

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

Oct 5, 2022 • 29min
How to Outsource SEO Tasks to a VA w/ Emily Reagan (Part 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 18th episode?Today we're talking hiring a "Unicorn" SEO assistant (not your average VA!)Our Part 1 Takeaways: Business owners should give Virtual Assistants tasks that are measurable. Tasks that VAs can help with include scheduling social media posts, drafting emails, and creating content.SEO-specific tasks include updating Google Search Console and writing SEO Meta Descriptions and Titles.Communication is key when working with a VA, and business owners should be clear about their expectations.Business owners should track their time to see where they can delegate tasks to a VA.SEO is the starting place for all of your content.The BFF of SEO is time. Optimize your site and give it time to work for you.Google webmaster tools lets you build your own tracking links with a specific nomenclature*.Shopify doesn't currently have a place to put in a GA-4 code but you can research how to do it yourself.*word of the year: nomenclature. Nomenclature means the choosing of names for things aka naming conventions or "what you call stuff."Check out the next episode for Part 2 with Emily Reagan!EMILY REAGAN INFOemilyreaganpr.comInstagramNeed to offload 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!

Sep 28, 2022 • 35min
Google's Helpful Content Update: Explained
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share this with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.Today we're talking about the Google Helpful Content Update and what it means for content.Here's the top takeaways:Google released an update called the helpful content update which could impact your website's search engine ranking.Helpful content is defined as content that satisfies the search intent of the user, is well written, and is informative.You can make your content more helpful by writing for human beings instead of search engines.Pay attention to what questions people are asking you and create content related to your niche.A few things we've learned...Creating content that is helpful to your audience will also help build trust with Google and other search engines, making it more likely that your website will be seen as a trusted authority.Product reviews, images, videos, and links are all ways to create helpful content that demonstrates your expertise.Structuring your content in an easily digestible format will also help search engines understand your website's purpose and improve its ranking.Here's how to create helpful content in a simple and smart way:Establishing yourself in the customer journey and providing helpful content builds trust with potential customers and gets them to your website.Use Google Analytics (or your website host) to see what content is performing well and optimize it.If you'rText 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!

Sep 21, 2022 • 46min
Optimize Your Website [Listen to a Live SEO Audit]
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!Today we're talking website audits! 👉🏽 Apply for your own SEO Audit!👉🏽 Share this with a friend!For fun and to show you what it's like, we talked through a LIVE audit of B's site! Here's are the top takeaways:SEO isn't just a pre-built machine on your website, it takes strategy and forethought.It's important to think about what your readers or visitors need.Tools like Ubersuggest can help you improve your website.A few things we've learned about website SEO over the years: Separate the URL slug (the part after the /) with dashes. /URL-slugName your courses and products and websites using keywords.Here's how to avoid common SEO errors you may see during an SEO audit:Make sure each page has an H1 and a unique title.Create meta descriptions for all pages, especially those that are key revenue generators.Check for and correct broken links and 404 errors.Shorten title tags if they are too long (ideally 50-60 characters).Here's how to get high authority sites pointing to your website and increase your domain authority:Pitch yourself to podcasts and share your knowledge.Sign up and respond to HARO media requests (helpareporter.com).Establish a dedicated page on your website for your podcast.⬇️ CONNECT WITH US HERE ⬇️Use Crystal's Affiliate link to get started with Jasper.ai!WText 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!

Sep 17, 2022 • 31min
Podcast SEO: 3 Simple SEO Tips to Attract More Podcast Listeners
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 16th episode?Today we're talking SEO strategy for our podcast!SEO plays a role in ALL of our online content:Utilize SEO for your podcast show name by including keywords in your name.Use keywords in your show notes and description to help people find your podcast.You can also use keywords in social media posts, Pinterest pins, and emails.We utilize Jasper.ai and other specialized tools for podcast-related tasks:Jasper.ai is a copywriting assistant tool that can be used to help generate show notes.Searchie.io is a tool that can be used to create transcripts of audio or video files.Show notes are important because they help people understand what the podcast is about - and a perfect place to add SEO related keywords.⬇️ CONNECT WITH US HERE ⬇️Use Crystal's Affiliate link to get started with Jasper.ai!Websites:crystalwaddell.com and collageandwood.comConnect with Crystal on InstagramStart Your Shopify StoreText 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!

Sep 9, 2022 • 31min
This SEO Strategy Got Us to the Top 25% of Podcasts in 2022!
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!👉🏽 Share this with a friend!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.Today we are sharing one of our casual conversations about our favorite topics: SEO & website content strategies!Identify comments within reviews that share a common theme to capitalize on what you do well.Our angle, special sauce, x-factor, etc., comes from all of our past experience, knowledge, and what we see as gaps in the market or opportunities.Let's talk about Pillar Content!Pillar content posts can range but should start at 1500-2000 words each.A funnel example goes freebie, pillar content post, paid offer.Pro tip: Content can be placed on Shopify as a page post (not a blog).What action do you want clients to take?Consider working backwards from your end goal, in order to better understand the steps needed to get there.Taking inspiration from outside of your niche can be helpful in sparking new and innovative ideas.Using language from a "content bank" can help with this process.Listen in to learn about the three different persona types B created based on where someone is in their business journey.Want to know how you can connect with us?Use Crystal's Affiliate link to get started with Jasper.ai!Websites:crystalwaddell.com and cText 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!

Aug 31, 2022 • 32min
Use SEO & Ads Like the Experts w/ Ashleigh Chanél (Pt. 2)
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.What's in our 14th episode?We are chatting PART 2 with social media ads expert Ashleigh Chanél about words that sell ... and of course, SEO! About Ashleigh Chanél:A world travelling lover of charcuterie boards, expert Digital Marketer & the CEO of Make Your Mark Digital Marketing Agency. Ashleigh Chanél helps profit-driven business owners transform their businesses into revenue-generating and impact-creating machines without the extra time and stress. I position my clients as authorities in their industries with tailored organic and paid marketing and advertising strategies.Ashleigh on Marketing Mindset:People are scared to spend money on ads because they don't want to waste it, but ROI is not always monetary.You can validate your funnel by asking people in your ideal audience their thoughts on it before you put it out there publicly.Ask your audience what they want and what they hate about your industry before you start marketing to them.When selling something, it is important to be able to explain how it will benefit the buyer; if you can't do this, then it will be difficult to make the sale.Ashleigh on Ads Mindset: Ads don't have to be hard, but you need a strategy behind them.If people aren't clicking on your ad, there's an issue with the targeting, creative, or copy. If people are clicking on the ad but not opting in, there may be a disconnect between what your 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!

Aug 24, 2022 • 40min
Use SEO & Ads Like the Experts w/ Ashleigh Chanél (Pt. 1)
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!We chat w/ social media ads expert Ashleigh Chanél about words that sell ... and of course, SEO! Ashleigh Chanél has 2 first names and 2 middle names. Also, 1 last name! 🤣🤣🤣Join the ads convo here!About Ashleigh Chanél:A world travelling lover of charcuterie boards, expert Digital Marketer & the CEO of Make Your Mark Digital Marketing Agency. Ashleigh Chanél helps profit-driven business owners transform their businesses into revenue-generating & impact-creating machines without the extra time and stress. I position my clients as authorities in their industries with tailored organic & paid marketing and advertising strategies.On SEO:SEO is important for EVERY business.It can take some time to see results from SEO.SEO is a great way to get in front of people who know what they want or need.On Ads:Ads are a great way to market: they are easy to set up & don't require a lot of effort.Ads can be used to target people who have visited your website before.The 4 main types of ads: personality, credibility, vulnerability, & feel-good.Ads can work if you have a plan & know what your audience wants.Most effective when your messaging is on point.Can be used to target people who have visited your site before.On Connecting With Your Audience:Voice notes are a great way to connect with your audience & build relationships.You need to invest time or money into markText 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!

Aug 17, 2022 • 34min
The SEO Dictionary Episode (Part 1)
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.What's inside this episode?Google and other search engines use algorithms to determine where a given piece of content should rank in the search results.One important factor is domain authority: a measure of how much "authority" or trustworthiness a website has. Domain authority can be thought of as a vote from other websites; the more votes (or links) a website has from high-quality websites, the higher its domain authority will be.There are four types of search intent: informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional.Internal linking is when you link to other pages on your website, and external linking is when you link to pages on other websites.Page depth is the number of clicks it takes to get from the homepage to a certain page on the website. The ideal number of clicks is three or less.SEO title and meta-description are pieces that you see on the backend of your website for each page. The SEO title should be no more than 67 characters (B) 55-60 characters (Crystal), and the meta-description should be no more than 155 characters.On-page SEO is about making individual pages show up in search results. This can be done by focusing on things like the URL, slug, headlines, button copy and images.Off-page SEO is about building relationships and getting links from other websites. This can help improve your website's ranking and visibility.Technical SEO is about improving the technical aspects of your weText 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!

Aug 10, 2022 • 44min
What's with the Google Analytics-4 [aka GA-4] Update?
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!What's in our 11th Episode?We are talking all about Google Analytics 4, aka GA-4What are your thoughts on GA-4? (⬅️ leave a comment)Google is sunsetting universal analytics (UA)If you don't have GA for turned on, you're not going to have any data next year.In Crystal's opinion, GA-4 is more e-commerce friendly than the Universal Analytics. GA4 focuses on engagement metrics vs. negative analytics.Create audiences based on predictive behaviors, such as purchase and churn probability.Make sure your Google ads account is connected to your GA4 account.Brittany has a Squarespace website and wants to set up GA-4.To do this, she needs to create a GA-4 Property. Then she can follow the Squarespace tutorial to install the GA-4 code on her site.Neil Patel article on Google Analytics 4.Crystal's linksWebsites:crystalwaddell.com and collageandwood.comInstagramJasper.ai Start Your Shopify StoreText 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!

Aug 3, 2022 • 50min
Yes, You Can Improve SEO on Your Own! (Guest: Erin Ollila)
Welcome to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!Apply for your own $99 SEO Site Audit!Leave a text or voice note here.What's in our 10th SEO-focused episode?Erin Ollila is an SEO copywriter who helps business owners communicate the value of their products and services.Erin started her career writing for an agency that worked with medium-sized businesses, before transitioning to working with larger brands.Erin now writes website copy for small businesses, in addition to staying on with her big brands clients.It depends on the business whether the URL slug for an about page should end in a focus keyword phrase. The decision should be based on long-term business growth.If you need to make an adjustment, it is suggested to keep the old page as a hidden page on your website with decreased priority. Write a new page for your change and prioritize that in navigation so you won't lose all of the traffic from the old page gradually decreases. Hidden pages can be used to target local SEO without overwhelming the navigation bar Creating creative navigation terms can be an effective SEO tactic, but it is important to make sure that the terms are clear and not confusing.What did you love learning in this episode? Leave a voice memo or text right here!Connect with Erin O!Website: https://erinollila.comPodcast: "Talk Copy to Me"InstagramCrystal's linksWebsText 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!