How to Add SEO to Your Squarespace Website

How to Add SEO to Your Squarespace Website

I know how important it is to drive traffic to your website if you have a blog. Otherwise, what's the point, if no one can actually see the content that you're creating? So today I want to support you in two pieces of the puzzle to improving the SEO on your website.

1. Content is Key

Number one is your content. I am telling you that none of the cool features matter if the content on your blog and on your website is kind of crappy and ultimately if your audience doesn't want it, then they're not going to be searching for it, so it's really important that you put the majority of your energy on creating content that your audience wants. You need to know who your audience is and, more specifically, what it is that they're looking for online and then you create the content to meet that need.

Some of my favorite ways to find out what my audience is searching for are to step in their shoes and imagine what they're googling online. Now if you're like, I don't want to imagine Michelle, I just want to know specifically, so I ask them. Go ahead in a group, in a private community and ask them what they're searching for online or what specific questions they have about the industry that you're in. Another fun tip is to go to blog posts that are in a similar industry as you would see, what kind of comments are coming through the bottom, see what people are asking about, and then create content that meets that need. Or, go into a facebook group and see what people are asking about your specific niche and create content that again meets that need. I can't stress enough to you how important content is and if you're struggling with coming up with ideas, it is as simple as asking your audience, what can I create for you? 

Some of my biggest, most impactful, most traffic driven blog posts that I have are really specific, so the titles themselves need to be really specific as well. Some examples for you are "7 Tips For A Well Branded Photo Shoot" or "How to Convert Clients on your Website." Remember you. People are searching for the content that they need, so make sure that not only is the content amazing, but also the title is super descriptive and on point for what your audience is ultimately searching for.

2. Keywords

The second piece of this puzzle is my favorite thing to do, and that is adding keywords to your blog posts. Now, I do not suggest that it's just a keyword heavy blog posts, so it's just keywords, right? You're not actually giving value, none, no, no, no, no. Lead with value, but add in those key words that's going to tell Google, hey, that's what this blog post is about. 

Another really cool thing that you could do is add keywords to the images within your blog post. If you watch the whole Youtube video below, I actually dive-in to my Squarespace site and show you exactly what I'm talking about here. As a result, I saw this was having a big impact on my SEO. You'll see I have a ton of images in my blog post. I have videos, I have all kinds of things. One of the things that I absolutely love to do is to go in and edit the image. Once you upload your image, you'll see a place for file name, update your file name, make your file name, the name of your blog post, or maybe a key word that is in relation to your blog post. This helps Google rank your content. So they're pulling all the different pieces from your website, including your images, so update your file name. It's as simple as seriously just clicking on here and typing what ever you want. I don't have captions underneath my photos, that you guys can see, but I do have things written. Again, giving google more to work with, with my site. Again, I show you exactly how to this in the video below, so be sure to watch if you're not sure what to do!

Bonus Tip

I'm going to give you guys one more bonus that I absolutely love. At the end of all my blog posts throughout my website, I have a lot of personal information, and I have a signature. This is another amazing space to add a little bit more seo to your website. You can go ahead and just type in your title right or maybe the name of your business. So for me, I type branding and business coach, and then I can also go into design caption below and you'll see branding and business coach. Okay, so this helps. This helps you rank on Google for your title. It helps Google know who you are, what it is that you do specifically. And again, all I have to do is do not display caption and hit apply. So fun little tip for you in improving SEO. Using images on Squarespace, making these small changes to the content that you're creating and the SEO that you are adding to your website in the form of keywords can have a big impact on your brand awareness. 

Can I get an "A" for driving traffic to your website with zero ad spend? That's like the entreprenuers dream, but I also understand that coming up with content, coming up with ideas is kind of daunting. So I have a really cool free resource for you that you can grab here: https://brandmerry.lpages.co/content-creation-training/ 

It's how I map out 30 days worth of content and as little as 30 minutes, there's a really cool bonus video that kind of walks you through my process and they're really easy spreadsheet that you can use in your own business to kind of categorize what content you're going to create and plan it all out in advance. It's going to help you overall in your business, if you can start streamlining these practices now. 

You can watch the whole video for a more in-depth tutorial of this with several bonus tips below!

Head over to Youtube and be sure to like and comment on the video while you are over there to help more people see this information ↠ https://youtu.be/H39rEQNWBdw

And as always please share and comment on this blog post, I love connecting with you!

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Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>

How to Use Facebook Messenger Bots For Your Brand {Video Inside}

How to Use Facebook Messenger Bots For Your Brand

In today's video I'm going to be sharing with you three simple ways to use Facebook Messenger bots, specifically mini chat, to not only grow your audience, but also increase brand awareness, and more importantly, engagement. But before I dive into those three simple steps, I want to share with you an upcoming masterclass that I'm hosting on how to create an authentic brand that allows you to grow your community with ease and leads to more clients. You can find an upcoming time and all the information in the link below.

But before I jump into those three simple steps, I want to go ahead and invite you to an upcoming training that I am doing. I'm going to be sharing five steps on creating an authentic brand that grows your loyal community and leads to more clients. You can join here: https://brandmerry.com/authenticbrand 

1. Using Messenger Bots for Live Video Notification

This has been so much fun for me in my brand and business, and I'm so excited to share it with you, because it has really not only increased live viewers, but also increased engagement, which is so important with the social media algorithm. We want people not only showing up to watch, liking and hearting your content, sharing and commenting. All of those pieces are really, really important.

So the more people that you can get on the actual live video, as opposed to watching it on replay, is going to help you stand out online. So how do you do this with mini chat? So there's so many different ways to use Messenger bots, but I absolutely love creating a really simple form in Manychat for an upcoming live video that you are hosting. Maybe for you it's a live video, a live training, a challenge, or a weekly or biweekly segment, like Mondays with Michelle, which I do biweekly on my Facebook business page.

Creating a really simple opt in form using Manychat, putting a cool little title telling them if they sign up they'll get a notification right in their Messenger box, so they don't miss a single thing. Then, when they sign up, you can schedule a broadcast to all of the amazing women and men who have signed up to get the notification, and send them a really cool notification that says "Oh my gosh, we're live." They can click the button and join you live right there and then.

It's also a really cool idea to follow up with any posts afterwards asking if they have any takeaways or questions, or reminding them about a special offer that you mentioned on the live video, which they will hopefully be live on, with that really awesome reminder.

It takes the guess work out for people wondering "When is that person going to go live? Do I have to set a reminder?" And what if they forget, because life gets in the way. We are all by our phones most of the time, so it's really cool to have just a little Facebook Messenger pop up and say "Oh yeah, I'll watch right here on my phone."

2. Using Messenger Bots for Pre-Enrollment to a Launch

So maybe you're rolling out a new course, or a new program, and this is a strategy that I absolutely loved doing for my signature course, Your Brand New Adventure. And it worked really, really well. So what I did is I created a wait list on my website, by embedding a Manychat form onto my website, so that they could go to my website, to the sales page, and click to get a messenger reminder when the cart opened.

Then about a week before the cart opens, I sent a Facebook message to them, just letting them know that they had signed up to join the wait list, and the offer was now available. It was so powerful, I had 50% women buy on the very first day, and the other 50%, yes 100% conversion on a wait list, signed up before the cart closed.

And all I needed to do, because they were an engaged audience, is send them a reminder message mid way through, just letting them know that that special pre-enrollment offer was ending, and then again on the final day, saying "Hey, now if you're interested, here's the information to learn more."

It saved me a ton of time when it came to pre-enrollment for my launch, I didn't have to send out a ton of emails. It was just three simple Manychat messages, and I was done. So it's a really cool tool to use in your arsenal.

One thing to keep in mind is that Manychat and other messenger bots do not allow sole promotion. So you want to make sure that the people who sign up for your wait list are engaged before you actually promote a free order. In order to do that you can add a couple of questions like "Are you still interested in the Brand New Adventure that you signed up for. Click yes or no." And once they respond, they will be considered an engaged audience.

3. Using Messenger bots to Announce a YouTube Video or a Blog Post that just went live

This is really important, especially when it comes to YouTube, because Google wants to see that people are responding to the video shortly after it's published. And the same goes for your blog post.

So the more eyes that you can get on that content right away, the better. So using Messenger bots to send reminders to your audience when a blog post is published, or a YouTube video is live, is really, really powerful. You can create a simple signup using something like Manychat, where they can just sign up for notifications, and then every week, or biweekly, or whenever your schedule is for your blog, or your YouTube channel, you can send a little reminder to their inbox saying "Hey, here's today's topic. I'd love for you to head over to the website, or YouTube. Hit like, write a comment, and let me know your feedback."

It's a great way to get instant feedback, and instant eyes on the content you're creating. Messenger bots are seriously exploding, and I'll share with you my personal favorite, which is Manychat. It's free to use, it's a really, really great tool to add to your online business. But it's really important because it improves engagement, and engagement is so important with the way Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, basically every single algorithm, is functioning today.

So the more people that you can get onto your live videos, or into your programs, on to your blog posts or your YouTube video right away, the better it is going to be for you and your brand. But here's the thing, I shared with you three simple steps today on how you can incorporate Messenger bots, but if you don't have a clear voice for your brand and your business, none of that stuff, that fancy stuff, makes any sense.

Which is why I'm really going to encourage you one more time to join me for my upcoming masterclass on five simple steps to create an authentic brand that allows you to grow your community with ease, and leads to more clients. You can click the link right here https://brandmerry.com/authenticbrand to sign up at the time that works best for you.

You can watch the whole video for a more in-depth version of this and several bonus tips below!

Head over to YouTube and be sure to like and comment on the video while you are over there to help more people see this information ↠ https://youtu.be/zc19LlZCIu0

And as always please share and comment on this blog post, I love connecting with you!

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Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>

How to Create a Visibility Plan for Your Online Business

How to Create a Visibility Plan for Your Online Business

BY: MICHELLE KNIGHT

Creating a visibility plan that gets you seen, heard and paid is so incredibly important for your online business. Yet, so many entrepreneurs get stuck when they enter the visibility or marketing phase.

And, as I shared in this post we know that without marketing your business is not going to reach it’s full potential.

We see this when entrepreneurs build websites and receive no traffic.
Create an offer and make no sales.
Work for years, but never see the growth they deserve.

All of these elements, and more require marketing (aka getting visible)!

If you’re looking for a more in-depth plan on marketing your business or repurposing your content you can check out these blogs as well.

Marketing Strategy Example for Solopreneurs
How to Turn One Piece of Content into 20+ Pieces of Content (Repurpose Plan)

Ok, now on to the steps.

Step #1: Determine where you’ll show up

To figure out the best places to show up, ask yourself "who do I want to attract to my brand?" 

If you don't know where your ideal client is showing up online, ask them. This is also something you can discover through in-depth ideal customer research, something I touch on in my free training, Build a Better Brand Method.

You want to show up on the platforms where your people are hanging out. For example, if you know your ideal client is a mom, Pinterest is probably a great place to start. 

The last thing you want to do is spend hours, and I mean hours, creating high-value content only to find your ideal customer won’t find it because they don’t consume content on that specific platform.

Visibility doesn't mean we're showing up everywhere. It means we're showing up on specific platforms and providing incredible value. 

If you try to be everywhere for everyone you’re going to find that your content is less than mediocre and you’re feeling stretched too thing.

If you're just starting out we recommend, focusing on one platform. Get really good on that one platform and then grow from there. 

Think outside the box as well, it doesn't just have to be social media. In fact, inside Brandmerry Academy we teach entrepreneurs how to market their business WITHOUT relying on social media. We love to teach strategies like Pinterest, Search Engine Optimization, video and more.

Step #2: Plan your time by looking at the big picture

It's important to be efficient with your time and understand how your planning on showing up ultimately fits in with the big picture. 

Don't just show up to show up. Think about what is going to get you the most bang for your buck and allow you to get the most out of your time and energy.

One of the ways we love to optimize our time is to have a clear content workflow we can repeat week after week. As my team has grown, I’ve been able to outsource with ease and add to my workload. This was only possible because of the system I put in place in the beginning.

In this blog post, I shared my tips on planning a full 6 months at a time in your business. It focuses on the step by step, starting with the big picture.

If you don’t know where you’re going, how can you know what will get you there?

My top tip is to plan your launch calendar 30-90 days out, so you know what you need to be talking about when you show up and how often you should be showing up at different times throughout the 90 days. 

Make sure the content you are showing up with matches your launch calendar and builds anticipation and desire for your offer. 

Having at least a 90-day plan allows you to be more efficient with your content timeline.

Step #3: Writing Your 30-Day Visibility Plan

Now, as I mentioned above we recommend focusing on 90-days at least in your business, but we also understand that some of you just starting out might be intimidated with that much planning and commitment.

To support you, here are the top tips for planning out 30 days, and remember you can just repeat as needed until you’re ready to plan a little big bigger.

Here are four simple steps to follow:

1. Figure out where and when you are going to show up. 

Consistency is key, so what does that look like for you? 
Is it every day? Every other day? 
Your visibility plan should be unique to you, but it should also be a little out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself to show up and be seen.

2. Set your intention for the next 30 days. 

What is your goal in terms of visibility? 
Is it to grow your list? Fill your program? Nurture your community? 
Write your visibility goal at the top of your monthly plan so you can begin the process of reverse engineering.

3. Come up with ideas. 

Write down every idea you can of what type of things you can talk about. Think about your framework and/or offer and use that as inspiration for how you’ll show up over the next 30 days. Remember, the goal and think of what your audience needs from you before taking action on your monthly goal.

In this post, I shared four ways to come up with content for your brand, including some of my top resources for finding ideas that will rank on Google.

Once you have a long list, you can plug them into your visibility plan (aka content calendar).

4. Determine how you will show up. 

Is it on video? 
Is it on audio? 
How are you going to show up and attract your ideal customer? 

In this blog, I share how to design this entire plan so you can repeat it weekly for your business and avoid the overwhelm.

Ultimately, you want to determine how you’re going to make your brand visible.

CONCLUSION

Now take these 4 steps, and put them together into your 30-day plan. 

Having a plan allows you to get inspired, don’t think of it as being restrictive, but rather expansive. It allows you to not feel stressed out. It allows you to actually show up. 

It takes the guess work out of, “How do people find me!”

Remember, you can always add more to your visibility plan throughout the month, but having it written down in advance allows you to show up with ease without the overwhelm. 

Don't make this complicated. I just put it all into a calendar and print one out, so it's visible. 

You can also put it into ClickUp, which is the task management platform we prefer.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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Meet Michelle

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Grow Your List Using FACEBOOK Lives + YOUR Free Offer

GROW YOUR LIST USING FACEBOOK LIVES + YOUR FREE OFFER

Facebook Lives (well any live video really) have transformed my business and since we are all about visibility here at Brandmerry I want to give you the tools you need to feel confident in sharing your freebie via live videos.

FB lives are two-fold: an excellent way to grow your online visibility and build trust with your audience PLUS grow your list of community.

Today, I'm sharing with you 4 simple ways to start using your Facebook lives to their full advantage to grow your list!

1. CREATE A FREEBIE SPECIFIC VIDEO

An amazing tool to grow your visibility and get the message out about your free offer. Create a FB live where you introduce yourself and then talk up your free offer. Be sure to share the title, some super descriptive bullets or talking about about the benefits of the free offer (exactly what they will learn), why you created and how they can access it.

Once your video is created share it out like crazy, pin the post in your private community and your business page AND if you have a little extra cash you can boost your video so more people see it (be sure to create a custom audience and don't just throw money at it).

2. INTRODUCE YOUR FREE OFFER

You are already going live, and if you aren't you should be, so why not share your free offer with EVERY SINGLE video. I always encourage my clients to pitch with every video, and this doesn't have to be just paid offers it also includes your free workbooks, trainings, challenges and more. There are two places to share your free offer:

Beginning: After your introduction at the beginning of your video share your free offer and how they can get there hands on it (i.e. give them a specific link).

End: Once your video ends remind them of the free offer, talk a little more about the benefits of your offer and how they can get their hands on it. 

3. UPDATE THE DESCRIPTION

If you are not doing this you are missing out on a golden opportunity! The #1 thing I recommend ALL my clients do is go back to update the description of their live video to give tons of value and information that entices your audience to watch the video. Remember, your video doesn't matter if no one is watching it. 

After your video is complete be sure to give the title of your free offer, your descriptive bullets and the link to access it. Accessibility is super important so make it easy for people to click, give their information and go.

4. BONUS TIP: PIN YOUR LINK IN THE COMMENTS

Another great FB live addition is the option to pin a specific comment or link to the top of your video. With most videos, unless changed, you will see the comments in realtime, so when you pin the comment you guarantee that no matter when someone starts or stops watching the replay they will have access to the link.

Want a little more information on creating free offers (aka lead magnets)? Check out my blog on Four Steps to Create Your Next Free Offer here ↠ 

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Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>

What is Personal Branding and Why is Personal Branding Important?

What is Branding and
Why is Branding Important
for Female Entrepreneurs?

**The post was updated on October 2019

I absolutely love personal branding, but as much as I LOVE it, it didn't come easy to me early on in my business.

In fact, the very first website I made took almost five months to make and the end result was NOTHING like what I imagined. Sure I had done it myself, but I got so wrapped up in what everyone else was doing and what their brands looked like that I lost myself in the process.

When I became a personal branding coach and consultant female entrepreneurs I knew I wanted to share my discoveries and knowledge around branding with as many women as possible.

Why is Personal Branding Important?

Because when you start thinking about branding as so much more than just aesthetic, you are able to create a truly authentic personal brand that stands out in your industry.

And, yes when I say personal branding, I mean you!

In fact, no matter what you sell online you need to be focused on the person behind the business. It is the personal connection that attracts your dream clients and keeps them engaged.

4 Pieces for your Personal Brand

This 7-minute video will give you a look inside personal branding and the 4 pieces needed for a strong personal brand online.

When you take the time to lay the foundational pieces of your personal brand, you create a brand that is so on-point to who you are and your purpose and clearly connects with your audience.

This is how you create a brand that attracts fans, not just followers.

Leave your biggest takeaway from today’s video below.

P.S. If you’re ready to create a strong personal brand on social media, then be sure to check out my FREE masterclass where I’m sharing my Build a Better Brand Method. You’ll learn the exact framework I teach my clients to create a brand that stands out on social media, attracts their dream clients and creates a revenue-generating business. Sign up here!

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