52. Adding Power to Your Passive Traffic Machine

[00:00:00] Stephanie: The key to creating a passive traffic machine for your business is choosing the right power source. Let's chat about the best way to increase traffic and sales with the least amount of effort. Welcome back to the podcast. This month we're leaning into that dream of passive income. Taking time off to relax poolside, knowing that you're still generating traffic and income for your business.

[00:00:37] Last week we talked about three common mistakes that could be standing in your way as you build your passive traffic machine. As with most machines and equipment, there is a source of power that makes it work. Even handheld tools need manpower. For your passive traffic machine the best power source that you can use is the power of search engines.

[00:01:01] In this episode, we're going to talk about why search engines are so essential to passive traffic, which ones you should focus on, and how you can incorporate SEO into your marketing efforts, even if you're not a very techie person. So imagine that you're hosting a party at a venue with bathrooms that are notoriously hard to find.

[00:01:24] You want your guests to have a good time and to find the bathroom when they need it. But you also have 5 million other things to do to keep things running smoothly. You know it's not realistic to circulate the event all night, directing people to the bathroom whenever they need it. And if you make an announcement at the beginning of the event, late comers are likely going to miss it.

[00:01:46] Plus the announcement will likely go in one ear and out the other for everyone else because most people don't plan on needing a restroom during a short event. So in this case, the obvious choice would be to make sure there are signs posted with information about where to find the restroom.

[00:02:06] That way when someone does need to find the restroom, they won't have to find you. You are out of the situation and they can just use signs to help them get where they need to go. And this is what a search engine can do for your business. Search engines are like the signs that you post so people can find what they need when they need it.

[00:02:30] It takes you out of the equation, so you are free to go about the other tasks that you need to take care of or spend some much needed time away from your business, but you can do that knowing that people can find your resources when they're looking for a solution. Traffic sources like social media and email are like making that announcement to a crowded room, telling people that there's a bathroom down the hall if they need it. And then you feel the need to continually announce about your products in case someone in your audience needs them at that moment.

[00:03:08] But unfortunately, the messaging is often lost in the crowd. We all know that social media and email inboxes are noisy places. Search engines allow you to hang out kind of in the quieter end of things, where when someone has a minute to breathe and they sit down with their phone and start looking for a solution to a pain point that they're experiencing, your resources are going to pop up at the top of the list.

[00:03:37] Now you might be thinking that social media and email inboxes have search bars. People can look for the things they need when that time comes, but unfortunately, search bars and search engines are very different things. A search bar is a feature that's added to a platform to make it more user friendly and to keep people on the platform.

[00:04:02] A search engine is a platform in and of itself, and its purpose is usually to connect you with content off the platform. For your passive traffic machine to do its best work, you need to incorporate the power of search engines into your marketing strategy. The two most important search engines to focus on are Google and Pinterest.

[00:04:26] That should not surprise you if you've been listening to this podcast, but by optimizing your content for Google and then adding search optimized pins to Pinterest, you are ensuring that people can find what they're looking for when they need it. And the most important part of leveraging the power of a search engine is to add as much fresh content as you can.

[00:04:49] This doesn't mean being a spammer. Instead, it means being strategic and intentional with the blog posts and pins you create. What types of things will people be searching for when they ultimately land on your resource? Create blog posts and pins for each of those pain points and possible search terms.

[00:05:11] Going back to our party venue, you would likely place restroom direction signs in several places so guests could see them from several potential angles in the room. When you have several blog posts that lead ultimately to one product, you'll be able to reach teachers passively in many more ways. I have a confession to make, and actually I think I might have made this confession before, but when I first started my blog many moons ago, I deliberately

[00:05:45] ignored Google SEO. It was just too intimidating to me. After all, I had just used all of my tech knowledge to get my website up and running, and there really wasn't much left in the tank. Pinterest just felt much more doable to me, and it was way less intimidating. But what I didn't realize was that I was using SEO principles when I created pins for Pinterest, and then when I finally did start focusing on Google SEO, it really wasn't that big of a stretch to start focusing on SEO for Google.

[00:06:19] So if you've been putting off search engine optimization because it sounds too technical and complicated, it's time to give it a try. You don't need to go all in, all at once. Instead, choose one thing that you can incorporate into your content creation to make your blog posts and pins more searchable.

[00:06:42] The very first thing you should try if you're not doing it already, is to use keywords in the title of your blog posts and your pins. These should be keywords that people are actually looking for. Auto complete can be a great way to do this for free. Just start typing your potential topic into the search bar on Google or Pinterest and see what auto complete predicts.

[00:07:06] These predictions often come from previous searches, so this can give you an idea of what people are searching for on that particular topic. If you're feeling a little more adventurous, you could use a keyword research tool to help you explore the keywords that people are searching for related to your topic.

[00:07:24] But if you are already using keywords in your title or once you get to that step, then you might wanna focus your attention on the overall structure of your blog posts and the designs of your pins. Are there things you can do to make it easier for your posts and pins to get filed away for future searches?

[00:07:44] And then from there you can start adding in more elements of Google and Pinterest, SEO, building a little bit at a time. You do not have to become an expert in SEO before you can leverage the power of search engines for your passive traffic machine. The important thing is that you come up with a plan to create fresh blog posts and pins for these platforms.

[00:08:08] Doing this will ensure that busy teachers can find your resources when they need them. If you'd like a little more help finding those key words to add to your blog post titles, be sure to grab my free blog post Idea guide. It's full of 37 places to find blog post ideas that people are actually looking for, and so you can find that at stephanieroyer.podia.com.

[00:08:36] That's stephanie royer dot p o d i a.com.