Rebecca Gonzalez
What a wild ride! Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of hopping on the Marketing School podcast hosted by Neil Patel (Neil Patel Digital) and Eric Siu (Growth Marketing Agency, where I asked all the nitty-gritty SEO and agency growth questions I've been wrestling with. Let’s just say I walked away with some golden nuggets that are going to save you a ton of time. So buckle up, and let’s dive into my biggest takeaways (or catch my LinkedIn post about it)!
SEO Myths Debunked: Posting Too Much Content Can’t Hurt… Right?
One of the first questions I threw at Neil and Eric was about this rumor I heard: "Can posting too much content actually get you de-ranked on Google?" Spoiler alert: It’s not about the volume. Neil hit me with some cold, hard truth – it's about quality. (Isn’t it always?)
Neil basically said, "Look, if your site has 5,000 pages of junk content that gets no traffic, Google's not going to be your bestie." Ouch. The key here is differentiating your content. If you’re pumping out the same 'ol, same 'ol, and it looks like every other blog out there, Google will pass on ranking your site highly.
His advice? Hit up your Google Search Console and check what pages get zero love from traffic. Ask yourself: Do you even need these pages? Should you delete, merge, or update them? Oh, and spend 60% of your time updating old content! It's like the SEO version of cleaning out your closet – out with the old, in with the revamped and fabulous.
Does Running Ads Actually Boost Your SEO?
Now, here’s where things get interesting (and slightly nerdy, but bear with me). I asked Neil if running small campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, or Outbrain could help boost our SEO signals. His answer? Brand queries. Say it with me, people: brand queries.
In simple terms, it’s about how often people type your brand name into Google and click on your results. The more this happens, the more Google likes you. So yes, those ads? They help by putting your brand in front of more eyeballs. People see your brand, search for it, click on it, and voilà – your SEO gets a boost. Time to flex that rule of seven (the one where people need to see your brand seven times before they buy). This is your sign to keep running those ads!
The Secret LinkedIn Playbook
Oh, and LinkedIn. We've been shifting attention lately from company LinkedIn pages to focusing on company leaders, but honestly, I wanted some expert advice on how to turn this platform into a lead-gen machine for the cool tech founders we work with.
Eric hit me with a killer tip: Follow Justin Rowe from Impactable. He’s a wizard when it comes to organic LinkedIn strategies, and he’s actually built his own LinkedIn agency because of how good his organic game is.
Land and Expand: Pitching with Prowess
And last, but certainly not least, one of the other agency founders on the podcast asked a million-dollar question: When you're pitching new clients, do you go in with a full-service pitch or focus on one killer service? Neil’s response was pure gold. He said that while big agencies can offer all services to all verticals when you’re in growth mode, it’s better to specialize in a specific vertical (or service) and land and expand.
Translation? Offer one service, show the client killer results, then add on more services later. You’ll get your foot in the door without overwhelming them, and boom, you've expanded. Easier pill to swallow, as Neil put it. And, let me tell you, this is huge for agencies that feel like they need to offer everything to win clients.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this podcast episode was packed with insights that made me re-evaluate how we’re approaching content, ads, and client services at Orange Marketing. SEO? Check. LinkedIn? Check. Scaling agency services? Double check. We’re armed with new strategies, and hope these tips help you too!
Time to Level Up!
You're missing out if you’re not tuning into the Marketing School podcast. And if you’ve got your own burning agency questions like I did, I highly recommend jumping into their workshops or live calls. Until then, go delete some junk content and get those brand queries popping. 😎
You can watch the episode here: