172 | How Clients Find You: Part 2 of SEO for Organizers with Julia Renee Consulting

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Written By Melissa Klug

We continue our conversation with Julia, an SEO expert for professional organizers! If you haven't listened to part 1 yet, bump back one episode because there is AWESOME stuff there!

Julia is an SEO and Pinterest Consultant for creative small businesses at Julia Renee Consulting and is the first SEO professor at Drexel University. Her goal is to make SEO and Pinterest strategies approachable and easy to implement for all small businesses so they can reach their ideal clients organically.

Julia offers both set and custom SEO packages to help home organizers rank higher on Google. She focuses on creating strong SEO foundations, and she does a variety of services, from keyword research and website copy optimization to fixing technical errors and creating data reports. Julia's goal is to help make SEO approachable for small businesses, so she's always happy to answer questions and give guidance throughout the process of working with her.

You can listen here, read the full transcript below, or find us on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you love to listen to podcasts!

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Hey pro organizers. It is Melissa. And if you are listening to these kind of on time, I know that we have people that come to our podcast. Many years later, you might be listening to this two years after I record it. But. If you are listening in real time in December of 2023, you have gotten three podcasts this week for me. 

So I would assume by now you are very tired of hearing my voice, but somehow you've come back and press place a thank you for that. That is very kind. I am really happy to be back with these second. Part of my conversation with Julia of Julia Renee consulting, she has an SEO expert for professional organizers. 

I wanted to break this up into two episodes because there was so much stuff here. So I want you to be able to go back and sit down and take notes and all that good stuff. But. One of the things that we talk about in this episode is Google business profile. And we have until the end of December, I have talked about it a couple of times, but I have a $19 Google business profile course. I have had a ton of people. 

Tell me, oh my gosh, this is so great. It's very digestible. It's just a mini course. Or you just learn about Google business and I'm going to be doing a zoom before the end of the year, a live zoom where you can ask any questions you want on this call and we have a private Facebook group. 

That's open. You can ask questions there. 19 bucks, that's it. So if you go to pro organizer, studio.com/links, you can get into that course. I would love to have you from now until the end of December. If this is the first podcast you're listening to of the three that we've put out this week. I want you to also go backwards because yesterday's podcast has a bunch of SEO information, really, really good stuff. 

And then the one before that was about December to do's and there are a lot of things in that about some things that you can shore up your digital properties and a bunch of other things I want you to get done in December. Um, and then the most important thing I want you to do is get some rest and relaxation because it's that time of year. 

So. All right, let's get going again with the second part of my convo with Julia. Of Julia Renee consulting. , In your podcast app hit the show notes. Because there is tons of information there. And then if you have additional questions, hit me up@helloatproorganizerstudio.com. Have an awesome day organizers.

Melissa: Let's talk about. Something that I am super passionate about. So obviously we talk about Google a lot. But there are other search engines in the universe other than Google and YouTube is one of them.

And Pinterest is one of them. So tell us a little bit about the work that you do with Pinterest as well, because I think this is something that we all use Pinterest, but we might not use it in a business sense. So. Tell us all the Pinterest things that we need to be knowing about. 

Julia Renee: Yeah, so Pinterest is great for, small businesses.

Especially if you are blogging regularly, put that content on Pinterest. But Pinterest is a search engine at its core. So even though you can kind of like follow people or like comment on pins, which I rarely see people commenting on pins. People go to Pinterest to search for something. So, inspiration or information they're typically not going to Pinterest to search for like home organizer.

They're looking more for information there. So you do want to make sure you're not just like pinning your homepage over and over again. You are pinning the content that you have. But there are like Pinterest keywords that You know, you should be using on your pin title, pin description within your boards your profile, even on like the pin graphic itself because Pinterest has AI tools that are, they're not perfect, but they're getting smarter at reading text that's on images to try to better understand what that pin is.

So there is a Pinterest keyword research tool called Pinterest trends. I think it's like trends. pinterest. com is the URL. They don't have, All of the information, um, that you would want, they are, it's fair, it's a fairly new tool. So they are always adding, data to it. So even if you're searching for a topic in there and you don't have any information, that doesn't mean that no one on Pinterest is searching for it.

It just means Pinterest doesn't have the data populated yet. So even when I go to search in Pinterest trends for actual, like, Pinterest tips and things like that, they don't have data for that. And, people are going on Pinterest, searching for Pinterest tips. So. Yeah, just something to be a little aware of.

You can also use the Pinterest search bar to start typing things in, and it's going to auto populate with what other people have searched. When you search a topic I think specifically on desktop it will have these little bubbles kind of at the top with other related searches. So there are lots of different ways that you can find, what people are searching for to help, this can also help with.

Coming up with blog post topics. If you have no idea where to start doing this keyword research, both with keyword research tools and also with Pinterest and Google just to see what other people have searched. That can be a good starting point. 

Melissa: That's a great idea because you could start seeing that people are searching for things and there isn't a lot of content.

That fits what people are searching for. So I had never thought about it as using it as idea generation, but that's great. What about so let's say someone is a local home organizer, like they're, they just want to get local in home clients. Tell us a little bit about how posting on Pinterest whether it's blog posts or whatever, like how does that help people get those local clients?

Cause one of the things that we talk about a lot in our group is what are your goals for your business? And then where do you post? Like, how do you know where to go so that you can support that versus I want to be an influencer and I want people to follow me on Instagram. 

Julia Renee: Yeah, so I will say one of the indirect benefits of using a platform like Pinterest that, drives a lot of traffic to your website is the more traffic you get to your website, the more it's going to help your rankings in Google because Google can obviously see with like Google Analytics, how many people are visiting your website, how long they're staying.

Different pages they're going to all that information. So the more people you get to your website, the more it's going to help your rankings. Cause it's going to show Google that people think your site is valuable. So it's just like an indirect benefit of Pinterest that, I like to mention, but specifically for local, clients that you're trying to reach that comes down to your blog post content. So your blog post content needs to be written for The your local audience. I have one client who serves, people in a particular town in north carolina So she has blog posts on you know where they can recycle You know their old clothes in that particular area Or like where to take You know, electronics, things like that.

But then she uses those blog posts to like talk about her services to like, if you want to know where to take this stuff, but then you're like, Oh crap, I don't want to have to do it myself. I do it for you. Yeah, exactly. And obviously they're interested in your location because that is what they have found when they're searching on Google or on Pinterest.

So really using your blog post content to speak to that local audience. If you're having trouble, . Coming up with lots of different topics specific to your like town even just thinking about your region. So, if you live in Florida, don't be talking about how to organize your winter snowplow or something like that.

Write your content specific to that. Like, you can talk about how to organize your You know beach towels and things like that, something that is a lot more specific to your region than that's just general for, anybody and everybody. So make sure you're writing your blog posts specific to your region and your town.

And that's going to be what helps you on Pinterest reach those local clients. 

Melissa: Okay. This is, that is really super, super thoughtful. And by the way, this is also just idea generation of pick things that are, as you said, snowplow. That is something that hits where I live in Minnesota, like organizing snow equipment is an actual blog post 

Julia Renee: I can do, but, 

Melissa: You're exactly, I had never really thought about that is it's not just, The it's not just the content, but it's really focusing it on local, local or regional things.

That's super, super smart. What about reaching out to other people? So, the concept of backlinks and that type of thing. What are some of the key things there for people to know? 

Julia Renee: About how to help with their website. Yeah. So I'll say backlinks can be a whole podcast episode 

Melissa: in itself. Listen, guys, we're scratching the surface.

Julia Renee: So backlinks are to its core, basically just when one website links to your website. That is a backlink. So that, they used to be a lot, they used to carry a lot more weight for rankings for Google, like a few years ago, they don't carry quite as much weight. But basically when a website links to your website, it shows Google that people think your website is valuable enough to send, their audience.

To you, they're endorsing your website basically. And then there's this whole thing with domain authority that I won't go into. 

Melissa: Yeah, that might be 

Julia Renee: a little too much. Yeah, that's, that's a lot, but basically a, super established website like the New York Times that carries a lot more weight.

then, my website that, it's just smaller, doesn't get as much traffic, clearly as New York Times. So basically if the New York Times links to your website, that could help your rankings a lot more than if I link to your website. So there's this whole strategy with Getting back links.

People will try make it these emails of these companies trying to a hundred times a day content. 

Melissa: I'm sorry, Uhhuh. Like, but I get inundated with these emails and they make me so angry. But anyway, 

Julia Renee: continue. Yeah. So they, they want to guest post on your website, and that's because they're trying to get back links to their website or their client's website or something like that.

Ignore those, delete them. Mark them as spam, whatever. They're not quality. And then there are these companies who will buy backlinks for you. Again, delete, don't do, never buy backlinks. It's super shady. And Google's really cracking down on that. So, all that being said, when you get a link from another website, what I recommend doing is making sure that it's the website is aligned with the audience that you're trying to reach.

So not only will this backlink maybe help your rankings a little bit, but it's really more about reaching a different, different audience that you haven't reached yet that could be really interested in what you have to offer. So, if you're in home organizing, then maybe trying to Collaborate with like an interior designer or someone like that, whose audience will be aligned with yours who maybe they're moving and they don't want to have to deal with all the packing and you offer that service.

Then having their realtor, have this content on the website about your services or, a blog post that you've written for them, something like that that can. Really be helpful or getting featured in your local newspaper or like a local website or something like that. That can also be helpful So I try to recommend Think of it more as like PR backlinks and not just trying to get all of the backlinks that you possibly can Just because you think it might help your ranking some because that that's not worth the time 

Melissa: Yeah.

And we're going to do in the next few weeks, we are going to be doing a podcast about PR. And that was the first thing that I thought of was it's about getting a backlink from an, a local organization or something that is going to be really relevant to what you're doing versus, and this is something that I see a lot with organizers is they will get some of these emails and they'll get excited because, someone wants to interview them or someone wants to collaborate with them.

And unfortunately, 90 plus percent of those are garbage. I'm going to be as nice as possible 

Julia Renee: and say garbage, 

Melissa: like it's not something that is actually going to help you. And it is actually going to reduce the, it's going to reduce the authority of your website by just constantly posting all this other stuff.

Julia Renee: So, 

Melissa: What are some of the biggest trends that you see coming up? Like, what are some things that we need to be paying attention to? Or do we just need to be paying attention to the basics and that's enough for what we do? 

Julia Renee: I will say the like SEO foundations at their core have not really changed much.

throughout the past few years. And it, Google is really focusing a lot more these days on user experience and accessibility because they really want the top ranking websites for keywords to really serve the audience who comes to Google because if, People are getting tired of Google showing results that they're not interested in, or it doesn't match what they're searching for.

Or like it's a super slow website. Then, I mean, first of all, Google is going to start dropping those websites in the rankings, but you know, these people might go to other search engines. Google could lose out on like people, paying the money through Google ads and all those things. So at its core, make sure you're serving your audience.

Make sure your website is accessible. Easy to use everything like that. One thing I do recommend focusing on specifically for, if you're trying to serve local clients is using Google business profile used to be called Google, my business, Google is like rebranding all of their tools right now. It's annoying.

It is annoying. 

Melissa: Business profile is so much harder to say than Google my business. Like it was just so much easier to say. I get angry about it. It's so irrational that it annoys 

Julia Renee: me. It's taken me a really long time to start getting used to saying that. I will say Google business profile, I think with like all of their changes that they make, cause they like change the dashboard completely and all this stuff, there have been glitches and like issues with, people not being able to get verified and things like that.

So be aware that is. something that's hopefully getting sorted out. But they are focusing a lot more on, using Google Business Profile and making sure that they are ranking, the top websites for people searching those local areas. So making sure that you have like all of your information up there, you can add monthly or I mean, even weekly if you want to post on Google Business Profile.

I think they A couple of years ago, they used to disappear after like a week or something 

Melissa: six months 

Julia Renee: now, I think. Yeah. So it's, they've lengthened the time. So you will, be able to have a post that is on your profile for a lot longer than before. This can be especially helpful if you're running any sort of promotions or if you have a new service, especially like around the holidays, if you're doing holiday decor, that kind of thing.

So that can be really helpful for reaching your local audience. Also making sure this isn't new, but making sure you're using Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Yeah, it's not a new tool, but no one knows about it. But it's basically the information from Google Analytics boiled down to just information for people coming from Google specifically to your website.

So it's going to show you the exact keywords you're ranking for how you're ranking, how much traffic you're getting for these different keywords all kinds of different information. So if you're really focusing on, SEO for your website, you want to make sure you're using Google search console to track your progress.

That's probably my number one SEO tool. Also it's free, which is really nice. 

Melissa: Google has so many things. And this is what I tell people all the time. I know I've said eight times. I tell people all the time, but it's true. Like, I'm just going to keep telling you until you listen. Google has so many free tools.

Like you can build everything in your business without paying Google more than the 6 a month you pay for workspace email, right? Like you can pay for Google ads if you want to or need to, but there are so many free tools that they offer. That are really super, 

Julia Renee: super helpful. Yeah. They're, they may not be the easiest tools to use, but I do have blog posts and like other content that can help you if you're like super lost especially with the, the Google analytics update over the summer to GA for that, that has been a pain.

Melissa: Yes, it has. And I think that's where most people get. I think that's where it gets confusing or frustrating. And that's where people just go like, la la la, I can't do it. And that's why, there are people like you that exist that can help navigate the really complex parts. But also knowing that you do not have to be an expert.

In it, but to do some things the right way. So what we want people to do is do the basics. Well, and you can do that and then get help for the higher level things that, are maybe out of our reach. So in the same way that a client would reach out to you to help with their house, please reach out to experts.

If you're like, no, I don't want to do it. And I can't, and I don't know how, and I don't want to learn. There. There are some things I think in SEO and Google business profiles, one of them, because we deal with people that are like, I can't get verified or I got suspended. I changed one thing. I'm a huge Google business profile, like evangelist.

I changed one thing on my Google business profile a few months ago and they're like, you're suspended. And then I had to go through this whole process. Like you have to be patient on some of these things. And, and they are things that are really frustrating, but they are important for your business because.

Ultimately, we want people to be able to find you. So powering through, I think some of the frustrations is, is important. Yeah. What is the most exciting part of the work that you do? Like, what do you love about 

Julia Renee: what you do? I think just seeing the progress with my clients. Like, and especially if sometimes it's just like making one small change, like making the change from targeting home organizing to home organizer, and then it just makes a huge difference.

Yeah, 

Melissa: Well, the reason that we are interviewing we I am interviewing you today. It's just me. Is because I have heard such good things about you. I know people in our inspired organizer group that work with you and they have been just glowing about the help that you have given them. So that's why I wanted to have you on the podcast.

But tell us a little bit about working with you. If people are listening to this and going, la, la, la, I don't want to do it. Like, please do it for me. Tell, 

Julia Renee: tell us a little bit about what it's like to work with you. Yeah. So I do offer, a variety of different services. So if you kind of have your, website all set up and.

All the SEO foundations are taken care of, but you do need help with like the ongoing things. I do offer like, blog posts optimization, also just SEO support with a variety of different things that you might need. Like if any technical errors pop up, fixing those publishing posts on Google business profile every month, those kinds of things.

Monthly data reports, if you have. Google analytics and Google search console set up, but you have no idea what any of that stuff means. I, we'll go through the data every month and then also tell you what it means in, normal words, In regular people words, 

Melissa: like using normal people language.

Julia Renee: Fantastic. Not the, not the data jargon stuff. And then if you do need an SEO overhaul, I do offer services for, pretty much anything. Keyword research, optimizing website, copy image, alt text. A lot of user experience things if you need help with that. So yeah, a variety of different SEO things that I can help with.

Awesome. 

Melissa: Well, and you just. Reminded me too that you obviously have a blog and you have your Instagram is very informational. And but also we're gonna link all of these things in our show notes, but go to your blog because if you just wanna learn a little bit more Mm-Hmm. And then start to think about like your own SEO or whether it's working together or whatever.

You have a ton of information there too that people can help out with. Mm-Hmm. . So yeah, definitely. Awesome. Well, if people want to get in touch with you, where are all the places they can find you on the interwebs? 

Julia Renee: Yeah. So my website where all the stuff is, is juliarenaconsulting. com. My email is julia at juliarenaconsulting.

com and my Instagram handle is juliarenaconsulting. 

Melissa: Okay. Perfect. It's weird. Why didn't you use your last name and all of those properties? 

Julia Renee: So it's actually kind of funny. I was engaged when I was starting my business. So I still had my maiden name and we talked about this before we started recording, but my maiden name was dent.

And Julia Dent was the wife of Ulysses Grant. So I would not be able to rank well for my name anywhere. You couldn't.

Melissa: That is fascinating. 

Julia Renee: And now my last name is super complicated and no one can pronounce or spell it. So I didn't want to include that in my business name because no one would also be able to find me.

Melissa: Right. podcast several times. The woman that goes just by Kate The Socialite, because she has a complex last name. And so I, there were a couple of times where I'm like, I'm just going to put your name and she's like, please don't, please just call me. I go, okay, whatever works for you. This is just a quick story.

No one asked for it, but I, so Melissa Klug, which is not a common name Klug. I had never heard that name before. I met my husband. It's mostly in like the Northern United States, like the Dakotas and Minnesota. Extremely long story short. I got a series of Spanish language tweets directed at me many years ago.

And I'm like, why are people yelling at me in Spanish? And I found out that there is a Melissa Klug who's like the Kim Kardashian of Peru. She is exactly spelled exactly the same. She was married to like a famous Peruvian football player and then they got divorced and like, it's the whole thing. So I have a Google alert about my own name and frequently it will come up and I go, yeah, that's not me.

But the funny thing is I own. The website I own, I own my own properties. And so she is very famous. She has 2. 7 million Instagram followers, but I own all of those properties. So it's just, you just know who's going to have your same name, I guess is what I'm trying to say. 

Julia Renee: Yeah, yeah. That's funny.

Melissa: wEll, I am looking forward to people being able to really dive in a little bit on their SEO. If you are afraid. Please use this as your inspiration of like, it does not have to be scary, but if it is scary and continues to be scary for you, we have great people that we love to link you with. 

Thank you for being here today. We appreciate it.

Julia Renee: Thanks for having me. 

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Melissa Klug
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