The F**king SEO Your Web Designer Promised vs What You Actually Got
Ever handed over a chunk of cash to your web designer for “SEO” and ended up with nothing but a plugin and a lot of empty promises?
Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of SEO F**king What, I’m pulling back the curtain on what really happens when web designers say they do SEO—and how you can tell if you’ve been stitched up.
I’ll walk you through the fixes and explain why most web designers aren’t SEO experts (and why that’s not a dig at them), reveal what real SEO looks like, and share the right questions to ask before you hire anyone.
Plus, I’ve got actionable steps you can take right now to get your site sorted—no bollocks, just practical advice.
If you’re ready to finally get found and make some money, hit follow and click play for some non-wanky SEO guidance that actually works!
Timestamped summary
00:00 "Web Design vs. True SEO"
03:52 "SEO Advice: Get Found"
This episode is all about ensuring your web designer doesn't totally fuck you over on your SEO.
But you'll have even better results from your SEO by having me in your corner - https://nikki-pilkington.com/seo-training/
Want to check out more episodes? https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/
Transcript
Your web designer said they do SEO. They installed a
Speaker:plugin and charged you two grand extra. You probably got
Speaker:absolutely fuck all. So what's the fix? How do
Speaker:you tell if your web designer has stitched you up and what do you do
Speaker:about it? I'll tell you that in just a moment.
Speaker:Okay, here's what you need to do. 1.
Speaker:Check if you have Google Search Console setup. Log into your
Speaker:Google account, go to search.google.com
Speaker:search console and see if your website's there.
Speaker:If it's not, you've got no data about how Google sees your site,
Speaker:none that needs fixing immediately. Set it up
Speaker:yourself. It's free, and Google has instructions. Or get someone who knows
Speaker:what they're doing to do it for you. And the same with Google Analytics.
Speaker:Go to analytics.google.com and check if your site's connected,
Speaker:if it's not there or it's set up wrong, like it's tracking the web
Speaker:designer's test site instead of your own, which happens more often than you think.
Speaker:Sort it. You need to know how many people are visiting your site, where
Speaker:they're coming from, and what they're doing when they get there. 2. Take
Speaker:a look at those 10 keywords you gave your web designer. Open an incognito
Speaker:window in your browser and search for them on Google. Be honest. Are
Speaker:you anywhere on page one? Page two? No, please. Page ten no,
Speaker:please don't. If you're nowhere to be found, those keywords aren't doing
Speaker:shit for you. Don't blame yourself. You didn't know what to pick,
Speaker:but now you need to actually research what your customers are searching
Speaker:for. Use Ahrefs free keyword tool
Speaker:or get someone who understands keyword research to do it properly.
Speaker:Do not use ChatGPT. 3. Look at
Speaker:search intent for each of those keywords. Think about what someone
Speaker:searching that term actually wants. Are they looking to buy?
Speaker:Looking for information? Trying to find a local business? If your
Speaker:content doesn't match what they're after, you're wasting your time. This
Speaker:is where proper SEO strategy comes in, understanding
Speaker:not just what people search, but why they're searching it.
Speaker:4. If your web designer genuinely doesn't
Speaker:understand SEO, and a lot don't because it's not their job.
Speaker:Stop expecting them to. It's not a dig at them.
Speaker:They're amazing at design. That's what you hired them for.
Speaker:But if you want amazing SEO as well, you need to either bring in
Speaker:someone who specializes in it or learn enough yourself
Speaker:to at least audit what's been done and spot when you're being fobbed
Speaker:off with bollocks. And finally, I'll tell you in just a
Speaker:moment.
Speaker:And finally, if you're about to hire a web designer and
Speaker:they say they do SEO, ask them exactly
Speaker:what that means. Do they do keyword research? Do they
Speaker:set up search console analytics? Do they create a content
Speaker:strategy? Do they build proper tracking so you can see what's
Speaker:working? If they say, oh, yeah, we install
Speaker:Yoast and optimize your meta tags, that's your red
Speaker:flag right there. That's not SEO. That's
Speaker:the absolute bare minimum. You want someone who either
Speaker:works with an SEO specialist or is honest enough to say, I
Speaker:can build you a technically sound website, but you'll need someone else
Speaker:for the SEO side because that honesty is worth its weight
Speaker:in gold. Now look, there are some awesome
Speaker:cracking web designers out there who genuinely understand
Speaker:SEO or who partner with people who do. If you've got
Speaker:one of those, brilliant, hang on to them. But if your
Speaker:SEO consisted of handing over 10 keywords and getting a plugin
Speaker:installed, you've been sold a load of bollocks. Don't feel
Speaker:bad about it. These people are convincing. But now you know
Speaker:what actual SEO looks like, you can go and get it done properly.
Speaker:That's it for this week. And if this helps, don't keep it to yourself.
Speaker:Hit follow on SEO fucking what? Wherever you're listening so you don't
Speaker:miss the next episode. And if you want me to take a look at your
Speaker:website and tell you what's going on with your SEO, find me on
Speaker:LinkedIn. Until next time, get found, make money,
Speaker:stop stressing, be non wanky.
