Rockstar SEO Secrets: Boost Your Online Presence Without Paying for Ads with Bobby McIntyre
Are you ready to rock your online presence and take your business to new heights? In this electrifying episode, I sit down with Bobby McIntyre, a multi-talented entrepreneur who’s mastered the art of music and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Bobby shares his incredible journey from fronting an 80s cover band to becoming a sought-after SEO specialist, helping businesses shine in the digital spotlight.
We explore Bobby’s fascinating origin story, from his early days in Southern California to his unexpected move to Canada. Bobby reveals how his passion for music led him to discover the power of social media and ultimately paved the way for his successful SEO career.
Key Takeaways:
- The importance of creating content that resonates with both search engines and human readers
- Why organic search results are often more trusted than paid advertisements
- How to leverage SEO to maintain long-term visibility in search results
- The value of targeting specific, long-tail keywords for better search rankings
From Stage to Screen: A Musical Journey
Bobby takes us through his evolution as a musician, including:
- His first experiences playing in a band at age 15
- The transition from drummer to lead vocalist
- How he built a substantial following on music-focused social media platforms
Decoding the SEO Mystery
We demystify the world of Search Engine Optimization, discussing:
- The basics of how search engines understand and rank web content
- The critical role of backlinks in establishing a website’s authority
- Why consistent, quality content creation is essential for maintaining search rankings
SEO vs. Paid Advertising: Finding the Right Balance
Bobby shares insights on:
- The pros and cons of organic search results versus paid advertisements
- How to determine the best strategy for your business goals and budget
- The long-term benefits of investing in SEO over relying solely on paid ads
This conversation is packed with valuable information for business owners, marketers, and anyone looking to improve their online visibility. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting your digital journey, you’ll find actionable advice to help you climb the search engine rankings.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from Bobby’s unique blend of musical talent and SEO expertise. Tune in now and start giving a heck about your online presence!
Connect with Bobby McIntyre
Website: https://rockstarseo.ca/
Website: https://paradisealleyband.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobbyMcIntyremusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbymcintyre/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbymcintyremusic/
Connect with Dwight Heck:
Website: https://giveaheck.com (Free Book Offer)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/give.a.heck
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dwight.heck
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Giveaheck
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@giveaheck
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwight-heck-65a90150/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giveaheck
X: https://x.com/give_a_heck
Chapter Summaries (Full unedited transcript follows):
00:00:02
Introduction to Bobby McIntyre: Music and SEO Expert
Bobby McIntyre, a specialist in music and SEO, is introduced. Born in the US and now living in Canada, Bobby fronts an 80s cover band and runs Rockstar SEO. The host highlights Bobby’s expertise in helping businesses improve their online presence and stand out in search results.
00:01:19
Bobby’s Origin Story: From California to Washington
Bobby shares his early life, moving from California to Washington at age 7. He grew up on a 15-acre property with animals and his family owned a small restaurant with an arcade. This environment shaped his childhood and introduced him to the joy of live music performances.
00:03:22
Musical Journey: From Drums to Vocals
Bobby recounts his musical journey, starting with drums in fifth grade and joining his first band at 15. He describes the thrill of earning money from playing music and his gradual transition to singing. This period laid the foundation for his future in the music industry.
00:15:26
Transition to Social Media and Music Promotion
Bobby discusses his foray into social media and online music promotion. After a personal setback, he focused on building his online presence through platforms like Reverb Nation and SoundCloud. This experience led him to help other musicians with their social media strategies.
00:21:35
Founding Rockstar SEO: Expanding Beyond Music
Bobby explains the transition from helping musicians with social media to founding Rockstar SEO in 2016. He began assisting local businesses with their online presence, applying his skills to various industries beyond music. This marked the beginning of his career in search engine optimization.
00:23:44
Explaining SEO: The Basics and Importance
Bobby breaks down the basics of SEO, explaining how Google works and the importance of relevant content. He discusses the difference between paid ads and organic search results, emphasizing the long-term benefits of SEO for businesses. Bobby highlights the time-consuming nature of SEO and why businesses often need expert help.
00:36:38
The Power of Organic Search and Long-Term SEO Strategy
Bobby contrasts organic search results with paid ads, highlighting the lasting benefits of SEO. He explains how well-optimized content can remain relevant for years, providing continuous value. The discussion emphasizes the importance of consistent SEO efforts and adapting strategies for competitive industries.
00:41:46
Contacting Bobby and Final Thoughts
Bobby provides his contact information for those interested in his SEO services. The conversation concludes with a discussion about Bobby’s music performances and his inspiring message about perseverance and finding purpose in life. The host emphasizes the importance of positive associations and living with intent.
Full Unedited Transcript
[00:00:02 – 00:01:16]
Good day and welcome to give a hack on today’s show. I welcome Bobby McIntyre. Bobby is a specialist in both music and SEO and though born and raised in the US now resides in Canada and has two major passions. One of his passions is music and he fronts an 80s cover band which electrifies the music and truly brings it to life. His second passion is SEO development and implementation. SEO, which stands for search engine Optimization, can be a deal breaker for many whether they stand out or stay in the shadows of the Internet. His rockstar SEO business has helped many people go from obscure to rock stars themselves in their own industry. Bobby can help anyone in the world stand out with their websites and their social media presence. If nothing else, he can sure to entertain you with his powerful voice and maybe assist you in the music industry. I’d like to welcome you to the show, Bobby. Thanks so much for agreeing to come on and share with us some of your life journey.
[00:01:17 – 00:01:18]
Thanks for having me.
[00:01:19 – 00:03:21]
Absolutely. Just so you know, listeners, this is Bobby’s cherry. We’ll just call it that. And hopefully you’ll get the. You’ll get what? I mean, Bobby’s never been on a podcast before, so we’re going to handle him with kid gloves today. But he has a knowledge of information. He knows how to yak, just like all of us. So if he pauses here and there, we’ll cut him some slack. Okay, can I get a raised hand from everybody? No kidding. Anyway, Bobby, it’s such a pleasure to have you on the show. Since getting to know you over the last couple years, I’ve learned how talented you are, both in as a singer and as well as an SEO professional. Bobby himself, for those listening, has actually been helping me the last couple months with my own SEO. As we continue to grow the Give A Hack brand, it’s important for people to know how to find me. And unfortunately, most people don’t understand what SEO is. We will get into that though, in a short while. First off, though, those loyal to the show know that I like focusing on a person’s origin story. You know, it helps us connect, it helps us understand what that person’s gone through from their earliest recollections to where they are today. Some people have epiphanies that know when they’re in their teenage years and go, jeez, this happened to me when I was five. I didn’t realize that this shaped where I went. And Bobby’s got a really interesting story. I know you’re going to enjoy it. And then we will get into the search engine Optimization after the fact. And who knows, like Bobby wishes, maybe we’ll have a part two. Anyway, Bobby, please tell the listeners and myself your origin story, your earliest recollections to where you are today. Be as vulnerable as you want. Share what you want. My listeners are used to hearing the good, bad, ugly and also the great.
[00:03:22 – 00:15:26]
Well, I was born in Southern California, so Ventura actually, and lived there till I was about 7 years old. And all of a sudden one day mom and dad are moving us up to Washington State. I don’t know exactly why, but that’s kind of how we ended up in Washington. And Washington was a really good place. It’s a lot like Alberta, you know, it’s not a whole lot different. I grew up there on about 15 acres. We had animals, sheep, horses, everything, even peacocks. I remember we had. So I kind of grew up one of those kids that was, you know, never wore shoes. I just, my, my, my feet were leather soles, so I used to run on gravel and all kinds of stuff. I grew up in a small town of, it’s called Creston, Washington. Everybody confuses with Creston, B.C. but it’s Creston, it’s about 60 miles west of Spokane, 250 people. So that’s kind of a. And our, our, my parents owned a small restaurant there and it was kind of a drive in. Hamburgers, french fries, and we had an arcade there. So imagine being the only arcade in a small town. So we had lots of friends growing up. Everybody wanted to be our friend because when they hung out with Bobby or one of my brothers, they got hamburgers and french fries. And then they begged me for the keys to the back. Then in the 80s, you get the keys and you can go into that arcade and just flip it like, you know, and put like 20 credits on there. So we’d play games, video gaming. Like obviously we own that restaurant from 83 to 93. So. So I guess from the time I was a fifth grader on up till high school and then we ended up getting. There’s two restaurants in that town. The other one is a big as a steakhouse. And so we sold the small one and bought the bigger one. And then that’s where I first discovered music and like the joy of music. Because that place we had, I guess would hold, held about 150 people in the back and they had a stage with a, like a wagon wheel stage. So we had a lot of country rock bands there and a lot of live music. Back then you, you know, it was a big deal. You know, to hear the band, you know, they have a band come to Creston was a big deal. So we didn’t bring in bands out of. From Spokane Blues and mostly classic rock and country. And so for me, I. That’s kind of where I got introduced to, like, whoa, that’s really neat. I really like this live thing. I started playing snare drum in about fifth grade. So I was like. I started playing drums. I had an interest in music in about fifth grade. And then by the time I was like an 8th grader, I was getting pretty good trying to think when I turned 15, I was good enough to play in a band. And so I actually got approached because we. I don’t know if you remember pet bands back in the day when there’d be a basketball game, the pep band would play their music and there would be a drummer. So I was the drummer. So anyway, a guy, local guy, said, hey, you’re a really good drummer. I. I think you could really help our, you know, help our band. So he asked me to join. I was 15 years old when I joined that little rock band. We did mostly like 80s and 70s classic rock. And I started playing drums. So I remember the first night that I played, it was at. It was actually at our restaurant. And played all night long, had a blast. And then I’d have to go sit in the hall because I was 15, so I couldn’t go into the. The bar. And so I’d sit in the hallway. So at the end of the night, I’m sitting there just smiling because I had a blast. And he throws me a hundred dollar bill. And I go, what’s this? And he was like, that’s your pay. And I was like, what? So I didn’t. He didn’t tell me I was going to get paid. So I’m like, here I am 15 years old, I just had a blast playing drums and I got 100 bucks for it. So I was like. Then I realized, whoa, this is pretty awesome. I can actually get paid to do what I like. So that’s kind of where I got going. I started playing with those guys five or six years until my early 20s. And that’s kind of where the music journey started was from seeing it at our. At our own restaurant and seeing all these different, you know, bands come in. And yeah, it was from there I started playing guitar. And I didn’t actually start singing until I was about 22 years old. I was really. I used to do like, backup vocals and things like that in the band. Then finally he just said, one day you’re playing guitar and you’re singing with me. So then the same band leader that I had, we actually started doing a duo together where he played guitar, I played guitar, and we both sang. And then I started getting more comfortable with the becoming that, you know, a singer. Because it takes a lot of courage. It took me a lot of years to just have the courage to sing in front of others. And then slowly but surely the confidence builds up. Yeah, that’s from there. Let’s see here. We. I went to college in Spokane. The restaurant closed in about 98 I believe. And that’s where I, same time I met my, my first wife, we moved to the Spokane area. I did some, I started working sales, wireless sales for a company in Spokane. And yeah, I did that for a couple years. And then one day I was I think bragging to my wife at the time saying, you know what, I looked at the records of our sales last month and I did more than 50% of all the business in the, in the place I worked. And then she just goes, well, why don’t you open up your own store? It’s like, that’s not a half bad idea. So we did. I remember that day I went to, of course they didn’t have the money to open up a store, so we had to ask somebody for the money. So we went to her parents and I thought for sure is going to be a no. Says we need to borrow $20,000. We want to open up a cell phone store just outside of Spokane here. And I remember my father in law’s looked at me, he’s a big burly dude and he was like, really? You think you could do that? You think you can run a successful business? I said, I believe I can, sir. And so sure, I’ll give you the money. And yeah, I, he said, you have to pay it back in three years. It’s like, okay. So that’s how we got going. And with my first, first business and it was pretty, it was a very interesting business because I, I hit the cell phone world when it just boomed. So like it just was like 2000, right in 2000. Cell phones are starting to become like everybody had one, everybody needed one. And I was in when it was hot. So we started doing that. We within a few years started doing pretty good. I actually had my, my loan to my father in law paid back in two years, not three. So we did that. We eventually opened up two more stores. We owned one on the military base, one in Airway Heights. And then this is in the Spokane area and one in Spokane and we’re really doing well trying to think here. When the I think was 2008, that’s when had our biggest year ever and that’s where things took a different. My path started to change. So in 2008 we had had. Like I said, we just had one of our biggest years and then all of a sudden at the end, I think it might have been early 2009 but that my wife comes up to me one day and says I don’t love you anymore. I want to leave. And so my world is just completely shattered and we had these stores and all this stuff going. Three kids, you know, that we’re raising. Thought I had it, you know, like a perfect world and but you know the way it works sometimes it just throwing a hard curveball. So yeah, after that, you know, I think I ran the store for about three more years. But my heart was. It was something I built with her. So my heart wasn’t in it anymore. So I got out of that. And once I became a single man again, I started, you know, I guess it was called one of those eharmony or one of those online. I ended up. I remember when I was setting up that account I. I had it set for like Montana and Washington and Oregon. It’s like I’ve got to be able to find a partner in one of these. Then right at the very end I changed my radius and it just scraped Edmonton just like just barely braised it. I go no, you know what up Calgary, you never know. So I, I set my settings to reach here and sure enough I would say that’s like three days into it, I. That’s where I started messaging some girl in Edmonton. Nice little, you know. And so we started talking blah. We before I knew it, we’re really thinking about meeting and all this. And so we ended up meeting and hitting it off really well. And at that time I think I still had this. I still was at the store. She worked at a hospital here in, in Edmonton. And we’re just deciding should we live in America or should we live up here? What do we do? You know, so, and me being kind of a little burnt from the wireless. It’s how you know, I made a good living doing it, but a little burnt. I said no, you know what, I’m going to come up here. And so I brought my son Jacob up to Edmonton here and that’s how I ended up in Canada. And that was what a. Yeah, it’s. It was Definitely. And so I couldn’t work right away. So it gave me time with my music. I had never actually had recorded anything. I dabbled in the studios and stuff like that. But I had a couple of years where I couldn’t work. I mean, all I would do is help my new father in law. He. I’d work on his ranch, you know, he gave me a little cash for that. But in that time, that’s where I said, I’m going to do music, I’m going to do an album. And I never even had a website or I don’t. I think all I had at that time was a Facebook page. And that was about it. I think I was on Facebook. I just wasn’t. I didn’t like social media. I was like, I remember people coming into my store, don’t you have a website? Oh, I don’t need a website. I don’t. Who needs a website? That’s ridiculous. This is me back in 2009, 2008. But when I started doing the music, I got what I recorded a song here in Edmonton and professionally done was sounded really nice. And I put it up on my. The first website ever, you know, to promote yourself. It was called Reverb Nation. It used to be really popular website for musicians. And I put that song up and got a lot of feedback and I was like, people saying that’s really pretty good. Like. And I started building. That was my first social media account where I took it like, this is fun. And I built it up. Then I got my stuff onto. What was it? Soundcloud. All these. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Soundcloud, but I think it’s still.
[00:15:26 – 00:15:32]
Around, it still exists. It’s actually really big art. New artists still use it a lot actually.
[00:15:32 – 00:17:43]
Yeah, SoundCloud. So. And I started getting great feedback there and like all of a sudden I was just smackdown in the middle of building social media. So I started a Twitter and I started at that time, I don’t think Instagram had come out yet. I had Twitter, LinkedIn. I was getting on all these sites and I was starting to learn them, you know, learn how it worked. And I started to build a, you know, a good following. I think Reverb Nation I had. I think I built up to about a hundred thousand followers on that site. And that’s just. I don’t know if you ever heard of this. All Reverb Nation is just musicians. It’s a world of bands all over every city, in every country you can think of That’s. That’s where we’d go and we’d all share our music and you get a lot of positive feedback. Most of the people are really nice. You know, everybody’s just kind of saying, hey, great job. But that’s kind of where I found out. So I met some producers, and on the reverb nation, I think it was about 2014 or 2013, I was actually approached by a label and said, we like your stuff. This is actually pretty good, and we’d like to know if you’d be interested in signing with us. And so that was a pretty small contract that wasn’t really interested at that time already. I think that was around 2012 or 2013. But after I did my first album, I’ll be your hero, that. When I released that in 2014, I got a lot of feedback. And that’s where I was approached by a label out of Nashville and they offered me a pretty good deal for the time. I believe it was, you know, like a quarter million dollar recording contract, plus it was an album, and I was gonna have my album done in Nashville. And right about that same time, Jonathan was born. So my son. And so we had this contract we’re looking at, and it was exciting, but the reality of it was when he read it, it’s like, you have to be here, here, here, here, here.
[00:17:43 – 00:17:44]
Do.
[00:17:44 – 00:19:35]
You’re not. It’s. You’re. You’re just basically it’s a loan, you know, and you have to pay it back with your. Your royalties and your live shows and everything. So I didn’t take the contract, I didn’t sign with them. And I sometimes I wonder, you know, what would have happened if I would have done that. I don’t know if I was ready or not for that, but it was definitely a time in my life where I was happy that, you know, it had happened, that I knew that my music had gotten to a level where somebody would consider signing me. But yeah, that was 2014. Jonathan was born. That’s about the same time where I, at that time, had built up a decent following on social media, probably around a couple hundred thousand on all my social channels. And I was pretty much getting to the point where I was pretty good at it, so. And at that musician started to reach out to me and says, hey, man, how do you. How’d you get your soundcloud to hear? How’d you get your. How do you get. How’d you get all those likes on Facebook? How’d you do. And I was like, let me show You. And then all of a sudden it’s like, wait a minute, I can do this. I’m going to start doing this. So I think it was about 2014, I started actually helping musicians build the social media and I just got so into it. I was literally like, I couldn’t stop. I just. Any new video come out, I’d watch it and I just would. If I couldn’t figure it out, I’d, I’d venture, I just stick with it until I found a way, you know, to, to beat the algorithm. You know, just get them followers and get the, you know, I specialize with, in pretty much getting their likes. Get likes and comments. I tried to get people to interact with the musicians. So.
[00:19:36 – 00:19:40]
And that’s because, that’s because the algorithms prefer people to comment and interact.
[00:19:40 – 00:21:23]
Oh yeah, they do. It’s the big deal. It’s a big deal. It really hasn’t changed that much. The only problem now is you’ve got so many people out there, you know, kind of abusing it with bots and you know, it’s hard to, you know, get unique, good comments. But if you can get good, unique comments, you’re doing something right. You know, that’s, that’s what we want is to find out how do real people think about what I’m doing here. So at that time it was, you know, mostly musicians and it was fun. I had a lot of clients. The only thing about the, the musicians will be and it’s the old saying, you know, they’re. A lot of us are broke, broke musicians. So it wasn’t. Even though I had a lot of clients, I wasn’t able to get the, the revenue that I needed to maintain, you know. So I said that’s where I started to implement the SEO and start to get into like, maybe I should be helping companies and trying to do this for businesses that need help in the search and need help on social media. So I would be. About 2016, I started to do that. I started to reach out and step out of the music a little bit. I still help musicians, but I just needed to get a more of a, a reliable source of income with clients. And yeah, that’s how I got into the SEO. I started do helping just local businesses here, insured park and Edmonton area H Vac, real estate agents, all, you know, any type of industry where SEO makes sense. That’s kind of where I, you know, I like to focus on and, and.
[00:21:23 – 00:21:35]
Your business in the US with some of the people that you’ve helped is because of your Connections with Reverb and. Oh yeah, Soundcloud and that. And. And that’s how you ended up. When did you start Rockstar SEO officially though?
[00:21:35 – 00:22:01]
Is that Rockstar SEO? I think I didn’t really. I think it was about 2016 is when I actually started. I got the Google page and you know, did it verify the address? So I was actually, you know, a legit. Like I’ve been an independent for so long with the. When I helped musicians, I just kind of did it as Bobby McIntyre. I didn’t really have a, you know.
[00:22:01 – 00:22:07]
Official official title, official business when I.
[00:22:07 – 00:22:25]
Started helping, you know, larger companies and, you know, it just made sense. It’s a better get official here. So, yeah, that’s how I got into the SEO and that with Rockstar SEO, obviously chose that name because of the, you know, kind of sound music connection too.
[00:22:25 – 00:23:44]
Yeah, I think it’s. I think it’s brilliant. Personally, I know I didn’t know a lot at all about SEO with all the people I’ve dealt with and marketing and website and stuff, I. They talk a little bit about it, but they didn’t really. It would be like another menu option, do you want this? Or you know, or it would come up in conversation but they’d never really extrapolate what it meant. And you know, you would be for me, SEO for Dummies. You were explaining to me all the basics of SEO, so I’d love you to do that for my listeners and viewers on YouTube as well. What is SEO like? You don’t have to dumb it down that much, but explain what you explained to me and so many others what search engine optimization does and backlinking. Like you mentioned a little bit of that in your explanation earlier. Just share what you can and what you feel comfortable with about SEO. And why would somebody need you? Obviously, like you said, you’ve helped people in the funeral industry, H Vac Natural, now me in the finance industry, you’ve helped people in the music industry. So just share what you can, please, Bobby, about the SEO industry, what it is exactly and how it works.
[00:23:44 – 00:23:52]
Yeah, you know, Google scares a lot of people, but it really. I look at Google as a. It’s just a machine that it needs to.
[00:23:52 – 00:23:53]
For.
[00:23:53 – 00:26:28]
I’m searching Google for whatever I need. Google’s job is to basically give a result that’s going to help you. It doesn’t want to give, you know, a bad result. So part of the biggest thing about SEO is just having the information on your web page that makes sense to the user. Searching sometimes this well written content can rank well just because Google, all it really does is take, it takes its little computer bots and it crawls your the web and it finds what’s the most relevant content for, for you searching. It wants to give you the best possible answer. That’s, that’s simple as that. The problem with most websites is people just put like little tiny little blurb and they don’t understand that just because you got your website name up there, Google is not going to understand what it is. So one of the jobs as a good SEO is to make sure Google understands who and what you are, what you’re selling. How can you help the customer? How are you going to be able to help me with my needs? Google’s not going to rank your website if you’ve got, you know, 200 words on your homepage explaining almost nothing. So one of the things with SEO is just simply let Google understand who and what you are. And that comes with just writing good content, writing words that make sense. I need help. Let’s just say I need, you know, I need a financial advisor and I want one in Edmonton. So an SEO, a good SEO guy would design a web page that specifies I’m a financial advisor and I am in Edmonton and this is what I can do for you. And sometimes just having the words in your title or tags is enough for Google to go, oh, okay, we understand. Here’s a guy in Sherwood Parker, here’s a guy in Edmonton, he’s an Edmonton financial service provider. So SEO, that’s the basics. You got to let the search engine know who and what you are. Where it gets hard and time consuming and why it’s a worthwhile business, you know, to pay for is because it takes the time to. Most people that are own a business don’t really have time to write a 1500 word article, you know, or a 2000 word article. And they don’t want to take the time to get it shared out to all the networks to get the backlinks. You know, all that stuff takes time. You’ve got to be willing to, you know, do it. And who has time for that? You’re doing your business.
[00:26:28 – 00:26:30]
Explain what backlinking means more.
[00:26:30 – 00:28:18]
All the backlink is, let’s just say I, I go to your home page there and or you see your financial service page on your website and I basically backlink is another website referring your website. So even sharing to Facebook is a social backlink. So what Google does is they’ll scrape the web page and they’ll say oh, wow. This page has been shared just 300 blogs or whatever, and they know within a few seconds that this is a relevant page in the industry. What happens is, is a lot of new websites don’t understand, you know, to put up a beautiful website. Some, you know, but that’s not what matters. That Google does calculate, you know, how important is this page? This is the dark side of the SEO. There are, you know, there’s a lot of people out there that manipulate this and it used to be, you know, really bad, but now Google has done a lot of updates to prevent that. So it still matters a lot because they want to know that people. This matters. This is people’s. It’s on Twitter, it’s on Facebook, it’s on LinkedIn, it’s on, you know, this blog, that blog, whatever. That’s really what they look at. And then content creation. And the content needs to make sense. And back in the old days, people just splatter a bunch of keywords on a page, you know, and Google was dumb back then, so they it rank a page or they’d hide the, the all the keywords under any white. That was the old tactic way, way back. But that doesn’t work anymore. Basically, your content needs to make sense. It needs to be relevant. It needs to provide useful data for the searcher.
[00:28:19 – 00:29:06]
So one of the things that you mentioned to me though, because I spent tremendous amount of money over the last few years with marketing with people that were doing Facebook ads and, and I tried utilizing Google directly with them and spent thousands a month. One of the things when I mentioned that to you, you said to me, well, once you stop paying, you’re gone. And that really didn’t make sense to me until you explained it. Why SEO is that much more important than the person not to say that somebody doing Facebook marketing through Meta or you know, you know, LinkedIn or whatever, it doesn’t help, but it doesn’t stay relevant unless you’re constantly paying. These services drop you correct.
[00:29:07 – 00:31:16]
What happens basically is the paid search is like, okay, I want to find a chiropractor in Edmonton. You can buy the top spot that it’s called paid ads. And I always tell people you need both. Depending on the industry, you want both of them because they’re. One good thing about paid ads is people who click the ads usually have intent, they’re ready, they’ve gone past the searching there. But the problem is is people don’t trust the paid ads as much as the organic search. And the organic search is the maps on your phone and then the first 3, 1, 2, 3. In the organic search people trust those the most because first they’re not paying to be at the top. Anybody can pay to be somewhere. Are you good though? Are you good at what you do just because you’re at the top? So I think the stats for people searching, the clicking the paid ads is like 7 to 10% of people click on those and the rest all go to the organic search because that’s what they trust. So when I’m say I just moved to Edmonton and I need a good realtor, you know I’m going to type in Edmonton realtors. And so I’m going to probably look in the map, you know, look and look at some Google reviews and I’m going to look at the organic search like the first three. But for the most part people don’t go to page two. And so what I usually do when I’m looking to help people, I’ll say this is a great service. Say they’ve been in business 30 years but they’re on page two or three. I’m going, this guy’s selling this product and sure he’s probably got tons of referrals but he is missing out on a lot of money because he’s not in the search, he’s not there. And so what I usually do is I’ll say hey sir, you, you guys, you know on all these keywords, you guys are on the second page or third page. I’d like to help you get on the first page so you can find, get more business. And that’s kind of what I do is I try to find people that actually need the help and then try to get them in there. Yeah, your business, your industry is a brutal one too like financial services. You know, you’re up against TD bank, be all the huge, everybody.
[00:31:16 – 00:32:01]
Oh yeah, I’m, yeah, you’re up against, you’re up against the IGs of the world investor, what they used to call investors group. I’m up against rbc. I’m up against anybody that’s got a few extra dollars where they can make themselves pay to play and be number one or two or three on that top part of the page. Again it doesn’t mean that the average consumer should use those people. Normally they’re looking for the high end consumers. They’re not looking for the mom and pop businesses or the individuals like me that are in the middle class, in the lower middle class to help them elevate their lives and live purposefully. So I think what you do is remarkable. It’s very time consuming though, isn’t it?
[00:32:01 – 00:32:52]
It is time consuming. That’s word that I usually we’ll say sir, I know it’s not impossible to learn SEO. I mean it’s just a lot of it’s very basic. But you do you have the time to do it? Do you have enough man hours to do it yourself? So that’s kind of where I come in. Like I’ll do it for you for a set monthly price. And here’s most people are afraid of SEO. They think it’s all real techie smoke and mirrors. It’s. And they’re unfortunately because of how it’s been abused. You know, there used to be a lot of BS going on with, with SEO but it’s not just like that anymore. Google has gotten a lot smarter. So now unfortunately if you want to rank, you have to do work. You know, you have to create a page that has got some content on it. Explain what you’re selling, you know, explain.
[00:32:52 – 00:33:17]
Well and you have to have somebody that has a decade of experience doing it like you and, and understands the nuances of it and that it changes. And now a white page, white page with keywords hidden don’t work. And how many people out there and on the Internet right now on social media, on YouTube, I don’t care what it is. Website development still utilize the old practices because they don’t stay on top of stuff they do.
[00:33:17 – 00:33:50]
There’s still people buying that used to be when you could buy the exact domain name you buy, you’d actually name your website edmonton furnace repair.com. you know, that used to matter, you know, so people would buy these domains just to have the keyword in it. I think it still helps a little bit to have it because the. But more importantly with, you know, with any page you want Google to understand what it is, you know. So if you’re an Edmonton realtor, you want to make sure that you have a page that specifies in your URL, you know.
[00:33:50 – 00:33:51]
Yeah.
[00:33:51 – 00:33:55]
John johnson.com forward/edmonton realtor. That would be a message.
[00:33:55 – 00:34:05]
It’s not like the old yellow pages days either. Yellow pages days in the furnace category, they call themselves a furnace because they wanted to be first.
[00:34:05 – 00:34:23]
I remember those days back to the old days with my store. I remember paying for a half page ad, you know and I try to, you know, I tried to get mine. I tried. Everybody would do that like action like.
[00:34:23 – 00:34:50]
Or they’d have big. I remember with my computer consulting firm, my retail store, we paid for a Quarter page. Freaking expensive. And yes, we got a little bit more traffic because of it, but it wasn’t quality traffic, if that made sense. So at the end of the day, at the end of the day, it wasn’t something that really made sense, but it was all that was available at the time, right?
[00:34:51 – 00:35:35]
Yeah, yeah. No, it’s just how it was. You know, like it used to be like, if you open up a business in 2001, if you didn’t have a yellow page ad, you were an idiot. You know, you had to have. You had to be in there because it literally paid for itself tenfold. I mean it. And now, 25 years later, you need SEO, your company. You can’t just not be online anymore. You have to have a website. You have to be aware of Google reviews. You have to be aware of where you’re sitting. It’s. It’s so important. You know, it could be the difference of making it or not making it for a new company.
[00:35:35 – 00:36:34]
Well, you open my eyes up and I’m not a new company. Yeah. I mean, but it also frustrates me because of how many people I dealt with. Still want to do call to actions. Here, take this. You know, pay the shipping and handling. We’ll give you your. We’ll give you a free book. We’ll ship it to you. And now we have our email address. Yeah, or they’ll do, let’s do $10 a day or $20 a day on Meta, where it’s going to advertise in specific market areas or specific categories for Instagram and Facebook. And then there’s LinkedIn. But some of that stuff, the more I look into it, it seems like it’s severely outdated. It’s. It’s the way that people have been used to doing it. And I don’t hear a lot about SEO. I don’t get it. But the way you explained it and then doing my own research about it, it is powerful. And not to do it is literally leaving money on the table.
[00:36:34 – 00:36:38]
You live in certain industries, even thousands and millions.
[00:36:38 – 00:36:42]
It’d be like not having your name and the yellow pages in the 2000s.
[00:36:42 – 00:38:01]
Yeah, right, exactly. You know, there’s paid ads or can be powerful. Like companies can scale very fast. But if you don’t know what you’re doing with paid ads on Facebook and Google, you can lose money really, really, really fast. Don’t care about. They love it when they’re. That money is being spent. It’s gotten a lot. You know, I don’t really do Facebook ads a lot Anymore. But the thing about organic search is if I get your website on page one. This is the good part about it. It’s not the only downside is on my end. But you might stay there for three years. Like if I get your ranking and for a certain keyword, just unlike with paid ads, you’re gone. Once you stop paying, you’re gone. Organic search, you’re there. And it could be there for years. I’ve got videos and stuff I’ve ranked on YouTube that are still number one that I promoted back in 2018, 2017. They’re just there 24, seven, seven days a week they are there. If somebody Googles a certain keyword, they’re gonna, and they’re gonna stumble across that. And that’s amazing. They still, he’s still making money off a video that he put up, you know, six, seven years ago.
[00:38:01 – 00:38:01]
That’s.
[00:38:02 – 00:38:04]
It just lives there. So that’s the.
[00:38:04 – 00:38:37]
But it took work to get there though. It wasn’t just snapping your fingers. It’s not, oh, you can, you, you can’t do SEO. Just one month is what I’m getting at. It is a, it is a long time commitment to. Because you can’t go from zero to hero overnight. It’s like somebody being 200 pounds and wanting to be 160. You’re not going to lose 40 pounds overweight. It took you years to get that. It takes you years to get rid of it. Right. In a healthy way. Right. And obviously you can help people scale, but it takes more than a month.
[00:38:37 – 00:39:12]
SEO is, it’s a, it is a long term deal. It’s not. You should always be doing it because what happens is depending on the industry, an industry like yours, for instance, is going to, you might get it on page one, but what will happen is people will create new content and they’ll kick you down. If it’s an active industry, you have to always do be aware of SEO because you might have the number two or number one ranking now, but all it’s going to take is somebody to out, you know, write, write a better page and maybe promote it more. I don’t, there’s.
[00:39:12 – 00:39:15]
It’s just a matter of getting content out there.
[00:39:15 – 00:39:15]
Yeah.
[00:39:15 – 00:39:32]
Putting it on your website, making sure you have the proper backlinks, using keywords to make sure that you have a higher, higher chance of somebody typing in a word and you being one of the people you see on page one. Correct.
[00:39:32 – 00:39:49]
Yeah. And for some companies, like for you instance, you’re with you because you have so much competition, you Would I would recommend going after more long term keywords, you know, because for someone just to rank on financial services.
[00:39:51 – 00:39:53]
But it’s going to be impossible.
[00:39:53 – 00:40:29]
Like say financial service specialist, financial educator, Edmonton, you know, you want to put a longer phrase because those person of that person that’s looking like really looking for someone here, they might find you then. But it’s just like, you know, it’s, it’s tough when you’re certain keywords are, I’ll tell people like I don’t know if it’s possible here just because of the sheer competition, but I can get you variations of that keyword, you know and there’s thousands of ways that people search. Everybody searches Google differently.
[00:40:29 – 00:40:45]
Oh my gosh, you can search, you can search. That’s what my friends all search things on Google and say we can’t find it. And I’ve told them for a decade, what words are you putting in? Are you phrasing it? And they’ll tell me, I said, oh well, phrase it this way. Bing. They get a response.
[00:40:45 – 00:40:46]
Yep, yep.
[00:40:47 – 00:41:46]
It’s just, it’s, it’s the words, it’s how. And too many or not enough can matter. But at the end of the day I think SEO is something that everybody needs to utilize. Well certainly as, how about this listeners and viewers as my, as being Bobby’s client, we’ll continue along the journey and have Bobby on as we grow this SEO because it’s only been a, only been a couple, three months and we’ll see how things progress. They already are progressing. I’ve seen, when we’re consistent about it, I’ve seen my page views, you know, my website 6000 all of a sudden you get 6000, then it can go down and then it goes up and down and I know it’s because of the SEO while all of a sudden I’ve had more traffic to my sites and the backlinks of course obviously help. So you know, if you were to, if somebody needed to reach you, what would be the best way for them to reach you?
[00:41:46 – 00:42:14]
Bobby, we can go to the Rockstar SEO website on there. I believe I got my cell number on there. You can text me. That’s you. Really the best way to reach me is just text me. Okay. There’s a lot of, you know, spam out there now. So I’m have learned to just. This is how you get a hold of me. And so I believe the numbers on there. You want me to say it out loud too?
[00:42:15 – 00:42:17]
Well, it’s up to you if you want to sure.
[00:42:17 – 00:42:21]
Yeah. It’s 587-357-6900. Shoot me.
[00:42:21 – 00:42:36]
I’ll make sure it goes. I’ll make sure it goes in the show notes too, as well as your link to your website. And I’ll copy and put in your social media as well so people can look, check you out and yeah, definitely see what. What it is that you music.
[00:42:36 – 00:42:41]
Don’t forget we got. We playing live here soon too. So.
[00:42:42 – 00:43:06]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bobby. If you’re in the Edin and area, Bobby Front’s an 80s cover band called Paradise Alley, which is phenomenal. Like, if Steve Perry had a twin that could sing like him, it would be Bobby. Right? He’s amazing. He sings so much more than that. Right? More than just Journey.
[00:43:08 – 00:43:10]
Boston Corner.
[00:43:10 – 00:43:12]
I’ve even heard him sing. You too.
[00:43:12 – 00:43:14]
Yeah, that was. I remember that.
[00:43:15 – 00:43:17]
And we. That was pretty decent.
[00:43:18 – 00:43:25]
Classic rock. We do love her boy. Lover boy. Oh yeah. Sometimes even put on those red pants.
[00:43:27 – 00:44:00]
Yeah. Like Mike Reno used to wear. I. Yeah, I’m a music buff, so there’s stuff I’ve even taught Bobby about when it comes to bands like Sticks and that a lot of people don’t realize. I. I’m a huge, huge music buff. But Bobby, I know we have, we have to cut this short. You gotta deal with your son here right away. But I’m gonna ask you this question. Just do your best to. To answer it. If you had to give our listeners, Bobby, one last closing message, what would you tell them in regards to giving a heck and never giving up?
[00:44:01 – 00:44:39]
Wow. You know, life can be hard. You know, curveballs get thrown at you and sometimes you feel like giving up, but, you know, just keep going. Don’t give up. We’re all here for a reason. God put us on this planet for a reason. You have a purpose in life. And you know, podcasts like yours help people see that, you know, realize, wow, there’s. I am worth something. I’m. I’m. I’m. I’m meant to be something special. Don’t give up. We’re here. This blessing to be on this planet. We are, oh, absolutely blessed to be here. And every day is a new day and the past is gone and tomorrow’s not here yet. So just live for today.
[00:44:40 – 00:45:35]
Absolutely. That is a great, great closing message. We got to live for today and, and make sure that we have associations in our life that will help us close climb and not stay camped. You and I have talked about that lots. I’ve talked about it with a lot of people. I’ve been stuck there. You don’t have to be in the Valley to spare listeners and people watching, right? Bobby’s been through a lot and he continues to push forward in his life. And I’ve been blessed. And I believe our our connection happened because of God. Yes, I happen to know his significant other really well, way longer than Him. But I still think, though, that the connection and the chemistry that we developed was because God wanted us to be in each other’s lives, to help each other continue to climb and be the best versions of ourselves and live with purpose and intent instead of just being on that hamster wheel of life. Wouldn’t you agree?
[00:45:36 – 00:45:37]
Totally agree.
[00:45:37 – 00:46:11]
So thanks Bobby. I appreciate it. I’m going to wrap up the show with my tagline now and again, listeners and viewers. Check out giveaheck.com if you’re new to the show. Go to podcast. Go down below. You’ll see a picture of Bobby. You’ll see the show notes along with the links along with the transcript as well of the show. So thanks so much for being on Give a Heck Bobby. I appreciate your time and sharing some of your experiences so that others too can learn. It is never too late to Give a Heck.