

The Simple and Smart SEO Show
Crystal Waddell
The best SEO podcast for entrepreneurs and creative small business owners who want to build a better website to grow their business!✨This SEO-focused podcast combines brand strategies mixed with fresh ideas for websites, digital marketing, and customer experience.✨WHY SEO?✨SEO is important because it can help a business be found by people searching for what they sell. In 2025, SEO for LLMs and AI-powered search engines will grow in importance. But don't feel overwhelmed: SEO can be simple and elevate your websites visibility with small changes over time.✨Listen to this podcast every week to learn how you can make your website rank higher without spending thousands of dollars per month!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 7, 2022 • 53min
Launch With Confidence: SEO and Pre-Launch w/ Brenna McGowan
We are talking to Brenna McGowan all about using prelaunch strategies aligned with an SEO strategy!June 26-30 go Behind the Launch w/ Brenna—for free!Brenna is a copywriter, launch strategist, and pre-launch expert who helps business owners communicate the value of their products and services.1. What is pre launch?Pre-launch is the period before a sales promotion when businesses promote what they are selling to get people prepared for the main event.Planning is key to successful pre-launches, as well as understanding how to use pre-launch tactics in an evergreen funnel.2. Pre-launching can be helpful for anything from lead magnets to events, not just products or services.The pre-launch journey is figuring out exactly where the person is at, exactly the right fit readiness. A prelaunch is what comes before a sales promotion.Many times in content: call to action is vague or missing completely.3. Paying attention is key to understanding what interests people and informing an SEO strategy.Credibility is important for authority and SEO.Empathy is key to understanding your ideal client.You can show empathy by giving people autonomy.Connect with Brenna: brennamcgowan.co/cheatsheet InstagramFacebook GroupConnect w/ B: YouTube, Website, Text me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Nov 30, 2022 • 55min
Workflow Tips, Systems, & SEO Strategy w/ Dahlia Orth, HoneyBook Pro
What's in our 28th Episode? We are talking to Dahlia Orth all about creating systems in Honeybook to support your SEO strategy!Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!Share us with a friend!Apply for a $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note.1. Dahlia is a System Strategist & Honeybook Pro who can help you streamline your business processes.Dahlia offers a guide on her website to help you get started with HoneyBook.Dahlia helped B put systems and processes in place for her copywriting business, including automations and templates.2. Everyone should document their workflows, whether they are just starting out or are ready to hire a team.Tools you can use : ClickUp Honey Book for post-production checklists.Notion is a great tool for organizing info and color-coding things.Monday.comWhimsical is fun for diagrams and flowcharts3. Be intentional when creating a workflow = quality leads.You have to put in legwork on the front end to see results on the back end.Repurposing content is a great way to make the most of your efforts.4. Get in touch with Dahlia Orth, System Strategist & Honeybook Prowww.dahliaorth.comText me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Nov 25, 2022 • 8min
INTRODUCING: SEO Shorts—the Private Podcast companion
We've been teasing it, but here's an actual full length episode of our brand new, private podcast: SEO Shorts 🩳!Ever wonder what the pros use for keyword research?We’re answering this burning question today!Chrome extensions we mentioned:UbersuggestKeywords EverywhereKeyword Surfer^^ not affiliate links! Just links to make finding our favorite tools super easy.Tell us about your favorite SEO tool or let us know which of the 3 we discussed you can’t wait to download! Drop your answer in this thread.Like the show & want more? ⬇️Become an SEO Shorts subscriber today for only $10/ month!What you get as a paid private podcast member:- action-oriented weekly episodes- clear "how to" instructions- unlisted YouTube video tutorials - access to an exclusive Q+A thread for subscribers- and everything is less than 10 minutesCheck out the FAQs here(ask your own question about the private podcast in this thread)Can't wait to see you on the inside!Connect w/ B: YouTube, Website, LinkedIn, InstagramText me your questions or comments!Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Nov 23, 2022 • 40min
Black Friday Special Episode: Surfer SEO Behind The Scenes
What's in our 26th Episode? We are sharing a Black Friday Promotion that you don't want to miss - from Crystal's favorite SEO tool, Surfer SEO!Want to watch us use Surfer SEO in this episode? Watch the YouTube Video!!!Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share us with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.1. Surfer SEO is a tool that helps you rank higher on GoogleSurfer SEO helps you figure out which articles to write in order to show up as an authority on a particular topic.You can use Surfer SEO to find keywords with high search volume and low difficulty, meaning they'll be easier for you to rank for.Search intent should be taken into account when choosing keywords.2. You can use Surfer SEO to create blogs by following its suggestions for topics, keywords, and linking strategies.Surfer SEO is a keyword research and blogging tool in one.Surfer SEText me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Nov 16, 2022 • 43min
Combining PR and SEO Strategy w/ Alisa Meredith of SEMrush
What's in our 25th Episode? Alisa Meredith is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at Semrush. Today she is sharing about their SEO products Surround Sound.Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share us with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note.1. Surround Sound is an SEO tool that helps with outreach.Surround Sound SEO is different from traditional SEO because the goal is not to rank your website or content, but rather to get mentioned on high-ranking websites. Brand visibility is how often your brand appears in search results, and share of search is what percentage of those results are yours.2. It is important to understand where your business stands in the market.There are three types of keywords to consider: content marketing, commercial intent, and transactional intent.Using high intent keywords (keywords with commercial intent) will help you.3. Surround Sound SEO is a way to leverage other sites that already rank for keywords to get your own site mentioned.Try to build a relationship with the publication by offering something in return.Understanding a customer's unique buyer's journey is important to align marketing.5. Connect with Alisa:Surround Sound videoIGTwitterConnect w/ B: Text me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Nov 9, 2022 • 45min
Build Your SEO Content Strategy W/ Speaking Coach Laurie-Ann Murabito
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share us with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.What's in our 24th Episode with Public Speaking Expert and Coach Laurie-Ann Murabito? 1. SEO is important for everyone, not just big companies.Get permission to reuse content by getting testimonials from those you speak with or for, which also helps with SEO strategy.Repurposing speaking content into blog posts or audio/visual content builds SEO on your website.2. Public speaking is so much more than stages and Zoom calls.Laurie described three types of speakers: motivating, professor, and marketer.The opening of a presentation needs to grab people's attention and give them a reason to put their phones down.The "meat of your presentation" should be three tips or ideas, supported by data and stories.3. On-page SEO and off-page SEO are powerful way to build reputation management and saturate the search engine results page with your authority.OFF-PAGE: Speaking engagements are a great way to get your name out there, and transcripts of those speeches can be repurposed into written content or videos.ON PAGE: Having a blog or podcast on your website helps you show up in different formats on the search engine results page, OFF-PAGE: Link back to images and videos of yourself from speaking engagements.ON-PAGE: You can keep visitors on your website longer by embedding YouTube videos of your podcasts rather than sending tText me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Nov 2, 2022 • 25min
What is Black Hat SEO? w/ Stephanie Long (Part 2)
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share us with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.What's in our 23rd Episode with SEO expert & consultant Stephanie Long, part 2?Our Takeaways:1. Use Screaming Frog and Google's Page Speed Tool to optimize images and improve page speed.Use Screaming Frog to optimize images for alt text and size.Site structure should be easy to navigate and make sense logically.Contact Stephanie for a free consultation and audit.2. Optimize your Wordpress pages and Shopify pages.WordPress users: update your URL slug to something relevant and optimized.Shopify users: remember to check the box for automatic redirection when you make changes to a page.For URL slugs, try to keep them 3-4 terms long and relevant to the page topic.3. What is White Hat SEO? What is Black Hat SEO?White hat SEO is optimizing your blog appropriately, putting in the targeted keyword on each page, two to three times max. Black hat SEO: keyword stuffing, buying links, shady stuff behind the scenes.Competitive research falls under white hat seo. 4. How to choose the best keywords for your site:Make sure that the keywords you're targeting are actually being Searched by potential customers. Using UberSuggest and Answer the Public can help ensure that you're using white hat SEO techniques.5. Find out the difference between a web developer's job Text me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Oct 26, 2022 • 26min
White Hat vs Black Hat SEO w/ Stephanie Long (Pt 1)
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share us with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.What's in our 22nd episode? We are celebrating 3,500+ downloads!!!Part 1 With SEO Expert Stephanie Long1. Stephanie Long has been working in SEO for 10 years and started her own SEO agency after being laid off due to Covid.One of Stephanie's top tips: Heat maps are a valuable tool for understanding where people are clicking on your website.Stephanie suggests that, in order to increase your domain authority the fastest, you should start by blogging once a week.She also recommends using HARO and writing for other companies as ways to get backlinks and improve your domain authority.2. Stephanie notes that SEO is a slow process and emphasizes the importance of fresh content. SEO is an ongoing process that is not a one and done project.You can make money and/or grow an audience on Medium by signing up as a partner and uploading blogs.3. White hat vs black hat: watch out for people who promise to get you ranking quickly, as this is likely keyword stuffingGoogle knows what customers are looking for, so don't try to trick them with keyword stuffing or other spammy techniques. If something seems too good to be true (like an SEO email promising results for $15), it probably is.Check out episode 23 where we dive into Part 2 with Stephanie!Mention this interview and get a Text me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Oct 19, 2022 • 40min
3 Ways to Optimize Your Podcast w/ Podcast Producer Leah Bryant
Welcome to the Simple & Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share us with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave us a messageMeet: Leah Bryant!She's the founder of Leah Bryant Co., an all-woman podcast production boutique agency that helps coaches & course creators launch & manage their podcasts.Takeaways:Workflows are important in podcasting in order to make the process less stressful.Key templates to use in podcasting include guest outreach, show notes, and graphics.B is analytical & helps with the organization of the podcast, while Crystal handles the technology.Leah is starting a podcast with a buddy, Marcie, about private podcasts—an underutilized asset for businesses.Host a private podcast on Hello Audio, Libsyn, or Captivate:Hello Audio was the 1st to spearhead private podcasting.To make a private podcast, you pay a fee and set up your RSS feed like normal.Several creative ways to monetize a podcast:The way to monetize a podcast is by sponsors, ads, Patreon, selling merchandise, etc. Crystal has set up a Simple and Smart SEO Merchandise Shop and $99 SEO audits.How a podcast helps your SEO & your biz: Build community is important for business growth & connection.Galas.fm allows people to stay connecteText me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!

Oct 12, 2022 • 26min
Get More Traffic to Your Site w/ Emily Reagan (Part 2)
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share us with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.What's in our 20th episode? Our Part 2 Takeaways: It would be helpful to have a virtual assistant who already has a head start and understands SEO so that they can just run with it and own that.Emily teaches her students to optimize existing content before creating new content.Virtual Assistants should be able to access the backend of websites in order to make changes.Assistants need to access the SEO data in order to see what's ranking and what's working.SEO Virtual Assistants should track and show their SEO work to business owners monthly.Having a spreadsheet where you can track progress over time is important in order to remember what words are being worked on.Following up monthly (or whenever you invoice) is sufficient.Business owners should have a basic understanding of SEO before hiring a VA.Prepping for an SEO assistant should involve creating a list of things that need to be checked off.Grab Crystal's Shopify SEO checklist for Shopify store owners!Download Emily's resource for VA tasks.The relationship between content and SEO:Start with the SEO first so that the right keywords can be targeted.Helps to focus writing and create quality content.Text me your questions or comments!Hey creative entrepreneur—does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by CrystalGPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Crystal GPT walks you through what matters most for your website. Head to SEOin7days.com (with a 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore. Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You’re not alone. That’s why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let’s make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest! 🎙️ Don't forget to Put your pitch topic in the subject line! AFFILIATE LINKS:Start your Shopify Store!Get SurferSEO! Metricool (to be everywhere online, you NEED a social media scheduler!) Note: If you make a purchase using some of my links, I make a little money. But I only ever share products, people, & offers I trust & use myself!