made it so epic this year? 79 00:03:56,670 --> 00:04:00,269 Kevin Wiles: Um, I think, I think for me it's just I typically go to Brighton 80 00:04:00,274 --> 00:04:04,799 and, um, use that time to a) go to some of the fantastic talks, but then also use 81 00:04:04,799 --> 00:04:08,760 at time to network with lots of people that live like Liverpool, New Castle, 82 00:04:08,765 --> 00:04:10,140 all across the different, the country. 83 00:04:10,530 --> 00:04:13,440 Um, and typically that just means you start networking. 84 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:14,970 You start talking, it's by the beach. 85 00:04:15,900 --> 00:04:18,899 Nice sea views that leads to a few beers, which then leads 86 00:04:18,899 --> 00:04:19,829 to a hangover in the morning. 87 00:04:20,190 --> 00:04:23,610 Um, and I think that just over a three day period, so I usually typically, 88 00:04:23,909 --> 00:04:26,130 um, head up on the Wednesday, come back, uh, on the Friday. 89 00:04:26,610 --> 00:04:28,680 Um, it's a long way in a car. 90 00:04:29,820 --> 00:04:30,210 Matt Edmundson: Oh yeah. 91 00:04:30,210 --> 00:04:31,740 I mean, where did you drive down from? 92 00:04:32,219 --> 00:04:33,930 Kevin Wiles: Uh, so I'm based in Stratford-upon-Avon, so it 93 00:04:33,930 --> 00:04:36,450 took about three hours there. 94 00:04:37,710 --> 00:04:39,359 Five and a bit back. 95 00:04:41,789 --> 00:04:42,810 Matt Edmundson: That does not sound fun. 96 00:04:43,050 --> 00:04:44,190 Do you, have you heard of a train? 97 00:04:44,190 --> 00:04:44,789 I don't know. 98 00:04:44,820 --> 00:04:45,150 Uh. 99 00:04:45,630 --> 00:04:49,090 Kevin Wiles: I have the, so about trains and with all the train strikes, I was 100 00:04:49,090 --> 00:04:53,010 like, I think I'd rather drive than be stuck at, at train station, just being 101 00:04:53,010 --> 00:04:54,659 like, I just wanna be at home now. 102 00:04:55,020 --> 00:04:56,219 Matt Edmundson: Yeah, no, fair play. 103 00:04:56,224 --> 00:04:56,789 Fair play. 104 00:04:56,849 --> 00:05:00,390 So did you, um, did you take lots of notes at Brighton seo? 105 00:05:00,390 --> 00:05:01,619 Have you got lots of new ideas. 106 00:05:02,099 --> 00:05:04,500 Kevin Wiles: I did, I actually took some advice this, this time around. 107 00:05:04,500 --> 00:05:07,230 So typically I, I go and geek out and do all the tech things around 108 00:05:07,230 --> 00:05:10,630 artificial intelligence and machine learning and eCommerce SEO, and this 109 00:05:10,650 --> 00:05:13,380 time around there's actually some good advice about going to do talks 110 00:05:13,380 --> 00:05:15,510 that you wouldn't typically do. 111 00:05:15,510 --> 00:05:19,110 So things like, Hey, I'm not a digital PR person, so going and sitting in 112 00:05:19,110 --> 00:05:23,085 some of those digital PR talks to just learn some new stuff, I guess. 113 00:05:23,325 --> 00:05:27,885 Um, and there's some fantastic talks specifically around, uh, agency growth, 114 00:05:27,885 --> 00:05:31,905 culture, uh, preventing burnout, that sort of stuff, which was, um, I 115 00:05:31,905 --> 00:05:33,255 don't think it's talked about enough. 116 00:05:33,495 --> 00:05:37,995 Mm-hmm, let's say seo, but digital as a whole about, uh, we, our 117 00:05:37,995 --> 00:05:40,185 laptops for enormous amount of time. 118 00:05:40,185 --> 00:05:40,515 Oh, we do? 119 00:05:40,765 --> 00:05:41,205 Yeah. 120 00:05:41,205 --> 00:05:41,206 Yeah. 121 00:05:41,211 --> 00:05:41,625 Every day. 122 00:05:42,105 --> 00:05:44,865 Um, so those, those talks are really insightful and good again, where some 123 00:05:44,865 --> 00:05:46,545 tips of, I should probably get out more. 124 00:05:46,895 --> 00:05:49,860 Doing less SEO and more walks and stuff. 125 00:05:49,860 --> 00:05:54,540 So I feel like a lot of my life is just, uh, work seo, and 126 00:05:54,540 --> 00:05:55,980 then you get FOMO missing out. 127 00:05:55,980 --> 00:05:58,200 And so yeah, those, those talks were good. 128 00:05:58,290 --> 00:05:59,700 Uh, but it's, it's, it's fantastic. 129 00:05:59,700 --> 00:06:03,720 I think it's a great initiative particularly for, um, The younger 130 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,020 people coming up in the industry to have an opportunity to talk and learn 131 00:06:07,020 --> 00:06:09,990 those things that essentially will keep SEO alive for years to come. 132 00:06:10,230 --> 00:06:11,940 That's if robots don't kill us off first. 133 00:06:11,940 --> 00:06:12,120 But, 134 00:06:13,740 --> 00:06:14,730 Matt Edmundson: you never know, right? 135 00:06:14,730 --> 00:06:15,270 You never know. 136 00:06:15,470 --> 00:06:16,190 Never know. 137 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:18,120 I've seen the Matrix, so I know what happens. 138 00:06:18,810 --> 00:06:22,770 Um, so what was your biggest takeaway from, from the conference? 139 00:06:23,310 --> 00:06:26,670 Kevin Wiles: Um, I think that search is advancing is always the biggest takeaway 140 00:06:26,670 --> 00:06:30,330 I take from many of these events, whether it's Brighton, Search Love, Moscon stuff. 141 00:06:30,335 --> 00:06:35,234 I think for me, the core principles of SEO haven't really changed since I 142 00:06:35,234 --> 00:06:39,495 started like 12 years ago, 14 years ago. 143 00:06:39,495 --> 00:06:41,385 And that was before Google even existed. 144 00:06:41,445 --> 00:06:43,905 I like left college and I fell into seo. 145 00:06:44,265 --> 00:06:48,315 Um, but I think that it's, it's advancing at such a rate, but actually 146 00:06:48,315 --> 00:06:50,775 it's, it's not in the same instance. 147 00:06:50,835 --> 00:06:54,734 I, Hey, the core principles around, is it technically sound? 148 00:06:55,305 --> 00:06:56,715 Is the site optimized for speed? 149 00:06:56,715 --> 00:06:56,955 Is it. 150 00:06:58,110 --> 00:07:00,600 Is facet navigation from most point of view done for a 151 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,100 customer and an SEO benefit. 152 00:07:02,100 --> 00:07:05,970 Yeah, I think those things have stayed the same, but I think it's just insightful 153 00:07:05,970 --> 00:07:09,540 to come away and be like, there's now GPT three to automate content. 154 00:07:10,500 --> 00:07:12,180 Kind of there's a big caveat there. 155 00:07:12,180 --> 00:07:14,580 Don't go and do that on category pages and that stuff cause that's not 156 00:07:14,580 --> 00:07:15,510 great and Google doesn't like that. 157 00:07:15,510 --> 00:07:18,870 But I think just seeing how technology is helping the industry 158 00:07:18,875 --> 00:07:20,340 advance is the biggest takeaway. 159 00:07:20,700 --> 00:07:24,510 Um, but it's always learning something new. 160 00:07:24,659 --> 00:07:25,110 Always. 161 00:07:25,110 --> 00:07:25,320 Yeah. 162 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:27,900 I think whenever you, you think you are at that point where there's 163 00:07:27,900 --> 00:07:31,260 something you can't learn, someone somewhere has done something that 164 00:07:31,260 --> 00:07:32,820 you're like, Oh, that's cool. 165 00:07:34,890 --> 00:07:35,190 Matt Edmundson: Yeah. 166 00:07:35,190 --> 00:07:38,909 That's the, um, I, I, and that's, for me, that's the appeal of 167 00:07:38,909 --> 00:07:40,020 going to things like that. 168 00:07:40,020 --> 00:07:41,400 They're usually far away. 169 00:07:41,610 --> 00:07:45,900 They're usually expensive, you know, in terms of time and just the 170 00:07:45,900 --> 00:07:47,190 cost of getting there, I suppose. 171 00:07:47,250 --> 00:07:49,650 And that's before you've paid the entry price, whatever that is. 172 00:07:50,190 --> 00:07:55,005 And so there, there are a few conferences that I would sort of entertain going to. 173 00:07:55,905 --> 00:07:59,474 And it's that, it's, for me, it's the whole idea generation. 174 00:07:59,534 --> 00:08:00,825 That's the value in going there. 175 00:08:00,825 --> 00:08:04,664 And you sit and you listen to other people, and I dunno if your mind does 176 00:08:04,664 --> 00:08:08,025 this, Kevin, but my mind certainly is I start to, I've sat there with my notebook 177 00:08:08,055 --> 00:08:12,885 and I start to wander in my thinking and I just jot down all my crazy ideas. 178 00:08:12,885 --> 00:08:15,794 And you've always found something, you know, and it's like, 179 00:08:17,174 --> 00:08:17,775 Kevin Wiles: Yeah, definitely. 180 00:08:17,775 --> 00:08:21,405 And I think, I think, you know, um, I dunno about you, but like I pretty much 181 00:08:21,405 --> 00:08:22,875 work from home full time now, right? 182 00:08:22,875 --> 00:08:26,505 Like before when I was at Halfords I was like full-time in the office 183 00:08:26,510 --> 00:08:29,565 and you're then talking to people, networking, talking about different, 184 00:08:29,565 --> 00:08:31,695 you know, bouncing things off merchandise about how you can do, 185 00:08:32,265 --> 00:08:34,334 uh, PRP, optimizing, et cetera. 186 00:08:34,334 --> 00:08:38,155 And I think now going to Brighton, you actually get to speak to other SEOs, 187 00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:40,075 whereas at home, as much as I'm trying. 188 00:08:40,314 --> 00:08:41,730 I've got a nine month old kitten. 189 00:08:41,730 --> 00:08:43,409 She just doesn't want to talk SEO with me. 190 00:08:43,409 --> 00:08:45,720 She just looks at me like, I'm bizarre who wants her dinner. 191 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:46,620 And then that's it. 192 00:08:46,620 --> 00:08:49,080 So going to Brighton SEO gives me the opportunity to actually talk 193 00:08:49,085 --> 00:08:52,050 and bounce the ideas off other SEOs and try and problem solve. 194 00:08:52,290 --> 00:08:55,740 And I think that's with, with any event you go to, um, IRX in Birmingham, 195 00:08:55,745 --> 00:08:59,640 for example, it's happening this week or, or won't be when this is 196 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:01,950 aired, but it's happening in October. 197 00:09:02,250 --> 00:09:05,610 You know, it's a great opportunity to go and talk to uh, eCommerce 198 00:09:05,625 --> 00:09:08,324 platforms and suppliers and see what some of those people are doing 199 00:09:08,324 --> 00:09:11,235 in the tech and advancements that aren't holistically within seo, 200 00:09:12,105 --> 00:09:13,935 but will have an impact for seo. 201 00:09:13,935 --> 00:09:17,954 You know, you just look at things like split testing software where it's used 202 00:09:17,959 --> 00:09:21,045 for a user benefit, but those aren't implemented correctly, suddenly has 203 00:09:21,045 --> 00:09:24,420 an impact on site speed, which then from an SEO point of view, You're sat 204 00:09:24,420 --> 00:09:26,460 there going, Let's not do any of this. 205 00:09:26,550 --> 00:09:29,340 But there's different benefits and I think it's, it's good going to those events 206 00:09:29,340 --> 00:09:32,700 cuz you get to start to understand the wider picture of like, SEO isn't the only 207 00:09:32,700 --> 00:09:35,930 channel that exists and SEO isn't the only important thing that exists in eCommerce. 208 00:09:35,930 --> 00:09:36,490 Mm-hmm.. 209 00:09:36,570 --> 00:09:38,250 Um, and just to network with cool people. 210 00:09:38,310 --> 00:09:42,690 There's lots of cool, fascinating people in SEO and tech and eCommerce that you 211 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,915 just wouldn't get exposed to because as much as you wanna talk to 'em on Twitter, 212 00:09:46,625 --> 00:09:48,135 so do probably a hundred other people. 213 00:09:48,135 --> 00:09:51,015 Whereas in Brighton, you can bump into them, buy them a coffee, a beer, chips, 214 00:09:51,015 --> 00:09:54,385 whatever it might be, and start to just. 215 00:09:54,585 --> 00:09:57,765 Just pick their intelligent brain apart and, and find something, which to your 216 00:09:57,765 --> 00:09:59,175 point, you then come away with ideas. 217 00:09:59,175 --> 00:10:02,945 And I think most of my creative ideas are always, they start at 218 00:10:02,945 --> 00:10:07,694 Brighton, but they sort of come to fruition when I'm back home on walks. 219 00:10:07,694 --> 00:10:09,675 Sat in front of the TV when I think. 220 00:10:10,225 --> 00:10:12,915 Oh, I could take that idea that I didn't think I could use for any clients and 221 00:10:12,915 --> 00:10:15,645 I could actually use it by tweaking it and doing this, this, and this. 222 00:10:15,944 --> 00:10:17,925 And before, you know, you've got like these cool ideas. 223 00:10:19,095 --> 00:10:23,265 The downside to that is you've gotta put a commercial value behind those ideas. 224 00:10:23,265 --> 00:10:27,675 Or actually try and put a, Hey client, if we go and do this, is this a benefit? 225 00:10:27,675 --> 00:10:30,015 Rather than just, I've got this cool idea, it's gonna take a 226 00:10:30,015 --> 00:10:31,605 hundred hours, but it's cool. 227 00:10:31,935 --> 00:10:34,454 Um, which is the, the, the, always the impact of seo. 228 00:10:34,545 --> 00:10:36,045 Like there's a hundred things to do. 229 00:10:36,105 --> 00:10:37,975 What, what do you need to do to actually. 230 00:10:39,194 --> 00:10:41,625 You need to be able to prove what you should and why. 231 00:10:41,625 --> 00:10:41,685 Yeah. 232 00:10:41,835 --> 00:10:44,295 Rather than just here's a list of things and go and fix them. 233 00:10:44,895 --> 00:10:45,225 Matt Edmundson: Yeah. 234 00:10:45,285 --> 00:10:45,675 No. 235 00:10:45,675 --> 00:10:46,125 Brilliant. 236 00:10:46,395 --> 00:10:46,755 Brilliant. 237 00:10:47,685 --> 00:10:53,625 Okay, so let's, uh, let's rewind a little bit and, um, let's not make any 238 00:10:53,625 --> 00:10:58,125 assumptions, uh, of, from, for people listening to the show because I think SEO 239 00:10:58,125 --> 00:11:03,155 for years has been one of those things where people have either um, ignored 240 00:11:03,180 --> 00:11:09,750 it completely or they've, um, they've succumbed to whoever calls them that 241 00:11:09,755 --> 00:11:15,330 day, uh, and promises to get them on page one for like, you know, uh, of Google. 242 00:11:16,020 --> 00:11:20,520 Um, and we've all had those phone calls from SEO agencies promising us a world 243 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:21,990 and delivering absolutely bugger all. 244 00:11:22,380 --> 00:11:26,340 Um, you know, it's that kind of, um, reputation, isn't it? 245 00:11:26,340 --> 00:11:30,074 So, Seo, is it? 246 00:11:30,165 --> 00:11:31,635 Let's start off with this question, right? 247 00:11:31,694 --> 00:11:35,114 Is SEO part of the dark arts? 248 00:11:35,204 --> 00:11:37,515 Is it just like a witchcraft? 249 00:11:37,604 --> 00:11:39,215 Uh, is probably my question 250 00:11:39,805 --> 00:11:43,364 . Kevin Wiles: I, I think for a long time, if I look back at the days when I first 251 00:11:43,369 --> 00:11:47,714 started seo, which was, like I said before, it, it was SEO wasn't a thing. 252 00:11:47,864 --> 00:11:50,655 Um, I don't think it was a dark art. 253 00:11:50,655 --> 00:11:55,860 I think that we, as SEOs did things that weren't ideal for, for the 254 00:11:55,860 --> 00:11:59,130 user, but knew we could get away with them, tech wasn't advanced back then, 255 00:11:59,130 --> 00:12:00,630 Altavista was the biggest search engine. 256 00:12:00,930 --> 00:12:04,079 I remember working on sites where white text on a white background 257 00:12:04,079 --> 00:12:06,150 with all your keyword stuffed at the bottom, and you could rank number 258 00:12:06,155 --> 00:12:10,620 one and like Yellow Pages site on your own website to get links. 259 00:12:10,620 --> 00:12:15,000 I think we as SEOs have kind of sold this magic because we believe 260 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,300 that's how it needs to be sold as a product to get sales in. 261 00:12:18,510 --> 00:12:18,990 Yeah. 262 00:12:18,995 --> 00:12:25,560 Um, but it, it's like most things, it's just a methodical approach of saying, 263 00:12:25,650 --> 00:12:30,000 Okay, if Google guidelines say this, what does that actually mean for me? 264 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,340 And I'm not saying, Hey, Google's guidelines are always fundamentally 265 00:12:32,340 --> 00:12:36,060 correct because they're, there needs to be context behind 266 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:37,890 what that recommendation is. 267 00:12:38,100 --> 00:12:39,570 But I definitely don't think it's a dark art. 268 00:12:39,575 --> 00:12:43,830 I think, um, it's just understanding, let's take a 269 00:12:43,830 --> 00:12:45,140 retail shop, right, for example. 270 00:12:46,950 --> 00:12:49,890 Let's imagine you've got the best shop ever, but then what you've gone 271 00:12:49,890 --> 00:12:52,470 and done is blacked out the windows because you don't want anyone to see in. 272 00:12:52,650 --> 00:12:54,420 Well, probably customers won't come in because they might 273 00:12:54,425 --> 00:12:55,540 think you're closed to renovate. 274 00:12:55,540 --> 00:12:58,380 And go actually maybe it's just a bit weird a shop, but they don't wanna go 275 00:12:58,385 --> 00:13:00,120 into that and SEO's the same, right? 276 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,000 It's, Hey, you've got the best content in the world. 277 00:13:03,390 --> 00:13:05,640 But then you've not got your tech stack set up correctly and you've 278 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,400 not got site speed set up, or there's issues with JavaScript. 279 00:13:08,609 --> 00:13:11,969 Well, suddenly Google can't see any of that content to help your shop front 280 00:13:12,180 --> 00:13:15,300 be visible for different keywords and then suddenly no one comes. 281 00:13:15,479 --> 00:13:18,630 And I think it, it is just that simple. 282 00:13:18,719 --> 00:13:22,290 Um, I think we have just mis-sold it. 283 00:13:22,290 --> 00:13:26,500 There's been lots of kind of like statements released that probably 284 00:13:26,505 --> 00:13:30,089 aren't factually correct or slightly tweaked to push an agenda. 285 00:13:30,420 --> 00:13:33,959 Um, and that's made people, particularly with less understanding of seo, have 286 00:13:33,959 --> 00:13:35,300 this view to your point that is. 287 00:13:36,464 --> 00:13:37,964 A dark art and it's magic. 288 00:13:37,969 --> 00:13:40,755 And for years it was like, well, I can just do PPC and I know 289 00:13:40,755 --> 00:13:43,635 exactly what I'm getting back because I spend X and I get X, Y. 290 00:13:43,785 --> 00:13:45,915 And it's much easier to, And even that's true today. 291 00:13:46,094 --> 00:13:48,314 When I was at Halford's, it was cool, but if we spend this 292 00:13:48,314 --> 00:13:49,724 at ppc, we can get this back. 293 00:13:49,935 --> 00:13:51,704 And what can you do from an SEO point of view? 294 00:13:51,704 --> 00:13:53,025 And then you start doing forecasting. 295 00:13:53,474 --> 00:13:57,074 But none of that forecasting is robust enough and still isn't today. 296 00:13:57,074 --> 00:14:01,064 There's lots of modeling and stuff you can do, but I, I still don't think it gives. 297 00:14:02,430 --> 00:14:03,750 Actually, this is what you can get. 298 00:14:03,750 --> 00:14:07,140 Because hey, the caveat is, well, if devs don't go and do this, or the 299 00:14:07,140 --> 00:14:10,500 head of e-com goes and turns off the Black Friday page each year and then 300 00:14:10,505 --> 00:14:13,410 creates another one, suddenly that forecast is all thrown into doubt. 301 00:14:13,510 --> 00:14:13,950 Yeah. 302 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:15,000 Out of your control. 303 00:14:15,810 --> 00:14:16,170 Matt Edmundson: Yeah. 304 00:14:16,260 --> 00:14:17,130 No, fair enough. 305 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:22,185 I mean, if I'm if I'm Halford's, I get the value of seo, right? 306 00:14:22,185 --> 00:14:25,695 I'm a big site and I, I'm, I'm, I, I, I can see that. 307 00:14:25,695 --> 00:14:30,705 But if I'm, if I'm Rob's Car Parts, you, I've just got a little car part 308 00:14:30,705 --> 00:14:33,945 shop, uh, on the back streets of Liverpool, I'm thinking, you know what? 309 00:14:33,945 --> 00:14:34,995 I'm gonna set up a website. 310 00:14:35,415 --> 00:14:39,435 Is SEO something that he should think about? 311 00:14:39,465 --> 00:14:40,935 Is it, or is he just gonna look at Halford's and go 312 00:14:40,935 --> 00:14:42,105 there's no way I can compete. 313 00:14:42,105 --> 00:14:43,485 I'm not gonna get on page one. 314 00:14:43,935 --> 00:14:46,635 Um, so why should I even think about SEO? 315 00:14:47,325 --> 00:14:47,655 Kevin Wiles: Yeah. 316 00:14:47,655 --> 00:14:50,565 I think, and if this is where I was talking to that like the advancements 317 00:14:50,565 --> 00:14:54,975 of search, I think maybe many years ago that have been this, we can get you 318 00:14:54,975 --> 00:14:59,055 ranking potentially for these high volume search them, cuz we could do lots of 319 00:14:59,565 --> 00:15:01,635 sort of like obscure shady link building. 320 00:15:01,965 --> 00:15:05,745 I think now it's much tougher to compete at a national level for things like car 321 00:15:05,745 --> 00:15:10,635 parts or mot for example, against Kwik Fits and Halfords, but where you can win 322 00:15:10,635 --> 00:15:14,745 as a like smaller brand is understanding what that search actually returns. 323 00:15:14,745 --> 00:15:20,415 And what I mean by that is if I go and search, um, Mot booking for 324 00:15:20,415 --> 00:15:23,535 example, what I'll probably get is Google saying, Hey, we think you're 325 00:15:23,535 --> 00:15:26,385 in Stratford-upon-Avon and here's some garages in Stratford-upon-Avon, 326 00:15:26,535 --> 00:15:30,045 which in some instances may not even have a halford or a Kwik fit. 327 00:15:30,045 --> 00:15:33,015 Some of the big brands for term because they don't have a garage that close. 328 00:15:33,285 --> 00:15:35,925 And that's the kind of sweet spot is Google's now starting to 329 00:15:36,315 --> 00:15:37,605 understand different search queries. 330 00:15:38,755 --> 00:15:41,535 Actually we think that is a local query and therefore you have an opportunity to 331 00:15:41,535 --> 00:15:43,814 rank free maps or for the local stuff. 332 00:15:43,814 --> 00:15:46,454 So I think it is becoming more of a level playing field and 333 00:15:46,454 --> 00:15:47,805 definitely has more value. 334 00:15:48,194 --> 00:15:53,625 Um, but it is still the big players typically rank and win 335 00:15:54,194 --> 00:15:55,454 across the big, the big sites. 336 00:15:55,454 --> 00:15:57,680 And the, the other is absolutely true as well. 337 00:15:57,704 --> 00:16:00,584 When I was at Halfords, we actually started to lose ground for things like 338 00:16:00,584 --> 00:16:02,714 mountain bikes and tires and stuff. 339 00:16:07,344 --> 00:16:11,985 Um, local landing pages, and that meant that some of the smaller brands and 340 00:16:11,985 --> 00:16:14,805 that we then had to go and do strategy, we had to build our local pages out. 341 00:16:15,015 --> 00:16:18,135 And there's a post that I did recently about, um, a small convenience 342 00:16:18,140 --> 00:16:21,645 brand called Select and Safe near me, and they have the same issue. 343 00:16:21,645 --> 00:16:24,985 They have a main website, but no dedicated local landing 344 00:16:25,005 --> 00:16:27,055 pages for say convenience store. 345 00:16:30,425 --> 00:16:33,450 And people are trying to find those products or services close by. 346 00:16:34,110 --> 00:16:34,500 Matt Edmundson: Yeah. 347 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:35,250 Yeah. 348 00:16:35,770 --> 00:16:40,704 I was, when I was sort of coming through the ranks of e-commerce, Uh, 349 00:16:40,704 --> 00:16:44,754 I've seen stuff come and go around, um, seo and I've seen stuff come and 350 00:16:44,754 --> 00:16:48,984 go about, around a whole, and it seemed to me maybe about, I wanna say about 351 00:16:48,984 --> 00:16:53,905 five years ago, maybe seven years ago, content marketing was big on the scene. 352 00:16:53,905 --> 00:16:57,594 You know, HubSpot kind of came across and said, Do content marketing. 353 00:16:57,954 --> 00:16:59,724 Um, inbound is the way of the future. 354 00:16:59,724 --> 00:17:02,814 Get everybody coming to you rather than doing the megaphone and sharing out. 355 00:17:03,105 --> 00:17:08,295 The whole idea being you go on the web, you do some research, you find a question 356 00:17:08,295 --> 00:17:13,125 that somebody is asking, and you write a blog post with the question as the title. 357 00:17:13,125 --> 00:17:16,275 In theory, you would then rank for that on Google and that would 358 00:17:16,275 --> 00:17:17,775 bring traffic back to your website. 359 00:17:17,835 --> 00:17:22,425 And it was always, that was a stage where you were told that was easy 360 00:17:22,425 --> 00:17:24,315 to do than say, rank for a product. 361 00:17:24,315 --> 00:17:28,485 So, um, I have, uh, a company vegetology. 362 00:17:28,695 --> 00:17:29,985 The products sat on my desk here. 363 00:17:30,909 --> 00:17:34,149 It's a vegan supplement, an Omega 3 supplement, which is awesome. 364 00:17:34,750 --> 00:17:39,550 Um, and so there was a whole strategy then done around, let's 365 00:17:39,550 --> 00:17:42,820 just write a load of blog posts around Omega 3, does omega 3 work. 366 00:17:42,820 --> 00:17:44,770 Why should I take Omega 3, blah, blah, blah, blah. 367 00:17:44,860 --> 00:17:46,840 And you do all these blog posts and you put 'em on the blog. 368 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:52,030 And yes, they do bring traffic in, but is that still something that is 369 00:17:52,030 --> 00:17:55,780 relevant for today or is that kind of gone by the wayside as well? 370 00:17:56,379 --> 00:17:58,179 Kevin Wiles: I think it's, it's definitely still relevant. 371 00:17:58,179 --> 00:18:01,854 I think it, its only relevant if you're gonna do it and be 372 00:18:01,854 --> 00:18:03,114 the expert in that content. 373 00:18:03,144 --> 00:18:06,864 So I'll use a Halfords, for example, when I first joined halford's, we owned 374 00:18:06,955 --> 00:18:09,774 pretty much all the commercial terms related to all the bike categories. 375 00:18:09,834 --> 00:18:09,925 Mm-hmm. 376 00:18:10,389 --> 00:18:14,514 , but we didn't have anything that would be like, uh, how to find the right 377 00:18:14,519 --> 00:18:17,425 size bike or how to measure your child for your bike or the Mountain Bike 378 00:18:17,429 --> 00:18:19,074 buying guide, or whatever it might be. 379 00:18:19,225 --> 00:18:19,614 Yeah. 380 00:18:20,094 --> 00:18:23,455 And then when we started to do that content, uh, for caveat here, just so 381 00:18:23,455 --> 00:18:26,245 people don't think I'm a terrible SEO content sat in a completely different 382 00:18:26,245 --> 00:18:32,050 team, um, those articles were basically created to be maybe 200, 300 words. 383 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:32,169 Mm-hmm. 384 00:18:32,570 --> 00:18:37,449 . But if you then flip that, and I use a example, I remember when I was a a kid, I 385 00:18:37,449 --> 00:18:40,600 used to go into Clark Shoe store and, and parents would be like, Cool, we need to 386 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:42,070 get some new trainers, whatever that is. 387 00:18:42,250 --> 00:18:46,240 And that whole experience would be someone measuring my feet in their little, um, 388 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,330 electronic machine and clamping it either side, and then they'll be like, Cool, you 389 00:18:49,330 --> 00:18:52,030 can have these trainers with the light up thing because they've got a padded sole. 390 00:18:52,659 --> 00:18:53,860 It was a whole experience. 391 00:18:53,860 --> 00:18:57,490 But if you take that and put that into a blog content piece, you can't 392 00:18:57,490 --> 00:19:00,220 explain that journey about how to measure your feet in two hundred words. 393 00:19:00,220 --> 00:19:01,929 And similar to the, the mountain bike example. 394 00:19:02,260 --> 00:19:06,580 And I think, again, we as SEOs have said, Hey, create loads of 395 00:19:06,580 --> 00:19:07,899 content and traffic will come. 396 00:19:08,590 --> 00:19:11,710 But actually what people have ended up doing is creating lots of terrible content 397 00:19:11,715 --> 00:19:18,830 rather than saying, rather than saying, um, okay, if you're talking about Omega 398 00:19:18,830 --> 00:19:22,385 3, and you are explaining what is Omega 3. 399 00:19:22,465 --> 00:19:25,285 If you go and look at like Healthline for example, that article is probably 400 00:19:25,375 --> 00:19:28,524 a couple of thousand words and the word count is slightly relevant, but 401 00:19:28,764 --> 00:19:31,825 the point of it is they've gone away and understood every question and 402 00:19:31,825 --> 00:19:34,764 sub question that's related and the benefits the side effect, the dosage. 403 00:19:34,764 --> 00:19:34,825 Yeah. 404 00:19:35,004 --> 00:19:37,345 And then come back with the most comprehensive piece of content. 405 00:19:37,345 --> 00:19:40,045 And they've done that for a whole broad set of topics. 406 00:19:40,465 --> 00:19:44,245 And I think that's where we're seeing this pivot and sort of like change 407 00:19:44,245 --> 00:19:48,970 at the moment where for years we said we'll sell you 10 blog posts a month. 408 00:19:48,970 --> 00:19:49,600 Thank you very much. 409 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,419 We'll create 10 blog posts without much thought or direction. 410 00:19:52,419 --> 00:19:53,470 It's just 10 blog posts. 411 00:19:53,470 --> 00:19:54,399 We'll definitely get traffic. 412 00:19:54,399 --> 00:19:54,760 Cool. 413 00:19:54,970 --> 00:19:57,370 Tick in a box, and now it's going the other way, where people are 414 00:19:57,375 --> 00:19:59,860 doing content audits and actually removing a lot of content. 415 00:19:59,860 --> 00:20:04,330 There's just been done because SEO said we should do content, and it's kind of 416 00:20:04,335 --> 00:20:08,030 got to that place where it's like now less is more and of that less content. 417 00:20:08,590 --> 00:20:11,530 The more well written it is, the more well researched it is, the better. 418 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:15,189 Um, and then you start tying in the FAQs and you mark that with FAQ 419 00:20:15,189 --> 00:20:17,709 scheme and you get the, like the feature snippets in Google and stuff. 420 00:20:18,250 --> 00:20:20,949 There's still a play here to get traffic from those. 421 00:20:21,250 --> 00:20:23,860 But I do think it's a less is more. 422 00:20:23,860 --> 00:20:27,189 And if you can be the authorities, so, uh, particularly in certain 423 00:20:27,219 --> 00:20:31,060 industries for the omega3, for example, if I wrote a piece of content about 424 00:20:31,060 --> 00:20:33,879 omega3s, I wouldn't rank anywhere. 425 00:20:34,389 --> 00:20:34,480 Mm-hmm. 426 00:20:34,990 --> 00:20:35,590 I'm not authority. 427 00:20:35,590 --> 00:20:41,305 I don't have the accreditations and education to be the right 428 00:20:41,305 --> 00:20:42,435 person to talk about omega 3. 429 00:20:43,055 --> 00:20:46,915 But if a doctor did it and had those profiles marked up and Google 430 00:20:46,915 --> 00:20:50,395 understands actually, uh, they've written it, they've got the right 431 00:20:50,455 --> 00:20:53,635 degrees, et cetera, there's probably a higher chance they'll rank for it. 432 00:20:53,935 --> 00:20:54,295 Yeah. 433 00:20:54,595 --> 00:20:57,655 Um, so I do think it is just about understanding the audience and then 434 00:20:57,805 --> 00:21:01,435 creating detailed content that is what you would get if you went to the pharmacy 435 00:21:01,435 --> 00:21:03,145 or the doctor and got the same advice. 436 00:21:03,264 --> 00:21:03,355 Mm-hmm.. 437 00:21:03,774 --> 00:21:06,325 Um, but again, we have SEOs that have just for many years gone. 438 00:21:07,045 --> 00:21:08,004 How do I cut the corner? 439 00:21:08,010 --> 00:21:08,845 What's the little loophole? 440 00:21:08,845 --> 00:21:10,825 I can go around and get some rankings and stuff? 441 00:21:10,825 --> 00:21:12,264 And it works for a long time, right? 442 00:21:12,264 --> 00:21:15,385 Like there's always this view of SEO should be about getting traffic, but. 443 00:21:16,104 --> 00:21:18,715 I before joined Halford's was always agency side, and I 444 00:21:18,715 --> 00:21:20,274 lived by that for a long time. 445 00:21:20,274 --> 00:21:22,164 It's like, well, traffic's up 30%. 446 00:21:22,254 --> 00:21:23,004 We've done a great job. 447 00:21:23,004 --> 00:21:23,604 Thank you very much. 448 00:21:23,904 --> 00:21:27,909 When I went to Halfords, it shifted my whole mindset a lot to be like, I don't 449 00:21:27,909 --> 00:21:31,600 care if traffic is actually down as long as revenue is up, because revenue is 450 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:35,050 what keeps stores open, which keeps the staffs in job and helps the business grow. 451 00:21:35,379 --> 00:21:40,000 Um, but to do that we actually started declining the amount of traffic, uh, the 452 00:21:40,300 --> 00:21:43,895 amount of content we were doing right to make that content useful because 453 00:21:43,895 --> 00:21:47,735 otherwise it's basically just gonna sit on a shelf, like an old toy in a toy 454 00:21:47,735 --> 00:21:49,264 story that no one plays with anymore. 455 00:21:49,565 --> 00:21:54,185 Matt Edmundson: Yeah, no, that's fascinating because I think, it sounds 456 00:21:54,185 --> 00:21:58,085 like Kevin, and correct me if I'm wrong, it sounds like, uh, for years, 457 00:21:58,504 --> 00:22:02,764 and this is not just peculiar to SEO, this is, you know, every aspect of 458 00:22:02,764 --> 00:22:04,264 e-commerce has fallen foul to this. 459 00:22:04,264 --> 00:22:06,155 We've always looked for the shortcut. 460 00:22:06,514 --> 00:22:09,514 We've always looked for the hack, you know? 461 00:22:09,575 --> 00:22:09,665 Yep. 462 00:22:09,995 --> 00:22:13,685 Um, how to hack life, How to hack seo, Do you know what I mean? 463 00:22:13,685 --> 00:22:14,345 We want the hack. 464 00:22:14,345 --> 00:22:17,195 We want the quick, easy, dirty win where we don't have to do anything. 465 00:22:17,195 --> 00:22:21,125 The put in all the keywords in white text on a white background and just, and just, 466 00:22:21,125 --> 00:22:27,445 you know, that, that was the hack, but the more complicated um, technology has got, 467 00:22:27,445 --> 00:22:32,485 it feels like the more Google has gone actually guys, we're gonna cut the hacks. 468 00:22:32,485 --> 00:22:35,635 It's not that we wanna stop divvying up the content, but we want to divvy up 469 00:22:35,635 --> 00:22:37,465 the right content and quality content. 470 00:22:37,735 --> 00:22:44,485 And it seems to me that if we invest in that quality side of things, long 471 00:22:44,485 --> 00:22:45,985 term, that's the winning strategy. 472 00:22:46,104 --> 00:22:47,514 Would that be a fair reflection? 473 00:22:47,935 --> 00:22:48,624 Kevin Wiles: Yeah, for sure. 474 00:22:48,624 --> 00:22:51,354 And I think, you know, the last maybe two months have shown that, 475 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:55,225 right, like GPT three and content automation and, and machine learning 476 00:22:55,229 --> 00:22:56,425 stuff has been a big play to that. 477 00:22:56,425 --> 00:23:00,445 Where there's sites out there that purely exist and they only exist 478 00:23:00,445 --> 00:23:01,675 because they've got automated content. 479 00:23:01,675 --> 00:23:04,225 None of it is reviewed, it's just completely automated. 480 00:23:04,524 --> 00:23:07,104 And Google's then obviously released the helpful content 481 00:23:07,104 --> 00:23:08,985 update, and it's been purely to say. 482 00:23:09,624 --> 00:23:13,245 This isn't good for the audience because it's autogenerated 483 00:23:13,250 --> 00:23:14,185 through machine learning. 484 00:23:14,185 --> 00:23:16,765 And that machine learning right now is not perfect. 485 00:23:17,365 --> 00:23:22,015 And that's where again, we as SEOs are going, Cool, I can build this API thing 486 00:23:22,020 --> 00:23:25,015 and I can do this machine learning stuff and then auto-generate the content. 487 00:23:25,345 --> 00:23:25,675 Cool. 488 00:23:25,675 --> 00:23:29,145 I can then sit on my sofa for a couple hours in the evening and chill while 489 00:23:29,145 --> 00:23:30,745 my content's just doing its thing. 490 00:23:31,135 --> 00:23:34,465 Um, and that's again, we as SEOs are trying to cut corners. 491 00:23:34,675 --> 00:23:35,635 There's a place for it. 492 00:23:36,295 --> 00:23:37,825 That place isn't full automation. 493 00:23:38,725 --> 00:23:43,345 You know, with some tweaks, with some analysis with the keywords and all 494 00:23:43,345 --> 00:23:49,044 the internet and stuff taken into consideration, um, I think we'll get to 495 00:23:49,044 --> 00:23:52,885 a place where that becomes more, There's like lots of hot topics and Brighton 496 00:23:52,885 --> 00:23:56,004 had some great ones around AI and all that sort of stuff that are coming 497 00:23:56,004 --> 00:24:00,651 into content to help us build that at scale, but I don't think that will ever. 498 00:24:01,441 --> 00:24:04,900 Or at least for the short term, take away from if you are a great writer, 499 00:24:04,900 --> 00:24:07,980 you understand your audience, you understand your product enough, you are 500 00:24:07,980 --> 00:24:10,600 the best person to create that content for your audience because you know, 501 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,230 well, you know your audience, whereas a machine at the moment just doesn't. 502 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:14,860 Yeah. 503 00:24:14,865 --> 00:24:16,660 And tools can only give you so much. 504 00:24:16,660 --> 00:24:16,930 Right. 505 00:24:17,110 --> 00:24:19,240 Just because Google says these keywords are what you should include 506 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,390 in content, doesn't mean you should go and include them 50 times. 507 00:24:22,660 --> 00:24:23,020 Matt Edmundson: Yeah. 508 00:24:23,830 --> 00:24:25,330 Yeah, no, that's a fair comment. 509 00:24:25,420 --> 00:24:25,930 I like that. 510 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,010 And I, I like the idea that actually quality wins and it's less about creating 511 00:24:30,010 --> 00:24:34,840 10 blog posts, but about creating one really good quality, uh, post for your 512 00:24:34,845 --> 00:24:40,899 content and, and so, If that's the case. 513 00:24:40,899 --> 00:24:41,229 Right. 514 00:24:41,229 --> 00:24:43,929 And, uh, sorry, let me just, uh, go back a sec. 515 00:24:43,959 --> 00:24:47,320 You've mentioned this phrase GPT three a couple of times. 516 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:48,370 What do you mean by that? 517 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:49,750 Just let's just clarify that. 518 00:24:50,110 --> 00:24:53,469 Kevin Wiles: Yeah, so I'm definitely in no expert here, but GPT three is 519 00:24:53,475 --> 00:24:56,860 a, um, like many others, sort of like. 520 00:24:58,255 --> 00:24:59,815 AI type based model mm-hmm. 521 00:24:59,875 --> 00:25:03,775 That can basically, you give it a load of inputs and it gives you outputs and, um, 522 00:25:03,835 --> 00:25:07,795 there's tools like phrase.Io, et cetera, that basically you go in type a keyword 523 00:25:07,795 --> 00:25:10,795 or a topic you wanna create, it will spit back a thousand word pieces of content. 524 00:25:11,305 --> 00:25:13,735 Um, and that's a very broad, high level example. 525 00:25:14,065 --> 00:25:17,935 Um, and there are contents sites today that are purely generated. 526 00:25:18,910 --> 00:25:19,990 Hey, I've given a load of keywords. 527 00:25:19,990 --> 00:25:22,720 It's gone away and created content and there's a, I won't name drop 528 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:23,860 them cuz they wouldn't be very happy. 529 00:25:23,860 --> 00:25:26,320 But there's eCommerce sites that I know that their whole category 530 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,120 content today is completely automated. 531 00:25:28,150 --> 00:25:31,780 It then goes through a manual process of someone internally reviewing it, 532 00:25:32,170 --> 00:25:35,770 but it saves them 80% time from someone actually creating that from scratch. 533 00:25:35,860 --> 00:25:39,130 And that's allowed them to rank and rank very well, uh, in one 534 00:25:39,130 --> 00:25:40,420 of the biggest eCommerce spaces. 535 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:42,850 But there's different models out there. 536 00:25:42,850 --> 00:25:46,470 But I think Google's helpful content update was aimed at saying. 537 00:25:47,300 --> 00:25:50,245 There's lots of rubbish out there that those things are doing because 538 00:25:50,245 --> 00:25:53,545 there's great models that take lots of time to train and, and tailor. 539 00:25:53,755 --> 00:25:57,205 And then there's lots of like lower end models that you can buy 540 00:25:57,205 --> 00:25:59,480 subscription for, for like $99. 541 00:25:59,670 --> 00:26:02,515 And again, we as SEOs are going watch us build loads of content with that 542 00:26:02,515 --> 00:26:05,755 $99 subscription, spin up a site, get it to rank, make loads of money, and 543 00:26:05,755 --> 00:26:09,625 then if it gets hit by Google's next update, I'd just spin it up again. 544 00:26:10,015 --> 00:26:14,365 Um, so yeah, that's broadly, it's probably a terrible, um, explanation, but 545 00:26:14,365 --> 00:26:16,060 that's broadly what it, what it covers. 546 00:26:17,420 --> 00:26:17,790 Matt Edmundson: Yeah. 547 00:26:17,820 --> 00:26:18,790 No, that's great. 548 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:19,540 That's great. 549 00:26:19,540 --> 00:26:24,790 So what's your, If I'm, if I'm starting, let's think of the two, two 550 00:26:24,790 --> 00:26:26,320 sort of two, two words if you like. 551 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,960 So you've got people who have been around, they, they're in eCommerce, 552 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:30,070 they've been around for a little while. 553 00:26:30,075 --> 00:26:32,470 So like Vegetology, you know, that website's been around for a while. 554 00:26:33,310 --> 00:26:36,550 Um, and then you've got the, the, the, the, you know, the guys and 555 00:26:36,550 --> 00:26:38,800 gals who are starting out, they're, they're starting out fresh. 556 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,924 So what should, um, What should I think about, as someone who's been 557 00:26:42,924 --> 00:26:45,684 around e-commerce for a little while, for an from an SEO point of 558 00:26:45,684 --> 00:26:48,864 view, what should be some of the strategy points that I, I need to hit? 559 00:26:49,554 --> 00:26:53,634 Kevin Wiles: Yeah, so good question and it, with anything in seo, it's gonna 560 00:26:53,634 --> 00:26:59,860 depend on the context here, but like, For me, I try and understand, a, if 561 00:26:59,860 --> 00:27:02,350 you have local stores, that's probably gonna be a different strategy altogether 562 00:27:02,350 --> 00:27:03,759 because you can double down on local. 563 00:27:03,759 --> 00:27:06,399 But for the purpose of this, let's just say you've got traditional 564 00:27:06,399 --> 00:27:10,419 Ecom with, uh, crps, PLPs, and then PDP templates, for example. 565 00:27:10,989 --> 00:27:15,280 I'd be trying to understand what's on those PDPs. 566 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,979 So one of the things I see lots of people do is build load of great 567 00:27:17,979 --> 00:27:20,110 products, great products imagery, and I work with a client right now 568 00:27:20,110 --> 00:27:21,639 that has fantastic product imagery. 569 00:27:21,939 --> 00:27:24,669 And then the description of that product is about 50 words. 570 00:27:24,790 --> 00:27:28,315 Now does that describe the product in enough detail? 571 00:27:28,315 --> 00:27:31,135 In terms of the ingredients, the, if it's dosage, for example, if it's 572 00:27:31,135 --> 00:27:35,515 vitamins, um, all the benefits, does it link out to support and content? 573 00:27:35,515 --> 00:27:37,495 Does it have related products that you should take, like a vitamin 574 00:27:37,495 --> 00:27:38,815 stack in the morning, for example? 575 00:27:39,085 --> 00:27:44,394 And I think that's the biggest missed opportunities because as SEOs, we go 576 00:27:44,394 --> 00:27:47,004 after volume or traditionally we've always gone after volume, right? 577 00:27:47,004 --> 00:27:50,154 We've go here Omega three, that's got 10,000 search a month. 578 00:27:50,154 --> 00:27:50,394 Great. 579 00:27:50,394 --> 00:27:51,174 I'm going after that. 580 00:27:51,475 --> 00:27:54,414 Yeah, but actually what about, you know, touch upon a minute. 581 00:27:54,414 --> 00:27:54,985 Go vegan. 582 00:27:55,044 --> 00:27:59,154 So what about vegan Omega three tablets, or what about a Omega vegan three? 583 00:27:59,404 --> 00:28:01,435 Uh, vegan Omega three. 584 00:28:01,884 --> 00:28:05,919 Uh, Men's joint supplements or something that's much longer tail that has lower 585 00:28:05,919 --> 00:28:09,879 search volume, but actually would return a product that that user is then more likely 586 00:28:09,879 --> 00:28:11,350 to buy because they're in that mindset. 587 00:28:11,350 --> 00:28:14,229 And I think that's typically the biggest missed opportunities because 588 00:28:14,439 --> 00:28:17,229 doing product page SEO is hard. 589 00:28:17,229 --> 00:28:17,439 Right. 590 00:28:17,439 --> 00:28:19,389 Particularly the big catalog your gets Yeah. 591 00:28:19,449 --> 00:28:22,689 How do you work out where you focus and Halfords had the same example, 592 00:28:22,689 --> 00:28:24,999 they had like 70,000 products. 593 00:28:25,050 --> 00:28:25,649 It's like cool. 594 00:28:26,610 --> 00:28:27,175 Where do we start? 595 00:28:27,949 --> 00:28:29,905 And then that, then that goes back to the same thing. 596 00:28:29,905 --> 00:28:32,725 It's like, okay, that goes back to the exact same SEO process that you would've 597 00:28:32,725 --> 00:28:34,615 done years ago, which is keyword research. 598 00:28:34,794 --> 00:28:35,145 Mm. 599 00:28:35,725 --> 00:28:39,445 Group those keywords by the, the topic and then work out, okay, what's 600 00:28:39,445 --> 00:28:42,504 Google returning today in their, in their kind of like sub listing and 601 00:28:42,510 --> 00:28:44,185 then tailor that content around it. 602 00:28:44,605 --> 00:28:48,355 And then, you know, if I went into a store, people are getting more conscious 603 00:28:48,355 --> 00:28:50,845 these days to say, what's the ingredients? 604 00:28:50,845 --> 00:28:52,435 Where's it come from, where's it sourced? 605 00:28:52,675 --> 00:28:53,544 Et cetera, et cetera. 606 00:28:54,354 --> 00:28:56,094 That information should also be online. 607 00:28:56,215 --> 00:28:56,304 Mm-hmm. 608 00:28:56,544 --> 00:28:59,364 , I think retailers are getting better, but then it's about what's the 609 00:28:59,364 --> 00:29:03,624 differentiator between you and like my protein, if it's vitamins or Holland 610 00:29:03,629 --> 00:29:05,905 and Barrett in those in instances. 611 00:29:06,084 --> 00:29:09,294 And I think that's, then it ties back to the content to say, well they are 612 00:29:09,294 --> 00:29:14,634 covering a huge catalog of products and they're going after, let's say my protein 613 00:29:14,634 --> 00:29:17,155 is going after whey protein, cause that might be their best selling product. 614 00:29:17,245 --> 00:29:17,364 Mm-hmm.. 615 00:29:17,604 --> 00:29:21,324 So they're probably not supporting the omega three section as well. 616 00:29:21,445 --> 00:29:24,144 They're not probably looking at supporting content and the health benefits and stuff. 617 00:29:24,174 --> 00:29:26,184 It's like that's your niche Double down. 618 00:29:26,544 --> 00:29:26,754 Yeah. 619 00:29:26,754 --> 00:29:29,814 Think four supporting content and then go from there and, and I think 620 00:29:29,814 --> 00:29:33,834 that's just where people are like lacking because everyone tries to do 621 00:29:33,834 --> 00:29:36,654 everything too fast and it doesn't typically work unless you've got huge 622 00:29:36,654 --> 00:29:38,394 budgets and then that's different story. 623 00:29:38,799 --> 00:29:40,989 Matt Edmundson: Yeah which none of us really have. 624 00:29:41,485 --> 00:29:41,559 Yeah. 625 00:29:41,649 --> 00:29:43,449 Uh, but it's, it's, no, I like that. 626 00:29:43,449 --> 00:29:47,439 It's interesting because people ask often ask me, actually, you know, 627 00:29:48,159 --> 00:29:49,659 how do I compete against Amazon? 628 00:29:49,659 --> 00:29:51,820 It's one of the big questions people ask, and I'm like, well, 629 00:29:51,820 --> 00:29:53,289 Amazon's commodities, right? 630 00:29:53,499 --> 00:29:54,340 It's a website. 631 00:29:54,610 --> 00:29:57,429 It could, you can put this product on Amazon and it's just 632 00:29:57,429 --> 00:29:59,139 gonna be one of 10,000 Right. 633 00:29:59,199 --> 00:30:00,699 Uh, of a omega 3s on there. 634 00:30:00,705 --> 00:30:03,189 And it's like whoever gets that page, you can put the content on 635 00:30:03,189 --> 00:30:04,779 there that Amazon doesn't care. 636 00:30:05,259 --> 00:30:07,139 What Amazon can't do. 637 00:30:08,399 --> 00:30:14,860 Um, and where I can absolutely kill it compared to Amazon is with the knowledge, 638 00:30:14,860 --> 00:30:18,310 is with the passion, is with the personality, is with the authenticity, 639 00:30:18,310 --> 00:30:20,380 is in answering the questions. 640 00:30:20,385 --> 00:30:23,020 It's in the, you know, all that information on there. 641 00:30:23,410 --> 00:30:27,550 And so back to Halfords, you know, Amazon may sell a mountain bike. 642 00:30:27,550 --> 00:30:30,970 Halfords may sell a mountain bike, but if I'm, if I've got a 643 00:30:30,970 --> 00:30:32,980 little mountain bike business man. 644 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,080 I can totally rock my website because I can put so much more into 645 00:30:38,085 --> 00:30:39,370 that, that Amazon's not doing that. 646 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:41,530 Halford's can't do it cause it's got 70,000 products. 647 00:30:41,530 --> 00:30:45,580 Amazon just doesn't care because it's got 4 billion products on there or 648 00:30:45,580 --> 00:30:47,260 whatever the amount is these days. 649 00:30:47,950 --> 00:30:50,590 So I, I, I think you're right. 650 00:30:50,590 --> 00:30:51,879 I think that that.. 651 00:30:52,825 --> 00:30:57,565 Investing in that, investing in, in that kind of content to me 652 00:30:57,565 --> 00:30:59,805 seems like a really smart strategy. 653 00:31:00,115 --> 00:31:03,024 And actually what you are saying, Kevin, if I'm hearing this right, is not only is 654 00:31:03,024 --> 00:31:07,615 that a smart strategy from just a, a brand voice point of view, from differentiating 655 00:31:07,615 --> 00:31:11,215 from Amazon, from differentiating from your competitors, but it's also a smart 656 00:31:11,215 --> 00:31:13,064 strategy from an SEO point of view. 657 00:31:14,004 --> 00:31:14,725 Kevin Wiles: Yeah, for sure. 658 00:31:14,725 --> 00:31:20,245 And I think your, your example is, is a great one because hey, if I'm a, um, 659 00:31:20,274 --> 00:31:23,304 let's say I run a small bike shop off Stratford-upon-Avon and I wanna own that 660 00:31:23,304 --> 00:31:27,475 space, well, like instantly I've got new topic opportunities, which is cool. 661 00:31:27,475 --> 00:31:29,844 Well, my audience may be looking for repairs. 662 00:31:29,850 --> 00:31:31,705 They may be looking for same day repairs. 663 00:31:31,735 --> 00:31:34,615 Well, they may be looking for, uh, I've got a family of three. 664 00:31:34,675 --> 00:31:36,355 I want a bike journey that's maybe an hour. 665 00:31:36,825 --> 00:31:38,575 On a flat surface, on a tarmac. 666 00:31:38,875 --> 00:31:41,995 And I, as a specialist, because I run in my small bike shop, can create 667 00:31:41,995 --> 00:31:45,264 some content that's like top five bike rides in Stratford-upon-Avon, which 668 00:31:45,264 --> 00:31:48,655 a big retailer isn't gonna do because they're gonna go, Well, who cares? 669 00:31:48,655 --> 00:31:50,544 You know who I am, You're gonna come buy to me. 670 00:31:51,024 --> 00:31:55,735 And I think the other part is if I pull on a different example, I, um, 671 00:31:55,975 --> 00:32:00,880 one of my friends, um, runs a kind of Michelin star gastro pub, which I 672 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:02,830 went to on Saturday, which was lovely. 673 00:32:03,070 --> 00:32:07,120 But um, they were like, Hey, we wanna start ranking for things like Michelin 674 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:08,770 Star restaurant Cotswolds, for example. 675 00:32:08,770 --> 00:32:12,955 But actually when you go and Google that, There aren't any pubs ranking for 676 00:32:12,955 --> 00:32:16,705 that because Google's interpreted that search term as, Hmm, maybe it's not fair. 677 00:32:16,705 --> 00:32:17,905 We just return one result. 678 00:32:18,085 --> 00:32:20,814 So what they've done is returned sort of like inspiration blogs where it's 679 00:32:20,814 --> 00:32:23,754 like, here's the top five restaurants in the Cotswolds, et cetera, etc. 680 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:24,024 Mm-hmm. 681 00:32:24,685 --> 00:32:27,175 My job as SEO is to get bookings into that restaurant. 682 00:32:27,235 --> 00:32:31,345 So it's while I can optimize that website for that search term, actually 683 00:32:31,345 --> 00:32:34,225 the smart play here is understanding what that page is being returned from 684 00:32:34,225 --> 00:32:37,645 Google and saying, Well, actually here, I just wanna get their website 685 00:32:37,705 --> 00:32:39,504 into those top five articles. 686 00:32:40,060 --> 00:32:42,730 Because either way, SEOs, a byproduct is gonna get them, 687 00:32:43,060 --> 00:32:44,409 hopefully to then have a booking. 688 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:46,689 I think that's the smart place, just understanding 689 00:32:46,929 --> 00:32:48,220 what are people searching for? 690 00:32:48,370 --> 00:32:52,179 And if you then run a restaurant in, in the Cotswolds, and it's a country 691 00:32:52,185 --> 00:32:55,210 pub, for example, or most people are gonna go to the Cotswolds potentially 692 00:32:55,210 --> 00:32:58,389 for a hike, So then why don't you start providing hiking routes and information 693 00:32:58,389 --> 00:33:01,720 about that that says, Oh, actually, if I plan my route from this pub, do 694 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:03,070 a hike and then come back for dinner. 695 00:33:03,699 --> 00:33:05,095 That's my journey and that's my day out. 696 00:33:05,095 --> 00:33:06,595 And then the pub takes that booking. 697 00:33:06,865 --> 00:33:09,774 And I do think that's the smart players, just understanding what the customer, 698 00:33:09,865 --> 00:33:13,854 particularly if you are localized, is looking for, and then answering that, 699 00:33:13,945 --> 00:33:18,745 creating content, whether that's video, articles, lists, whatever it might be. 700 00:33:19,285 --> 00:33:20,785 And just being the expert in that. 701 00:33:20,874 --> 00:33:22,915 And, and before, you know, you'll start to build up awareness. 702 00:33:22,915 --> 00:33:24,865 You'll start to get traffic and stuff, you know. 703 00:33:25,540 --> 00:33:28,070 A mechanic, it could be we're heading into winter. 704 00:33:28,070 --> 00:33:29,620 What other things you need to check in your car? 705 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:32,961 Creating videos, putting 'em on social, put 'em on YouTube, put on whatever it 706 00:33:32,966 --> 00:33:35,110 might be, and being that useful person. 707 00:33:35,350 --> 00:33:37,899 And before you know your start to get traction, start to get reviews, which have 708 00:33:37,899 --> 00:33:40,120 you rank locally and so on and so forth. 709 00:33:40,330 --> 00:33:46,675 But Halfords probably aren't gonna sit there and go, um, How to, uh, stay safe 710 00:33:46,704 --> 00:33:49,974 in Stratford-upon-Avon in the winter on the roads because they just don't care. 711 00:33:50,184 --> 00:33:52,434 And I'm sure that's maybe is, that's a terrible piece of 712 00:33:52,434 --> 00:33:53,425 content that you could create. 713 00:33:53,425 --> 00:33:56,485 But there are other examples where, you know, that is exactly 714 00:33:56,485 --> 00:33:58,794 the sort of stuff that smaller people could, should be doing. 715 00:33:59,064 --> 00:34:02,874 And they probably don't need much guidance from an SEO to say, go write this in 716 00:34:02,874 --> 00:34:04,644 terms of this keyword, this structure. 717 00:34:05,330 --> 00:34:06,110 They know that stuff. 718 00:34:06,110 --> 00:34:07,910 That's, that's why they're in that business they're in. 719 00:34:08,180 --> 00:34:11,630 Whereas, we as SEOs are just going, Here's a load of keywords. 720 00:34:11,630 --> 00:34:12,590 Go and build some content. 721 00:34:12,650 --> 00:34:13,230 Yeah, yeah. 722 00:34:13,609 --> 00:34:14,569 It's got, it's got better. 723 00:34:14,569 --> 00:34:16,489 But I think there's still loads of gap where it's just like, here's a 724 00:34:16,489 --> 00:34:17,569 spreadsheet, here's some keywords. 725 00:34:17,569 --> 00:34:21,500 Build some content with no real thought to the audience piece. 726 00:34:21,505 --> 00:34:25,890 Or actually, what is that content gonna lead to a booking or a product buy? 727 00:34:26,240 --> 00:34:30,670 Matt Edmundson: Yeah, no, I, The more you talk, the more I agree, Kevin, in 728 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,029 the sense that, um, I like it because you're thinking about the customer, you're 729 00:34:34,029 --> 00:34:37,870 thinking about the customer journey, and you are thinking about how you are to get 730 00:34:37,870 --> 00:34:39,670 your story and their story to overlap. 731 00:34:39,699 --> 00:34:42,760 And in that space, you can really do some great stuff. 732 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:44,050 And I think that's where we win. 733 00:34:44,605 --> 00:34:47,574 and actually everything you said, I'm sat here thinking, Well, I, the first question 734 00:34:47,574 --> 00:34:50,515 to ask you is, I've, I'm established in e-commerce, what's my strategy? 735 00:34:50,515 --> 00:34:53,425 My second question was gonna be, I'm new to e-commerce. 736 00:34:53,425 --> 00:34:54,234 What's my strategy? 737 00:34:54,505 --> 00:34:56,904 It sounds like actually it's the same strategy. 738 00:34:57,564 --> 00:34:57,895 Kevin Wiles: Yeah. 739 00:34:57,895 --> 00:35:00,444 I think the only difference, I mean, both of them will have 740 00:35:00,444 --> 00:35:01,765 some aspects of technical, right? 741 00:35:01,765 --> 00:35:05,245 If, if I play back the three pillars of sort of like where I look at SEO 742 00:35:05,245 --> 00:35:09,085 in terms of technical content and then sort of digital PR and marketing. 743 00:35:09,595 --> 00:35:14,375 I think if you are a new e-com site, It's looking at what's the tech stack and 744 00:35:14,394 --> 00:35:15,984 making sure that it's lightning quick. 745 00:35:15,984 --> 00:35:21,385 Because again, the issue you have when you're more established is the bigger 746 00:35:21,385 --> 00:35:24,535 you get, the more sort of like corporate red tape that comes into those things. 747 00:35:24,535 --> 00:35:29,974 And then there's more tech partners, or Bazaar Voice, or Cubeit or Hotjar 748 00:35:29,995 --> 00:35:33,175 or any of the other big providers that want code, and you've got e-com, 749 00:35:33,175 --> 00:35:35,125 you've got merchandise, you've got all these different people wanting 750 00:35:35,125 --> 00:35:36,625 tracking and stuff on the site. 751 00:35:37,375 --> 00:35:42,354 I think when you're let's say a startup, you have the ability to scale and, 752 00:35:42,354 --> 00:35:44,965 and pivot and go, Right, We don't want that on the site, or We can do this 753 00:35:44,965 --> 00:35:46,555 without building that, that provider. 754 00:35:47,515 --> 00:35:49,765 And that gives you the ability, in some instances, to do 755 00:35:49,765 --> 00:35:50,935 better than the big players. 756 00:35:50,939 --> 00:35:54,835 Because when I was at Halford's, they, their site speed was horrendous. 757 00:35:55,555 --> 00:35:57,190 It was terrible. 758 00:35:57,490 --> 00:36:00,670 They ranked purely on the fact they had just the solid backing profile. 759 00:36:00,810 --> 00:36:01,250 Yeah. 760 00:36:01,250 --> 00:36:04,120 But then we had competitors like Pure Electric coming up that were on a 761 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:05,680 Shopify platform that was streamlined. 762 00:36:05,685 --> 00:36:07,630 Their site speed was like under two seconds. 763 00:36:07,779 --> 00:36:09,130 And that's all the things Google wants. 764 00:36:09,135 --> 00:36:09,460 Right? 765 00:36:09,460 --> 00:36:10,630 And that's the things users want. 766 00:36:11,020 --> 00:36:11,140 Mm-hmm. 767 00:36:11,385 --> 00:36:14,470 , while they might not rank for the competitive terms, when they rank 768 00:36:14,470 --> 00:36:17,620 for a specific product term, the customers going, Man, this checkout is 769 00:36:17,620 --> 00:36:19,180 lightning quick click, click thanks. 770 00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:19,730 Yeah. 771 00:36:19,730 --> 00:36:21,910 And, and they start to take market share that way. 772 00:36:22,270 --> 00:36:23,770 Um, so it slightly differs, but then. 773 00:36:24,609 --> 00:36:29,050 If you are new it, it is about going after the longer tail keywords, lower 774 00:36:29,050 --> 00:36:32,769 volume, easier for you to rank with, start starting shop as a competitor with 775 00:36:32,774 --> 00:36:37,210 the long term view of 6, 12, 18 months, whatever might be, you can start to 776 00:36:37,210 --> 00:36:41,380 compete on some of those, like head tail product terms that have just high volume. 777 00:36:42,550 --> 00:36:46,359 Matt Edmundson: So where would I, um, I'm sitting here listening to you think about 778 00:36:46,359 --> 00:36:50,380 this and I, and I I'm going, Well, if I'm starting out in e-commerce and you're 779 00:36:50,380 --> 00:36:54,250 saying go after the long tail keywords, how do I, how do I know what they are? 780 00:36:54,930 --> 00:36:59,710 Kevin Wiles: Yeah, so I think, I mean, I think you can learn a lot by just Googling 781 00:36:59,710 --> 00:37:01,269 what you think a customer is searching. 782 00:37:01,269 --> 00:37:04,359 And it's what I always say to customers when I'm like, So tell me what 783 00:37:04,359 --> 00:37:05,769 you think a customer is searching. 784 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:10,420 Because if I went and searched for mountain bikes, for example, Cool, 785 00:37:10,420 --> 00:37:11,469 I'll start to understand more. 786 00:37:11,469 --> 00:37:14,740 Most of those category pages, and those are quite broad, but then. 787 00:37:16,569 --> 00:37:18,099 What if it's a different size Mountain Bike. 788 00:37:18,099 --> 00:37:20,080 So it's, I need a 21 inch mountain bike. 789 00:37:20,085 --> 00:37:21,550 And then you've got the different size variance. 790 00:37:21,550 --> 00:37:23,920 You know that because you've got that product range sat in your warehouse or 791 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:25,420 whatever, and then you're like, cool. 792 00:37:25,420 --> 00:37:26,439 And my bikes are orange. 793 00:37:26,620 --> 00:37:27,160 Oh, cool. 794 00:37:27,165 --> 00:37:28,840 So it's 21 inch orange mountain bike. 795 00:37:28,899 --> 00:37:29,200 Cool. 796 00:37:29,410 --> 00:37:30,370 And it's full suspension. 797 00:37:30,370 --> 00:37:31,809 So you should start like putting this pattern together. 798 00:37:31,814 --> 00:37:33,219 Like, well, someone might search them. 799 00:37:33,670 --> 00:37:37,179 And that, that when you start to get the, the much longer tail stuff, 800 00:37:37,179 --> 00:37:39,729 there's obviously tools, there's keywords everywhere, which is just 801 00:37:39,729 --> 00:37:43,059 a Chrome plugin you can, um, pull in that says, Hey, you search this, but 802 00:37:43,059 --> 00:37:44,469 here's related to things you could do. 803 00:37:44,799 --> 00:37:48,399 And there's obviously Moz, SEMRush, Ahrefs that you could just pull in that 804 00:37:48,404 --> 00:37:50,080 then gives you the long tail variations. 805 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:54,340 But I do think it's just, you know, what do you actually think someone 806 00:37:54,340 --> 00:37:55,509 is searching for that product term? 807 00:37:55,750 --> 00:37:59,500 If we take a tyre example, If I go and check my car on the drive, 808 00:37:59,890 --> 00:38:01,000 I won't just search car tires. 809 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:02,140 I'll search, Cool. 810 00:38:02,140 --> 00:38:06,220 I need to replace one, and I've got Toyota tires and their 225 R 18, 811 00:38:06,790 --> 00:38:08,440 whatever the rest of the speed rate is. 812 00:38:08,740 --> 00:38:13,060 Suddenly that query's much, much smaller than just car tires. 813 00:38:13,065 --> 00:38:13,370 Mm-hmm.. 814 00:38:13,450 --> 00:38:17,420 But the benefit here is if you build the best product page that ranks that 815 00:38:17,420 --> 00:38:20,260 tyre, You're probably gonna rank, which means you're gonna get sales, which 816 00:38:20,260 --> 00:38:23,160 means you can reinvest that money back into SEO or PPC or whatever it is. 817 00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:23,439 Mm-hmm. 818 00:38:23,524 --> 00:38:26,380 and then do that 10 times, 20 times, 30 times, 40 times, et cetera. 819 00:38:26,620 --> 00:38:29,859 Suddenly a lot more money coming into the business where the big players are like, 820 00:38:30,309 --> 00:38:33,069 Well, we rank for tires, so like we're always gonna capitalize on the market. 821 00:38:34,689 --> 00:38:34,990 Yeah. 822 00:38:34,990 --> 00:38:36,460 And I think that, I think that's the sweet spot. 823 00:38:36,460 --> 00:38:39,220 And the example I always have is, I had a car client once that was 824 00:38:39,220 --> 00:38:41,649 like, We wanna rank for cars, but they only sold Audis and I was like. 825 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:42,689 But why? 826 00:38:42,984 --> 00:38:44,934 They're like, Well, it's got a hundred and odd thousand search a 827 00:38:44,934 --> 00:38:46,104 month, whatever it was back then. 828 00:38:46,524 --> 00:38:49,014 But they were just fixating on the volume thing. 829 00:38:49,014 --> 00:38:51,984 They had the budget, they just wanted to be known for cars. 830 00:38:51,984 --> 00:38:54,795 And I was like, But the amount of people that are gonna come to the website and go. 831 00:38:55,390 --> 00:38:56,649 I actually wanted a bmw. 832 00:38:56,649 --> 00:39:00,640 I wanted Volkswagen, I wanted a Peugeot and you can't service that, that client. 833 00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:04,300 So you'd much better refine it and be an Audi and then look at the types, the 834 00:39:04,300 --> 00:39:08,170 models, the variations, the doors, the engine sizes, et cetera, and then own 835 00:39:08,170 --> 00:39:09,729 all of those different long tail stuff. 836 00:39:10,809 --> 00:39:13,120 Matt Edmundson: Does it, um, I dunno if this is still the case, 837 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:18,024 Kevin, but it used to be, um, if, you know, let's take that example. 838 00:39:18,024 --> 00:39:22,255 Someone ranks, they invest heavily in ranking for cars, but they only sell Audi. 839 00:39:22,734 --> 00:39:24,774 And so that means a lot of people are gonna come to their site and 840 00:39:24,774 --> 00:39:26,274 disappear again quite quickly. 841 00:39:26,274 --> 00:39:29,484 You know, the bounce rate is, people call it, they, you know, people bounce. 842 00:39:29,755 --> 00:39:32,064 Does that still affect your SEO ranking? 843 00:39:32,069 --> 00:39:35,335 So if people are coming to your site and disappearing quite quickly are Google 844 00:39:35,335 --> 00:39:37,465 going, We don't like this website. 845 00:39:41,259 --> 00:39:42,429 Kevin Wiles: That's a difficult question. 846 00:39:42,429 --> 00:39:47,590 And the reason I say that is there's um, lots of theories and, um, actual 847 00:39:47,590 --> 00:39:51,040 case studies and stuff that say bounce rate technically does have an impact. 848 00:39:51,279 --> 00:39:55,210 Google's official stance is we don't take any Google Analytics metrics into account 849 00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:56,950 when we're looking at SEO rankings. 850 00:39:57,090 --> 00:40:01,944 Um, I'm unsure is my honest answer. 851 00:40:01,944 --> 00:40:05,965 I think they right in some degree have an understanding that if you are clicking 852 00:40:05,965 --> 00:40:08,545 from search and then clicking straight back, that probably doesn't enter in 853 00:40:08,545 --> 00:40:10,165 the intent and that impacts things. 854 00:40:10,435 --> 00:40:16,225 But I don't think we'll ever get a firm answer from Google to say it does. 855 00:40:16,375 --> 00:40:18,745 Um, but again, why? 856 00:40:20,304 --> 00:40:23,274 Why would you want to build content or landing pages that 857 00:40:23,304 --> 00:40:24,474 aren't good for your customers? 858 00:40:24,474 --> 00:40:27,925 Because if anything, the long term here is people are gonna get 859 00:40:27,925 --> 00:40:30,535 annoyed and frustrated at your brand for being a bit rubbish. 860 00:40:30,925 --> 00:40:33,684 And actually that's probably more important than thinking I 861 00:40:33,684 --> 00:40:35,064 can rank for cars, which mm-hmm. 862 00:40:35,455 --> 00:40:37,974 isn't gonna put sales and it comes back to that exact same conversation. 863 00:40:38,035 --> 00:40:40,014 It's traffic or, or cash. 864 00:40:40,104 --> 00:40:42,535 And I'd rather have cash over traffic. 865 00:40:42,984 --> 00:40:43,285 Yeah. 866 00:40:43,375 --> 00:40:45,505 And it's kind of like, it is trying to get that like C-suite 867 00:40:45,564 --> 00:40:47,125 level, like ownership to say. 868 00:40:47,904 --> 00:40:50,484 Traffic means nothing if it's not converting. 869 00:40:50,904 --> 00:40:54,115 Um, because sometimes it's fixating on the numbers that are bigger. 870 00:40:55,705 --> 00:40:59,005 Matt Edmundson: So, Kevin, listen, I'm aware of time and 871 00:40:59,615 --> 00:41:02,064 I, I regret to inform you now. 872 00:41:02,215 --> 00:41:04,524 It's just one of those where I could, I just feel like I'm 873 00:41:04,524 --> 00:41:05,665 scratching the surface on this. 874 00:41:05,665 --> 00:41:09,295 So if someone sat there like me and going, Oh, I've got the question about 875 00:41:09,295 --> 00:41:10,375 this, I've got a question about that. 876 00:41:10,675 --> 00:41:13,555 What's some good resources in terms of finding out more? 877 00:41:13,555 --> 00:41:14,944 Where's a good place to start? 878 00:41:15,604 --> 00:41:16,915 Kevin Wiles: Well, that's a good question. 879 00:41:16,915 --> 00:41:19,375 So I think the, um, it depends how. 880 00:41:19,990 --> 00:41:21,069 How detailed you want to go. 881 00:41:21,069 --> 00:41:23,740 So Google has its own like beginner's guide to seo. 882 00:41:24,189 --> 00:41:27,429 Um, then there's brands like HubSpot that have some great ideas around 883 00:41:27,429 --> 00:41:28,779 just building an SEO strategy. 884 00:41:28,785 --> 00:41:31,630 Things you need to look at, which can be more high level, but give you the 885 00:41:31,929 --> 00:41:33,309 calling to go look at keywords this way. 886 00:41:33,790 --> 00:41:37,719 Um, Aleyda Solis has a great, um, she's spent a lot of time in the industry 887 00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:41,620 building out resources for people to understand SEO from tech, strategy, 888 00:41:41,620 --> 00:41:45,879 insights, analytics, reporting, which I think is, uh, learningseo.io. 889 00:41:46,179 --> 00:41:47,439 Um, so I'd definitely check that out. 890 00:41:47,809 --> 00:41:51,189 Um, and then just start to Google those things. 891 00:41:51,189 --> 00:41:54,399 If it's about starting in local seo, there'll be a good guide 892 00:41:54,399 --> 00:41:57,340 about how to build up your G&B profile to make sure you can rank. 893 00:41:57,670 --> 00:41:58,840 It is difficult to say. 894 00:41:59,109 --> 00:42:01,689 This will be the ultimate guide for SEO that you'll ever need, because I don't 895 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,899 generally think this one exists because I think there's so many disciplines of an 896 00:42:04,899 --> 00:42:10,314 SEO that like, Hey, local SEO is different to enterprise seo and therefore, Someone 897 00:42:10,314 --> 00:42:13,345 who specializes in enterprise SEO isn't gonna be the best person to go and follow 898 00:42:13,345 --> 00:42:15,385 for, for if you just say run a bakery. 899 00:42:15,774 --> 00:42:18,595 Um, but I will try and follow up with some notes that you can put in the comments 900 00:42:18,595 --> 00:42:20,604 and, um, and send those up to users. 901 00:42:21,205 --> 00:42:21,865 Matt Edmundson: That'd be great. 902 00:42:21,984 --> 00:42:22,675 That'll be great. 903 00:42:23,154 --> 00:42:27,115 Listen, Kevin, here's my, my crazy question that I've, I've started 904 00:42:27,115 --> 00:42:29,545 asking people and I'm really curious to know what your answer is, right. 905 00:42:30,819 --> 00:42:33,490 You've just given your best keynote speech in your life ever. 906 00:42:33,519 --> 00:42:36,599 I always say to, to guests, imagine it's been to the e-commerce 907 00:42:36,599 --> 00:42:38,139 cohort who sponsor the podcast. 908 00:42:38,139 --> 00:42:40,120 So all the cohorts have sat in a hotel room. 909 00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:42,189 You've delivered your best keynote ever on seo. 910 00:42:42,189 --> 00:42:43,420 Yeah, the crowd's going crazy. 911 00:42:43,420 --> 00:42:43,929 Go, Kevin. 912 00:42:44,019 --> 00:42:44,319 Wow. 913 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:48,370 Um, and you stand up, you take a bow and you do that thing that they do at the 914 00:42:48,370 --> 00:42:53,559 Oscars, which say, I would just like to thank, um, who would be on your list? 915 00:42:53,559 --> 00:42:53,800 What? 916 00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:56,380 Would there be people, uh, a podcast, a book. 917 00:42:56,410 --> 00:42:58,830 Who, who would be on your list of, of people to thank. 918 00:42:59,395 --> 00:42:59,755 Yeah, 919 00:42:59,755 --> 00:43:03,685 Kevin Wiles: so I think, um, I mean, when I first started there was 920 00:43:03,685 --> 00:43:05,665 definitely what I call the OGs of seo. 921 00:43:05,665 --> 00:43:09,295 So, um, people like Barry Adams and stuff were the reason that I 922 00:43:09,295 --> 00:43:10,825 got into SEO many, many years ago. 923 00:43:11,064 --> 00:43:14,755 And then I think more recently the people that have made me stay 924 00:43:14,755 --> 00:43:17,785 in SEO and keep motivating and stuff is, um, Martin McDonald's. 925 00:43:17,785 --> 00:43:20,725 So he, uh, I work for an agency called MOG Media. 926 00:43:21,545 --> 00:43:22,825 Martin's the CEO of that agency. 927 00:43:22,825 --> 00:43:27,515 So, um, definitely him, but I think outside of that, a lot of 928 00:43:27,535 --> 00:43:31,135 it has just been, I'm honest, self-motivation because I wanna buy 929 00:43:31,135 --> 00:43:32,755 some land to not live near people. 930 00:43:35,665 --> 00:43:38,965 But, um, as bad as that sounds, that's, there's been, there's generally been 931 00:43:38,965 --> 00:43:41,875 lots of people I could sit here and thank, but a lot of it has also come 932 00:43:41,875 --> 00:43:45,145 down to late nights just learning, getting stuck into beds and stuff. 933 00:43:46,465 --> 00:43:48,975 I wanna buy a field and build a house to not be near people. 934 00:43:49,505 --> 00:43:51,310 Matt Edmundson: That, that's, uh, fair enough. 935 00:43:51,340 --> 00:43:52,510 I I totally get that. 936 00:43:54,290 --> 00:43:57,160 I, I wouldn't personally do it, but I, It's good to have 937 00:43:57,160 --> 00:43:58,180 a dream and a goal, right. 938 00:43:58,689 --> 00:44:00,189 Um, listen, Kevin, brilliant. 939 00:44:00,220 --> 00:44:01,120 How do people reach you? 940 00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:03,580 How do they get in touch if they want, If they want to do so? 941 00:44:04,194 --> 00:44:04,615 Kevin Wiles: Yeah, sure. 942 00:44:04,615 --> 00:44:07,495 So I'm on Twitter just at Kev Wiles, um, as my handle. 943 00:44:07,734 --> 00:44:10,474 Uh, I've got a LinkedIn profile, which is, uh, Kevin J. 944 00:44:10,474 --> 00:44:12,215 Wiles, uh, just on LinkedIn. 945 00:44:12,354 --> 00:44:15,535 Obviously my website, which is Kevin Wiles, And then the agency I work 946 00:44:15,540 --> 00:44:20,094 for, which is just mog.media, which is a enterprise, um, agency that has a 947 00:44:20,094 --> 00:44:21,264 SaaS platform coming up soon as well. 948 00:44:22,224 --> 00:44:22,915 Matt Edmundson: Fantastic. 949 00:44:22,915 --> 00:44:23,455 Fantastic. 950 00:44:23,455 --> 00:44:30,745 We will of course, uh, link to all of those, uh, links in our show notes, and if 951 00:44:30,745 --> 00:44:35,755 you are subscribed to our email list, they will be coming to your inbox directly. 952 00:44:35,755 --> 00:44:37,524 If you're not subscribed to email list, subscribe. 953 00:44:37,844 --> 00:44:40,245 Uh, because you just get those things straight to your inbox. 954 00:44:40,245 --> 00:44:41,354 You don't even have to worry about it. 955 00:44:41,354 --> 00:44:41,594 Right. 956 00:44:42,014 --> 00:44:43,604 Uh, so there you have it. 957 00:44:43,875 --> 00:44:45,825 What's a fantastic conversation. 958 00:44:45,825 --> 00:44:46,425 Thank Kevin. 959 00:44:46,425 --> 00:44:47,774 Thank you so much for joining us. 960 00:44:47,774 --> 00:44:48,206 Thank you very much. 961 00:44:48,514 --> 00:44:50,894 I really appreciate you being here today. 962 00:44:51,344 --> 00:44:53,354 Uh, all good stuff. 963 00:44:53,354 --> 00:44:56,774 I'd like say I wish I had another two hours carry on this conversation. 964 00:44:57,165 --> 00:45:00,734 Uh, a big shout out to today's show sponsor the e-commerce cohort. 965 00:45:00,734 --> 00:45:06,120 Do head on over to ecommercecohort.com for more information about this new type 966 00:45:06,125 --> 00:45:10,319 of community and membership, uh, which I really think you should check out. 967 00:45:10,319 --> 00:45:11,220 And, uh, join. 968 00:45:11,729 --> 00:45:14,910 Be sure to follow the e-commerce podcast wherever you get your podcast 969 00:45:14,910 --> 00:45:19,170 from because we've got some more great guests like Kevin, uh, lined up and 970 00:45:19,170 --> 00:45:21,569 I don't want you to miss any of them. 971 00:45:21,569 --> 00:45:25,710 So subscribe, follow, I think follow is now the word we use, uh, because 972 00:45:25,710 --> 00:45:28,559 Apple Podcast ditched the word subscribe and changed it for follow. 973 00:45:28,559 --> 00:45:28,979 Anyway. 974 00:45:30,025 --> 00:45:35,410 Uh, in case no one has told you today, dear listener, you are awesome. 975 00:45:35,590 --> 00:45:36,189 Yes you are. 976 00:45:36,189 --> 00:45:38,710 It's just a burden that we all have to bear. 977 00:45:39,010 --> 00:45:42,310 Now, the E-Commerce podcast is produced by Aurion Media. 978 00:45:42,310 --> 00:45:47,109 You can find our entire archive of episodes on your favorite podcast app. 979 00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:51,180 The team that makes this show possible is Sadaf Beynon, Josh Catchpole, 980 00:45:51,180 --> 00:45:53,510 Estella Robin and Tim Johnson. 981 00:45:53,859 --> 00:45:57,490 Our theme song was written by Josh Edmundson and my good self. 982 00:45:57,870 --> 00:46:01,234 And as I mentioned, if you would like to read the transcript or show 983 00:46:01,234 --> 00:46:05,974 notes, you can head over to the website ecommercepodcast.net, uh, 984 00:46:05,979 --> 00:46:07,264 where you can see them for free. 985 00:46:07,264 --> 00:46:10,564 And you can also sign up for the weekly newsletter that I mentioned 986 00:46:10,835 --> 00:46:15,064 and get all of this good stuff directly in your inbox totally free. 987 00:46:15,335 --> 00:46:16,005 Amazing. 988 00:46:16,325 --> 00:46:16,925 Yes, it is. 989 00:46:17,404 --> 00:46:18,514 So that's it. 990 00:46:18,514 --> 00:46:22,415 A big thanks from me and also from Kevin. 991 00:46:22,415 --> 00:46:25,115 Thank you so much for joining us. 992 00:46:25,194 --> 00:46:26,470 Yeah, it's been brilliant, mate. 993 00:46:26,470 --> 00:46:29,080 Honestly, uh, we will see you next time. 994 00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:30,550 Have a great week wherever you are. 995 00:46:30,790 --> 00:46:31,240 That's it. 996 00:46:31,540 --> 00:46:31,990 Bye for now.