Simple and Smart SEO: A podcast for Shopify sellers who want to expand beyond Etsy!

Organic SEO Tips: How to Create Problem Solving Content [Featuring Guest Hosts Celeste Gonzalez and Melissa Popp]

• Celeste Gonzalez, Melissa Popp • Season 4 • Episode 149

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0:00 | 28:09

In this guest-hosted episode of The Simple and Smart SEO Show, Celeste Gonzalez (Director of Roo Labs at Rickety Roo) and Melissa Popp (Content Strategy Director at Rickety Roo) dive deep into local SEO strategies. 

They explore the power of problem-solving content for small businesses and how local companies can stand out against larger competitors. The discussion covers how to identify local pain points, create community-driven content, and balance SEO with engagement-focused strategies.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Problem-solving content builds trust: Addressing real-life local issues makes your brand more credible and relevant to your community.
✅ Go beyond keyword research: Your own team, customer inquiries, and community forums are valuable content sources.
✅ Multi-location businesses must localize content: Even national brands need to engage with community-specific challenges.
✅ Community engagement fosters long-term brand awareness: Covering local issues—even those indirectly related to your business—helps position you as a trusted resource.
✅ Diversify beyond SEO: Businesses that rely solely on organic traffic risk losing visibility. Multi-channel marketing is essential.

Episode Highlights & Memorable Quotes:

📊 On balancing SEO and branding:
"Too many businesses focus only on SEO content. But content should build trust first and rank second."

💡 On social media’s role in local SEO:
"Why are SEOs suddenly ‘discovering’ branding? Multi-channel marketing has always been vital—businesses need to go where their customers are."

Listener Action Items:

✅ Audit your content strategy: Are you focusing too much on generic SEO content? Find ways to localize and address specific pain points.
✅ Mine insights from your team: Ask your customer service reps and technicians what common issues they encounter. These real-world problems make excellent content topics.
✅ Tap into local community discussions and Expand Beyond Organic Search: Monitor Nextdoor, Facebook groups, and local news to identify trending topics that relate to your industry.
✅ Balance SEO with engagement content: Don’t just chase keywords—focus on building relationships through helpful, trust-building content.

Connect With Celeste and Melissa:

🔗 Rickety Roo
🔗 Melissa Popp & Celeste Gonzales on LinkedIn

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Text me your questions or comments!

Hey, Shopify store owners! (Especially if you're selling on Etsy, too!)

Here's a quick question: Are people actually finding your products on Google?

If SEO feels confusing, overwhelming, or like something you'll "get to later", this is for you.

I'm hosting a free, seven day Shopify SEO challenge that breaks it down into simple, doable steps.

No tech headaches, no fluff. Join us at

 Hey, Shopify store owners! (Especially if you're selling on Etsy, too!)

Here's a quick question: Are people actually finding your products on Google?

If SEO feels confusing, overwhelming, or like something you'll "get to later", this is for you.

I'm hosting a free, seven day Shopify SEO challenge that breaks it down into simple, doable steps.

No tech headaches, no fluff. Join us at aise

 Hey, Shopify store owners! (Especially if you're selling on Etsy, too!)

Here's a quick question: Are people actually finding your products on Google?

If SEO feels confusing, overwhelming, or like something you'll "get to later", this is for you.

I'm hosting a free, seven day Shopify SEO challenge that breaks it down into simple, doable steps.

No tech headaches, no fluff. Join us at

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Want to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!

AFFILIATE LINKS:

SEO TOOLS :

Keywords Everywhere: My favorite keyword research tool!

Get SurferSEO! The ultimate content creation tool!


E-COMMERCE TOOLS:

Start your Shopify Store! (use my link)

Klaviyo: The leader in Ecommerce Email

Grid and Pixel: Get John and his team's help in setting up your flows and campaigns!


SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS:

Metricool (Awesome and easy to use social media scheduler!)


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