(This is the 01/10/2025 issue of my newsletter – subscribe here)
Hey hey!
October’s here, which means we’re officially in Q4 and if your SEO strategy for the year was “I’ll sort that out later,” well… the bad news is that later has arrived.
But panic ye not, for there is good news too!
The good news is that I’m teaming up with the fabulous Holly Christie to run a free SEO webinar on Tuesday 7th October at 1:30pm, and we’re covering SEO fundamentals that small business website owners need to know.
We’ll be talking through how to improve your SEO straight away, and how to understand what’s working (and what’s not) on your website. Plus we’ll be answering your questions live, and as a bonus for anyone who attends I’ll send you a free workbook to help you sort out your SEO step by step, and an invitation to something I’m very excited about.
Can’t make it live? No worries – everyone who registers gets the recording.
What you’ll find inside
1 | Why this webinar is happening and what you’ll learn
2 | Three SEO newsletters you should be reading (that aren’t mine)
3 | Your free SEO tip: Register for the webinar and send us your questions
4 | What I’m working on this week
Let’s dig in, shall we?
Thoughts this week
There’s a lot of noise out there about SEO. Every other LinkedIn post is either telling you that AI search has killed traditional SEO (it hasn’t), or that you need to spend thousands on link building (you probably don’t), or that GEO is the future (it absolutely isn’t). It’s exhausting.
And most small businesses don’t need to worry about a lot of this stuff – you just need to start by getting the basics right. I’m talking about things like proper heading structures, decent title tags, understanding what Google Search Console is actually telling you, and knowing whether your pages are even indexed.
Before you worry about AI Overviews or whatever the latest panic is on Twitter (never X), you need to get the fundamentals sorted.
That’s exactly why Holly and I decided to run this webinar. We want to cut through the jargon-y bollocks, and talk about what really matters for small business websites. The practices that work regardless of what Google’s latest algorithm update is doing. The stuff that helps real people find your business when they’re searching for what you offer.
We’ll be covering Google Search Console so you know how to use it to make SEO decisions. We’ll talk about the SEO improvements you can make straight away without needing a developer or a massive budget. And we’ll help you understand what’s worth working on for your website vs. what’s just wasting your time.
Register here: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/webinar/
Three newsletters you should be reading
I’m taking a break from linking to my own blog posts this week to recommend three newsletters that consistently deliver awesome value for small business website owners.
Beth Rawlins‘ The Website Lab does deep dives into things that matter for small business website owners. I always come away with a new way of thinking about something or food for thought. Beth’s brilliant at explaining website strategy in plain English, and her newsletter is packed with actionable advice that could help your business. Sign up here.
Alice Rowan 🤓‘s Thus Far Untitled covers everything from content writing to SEO, with a shitload of UX tips along the way. Often Alice and I hit on writing about the same thing at the same time, which I’m choosing to believe means great minds think alike. I’ve seen her speak a few times now and she knows her shit. Worth subscribing.
Candour‘s Core Updates gives you quick news on a Monday about what’s going on in SEO – bite-size information with longer advice if you want it. Mark Williams-Cook is a must-follow on LinkedIn if you’re at all interested in SEO, and his newsletter, put together by Jack Chambers-Ward is definitely a must read over a coffee at the start of the week. Get it here.
These three complement what I write about nicely, and between us you’ll get a pretty comprehensive view of what’s happening in SEO without drowning in conflicting advice from random LinkedIn gooroos.
Your free SEO tip
This week’s tip is simple: register for the webinar and send me your SEO questions.
Tell me and Holly what’s confusing you, what you’re stuck on, or what bit of SEO advice you’ve heard that sounds like complete bollocks.
Holly and I will answer as many questions as we can during the live session, and even if you can’t attend live, you’ll get the recording sent to you afterwards. Plus that workbook and community access for everyone who registers.
It’s free, it’s practical, and you’ll learn something useful instead of just adding another generic “10 SEO tips” article to your bookmarks that you’ll never read.
Register here: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/webinar/
What am I working on this week?
This week I’m working on landing pages (done properly, not the dodgy doorway page nonsense that’ll get you penalised) for a B2B services client. I’m also doing some blog post clean-up for a translation company – when you’ve been publishing content for years, sometimes you need to go back and sort out the mess before adding more to it.
Plus I’m writing SEO content for a recruitment company, which is always interesting because recruitment is such a competitive sector online. Getting them to stand out without resorting to the same tired phrases everyone else uses is a challenge, but that’s the fun bit really.
Need help with any of the above? You know where to find me.
That’s it for now,
Always non-wanky
Nikki
P.S. Seriously, register for that webinar and send your questions. The worst that happens is you get a free recording and a workbook. The best that happens is you finally understand what the hell Google Search Console is trying to tell you and you can actually improve your website’s SEO. Grab your spot here.
