SEO AMA, or Ask Me Anything, is always a fun opportunity to grill SEO OGs (that’s slang for an old-school SEO who’s been in the industry for an exceptionally long time). In this case it was me, Bruce Clay and Duane Forrester at Affiliate Summit West. This was some years ago but there’s still gold to be mined from this session. Get ready to soak in some serious SEO knowledge from 3 top experts who know their way around Google and Bing! In this episode, Bruce, Duane, and I field questions from entrepreneurs, bloggers, and business owners who need to have SEO demystified. We go over some of the pitfalls of hiring sketchy SEO firms, (unfortunately, there are a lot of them) who promise you the moon for a cheap price, and deliver zero results. We give tips for hiring SEO people or companies, such as my SEO BS Detector and my SEO Hiring Blueprint — free resources anyone can access at StephanSpencer.com. We also talk about valuable backlinks vs. spammy links, and the growing importance of ranking for questions such as, “What is…” and “How do I…” We explain the difference between a search-engine-friendly website and a search-engine-optimized website. If you weren’t able to be there in person at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, this is your chance to gather tons of SEO knowledge, insights, as well as actionable tips from Bruce, Duane, and me. So, without any further ado, on with the show!
A Case Study in Preeminence, Prominence, and Positioning with Brandon Yosha
If there is a moral vacuum, it’s your duty to step in and be a mensch – a person of great integrity. When talking with my guest on today’s show, Brandon Yosha, I was reminded of these powerful words spoken by Aaron Feuerstein, the “Mensch of Malden Hills”.
Personal injury law is not always a savory arena, but Brandon is a pretty amazing example of what you can accomplish if you are guided by a higher mission. He is a trial lawyer and co-owner and partner at Yosha Law. He’s also a former college football player. Brandon and I got to know each other through his cousin, the legendary Jay Abraham, a repeat guest here on Marketing Speak. Brandon became a client nearly a year ago. He’s more than just a client though; he has become a good friend. In this case study episode, we talk about how Yosha Law, with guidance from me and my team, has been able to utilize SEO and online marketing to achieve an astounding 23 signed cases last month. That’s a record for the firm which has been around since the 1960’s. Brandon and I talk about the principle of preeminence, which is one of Jay Abraham’s teachings, and how we together put this principle into practice in a number of creative ways. If you’ve ever wondered how pursuing profit and doing good can go hand-in-hand, you need to listen to this episode—it’s truly inspiring. So, without any further ado, on with the show!
SEO Fundamentals for Bloggers with Stephan Spencer and Chloe Spencer
There is an art to using SEO to optimize your blog, and it starts with humans, not bots like ChatGPT. Yes, you want to rank, but you need to go about it properly because Google knows the difference between valuable content and a keyword-stuffed blog written by an AI.
I’m excited to demystify SEO for bloggers by sharing a BlogHer conference presentation that I got to do in collaboration with my amazingly talented daughter, Chloe Spencer. Bloggers offered up their sites so we could dive in and critique them, sharing tactical, hands-on SEO tips to give them leverage over their competitors. We explain which HTML tags are important aspects of on-page SEO, why duplicate content is an issue, and how to optimize for your target keywords. If you don’t know about geeky stuff like canonical tags, RSS feeds, and the difference between keyword prominence and keyword density, you’re going to learn! We also share valuable tips on keyword brainstorming, competitor research, and internal linking. If you have a blog, or you’re thinking of starting one, you’ll find this to be a really fun and informative episode about all things blogging and SEO. So, without any further ado, here’s our presentation!
No-Nonsense SEO with Gert Mellak
Stripping down your services and honing in on your niche is a great strategy for so many reasons. It can really help you stand out in a crowded online space and boost your revenue while allowing you to get in your zone and focus on the work you excel at.
My guest on today’s show is Gert Mellak. He runs SEOLeverage.com, an SEO platform that helps online course creators utilize search marketing to fuel their business growth. Gert and I know each other through James Schramko and his mastermind that we both joined, Silver Circle. In this episode, we talk about our shared passion for being in a mastermind of accomplished individuals because it’s like playing tennis with someone who is really great—it helps you up your game. We dive into SEO, discussing the importance of using best-in-class SEO tools to obtain hard data rather than basing decisions solely on generic best practices. If you’re curious about which SEO tools are most effective and how to utilize cutting-edge AI tools like SEOWind, Surfer SEO, and Jasper to pull ahead of your competition, this episode is chock full of valuable nuggets. So now, without further ado, on with the show!
How to Hire an SEO Practitioner with Stephan Spencer
Anyone can hire an SEO person or company to help increase organic traffic for themselves or their clients, but if you’re looking to hire an insanely great SEO, then this episode is for you.
It was an honor to speak at BrightonSEO, the largest SEO conference in Europe, where I shared my seven-step process to hire a Search Engine Optimization practitioner who truly knows their stuff and can have a measurable impact on your business. I discuss the art of writing the kind of ad that will not only attract super-qualified applicants but also weed out people who are not at the top of their game. I share tips and tricks you probably never thought of, like using A/B testing for your ad and interview questions that are trick questions that don’t sound like trick questions. Having been down this road and successfully hired quality people who really were game changers for my agency and our clients, it was a great experience to share my best tips and tricks to find someone outstanding to work with. So now, without further ado, on with the show!