500: SEO Expert Compilation - Strategies for Success in 2024 with Ty Kilgore, Samantha Blake & Steve Wiideman

In episode 500, Megan chats to 3 SEO experts: Ty Kilgore, Samantha Blake and Steve Wiideman, about what SEO strategies will help food bloggers grow most in 2024.

Ty Kilgore has been geeking out on SEO and Digital Marketing for over 14 years. He founded Everything Digital Marketing in order to share his passion and to clearly instruct, guide, and help influencers overcome the frustrations related to SEO and Digital Marketing.

Samantha Blake began a web design and SEO business after food blogging didn’t go as planned. While she still enjoys cooking and baking as a hobby, she learned she truly had a love for web design and SEO pieces when it comes to business. Sam particularly loves designing and developing websites and coming up with SEO strategies for food bloggers - it's the best of both worlds! 

Steve Wiideman is the Orange County, California based strategic planning specialist, founder of The Wiideman Consulting Group, and renowned as “SEO Steve” for the extraordinary breakthroughs he helped achieve for Fortune 500 companies and local small startups alike.

In this episode, you’ll learn what you need to do in 2024 to rank on Google and grow your blog, including which SEO strategies are outdated, how to get ahead of competitors and how to use AI to improve your SEO.

- Unique Perspective is Key: It’s important to offer a unique perspective in content creation to stand out in search results. With AI becoming more integrated into search engines, bloggers must focus on providing content that goes beyond generic answers and offers a distinct viewpoint.

- Strategic Optimization: Analyze existing content and strategically optimize it for better SEO performance. Find a balance between creating new content and optimizing existing posts.

- Don't Obsess Over Technical SEO: While technical SEO is important, bloggers should focus on creating high-quality content and trust in the main technical aspects provided by their hosting, theme, and plugins.

- Adaptability in Food Blogging: You have to be flexible and responsive to changes in the food blogging realm.

- Create High-Quality Content: Focus on providing comprehensive and valuable content to users. This includes detailed instructions, variations, and supplementary resources such as videos to cater to diverse preferences and enhance user experience.

- Backlinks and Shareable Content: Create shareable content and acquire backlinks to improve visibility and engagement.

- Use AI Tools Carefully: AI tools can enhance your content but be aware of the pitfalls of using it in a way that generates generic or inaccurate content.

- Regularly Monitor Competitors' Activities: Stay informed about competitors' strategies and content gaps by frequently scanning their XML sitemaps to identify areas for improvement and new content opportunities.

- Identify Primary Competitors Based on Business Goals: Determine key competitors aligned with your business objectives, focusing on top search results in Google for relevant topics to benchmark against and monitor their strategies.

- Diversify Marketing Efforts Across Platforms: Expand marketing efforts beyond Google by prioritizing video content creation and distribution across various platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, enhancing brand visibility and engagement.

Connect with Ty Kilgore Website

Connect with Samantha Blake Website

Connect with Steve Wiideman Website