Your H1 and Meta Titles Are Killing Your Rankings FFS!

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Your Home Title says "Home" and your H1 says "Welcome,"

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and you're wondering why Google's ignoring you.

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Today, we're fixing that.

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This is SEO F**king What. I'm Nikki Pilkington,

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and I've been doing SEO for 30 years — before it was even called SEO.

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I help people like you get found on search and make actual money from your actual website.

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Today we're getting into something that sounds a little bit boring,

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but it's absolutely not, because getting this wrong is one of

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the most common reasons good websites rank like shit.

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We're talking about H1s and meta titles — what they are,

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how they work together, and why yours are probably

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doing you absolutely no favours right now.

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Right. Let's start with the thing that trips people up the most.

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H1s and meta titles are not the same thing.

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They're related. They need to work together,

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but they're different. They serve different purposes.

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And confusing the two is costing you rankings.

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I've mentioned meta titles before — back in episode 14,

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when I went off about how your competitors aren't SEO geniuses.

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They've just done the basics. One of those basics was meta titles.

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Your homepage says "Home," your about page says "About,"

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your services page says "Services." And I said then,

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and I'll say it again now — you've told Google absolutely fuck all

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about what you actually do.

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But today I want to go deeper than that, because it's not just about

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having a meta title that isn't useless. It's about understanding

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how the meta title and the H1 work as a pair.

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When they're working together properly, Google gets a really clear signal

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about what your page is about. When they're not,

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you're muddying the water. And Google does not like muddy water.

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So what is a meta title?

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It's the title that shows up in search results.

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When someone Googles something and gets a list of results —

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those blue clickable links — that text is your meta title.

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It's also sometimes called the SEO title or the title tag.

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Google reads it, searchers read it, and it's the first real signal

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you're giving both of them about what your page contains.

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And what is an H1? It's the main heading on your actual page.

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Usually big text at the top that tells someone who's landed on your page

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what they're looking at. On most platforms,

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when you create a new page or blog post, whatever you call it becomes your H1.

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You can change it. On pages, you should change it.

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Now, here's where people go wrong in two different directions.

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Some people make both exactly the same, which isn't always a problem,

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but it's a missed opportunity, because the meta title and the H1

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do slightly different jobs. Your meta title is working

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in the search results, convincing someone to click.

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Your H1 is working on the page, telling the person who's already clicked

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that they're in the right place.

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You've got two shots at reinforcing your message,

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and making them identical means you're only really taking one.

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The other mistake — and this one's worse —

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is making them completely disconnected. A meta title that says

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"HR Consultancy Manchester — Workplace Support for SMEs,"

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and then an H1 that says "Helping your people thrive."

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I don't care how lovely that sounds.

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That H1 is doing sweet fuck all for your SEO.

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Nobody is typing "helping your people thrive" into Google.

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Nobody. Ever.

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Google looks at your meta title, then looks at your H1,

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and it's checking that they're telling the same story.

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If your meta title says you're an HR consultant in Manchester,

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and your H1 is just a motivational poster, Google is confused.

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A confused Google does not rank you well.

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So what should the relationship look like?

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Think of the meta title as the promise, the H1 as the delivery on that promise.

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Your meta gets someone to click.

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Your H1 confirms to them, and to Google, that the page

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delivers what it said it would.

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Back in episode 13, when I talked about not writing blogs like a diary,

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I mentioned that your H1 should include your target key phrase,

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and the title should say what the post is actually about —

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not something cute and cryptic.

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The same principle applies across your whole site.

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Your services page H1 should not say "Services."

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It should say something like "HR consultancy services

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for growing businesses," or "commercial cleaning services in Leeds" —

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something a human might actually search for.

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And your meta title supports that. Maybe it goes a bit further.

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Maybe it includes your location if it's not in your H1,

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or a specific service. Maybe it addresses the search intent a bit more directly.

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But both of them are on point.

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Let me give you an example.

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Let's say you're a bookkeeper in Bristol.

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Your services page meta title might be "Bookkeeping Services

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for Bristol Freelancers — Fixed Monthly Fees."

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Your H1 on that same page: "Fixed fee bookkeeping services

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for freelancers." Add in Bristol if you like.

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Different wording, same core message, both including the key phrase,

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both making sense to a human reader. Google sees those two working together

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and thinks — right, this page is absolutely about

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fixed fee bookkeeping for freelancers in Bristol.

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Let's rank it for searches on that topic.

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And now, a word about your homepage specifically,

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because that one needs a little bit more thought.

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Your homepage H1 is probably the most important single piece of text

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on your entire website for a reader.

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And yet, on so many sites I look at, it's "Welcome to Company Name."

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Or it's a tagline that made sense in a branding meeting

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but means absolutely nothing to Google.

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If someone landed on your homepage and couldn't see your logo

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or your navigation, would they know what you do and who you do it for

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from your H1 alone?

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If the answer is no, fix it today.

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Not next week — today.

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Your homepage meta title and H1 should between them tell Google

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what you do, who you do it for, and ideally where you do it,

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if location is relevant to your business. That's the job.

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And while we're here, one more thing. I've said it before

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and I'll keep saying it because people keep doing it.

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Your H1 is not the place for your company name,

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unless your company name describes your service.

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If your company is called "Hartley and Associates,"

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that tells Google and your reader nothing.

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If your company is called "Doncaster Business Insurance" —

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well, your name is your key phrase, lucky you.

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But for most people, your company name goes in your logo,

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in your intro paragraph, in your footer.

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It does not get to be the main event in your H1.

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And let's talk about the tools and plugin situation,

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because I know some of you are sitting there staring at Yoast

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going red and panicking.

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In episode 14, I said your competitors aren't SEO geniuses.

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They've just done the basics. The basics include

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not letting a fucking plugin think for you.

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These tools will sometimes tell you your H1 and meta title

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need to be the same. They don't.

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Sometimes they'll tell you that your H1 is too long or too short.

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Often they're wrong. They're working from a checklist.

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You are working from understanding.

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Trust the understanding. The rule is simple.

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Does your meta title clearly describe what the page is about,

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and include the key phrase someone will search for?

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Does your H1 confirm that promise to anyone who lands on the page?

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Are they working together, not fighting each other?

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If yes to all three, you're fine. Green smiley face or not.

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In a moment, I'm going to give you exactly what to do this week

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to sort out your H1s and meta titles

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without spending a single penny or touching anything you don't need to touch.

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Here's your homework, and I mean it.

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Do this, because unlike most things in SEO, this takes a little bit of time

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and you'll see results quite quickly.

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Open every page on your website. Start with the homepage,

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your main services page, and your three most visited pages

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according to Google Search Console.

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You're using Google Search Console, right?

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I talked about it in episode 19, and I'll keep banging on about it

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until every single one of you has it set up,

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because it's free and it tells you pretty much everything.

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Now, for each page, find your meta title and your H1.

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Write them both down.

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Now ask yourself three questions.

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First — does my meta title include a key phrase someone would actually

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search for? Not your company name. Not a tagline.

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A phrase with search volume.

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Second — does my H1 confirm the same topic and include

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a close variation of that key phrase?

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Third — would someone who landed on this page from Google

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immediately know they were in the right place?

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If any of those answers is no, rewrite.

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Keep the meta title under 60-ish characters or it'll get cut off in search results.

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Keep the H1 clear and direct. They don't have to be identical,

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but they need to be telling the same story.

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And one more thing. If you change a meta title or H1 on a page

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that's already ranking for something, check Search Console first.

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If that page is getting traffic for a specific key phrase,

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make sure you're keeping that ranking with the new version.

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Don't fix what isn't broken.

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Before I go — if this episode has made you realise your on-page SEO

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is a bit of a mess, and you want to sort the whole lot out

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properly, not just the H1s and meta titles, everything —

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my Non-Wanky On-Page SEO course at nonwankyseo.com is everything I do

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for clients when I'm optimising their websites,

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laid out so you can do it yourself.

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It's 200 pounds, or 20 pounds a month. 20 quid a month

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to stop flying blind with your website SEO.

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Go and have a look at nonwankyseo.com before I come to my senses

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and charge more for it.

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And make sure you're following SEO F**king What wherever you're listening right now,

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so you don't miss the next episode.

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If you've got a mate whose website homepage still says "Welcome,"

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send them this. It might save them months of invisible mediocrity.

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Until next time — get found. Make money.

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Sort your fucking titles out.