Thursday Press #42: your SEO doesn't matter as much as you think it does
[18 AUG 2022] here's what you actually need to get booked
YOUR GOOGLE RANKING DOESN'T MATTER AS MUCH AS YOU THINK IT DOES
I've spent a lot of my professional life writing words for other people on the internet…
and something that has always seemed strange to me is the fact that you can really just write anything, hit publish, and it could be taken as fact.
That's what I've done in a few roles.
Need a blog post about topic X? "Just look up what the top ranking sites are doing and put it in our words."
For most things, it doesn't really make a difference. The same 10 coolers are probably going to be recommended no matter what, and it's not generally a life-or-death decision.
But when we're talking health/science and I'm just including whatever keywords perform the best, that's when I get a little bit of the ick.
Because in case you didn't know, science is by far my least favorite subject. To the point of taking an extra AP physics class in high school so I could test out of all college science requirements.
Contrary to how this email started, pal, I'm not here to whistleblow on small business SEO strategy or talk about my academic history.
I'm here to tell you why it's not enough to just write informative blog posts that rank in Google.
It's easy to copy what everyone else is writing and fight it out for that coveted #1 search result, but what difference does it make if there's no reason for your ideal clients to actually choose you over someone else in your niche?
You need personality. That unique quality that makes you impossible to imitate. Something that makes you stand out.
One of my favorite “business quotes" is from Seth Godin: “people do not buy goods and services, they buy relations, stories and magic.”
Or, as I frequently distill it – people buy from people.
So what's your magic?
I can't figure that out for you.
Neither can your social media manager. Your designer or copywriter might get close, but figuring out the essence of who you are should come from you.
If you've been feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of tactics and hacks claiming to be THE key to success, let this be your permission slip to lean into your gut. Do what feels good. Be you.