WEBVTT
NOTE
This file was generated by Descript
00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:06.290
Mike Bifulco: This is Tiny Improvements.
00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:07.369
I'm Mike by ko
00:00:15.883 --> 00:00:18.163
SEO is the growth engine for your work?
00:00:18.914 --> 00:00:21.584
If you're building a brand, a
business or a personal website,
00:00:21.654 --> 00:00:26.004
taking the time to invest in SEO or search
engine optimization will help your work
00:00:26.064 --> 00:00:29.923
get discovered when people search for
related topics on Google being ducked up.
00:00:30.313 --> 00:00:31.423
And other search engines.
00:00:32.173 --> 00:00:35.623
In my experience, developers often
overlook SEO for one reason or
00:00:35.623 --> 00:00:38.684
another, but it's a critical part
of building a successful website.
00:00:39.463 --> 00:00:41.833
Side note, SEO is a massive topic.
00:00:42.013 --> 00:00:45.913
I'm far from an expert, but I've found
it invaluable to learn a few basics., if
00:00:45.913 --> 00:00:48.734
I got anything wrong here or, you know,
more than me, I'd love to hear from you.
00:00:49.183 --> 00:00:51.163
Drop me a line at hello at Mike bi-fold.
00:00:51.224 --> 00:00:51.823
go.com.
00:00:53.624 --> 00:00:55.364
My position on SEO is this.
00:00:55.633 --> 00:00:57.974
It's a growth engine for your
work and when done, right.
00:00:57.974 --> 00:01:00.133
It can have a flywheel effect
that will put your work in
00:01:00.133 --> 00:01:01.454
front of more people over time.
00:01:02.123 --> 00:01:05.874
It's not as immediately satisfying as
racking up likes on a social media post.
00:01:06.144 --> 00:01:09.384
But it persists longterm and
can help you build a sustainable
00:01:09.384 --> 00:01:10.374
audience for your work.
00:01:10.693 --> 00:01:13.003
It's a slow release dopamine, if you will.
00:01:14.234 --> 00:01:17.564
I've been publishing articles under
my own name for a few years now, and a
00:01:17.564 --> 00:01:21.163
steady investment in search now sends
thousands of readers a month to my work.
00:01:21.704 --> 00:01:25.154
We've also been investing in SEO at
Kraftwerk, and it's been fun to learn
00:01:25.154 --> 00:01:28.664
about how focusing on search for a local
business differs from a personal website.
00:01:28.974 --> 00:01:30.294
But the principles are the same.
00:01:32.304 --> 00:01:34.314
Think about what your work will
look like when it's shared.
00:01:34.734 --> 00:01:37.134
When someone comes across your work
and they share it on their social
00:01:37.134 --> 00:01:38.814
media feed, you want it to look good?
00:01:38.844 --> 00:01:39.144
Right?
00:01:39.684 --> 00:01:43.014
It should have a catchy, meaningful
title, a useful description, and
00:01:43.014 --> 00:01:44.274
an image that draws people in.
00:01:44.934 --> 00:01:47.634
This is also what will show up when
your work is shared on social media
00:01:47.634 --> 00:01:49.344
or when it shows up in search results.
00:01:50.034 --> 00:01:50.634
Functionally.
00:01:50.664 --> 00:01:53.244
This means you need to make sure
your site has good metadata.
00:01:53.634 --> 00:01:56.784
Metadata is the information about
your site that search engines use to
00:01:56.814 --> 00:01:58.194
understand what your site is about?
00:01:58.854 --> 00:02:01.134
It's also what social media
platforms you use to display
00:02:01.134 --> 00:02:02.334
your content when it's shared.
00:02:03.234 --> 00:02:04.944
Here are a few tips to get you started.
00:02:05.364 --> 00:02:09.624
The title and H one tags on each page
are most likely to be used as the
00:02:09.624 --> 00:02:11.424
title of the page in search results.
00:02:11.874 --> 00:02:13.674
Make sure these are
descriptive and accurate.
00:02:14.734 --> 00:02:18.244
The meta name equals description
tag is used as the description
00:02:18.244 --> 00:02:19.534
of the page in search results.
00:02:19.894 --> 00:02:22.834
Try to keep it less than 150
characters and make it a meaningful
00:02:22.834 --> 00:02:24.124
summary of the pages content.
00:02:25.094 --> 00:02:28.964
The Metta property OJI image tag is
used as the image that shows up when
00:02:28.964 --> 00:02:30.553
your page is shared on social media.
00:02:31.243 --> 00:02:34.064
Make sure it's a high quality image
thumbnail that represents the content
00:02:34.064 --> 00:02:38.893
of the page and that it's at least 1200
by 630 pixels in size with an aspect
00:02:38.893 --> 00:02:43.483
ratio of 1.91 to one that will help
it to look good on most platforms.
00:02:45.353 --> 00:02:48.863
Use structured data with Jason
LD for enhanced search results.
00:02:49.613 --> 00:02:51.923
Picture a list of Google
search results in your head.
00:02:52.194 --> 00:02:55.284
You're probably seeing a list of blue
links with a short description below them.
00:02:55.823 --> 00:02:59.573
, but have you ever seen a search result
with a video thumbnail or a recipe with
00:02:59.573 --> 00:03:01.403
a picture and the list of ingredients?
00:03:01.493 --> 00:03:02.393
That's no accident.
00:03:02.783 --> 00:03:05.183
It's the result of Google's
crawlers finding something called
00:03:05.183 --> 00:03:07.013
structured data on the results page.
00:03:07.703 --> 00:03:10.343
When your site shows up like
this, it's called a rich result.
00:03:10.433 --> 00:03:13.043
It can help your site stand out in
search results and give your work
00:03:13.043 --> 00:03:14.213
a better chance of being seen.
00:03:14.753 --> 00:03:17.153
There are many types of structured
data, which Google supports,
00:03:17.183 --> 00:03:19.583
including articles, videos, events.
00:03:19.883 --> 00:03:21.923
Products, software apps and many more.
00:03:22.433 --> 00:03:25.313
Google publisher's list of these
called structured data markup.
00:03:25.673 --> 00:03:27.623
And you can check it out on
Google site to see if there's
00:03:27.623 --> 00:03:28.733
a type that fits your content.
00:03:28.974 --> 00:03:32.423
, if there is, you can use a format
called Jason L D on pages on your
00:03:32.423 --> 00:03:35.603
site to help Google understand what
the content on that page is about.
00:03:36.414 --> 00:03:38.754
I recently did this for my website pages.
00:03:38.754 --> 00:03:42.324
That feature video now include a
video object, structured data embed
00:03:42.803 --> 00:03:46.074
it's as simple as including a bit of
Jason on the page inside a script tag.
00:03:46.434 --> 00:03:48.684
Check out my recent poll request
to see how I made it happen.
00:03:49.103 --> 00:03:50.304
There's a link in the show notes.
00:03:52.383 --> 00:03:54.813
Keyword research is a great way
to understand your audience.
00:03:56.173 --> 00:03:56.893
All right friends.
00:03:57.013 --> 00:03:58.573
Here's where I need to call myself out.
00:03:58.963 --> 00:04:02.203
I'm not great at this, but I know
it's important and I'm working on it.
00:04:03.925 --> 00:04:06.985
Here's the idea when making something
new, it's really helpful to make sure
00:04:07.015 --> 00:04:10.255
you're creating content about things
that people are actually searching for.
00:04:10.795 --> 00:04:14.635
Use keyword research, to understand what
people are searching for, and then create
00:04:14.635 --> 00:04:16.375
content that matches those searches.
00:04:16.495 --> 00:04:17.395
It's as easy as that.
00:04:17.935 --> 00:04:20.215
There are loads of tools out here
to help with keyword research.
00:04:20.245 --> 00:04:23.635
But I found that the best free tools
for this are the Google search console.
00:04:23.635 --> 00:04:26.005
And Refs webmaster tools.
00:04:26.155 --> 00:04:28.135
Both of these tools will show
you what people are searching
00:04:28.135 --> 00:04:30.745
for when they find your site and
what your site is ranking for.
00:04:31.165 --> 00:04:33.445
This can help you understand
what people are looking for and
00:04:33.445 --> 00:04:36.055
what you can do to make your site
more relevant to those searches.
00:04:37.015 --> 00:04:39.925
If you're looking for free tools to
help you understand your site's SEO.
00:04:40.135 --> 00:04:43.255
I really like the SEO extension
from detailed as a tool for
00:04:43.255 --> 00:04:44.995
inspecting the metadata on each page.
00:04:45.205 --> 00:04:47.875
It's a Chrome extension that shows
you the metadata for the page you're
00:04:47.875 --> 00:04:50.635
on and it gives you a score for
how well it's set up for search.
00:04:50.965 --> 00:04:52.765
It's a great way to quickly
check if your titles and
00:04:52.765 --> 00:04:54.085
descriptions are set up correctly.
00:04:54.835 --> 00:04:56.335
For inspecting structured data.
00:04:56.515 --> 00:04:59.605
When you add structured data to your
site, you can use the Google search
00:04:59.605 --> 00:05:03.835
central schema markup testing tool
and schema.org validator to make
00:05:03.835 --> 00:05:05.275
sure your pages are set up correctly.
00:05:06.295 --> 00:05:08.785
And if you're looking for more, you
may want to check out the fantastic
00:05:08.815 --> 00:05:12.775
SEO newsletter from positional it's
well-researched highly informed
00:05:12.775 --> 00:05:14.245
and a great way to learn about SEO.
00:05:15.205 --> 00:05:16.795
I've also written a bit more about SEO.
00:05:17.275 --> 00:05:20.335
I wrote a tutorial on setting up
self healing URLs in your next
00:05:20.335 --> 00:05:21.955
JSA that you might find useful.
00:05:22.645 --> 00:05:25.465
And if you've ever wondered how to
correctly add subtitles to your H one
00:05:25.465 --> 00:05:27.025
tags, I've got you covered there too.
00:05:27.985 --> 00:05:31.105
I've also created a list of the
SEO tools I use to grow my sites
00:05:31.105 --> 00:05:32.605
to 20,000 visitors a month.
00:05:33.625 --> 00:05:35.275
If you're interested in
reading these articles.
00:05:35.725 --> 00:05:38.755
Open up your podcast player to the show
notes and you'll find links there.
00:05:40.198 --> 00:05:41.098
Focusing on SEO.
00:05:41.098 --> 00:05:43.558
Certainly isn't all there is
to being successful online.
00:05:44.218 --> 00:05:46.618
But it's something that builds
over time and it's really safe.
00:05:47.368 --> 00:05:49.678
But it's something that builds
over time and it's extremely
00:05:49.678 --> 00:05:50.938
satisfying to get it right.
00:05:52.288 --> 00:05:55.707
If like me, You're motivated by watching
tiny little charts grow over time.
00:05:55.827 --> 00:05:56.877
This might be for you.
00:05:57.327 --> 00:06:00.207
And honestly, even if that's
not your thing, SEO is
00:06:00.207 --> 00:06:01.257
probably still worth your time.
00:06:03.037 --> 00:06:05.407
I once heard that it's valuable
to share something with a friend
00:06:05.587 --> 00:06:08.017
and it's more valuable to share
something with two friends.
00:06:08.267 --> 00:06:10.817
The best thing about SEO is that
over time, you're sharing your
00:06:10.817 --> 00:06:13.007
knowledge with people who you
could never imagine meeting.
00:06:13.307 --> 00:06:14.357
It's such a cool thing to see.
00:06:14.357 --> 00:06:17.297
And one of my favorite things about the
internet, I hope you give it a shot.
NOTE
This file was generated by Descript
00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:06.290
Mike Bifulco: This is Tiny Improvements.
00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:07.369
I'm Mike by ko
00:00:15.883 --> 00:00:18.163
SEO is the growth engine for your work?
00:00:18.914 --> 00:00:21.584
If you're building a brand, a
business or a personal website,
00:00:21.654 --> 00:00:26.004
taking the time to invest in SEO or search
engine optimization will help your work
00:00:26.064 --> 00:00:29.923
get discovered when people search for
related topics on Google being ducked up.
00:00:30.313 --> 00:00:31.423
And other search engines.
00:00:32.173 --> 00:00:35.623
In my experience, developers often
overlook SEO for one reason or
00:00:35.623 --> 00:00:38.684
another, but it's a critical part
of building a successful website.
00:00:39.463 --> 00:00:41.833
Side note, SEO is a massive topic.
00:00:42.013 --> 00:00:45.913
I'm far from an expert, but I've found
it invaluable to learn a few basics., if
00:00:45.913 --> 00:00:48.734
I got anything wrong here or, you know,
more than me, I'd love to hear from you.
00:00:49.183 --> 00:00:51.163
Drop me a line at hello at Mike bi-fold.
00:00:51.224 --> 00:00:51.823
go.com.
00:00:53.624 --> 00:00:55.364
My position on SEO is this.
00:00:55.633 --> 00:00:57.974
It's a growth engine for your
work and when done, right.
00:00:57.974 --> 00:01:00.133
It can have a flywheel effect
that will put your work in
00:01:00.133 --> 00:01:01.454
front of more people over time.
00:01:02.123 --> 00:01:05.874
It's not as immediately satisfying as
racking up likes on a social media post.
00:01:06.144 --> 00:01:09.384
But it persists longterm and
can help you build a sustainable
00:01:09.384 --> 00:01:10.374
audience for your work.
00:01:10.693 --> 00:01:13.003
It's a slow release dopamine, if you will.
00:01:14.234 --> 00:01:17.564
I've been publishing articles under
my own name for a few years now, and a
00:01:17.564 --> 00:01:21.163
steady investment in search now sends
thousands of readers a month to my work.
00:01:21.704 --> 00:01:25.154
We've also been investing in SEO at
Kraftwerk, and it's been fun to learn
00:01:25.154 --> 00:01:28.664
about how focusing on search for a local
business differs from a personal website.
00:01:28.974 --> 00:01:30.294
But the principles are the same.
00:01:32.304 --> 00:01:34.314
Think about what your work will
look like when it's shared.
00:01:34.734 --> 00:01:37.134
When someone comes across your work
and they share it on their social
00:01:37.134 --> 00:01:38.814
media feed, you want it to look good?
00:01:38.844 --> 00:01:39.144
Right?
00:01:39.684 --> 00:01:43.014
It should have a catchy, meaningful
title, a useful description, and
00:01:43.014 --> 00:01:44.274
an image that draws people in.
00:01:44.934 --> 00:01:47.634
This is also what will show up when
your work is shared on social media
00:01:47.634 --> 00:01:49.344
or when it shows up in search results.
00:01:50.034 --> 00:01:50.634
Functionally.
00:01:50.664 --> 00:01:53.244
This means you need to make sure
your site has good metadata.
00:01:53.634 --> 00:01:56.784
Metadata is the information about
your site that search engines use to
00:01:56.814 --> 00:01:58.194
understand what your site is about?
00:01:58.854 --> 00:02:01.134
It's also what social media
platforms you use to display
00:02:01.134 --> 00:02:02.334
your content when it's shared.
00:02:03.234 --> 00:02:04.944
Here are a few tips to get you started.
00:02:05.364 --> 00:02:09.624
The title and H one tags on each page
are most likely to be used as the
00:02:09.624 --> 00:02:11.424
title of the page in search results.
00:02:11.874 --> 00:02:13.674
Make sure these are
descriptive and accurate.
00:02:14.734 --> 00:02:18.244
The meta name equals description
tag is used as the description
00:02:18.244 --> 00:02:19.534
of the page in search results.
00:02:19.894 --> 00:02:22.834
Try to keep it less than 150
characters and make it a meaningful
00:02:22.834 --> 00:02:24.124
summary of the pages content.
00:02:25.094 --> 00:02:28.964
The Metta property OJI image tag is
used as the image that shows up when
00:02:28.964 --> 00:02:30.553
your page is shared on social media.
00:02:31.243 --> 00:02:34.064
Make sure it's a high quality image
thumbnail that represents the content
00:02:34.064 --> 00:02:38.893
of the page and that it's at least 1200
by 630 pixels in size with an aspect
00:02:38.893 --> 00:02:43.483
ratio of 1.91 to one that will help
it to look good on most platforms.
00:02:45.353 --> 00:02:48.863
Use structured data with Jason
LD for enhanced search results.
00:02:49.613 --> 00:02:51.923
Picture a list of Google
search results in your head.
00:02:52.194 --> 00:02:55.284
You're probably seeing a list of blue
links with a short description below them.
00:02:55.823 --> 00:02:59.573
, but have you ever seen a search result
with a video thumbnail or a recipe with
00:02:59.573 --> 00:03:01.403
a picture and the list of ingredients?
00:03:01.493 --> 00:03:02.393
That's no accident.
00:03:02.783 --> 00:03:05.183
It's the result of Google's
crawlers finding something called
00:03:05.183 --> 00:03:07.013
structured data on the results page.
00:03:07.703 --> 00:03:10.343
When your site shows up like
this, it's called a rich result.
00:03:10.433 --> 00:03:13.043
It can help your site stand out in
search results and give your work
00:03:13.043 --> 00:03:14.213
a better chance of being seen.
00:03:14.753 --> 00:03:17.153
There are many types of structured
data, which Google supports,
00:03:17.183 --> 00:03:19.583
including articles, videos, events.
00:03:19.883 --> 00:03:21.923
Products, software apps and many more.
00:03:22.433 --> 00:03:25.313
Google publisher's list of these
called structured data markup.
00:03:25.673 --> 00:03:27.623
And you can check it out on
Google site to see if there's
00:03:27.623 --> 00:03:28.733
a type that fits your content.
00:03:28.974 --> 00:03:32.423
, if there is, you can use a format
called Jason L D on pages on your
00:03:32.423 --> 00:03:35.603
site to help Google understand what
the content on that page is about.
00:03:36.414 --> 00:03:38.754
I recently did this for my website pages.
00:03:38.754 --> 00:03:42.324
That feature video now include a
video object, structured data embed
00:03:42.803 --> 00:03:46.074
it's as simple as including a bit of
Jason on the page inside a script tag.
00:03:46.434 --> 00:03:48.684
Check out my recent poll request
to see how I made it happen.
00:03:49.103 --> 00:03:50.304
There's a link in the show notes.
00:03:52.383 --> 00:03:54.813
Keyword research is a great way
to understand your audience.
00:03:56.173 --> 00:03:56.893
All right friends.
00:03:57.013 --> 00:03:58.573
Here's where I need to call myself out.
00:03:58.963 --> 00:04:02.203
I'm not great at this, but I know
it's important and I'm working on it.
00:04:03.925 --> 00:04:06.985
Here's the idea when making something
new, it's really helpful to make sure
00:04:07.015 --> 00:04:10.255
you're creating content about things
that people are actually searching for.
00:04:10.795 --> 00:04:14.635
Use keyword research, to understand what
people are searching for, and then create
00:04:14.635 --> 00:04:16.375
content that matches those searches.
00:04:16.495 --> 00:04:17.395
It's as easy as that.
00:04:17.935 --> 00:04:20.215
There are loads of tools out here
to help with keyword research.
00:04:20.245 --> 00:04:23.635
But I found that the best free tools
for this are the Google search console.
00:04:23.635 --> 00:04:26.005
And Refs webmaster tools.
00:04:26.155 --> 00:04:28.135
Both of these tools will show
you what people are searching
00:04:28.135 --> 00:04:30.745
for when they find your site and
what your site is ranking for.
00:04:31.165 --> 00:04:33.445
This can help you understand
what people are looking for and
00:04:33.445 --> 00:04:36.055
what you can do to make your site
more relevant to those searches.
00:04:37.015 --> 00:04:39.925
If you're looking for free tools to
help you understand your site's SEO.
00:04:40.135 --> 00:04:43.255
I really like the SEO extension
from detailed as a tool for
00:04:43.255 --> 00:04:44.995
inspecting the metadata on each page.
00:04:45.205 --> 00:04:47.875
It's a Chrome extension that shows
you the metadata for the page you're
00:04:47.875 --> 00:04:50.635
on and it gives you a score for
how well it's set up for search.
00:04:50.965 --> 00:04:52.765
It's a great way to quickly
check if your titles and
00:04:52.765 --> 00:04:54.085
descriptions are set up correctly.
00:04:54.835 --> 00:04:56.335
For inspecting structured data.
00:04:56.515 --> 00:04:59.605
When you add structured data to your
site, you can use the Google search
00:04:59.605 --> 00:05:03.835
central schema markup testing tool
and schema.org validator to make
00:05:03.835 --> 00:05:05.275
sure your pages are set up correctly.
00:05:06.295 --> 00:05:08.785
And if you're looking for more, you
may want to check out the fantastic
00:05:08.815 --> 00:05:12.775
SEO newsletter from positional it's
well-researched highly informed
00:05:12.775 --> 00:05:14.245
and a great way to learn about SEO.
00:05:15.205 --> 00:05:16.795
I've also written a bit more about SEO.
00:05:17.275 --> 00:05:20.335
I wrote a tutorial on setting up
self healing URLs in your next
00:05:20.335 --> 00:05:21.955
JSA that you might find useful.
00:05:22.645 --> 00:05:25.465
And if you've ever wondered how to
correctly add subtitles to your H one
00:05:25.465 --> 00:05:27.025
tags, I've got you covered there too.
00:05:27.985 --> 00:05:31.105
I've also created a list of the
SEO tools I use to grow my sites
00:05:31.105 --> 00:05:32.605
to 20,000 visitors a month.
00:05:33.625 --> 00:05:35.275
If you're interested in
reading these articles.
00:05:35.725 --> 00:05:38.755
Open up your podcast player to the show
notes and you'll find links there.
00:05:40.198 --> 00:05:41.098
Focusing on SEO.
00:05:41.098 --> 00:05:43.558
Certainly isn't all there is
to being successful online.
00:05:44.218 --> 00:05:46.618
But it's something that builds
over time and it's really safe.
00:05:47.368 --> 00:05:49.678
But it's something that builds
over time and it's extremely
00:05:49.678 --> 00:05:50.938
satisfying to get it right.
00:05:52.288 --> 00:05:55.707
If like me, You're motivated by watching
tiny little charts grow over time.
00:05:55.827 --> 00:05:56.877
This might be for you.
00:05:57.327 --> 00:06:00.207
And honestly, even if that's
not your thing, SEO is
00:06:00.207 --> 00:06:01.257
probably still worth your time.
00:06:03.037 --> 00:06:05.407
I once heard that it's valuable
to share something with a friend
00:06:05.587 --> 00:06:08.017
and it's more valuable to share
something with two friends.
00:06:08.267 --> 00:06:10.817
The best thing about SEO is that
over time, you're sharing your
00:06:10.817 --> 00:06:13.007
knowledge with people who you
could never imagine meeting.
00:06:13.307 --> 00:06:14.357
It's such a cool thing to see.
00:06:14.357 --> 00:06:17.297
And one of my favorite things about the
internet, I hope you give it a shot.
