March 21, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode, I interview Dr. Tonya Lawson, an SEO specialist who helps musicians ditch the starving artist lifestyle and get the success they deserve through utlizing search engine optimization tools through their websites and social media.
Contact Dr. Tonya Lawson below:
https://www.tonyalawson.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dr.tonyalawson/
To work with Dani Felt via Music Industry Mastery mentioned in this episode's featured ad, you can contact her below:
https://musicindustrymastery.com/
https://Caliconnector.com
Dani@danifelt.com
+18182170450
Contact Dr. Tonya Lawson below:
https://www.tonyalawson.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dr.tonyalawson/
To work with Dani Felt via Music Industry Mastery mentioned in this episode's featured ad, you can contact her below:
https://musicindustrymastery.com/
https://Caliconnector.com
Dani@danifelt.com
+18182170450
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hi, my name is Sarah Harrelson, and you are listening
to the Mind Your Music Business podcast. Today's interview is
a conversation I have been looking forward to this week
because I think there's going to be a lot of
golden nuggets of great tips for the freelancing creative in
today's episode, which is many of our listeners. So I
(00:31):
have with me Tanya Lawson, a professional freelance musician and
college professor turned SEO specialists.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
So for those of.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You who don't know, SEO means search engine optimization, which
helps search engines understand your content and helps users find
your site by optimizing it to rank higher and search engines. So,
anyway back to Tanya, I really love her story as
(01:01):
I was reading it. So she spent years trying to
get that university job that didn't turn out to be
what she thought it would, and how many of us can.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Relate to that?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Right, So, after getting her doctorate degree and Clarinett performance,
she was constantly gigging yet still barely getting by financially.
Fast forward to now, Tanya spends her days helping clients
plan out their income streams, teaches them to use SEO strategically,
and also helps generate regular, recurring passive income for others,
(01:36):
just like she does. So we have a lot to
dive into today. Tanya, thank you so much for being
on the show.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I am doing well. Thank you so much for having me.
I love talking about this stuff, so I'm excited to
be here.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Of course.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And it sounds like we're both in Nashville, just on
opposite sides of town. So very cool to have another
local on today. So I first want to talk about
your transition from constantly gigging being a professor, you know,
to make stable and come to now being an SEO specialist.
(02:13):
What triggered that career switch for you and how did
you learn about SEO and use it in a profitable way.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Oh, my goodness, so many things, so many things happen.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So I hopped on the adjunct bandwagon like most of
us do, and I was adjunct for a while, and
then I got switched to full time temporary professor aka
a professor with no contract for you know, a three
year contract and that's it.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And you know, it went well. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
And then my job got replaced as the assistant director
of bands, which I didn't qualify for so I quit.
I was like, nope, I'm done with this. I didn't
really enjoy anyway, all the red tape that comes along
with the university position and the very low pay.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So I did what I knew how to do.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
I built some music studio, and I had a very thriving.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Private music studio. I like to say I still have
a very.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Thriving private music studio, although it has many, much fewer
students in it, but of my own choice. But I
think at my high point, I was at about sixty
five students a week and it was great. And as
you know, here in Tennessee were one of I think
two states in the entire US that allow music teachers
to go into the schools and teach music lessons. And
(03:37):
the county that I'm in decided that they weren't sure
they were going to keep that program. They weren't sure
about people coming into the schools. And I panicked. I
completely panicked because this was.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
My bread and mutter.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
It had not only replaced my university salary, it had
surpassed it. And I just knew that if something happened
and this ended, you know, I was going to end
up working at Starbucks, working at Kroger wherever, just to
get by. And I realized right then and there that
I was keeping all my eggs in one basket, and
(04:12):
that was really not a good plan.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I knew I.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Had a website and I should be able to do
something with it and make money with it. Other people
were doing it. So I started learning about SEO and
I took my first SEO course, and of course it
was taught by a bunch of business bros who told
me that I would never do anything with my website,
that I had to have a niche website.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
So that's what I did.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I started my coffee website, and you know what, it
started making money. And I was using all these practices
they were teaching and it was making money. And I thought,
there's got to be a way that I can adapt
these to work.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
On my website.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
As a creative, I shouldn't just have to sell coffee,
right And I did it, and all of a sudden,
it was bringing in more money. And my coffee website
is out there somewhere in the Google graveyard because when
all the helpful content updates came out and it was
based on those old SEO practices.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
It just tanked, which was fine by me.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I haven't even bothered going back to try to rescue
it because my other website is doing so well. It's
bringing in passive sales. I'm selling multiple products. I now
have seven or eight different revenue streams built out, and
now if something happens to one of them, it's just
an inconvenience, not a total devastation.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Right yeah, And do you think every musician and freelancer
should have their own website with their services? We are
quickly interrupting this podcast to talk about Music Industry Mastery.
So you know you have the talent out here, but
can you build the career with Music Industry master They
(06:00):
help independent artists with branding, pr and strategy to make
sure your music gets heard. No more waiting, no more struggling,
just real results. Are you ready to go pro with them?
Visit Music Industrymastery dot com and make it happen right now.
(06:24):
They are offering fifty percent off your first lyric video
with them, and also ten percent off a branding session
just mention mind your music business. When you sign up
with them, you can go to caliconnector dot com and
(06:45):
email Danny at Dannifelt dot com, the head of Music
Industry Mastery. You can even call our text her Google number.
I'm linking it in the liner notes, but also you
can reach them at plus one for American number eight
one eight two one seven zero four five zero. Reach
(07:09):
out to them now to help build your music career.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I do.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I think websites are very very important as a musician
and a freelancer because it's where people can go to
find you into book gigs.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Now.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I know social media is something we do a lot
of as well, but the website is where the gigs
are really gonna get booked, where you can have all
your contracts in place, everything put together, where you can
actually take in money and book things out. That said,
(07:48):
SEO is search engine optimization, and people automatically associate with Google,
which is fair because Google is the largest search engine
out there. But the second line just search engine out
there is YouTube, which is owned by Google, and then
close behind that are Instagram and TikTok. They are being
(08:09):
used as search engines and SEO is no longer just
for your website. It is for your website, your YouTube channel,
your Instagram, your TikTok, all of the above.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, and it's so important to link all of that
in your website. As a creative, most booking agents are
gonna want to see a website, so it's great to
have one and keep it up to date. And I
think most creatives and people are under the impression that
they need to invest in ad marketing for their business
(08:45):
to be successful and seen by others. People are constantly
running ads on Facebook and Google. So do you think
people should invest in this ad marketing if any? And
can SEO replay?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Okay, Well, I don't think it's an either or situation.
I think it's a yes and yes. I personally have
just started experimenting with ads. That's kind of my next
step in my business plan because I already have the
organic traffic coming in. Can I get the sprinkles on
(09:22):
top with some AD revenue? So that is something I
can report back to you later. But I will say
I have been running ads now for about three weeks
and I've already made seven sales from those ads that
I've been running, and it's just ten dollars a day.
So my AD spend is being paid for by the
(09:44):
sales coming in, and those sales are growing. My email
list and can potentially bump up into other platforms. That said,
I think ads are fabulous, but ads work great for
you until the money runs out, So they are a
short term answer to your solution.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
SEO is your long term answer.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Which is why I'm saying if you have the finances
to run some ads, I think it's great to run
ads now and then add in that SEO component because
SEO takes time to build. SEO works a lot like
compound interest. You start small, but as it builds over time,
you're going to start gagining more traction and making more money.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
So for people who are listening, they're like, Okay, well
maybe I'll build my website through SEO instead of ads.
So probably the first thing they're thinking is how do
I do this? Or how do I start tagging my website?
So what are some tips that you can offer us
to how people can get started with this?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Oh that's such a great question.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
So the first thing I would do when you go
to build your website is before you even do any building,
just kind of outline what your website is going to be.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You're gonna want your landing page.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Okay, your landing page is gonna be most of what
you're selling right now, you're gonna want your about me
page so people can learn more. You're gonna need a
contact page, You're gonna need a shop page if you're
selling anything.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And you're gonna want to blog.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
And I know that word scares people and they're like, oh, blogging,
that is so twenty ten.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
But that's just not the case. Blogging is just not
what it used to be.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Gone are the days of blogger and tumblr, and in
are the days of helpful information. So you want to
include a blog for sure. Now For all those other pages,
or really every page on your website, what you need
to think about is what is going to bring people
to this page? What are they actively searching for in
(11:58):
order to find this page. Say you're a wedding musician,
it could be wedding musicians in the Nashville area. Well,
you want that page, that landing page, to have that
keyword on it in multiple iterations. You want it to
be the go to page. So you're going to put
(12:19):
the keyword in the text. You're going to put it
in your title, You're going to put it in your
meta description, you're going to put it in your URL,
slug You're going to make sure that you have technical
seos set up for local SEO so that you know
that it is in Nashville. And if all of this
is just going way over your head, don't panic. All
(12:40):
it is is you want to make sure you get
that keyword in there, and you want to get the
different iterations of that keyword in it or relating keywords.
So start by going to Google and just type in,
you know, wedding musician and let the Google auto suggest
fill it in for you. That's going to give you
(13:01):
some hints. Then type in wedding musician Nashville area and
scroll down to the people always also ask. That's going
to give you more ideas. That's going to tell you
what people are actively searching for right now, and that
is the copy that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
You need to include on your website.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah. I think some people are wondering, like, well, how
do I sneak in Nashville musician or those kind of
keywords into my site? But I think as you're writing
your bio, it's easy to sneak in those keywords, easy
to under the hire me section or contact. So there's
definitely a lot of ways that you can sneak in
(13:39):
those keywords on your site.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah. And so going back to the blog you were
talking about, I was actually looking at your blog on
your site and you had an interesting blog read about
creating blogs, and you mentioned that using AI as a
tool to write your blogs can save a lot of time.
And I really liked that tip because you know, as creatives,
(14:08):
we're always trying to prioritize our time, so if we
can use that as a tool to quickly write a
blog like, Hey, I want to talk about this gig
I played. Here are the details, write it up for
me and you know, one hundred words.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Absolutely, But the one thing you have to keep in
mind is when you're using AI to write a blog post,
it needs to be AI.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Written, but human edited.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Don't just copy and paste because AI can be incorrect
and you are the expert here, so go back and
look at things. And then here's a pro tip when
using AI. All you need is the control F option
on your screen, but look for words like moreover secondly,
(14:51):
those are automatically AI trigger words, and then go through
and change those. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, you definitely want to make sure it's sound like
it's you who's writing it. So definitely a good tool
to use as long as you edit it. And then,
in addition to one on one coaching that I see
you do for SEO, I see on your site you
off offer masterclasses, different templates and resources on your blog.
(15:20):
So where can people easily find you to work with you?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Well, I'm very active over on Instagram at doctor Tanya
Lawson d r dot Tanya Lawson. I also am very
active on my YouTube channel also doctor Tanya Lawson, and
then my website is just Tanya Lawson dot com and
I have I have in all of those places a
free se O cheat sheet that you can download. I
(15:49):
also have available a swipe file for Instagram se O
and it is it's seven bucks. It's like a super cheap,
less than a latte product that I think I created
kind of that super available price for everyone because I
think everybody needs to be doing this.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, and we did talk about SEO on websites, But
just to hit on SEO and social media, would you
say utilizing hashtags and your captions will help you and
the engine optimization for social media.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Hashtags are a part of it, but hashtags are not
what they are anymore. My number one rule and advice
to everyone is do not use thirty hashtags. You want
to use five to seven. Hashtags are like additional keywords,
and they need to be niche specific. But beyond hashtags,
even on social media, you want to make sure your
(16:46):
keywords are in your caption. If you're posting a reel,
you want them to be in the words that you're speaking.
In the real, you want them to be in the
on screen text in the real. If it's a photo,
you want them to be in your alternative text. So,
just like with search engines, you want to optimize all
of your social media content as well. That way you
(17:08):
show up in front of your exact ideal audience when
they're actively searching.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yeah, and I think you know a lot of people
on TikTok put hashtags that are trending on their post,
even though it may not be relevant to their post.
So I think it's important to yes, use trending keywords,
but make sure they're relevant to your content.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Absolutely, because when you start putting trending keywords in there
that are not relative relevant and trending hashtags, then that
is going to flag your content as being very spammy
and it's not going to help their rank.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
That's good to know. That's a good tip. So if
people are listening and they you know, understand SEO, but
maybe they're not sure where to start with doing it
with their website or socials and they need some assistance,
what do you typically offer and your coaching to help them?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Okay, well, I do offer one on one coaching, but
when you're just starting out, I think a great place
to start. I have a membership called Creative SEO and
it focuses on both Google SEO, YouTube SEO, social Media SEO,
the whole shebang. There's trainings every month, and I have
a out on office hours call every month where you
(18:27):
can just hop on and get on a call with
me and pick my brain. And whereas the one on
one coaching packages are pretty pricey, this one is only
ninety nine dollars a month, so it is much more
affordable and it's a great place to get started. And
then once you really start scaling and you're ready to
take your business to that next level and start bringing
in you know, six figures and up, that's when you're
(18:49):
going to switch over to one on one coaching.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Okay, great, and do your clients usually see like great
results right away when they start tagging in the in
the right way and using SEO for their business they do.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Now, it's remember it's important to keep in mind seos
a long game. So with your website, you're going to
start seeing changes in the first three months, You're going
to start seeing bigger changes in six months, and at
that eighteen month mark, you're going to see things explode.
Because it does take time to green traction. It moves
a little faster on social media because you're going to
(19:27):
show up and search a lot quicker.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
But yes, absolutely, okay, great, Yeah, and I think it's
also important to stay consistent with your postings, right. You
don't want to be only posting every now and then.
If you're constantly being consistent, that's when you'll see results.
Oh awesome, thank you so much for being on today, Tanya.
(19:51):
I'm going to link your website Tanya lass In dot
com and the liner notes And yeah, I hope people
will reach out to you because I think SEO is
such an important tool for creatives to keep making income
so they don't have to gig all the time and
you know, can finally take a breath,
Hi, my name is Sarah Harrelson, and you are listening
to the Mind Your Music Business podcast. Today's interview is
a conversation I have been looking forward to this week
because I think there's going to be a lot of
golden nuggets of great tips for the freelancing creative in
today's episode, which is many of our listeners. So I
(00:31):
have with me Tanya Lawson, a professional freelance musician and
college professor turned SEO specialists.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
So for those of.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You who don't know, SEO means search engine optimization, which
helps search engines understand your content and helps users find
your site by optimizing it to rank higher and search engines. So,
anyway back to Tanya, I really love her story as
(01:01):
I was reading it. So she spent years trying to
get that university job that didn't turn out to be
what she thought it would, and how many of us can.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Relate to that?
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Right, So, after getting her doctorate degree and Clarinett performance,
she was constantly gigging yet still barely getting by financially.
Fast forward to now, Tanya spends her days helping clients
plan out their income streams, teaches them to use SEO strategically,
and also helps generate regular, recurring passive income for others,
(01:36):
just like she does. So we have a lot to
dive into today. Tanya, thank you so much for being
on the show.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
How are you.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
I am doing well. Thank you so much for having me.
I love talking about this stuff, so I'm excited to
be here.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Of course.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
And it sounds like we're both in Nashville, just on
opposite sides of town. So very cool to have another
local on today. So I first want to talk about
your transition from constantly gigging being a professor, you know,
to make stable and come to now being an SEO specialist.
(02:13):
What triggered that career switch for you and how did
you learn about SEO and use it in a profitable way.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Oh, my goodness, so many things, so many things happen.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So I hopped on the adjunct bandwagon like most of
us do, and I was adjunct for a while, and
then I got switched to full time temporary professor aka
a professor with no contract for you know, a three
year contract and that's it.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And you know, it went well. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
And then my job got replaced as the assistant director
of bands, which I didn't qualify for so I quit.
I was like, nope, I'm done with this. I didn't
really enjoy anyway, all the red tape that comes along
with the university position and the very low pay.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So I did what I knew how to do.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
I built some music studio, and I had a very thriving.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Private music studio. I like to say I still have
a very.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Thriving private music studio, although it has many, much fewer
students in it, but of my own choice. But I
think at my high point, I was at about sixty
five students a week and it was great. And as
you know, here in Tennessee were one of I think
two states in the entire US that allow music teachers
to go into the schools and teach music lessons. And
(03:37):
the county that I'm in decided that they weren't sure
they were going to keep that program. They weren't sure
about people coming into the schools. And I panicked. I
completely panicked because this was.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
My bread and mutter.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
It had not only replaced my university salary, it had
surpassed it. And I just knew that if something happened
and this ended, you know, I was going to end
up working at Starbucks, working at Kroger wherever, just to
get by. And I realized right then and there that
I was keeping all my eggs in one basket, and
(04:12):
that was really not a good plan.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I knew I.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Had a website and I should be able to do
something with it and make money with it. Other people
were doing it. So I started learning about SEO and
I took my first SEO course, and of course it
was taught by a bunch of business bros who told
me that I would never do anything with my website,
that I had to have a niche website.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
So that's what I did.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
I started my coffee website, and you know what, it
started making money. And I was using all these practices
they were teaching and it was making money. And I thought,
there's got to be a way that I can adapt
these to work.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
On my website.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
As a creative, I shouldn't just have to sell coffee,
right And I did it, and all of a sudden,
it was bringing in more money. And my coffee website
is out there somewhere in the Google graveyard because when
all the helpful content updates came out and it was
based on those old SEO practices.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
It just tanked, which was fine by me.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
I haven't even bothered going back to try to rescue
it because my other website is doing so well. It's
bringing in passive sales. I'm selling multiple products. I now
have seven or eight different revenue streams built out, and
now if something happens to one of them, it's just
an inconvenience, not a total devastation.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Right yeah, And do you think every musician and freelancer
should have their own website with their services? We are
quickly interrupting this podcast to talk about Music Industry Mastery.
So you know you have the talent out here, but
can you build the career with Music Industry master They
(06:00):
help independent artists with branding, pr and strategy to make
sure your music gets heard. No more waiting, no more struggling,
just real results. Are you ready to go pro with them?
Visit Music Industrymastery dot com and make it happen right now.
(06:24):
They are offering fifty percent off your first lyric video
with them, and also ten percent off a branding session
just mention mind your music business. When you sign up
with them, you can go to caliconnector dot com and
(06:45):
email Danny at Dannifelt dot com, the head of Music
Industry Mastery. You can even call our text her Google number.
I'm linking it in the liner notes, but also you
can reach them at plus one for American number eight
one eight two one seven zero four five zero. Reach
(07:09):
out to them now to help build your music career.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I do.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I think websites are very very important as a musician
and a freelancer because it's where people can go to
find you into book gigs.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Now.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I know social media is something we do a lot
of as well, but the website is where the gigs
are really gonna get booked, where you can have all
your contracts in place, everything put together, where you can
actually take in money and book things out. That said,
(07:48):
SEO is search engine optimization, and people automatically associate with Google,
which is fair because Google is the largest search engine
out there. But the second line just search engine out
there is YouTube, which is owned by Google, and then
close behind that are Instagram and TikTok. They are being
(08:09):
used as search engines and SEO is no longer just
for your website. It is for your website, your YouTube channel,
your Instagram, your TikTok, all of the above.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Yeah, and it's so important to link all of that
in your website. As a creative, most booking agents are
gonna want to see a website, so it's great to
have one and keep it up to date. And I
think most creatives and people are under the impression that
they need to invest in ad marketing for their business
(08:45):
to be successful and seen by others. People are constantly
running ads on Facebook and Google. So do you think
people should invest in this ad marketing if any? And
can SEO replay?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Okay, Well, I don't think it's an either or situation.
I think it's a yes and yes. I personally have
just started experimenting with ads. That's kind of my next
step in my business plan because I already have the
organic traffic coming in. Can I get the sprinkles on
(09:22):
top with some AD revenue? So that is something I
can report back to you later. But I will say
I have been running ads now for about three weeks
and I've already made seven sales from those ads that
I've been running, and it's just ten dollars a day.
So my AD spend is being paid for by the
(09:44):
sales coming in, and those sales are growing. My email
list and can potentially bump up into other platforms. That said,
I think ads are fabulous, but ads work great for
you until the money runs out, So they are a
short term answer to your solution.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
SEO is your long term answer.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Which is why I'm saying if you have the finances
to run some ads, I think it's great to run
ads now and then add in that SEO component because
SEO takes time to build. SEO works a lot like
compound interest. You start small, but as it builds over time,
you're going to start gagining more traction and making more money.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
So for people who are listening, they're like, Okay, well
maybe I'll build my website through SEO instead of ads.
So probably the first thing they're thinking is how do
I do this? Or how do I start tagging my website?
So what are some tips that you can offer us
to how people can get started with this?
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Oh that's such a great question.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
So the first thing I would do when you go
to build your website is before you even do any building,
just kind of outline what your website is going to be.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You're gonna want your landing page.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Okay, your landing page is gonna be most of what
you're selling right now, you're gonna want your about me
page so people can learn more. You're gonna need a
contact page, You're gonna need a shop page if you're
selling anything.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And you're gonna want to blog.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
And I know that word scares people and they're like, oh, blogging,
that is so twenty ten.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
But that's just not the case. Blogging is just not
what it used to be.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
Gone are the days of blogger and tumblr, and in
are the days of helpful information. So you want to
include a blog for sure. Now For all those other pages,
or really every page on your website, what you need
to think about is what is going to bring people
to this page? What are they actively searching for in
(11:58):
order to find this page. Say you're a wedding musician,
it could be wedding musicians in the Nashville area. Well,
you want that page, that landing page, to have that
keyword on it in multiple iterations. You want it to
be the go to page. So you're going to put
(12:19):
the keyword in the text. You're going to put it
in your title, You're going to put it in your
meta description, you're going to put it in your URL,
slug You're going to make sure that you have technical
seos set up for local SEO so that you know
that it is in Nashville. And if all of this
is just going way over your head, don't panic. All
(12:40):
it is is you want to make sure you get
that keyword in there, and you want to get the
different iterations of that keyword in it or relating keywords.
So start by going to Google and just type in,
you know, wedding musician and let the Google auto suggest
fill it in for you. That's going to give you
(13:01):
some hints. Then type in wedding musician Nashville area and
scroll down to the people always also ask. That's going
to give you more ideas. That's going to tell you
what people are actively searching for right now, and that
is the copy that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
You need to include on your website.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah. I think some people are wondering, like, well, how
do I sneak in Nashville musician or those kind of
keywords into my site? But I think as you're writing
your bio, it's easy to sneak in those keywords, easy
to under the hire me section or contact. So there's
definitely a lot of ways that you can sneak in
(13:39):
those keywords on your site.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah. And so going back to the blog you were
talking about, I was actually looking at your blog on
your site and you had an interesting blog read about
creating blogs, and you mentioned that using AI as a
tool to write your blogs can save a lot of time.
And I really liked that tip because you know, as creatives,
(14:08):
we're always trying to prioritize our time, so if we
can use that as a tool to quickly write a
blog like, Hey, I want to talk about this gig
I played. Here are the details, write it up for
me and you know, one hundred words.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Absolutely, But the one thing you have to keep in
mind is when you're using AI to write a blog post,
it needs to be AI.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Written, but human edited.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Don't just copy and paste because AI can be incorrect
and you are the expert here, so go back and
look at things. And then here's a pro tip when
using AI. All you need is the control F option
on your screen, but look for words like moreover secondly,
(14:51):
those are automatically AI trigger words, and then go through
and change those. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, you definitely want to make sure it's sound like
it's you who's writing it. So definitely a good tool
to use as long as you edit it. And then,
in addition to one on one coaching that I see
you do for SEO, I see on your site you
off offer masterclasses, different templates and resources on your blog.
(15:20):
So where can people easily find you to work with you?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Well, I'm very active over on Instagram at doctor Tanya
Lawson d r dot Tanya Lawson. I also am very
active on my YouTube channel also doctor Tanya Lawson, and
then my website is just Tanya Lawson dot com and
I have I have in all of those places a
free se O cheat sheet that you can download. I
(15:49):
also have available a swipe file for Instagram se O
and it is it's seven bucks. It's like a super cheap,
less than a latte product that I think I created
kind of that super available price for everyone because I
think everybody needs to be doing this.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Yeah, and we did talk about SEO on websites, But
just to hit on SEO and social media, would you
say utilizing hashtags and your captions will help you and
the engine optimization for social media.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Hashtags are a part of it, but hashtags are not
what they are anymore. My number one rule and advice
to everyone is do not use thirty hashtags. You want
to use five to seven. Hashtags are like additional keywords,
and they need to be niche specific. But beyond hashtags,
even on social media, you want to make sure your
(16:46):
keywords are in your caption. If you're posting a reel,
you want them to be in the words that you're speaking.
In the real, you want them to be in the
on screen text in the real. If it's a photo,
you want them to be in your alternative text. So,
just like with search engines, you want to optimize all
of your social media content as well. That way you
(17:08):
show up in front of your exact ideal audience when
they're actively searching.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Yeah, and I think you know a lot of people
on TikTok put hashtags that are trending on their post,
even though it may not be relevant to their post.
So I think it's important to yes, use trending keywords,
but make sure they're relevant to your content.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
Absolutely, because when you start putting trending keywords in there
that are not relative relevant and trending hashtags, then that
is going to flag your content as being very spammy
and it's not going to help their rank.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
That's good to know. That's a good tip. So if
people are listening and they you know, understand SEO, but
maybe they're not sure where to start with doing it
with their website or socials and they need some assistance,
what do you typically offer and your coaching to help them?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Okay, well, I do offer one on one coaching, but
when you're just starting out, I think a great place
to start. I have a membership called Creative SEO and
it focuses on both Google SEO, YouTube SEO, social Media SEO,
the whole shebang. There's trainings every month, and I have
a out on office hours call every month where you
(18:27):
can just hop on and get on a call with
me and pick my brain. And whereas the one on
one coaching packages are pretty pricey, this one is only
ninety nine dollars a month, so it is much more
affordable and it's a great place to get started. And
then once you really start scaling and you're ready to
take your business to that next level and start bringing
in you know, six figures and up, that's when you're
(18:49):
going to switch over to one on one coaching.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Okay, great, and do your clients usually see like great
results right away when they start tagging in the in
the right way and using SEO for their business they do.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Now, it's remember it's important to keep in mind seos
a long game. So with your website, you're going to
start seeing changes in the first three months, You're going
to start seeing bigger changes in six months, and at
that eighteen month mark, you're going to see things explode.
Because it does take time to green traction. It moves
a little faster on social media because you're going to
(19:27):
show up and search a lot quicker.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
But yes, absolutely, okay, great, Yeah, and I think it's
also important to stay consistent with your postings, right. You
don't want to be only posting every now and then.
If you're constantly being consistent, that's when you'll see results.
Oh awesome, thank you so much for being on today, Tanya.
(19:51):
I'm going to link your website Tanya lass In dot
com and the liner notes And yeah, I hope people
will reach out to you because I think SEO is
such an important tool for creatives to keep making income
so they don't have to gig all the time and
you know, can finally take a breath,
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