Carli LeBlanc (00:01)
Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Side Hustler podcast. I'm your host, Carly LeBlanc, and I am so excited to have you here at the Side Hustler podcast where we talk about all things marketing, content creation, and building a brand that actually works for you and not the other way around. So.

excited to have you here because today we are getting into something deep and we're going to be talking about how to make your profile SEO friendly so that your dream clients can actually find you when they're searching for people just like you. Now, when I say SEO, search engine optimization, I'm not talking about blogs or Google or your website. I'm talking about making sure that your Instagram, your TikTok, YouTube,

Pinterest profiles are being searchable within the platform. I want you to think about this for a second. If someone is looking for a Houston content creator or a Houston marketing strategist, if I have those keywords in my profile, in my profile, in my bio, in my name, will I be able to pop up when my person is looking for me?

And so if you have not started to implement those keywords, then this episode is going to be just for you. Now, before we get into today's episode, I wanted to let you know about an amazing opportunity. So after I have been in the game for a little while, I was starting to realize that there are a lot of people who actually need someone to hold their hand, to walk them through on how to really increase their visibility on social media.

And so because of that, I wanted to officially invite you to my free social media audits, which is exclusively only for my podcast listeners. So it's not anywhere on my website. The only way you can find out about this opportunity is if you are a part of my community, if you are a listener to the podcast. And so I wanted to invite you, if you would like for me to take a deep dive into your page.

to help you really optimize your page from top to bottom. You may need some help with your marketing or how to make your content start to generate more leads. You can actually sign up for a free social media audit right now. And you can go to cdcreatacodeagency.com slash audit to grab your spot. I will also have this link down below in the show notes. So if this sounds like something that you're interested in, definitely check it out. And I look forward to working with you. Okay.

So in today's episode, we are gonna be diving in on what it really means to have a SEO friendly profile, the key areas on your profile where you need to be using keywords, how to make sure your LinkedIn bio actually works, how to make sure that your LinkedIn bio actually works smarter for you and not harder, and how to use keywords inside your content so your posts start to show up in the search engine too.

Now, a lot of people think that you have to go viral in order for people to find you. And that's simply not true. You just need to make sure that your page is fully optimized. And so today we are going to be taking a deep dive into how to fully optimize your social media profile. So let's get into it.

Okay, so before we dive into how to have a SEO-friendly profile, I want to talk about what it really means to have a SEO-friendly profile. So to break it down really quickly, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization in simple terms. It just means being able to show up wherever people are searching for the kind of business that you run, the type of content that you create, or the type of services that you offer. So going back to my example earlier,

when I was talking about if someone was looking for a Houston content creator or a Houston marketing agency, that's me. And if I'm not using those words in my profile, they have no way of knowing that I exist when they search for people like me. And so that's where SEO comes into play. You want to make sure that your name and your page to pop, you want to make sure that your name and your page pops up at the top of the search engine when your ideal audience is out here.

searching for someone who does exactly what it is that you do. Now here's the place where a lot of people get stuck. They say, Carly, how do I know what keywords my audience is even searching for? And so before we dive deep, I wanted to give you a little place or a little magic hub on where you can find the keywords that people are searching when they're looking for people like you. So one of my favorite places that...

I think a lot of people heavily sleep on is when you look at your DMs or your client inquiries. So when someone reaches out and they're saying, hey, I need help with dot dot, what are they saying? Okay. So a lot of people DM me, send me emails and they're like, Carly, I need help with my content. I need help with my social media content. Do you offer brand photography?

So those are keywords that you want to make sure that you are utilizing if you see a repeat in your client lead forms or in your DMs or in your comments or anytime you're talking to someone about what it is that you do. Another place that you can try to find keywords is your Instagram search bar. You can start typing in what you think people would search to find you and see what auto feels because that'll give you a clue as to what keywords typically go together.

when someone is searching whatever it is that you do. Now, another hub that a lot of people don't really realize is a gold mine for keywords is your Google Analytics or your Google Search Console. Now, if you have a website and you have it,

linked up to Google Search Console. Now this is actually, I'm going to go off the record here. I actually found out that I had already had my Google Search Console already connected to my website on accident, like literally about three days ago. And so this is why I'm implementing it in this episode because it was a gold mine once I found out how to actually use it. But if you could go to your Google Search Console, if you have a website, if you don't have it already connected to your website, I would highly recommend you do that.

but go to Google Search Console and look at the search terms that bring people to your website. Those are keywords that people that are looking for your services are already using to find someone like you. So using your DMs, using the search bar in Instagram, and using Google Search Console are going to be key places where you can find

keywords that people are using to find people like you. Now, another thing you can also do is you can ask your audience on your Instagram stories. You can run a poll. You can say, if you're looking for someone like me, what will you type in the search bar and see if people give you their feedback. But if you don't get any feedback from the polls on your stories, I would definitely recommend trying the other three as an option because it's really going to give you some valuable data on where you need to be using those keywords. Okay.

Now, I want you to remember that you need to use words that your audience types, not your industry lingo. So if you're a photographer, they're probably searching for brand photos for small businesses, not lifestyle visual brand strategy. Okay. So put in simple, searchable and relevant keywords rather than industry specific jargon, because that's going to help you to show up in the search engine as well.

Now this is important across any platform you're on. So this is if you're on Instagram, if you're on TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, or even Google, if someone is searching your service, your profile needs to be optimized so that when you, so that you can show up as one of the top options, because let's be real, no one is clicking on the 12th profile or link or even the ones that are on the second page, okay? Our goal here is to show up as at least the top.

three choices when someone searches those words. remember, it's not just about posting content. If your bio, if your name, if your content is not search friendly, you are missing out on so many visibility opportunities, okay? Your page should be working for you even when you're not actively online. And the goal here is for someone to discover you while you're living your life, while you're at work, while you're sleeping, while you're picking up your kids, or while you've been taking a break from posting, okay?

So let's talk about where exactly you need to be adding these keywords to make sure your profile is fully optimized.

Okay, so let's get into some exact places on where you should be placing these keywords on your profile so you can start showing up in the search engine. Okay, the first place that I want to talk about is the name field. And this is not your at name, like your social media handle. This is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the name that is the bolded section under your profile picture, not your at username. Okay, so this space is fully searchable. Okay.

When I say it's fully searchable, that means you need to have all of your keywords in that place. instead of just putting your name, like my name is Carly LeBlanc, I will put something like Carly LeBlanc and then the long vertical sign and I'll have something that says Houston social media content or Houston content creator. You can even add other things. think right now I have Houston content creator for entrepreneurs, but

You wanna make sure that you have keywords in that bolded section. I know that I think, no, I wanna say that you have about 60 characters max that you can use in this section. So make sure that you're using those 60 characters wisely, okay? You don't have to stay married to one name. And the good thing is, that you don't have to stay married to one name. You can change it often. I think Instagram allows you to change your name twice within a 14 day timeframe.

So what I like to do is I like to test different keyword combinations based on what people are searching for. I often look at my Google Analytics or ⁓ I'll look at different keywords that people are using to find me and then I start to implement different keyword combinations for my name on Instagram. That way I can increase the chances of being found across platforms. So.

Definitely, so definitely make sure that you are utilizing this space to work for you and not against you. Now, one of the common questions that I get about the name field is, is the name field case sensitive? And the answer is no. So whether you like to use all caps or you like to use, you know, uppercase and lowercase letters, it won't affect your searchability. What really matters here is that the keyword itself is there.

Now, another way that you can make most of the name field is you want to make sure that you move your most important keywords closer to the front of your name. Okay. So like I said at the beginning, when I was using myself as an example, I have my name there just so people can know who they're addressing whenever they send me a DM. But instead of you having like, you know, Carly LeBlanc dot dot dot, wait, sorry.

No, so instead of having after my name, helping women grow through content creation, or maybe, no, no, no, no, no, no, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, what am I trying to say? So instead of having content creation at the end of my name, I wanna have content creation closer to the front of my name. So make sure that you're using your keywords wisely, but you also wanna have your keywords more so towards the front rather than the end.

Now, if you are a local business, the best thing for you to do is to spell out your city in your name. Okay. Don't abbreviate it because this will really help you. This will really hurt you rather than helping you because so many abbreviations can mean so many different things. And so many people aren't even key onto abbreviations that are relevant to certain industries. So.

Spell out the words, spell out the name. And if you wanna add abbreviations in your bio, I'll tell you how to do that later when we talk about bios. But for your name, it's best for you to always spell out your city. So Houston photographer or Houston hairstylist or Houston content creator, whatever it is that you do, you wanna make sure that you fully spell out the city so that way you can make sure that you're popping up when someone searches the city.

Okay, so next up is our bio. And this is one of my favorite things that I love to play around with. In addition to my name, because I am a SEO junkie on socials, I love to try out different things. So your bio is a space that is made up of 150 characters, okay? This is a space where people will be able to read about you, figure out who you are, what you do in less than 15 seconds. And yes, it is also

SEO friendly. Now I tell my clients this all the time. Please do not waste this space with a lot of fluff. Do not put all of this unrelatable, un, you know, important information in this space. You want to make sure that you are utilizing all 150 characters wisely to work for you. And you want to make sure that you make every single word count. So make sure you're using clear language that explains who you help, how you help them and what you offer.

For an example, one of the things that I, or one of the bios that I played with before was helping side hustling women grow their brand, helping side hustling women grow their brand through content creation. Simple, straight to the point without all the fluff, okay? A lot of people like to use a chat or a lot of people like to use AI or chat GPT.

to kind of help them write their bio. And although I am a fan of AI, I want you to also be clear and make sure that your AI program is not adding a lot of fluff and a lot of unrelatable jargon to your bio. Because again, we only have 150 characters, okay? So if you are one of the persons that, or so if you're one of the people that like to use Chagy P.T., make sure you are included in your prompt. Keep it short and sweet.

and make sure that you are using simple, easy to understand words so easy that a first grader can understand what I do. I think so many times we like to try to go with the philosophical answer that makes us sound smart, very philanthropic or whatever the word is.

But the thing here is that it needs to be easy to understand. It needs to call out the person's problems and it needs to be able to relate to the person that you serve. So I like to have my value statement as my first sentence in my bio because it not only talks about the services that I provide, but it also talks about who I serve and how I do it, okay? So, make sure, so in your bio,

So make sure in your bio that you are clearly using clear language, but you're also listing your core services because these are also searchable keywords. So going back to using myself an example, some keywords that I could also implement in my bio would be like social media management or content strategy or brand photography. So you wanna make sure that you have those keywords that people are looking for. So that way you can continue to rank.

higher in the search engine when people are searching for those words. Now, the last thing I want to hit on here is always, always, always make sure you have a call to action in your bio to tell people exactly what you want them to do next. Okay. So that could be download my free calendar or book your strategy call or schedule your free consultation. You want to make sure that some, you want to make sure that when someone lands on your profile, they know exactly what you want them to do.

who you, you want to make sure that when someone lands on your profile, they immediately know who you help, what you do, how you can work with them, and what's the next step that you want them to take. So again, this is not a place for random quotes and God forbid, please do not come from me, random scriptures or emojis. Make sure that you are clear and it's searchable and that you are able to rank in the search engine when someone is searching for you.

Alright, so now that we talked about our name and our bio, I kind of want to add something here when we are talking about our bio and that's our Lincoln bio. You want to make sure that your Lincoln bio is working smarter for you and not harder, okay? You want to make sure that your Lincoln bio is working for you and not working against you. So.

Let's talk a little bit about our LinkedIn bio because this is a prime prime real estate. And a lot of people are not using this space to its fullest potential. So back in the day, you know, when Instagram back in the day, you know, it was all about, you know, the chronological feeds and in those times and in that era, you know, you had to have Linktree in order for you to be able to host several links at once. now Instagram actually lets you add up to five.

Instagram now lets you add up to five links directly in your profile and you don't need a third party website to do it. And that has been a game changer, especially if you're linking your website to your booking, especially if you're linking your website or your booking page or a lead magnet or a landing page to an offer or course that you're promoting.

This will allow you to have all of your links directly listed in Instagram rather than having to go to a third party, then go to the link and then having to go back to do it all over again. So when we're talking about SEO, you want to make sure that whatever action you want your visitors to take first,

that link is listed first, okay? So if you're telling them in your bio to book a free consultation, your first link that you need to have listed in your link in bio needs to be the link to your free consultation. If your main goal is to grow your email list, then your freebie or your opt-in link, then that needs to be first. So if you're trying to get people to book.

or to grab a service, make sure that you put that link first so they're not having to look all over and figure out where it is that you want them to go. And another thing that I see is, another thing that I see a lot of people do wrong is they have vague link titles or just the plain URLs and it doesn't tell people what that link belongs to. So you need to also make sure that you are labeling your links clearly with the keywords, okay? ⁓

So instead of the button just saying freebie here or download here, maybe switch it out for download my free content creation calendar or download my free whatever, whatever guide. Be specific because this is gonna help people know exactly what they're clicking on. And it also helps to boost your SEO within the Instagram's internal search, okay?

Now this is not to get into the whole things about lead magnets and opt-ins, but I did want to hit on it. If you do have a free guide or a free quiz or free download that's meant to attract your ideal client, you want to make sure that the title you use includes those keywords that they're already searching for. So for example, if you help with credit repair and you have a lead magnet and you have a lead magnet, your lead magnet title shouldn't just be my free guide. It should be five tips.

Or, no, no, no. So if you have a lead magnet and you help with credit repair and you title your lead magnet, my free guide or five tips for a better life, nobody knows what that's about. So instead of using those titles, I want you to make sure that you're implementing your keywords in your lead magnet titles. So free credit repair checklist or how to boost your credit in 30 days. Those keywords are not only going to catch the intention of your ideal client, but it's also going to increase the chances

of people actually clicking on it and opting in, okay? So the bottom line here, your LinkedIn bio needs to be clear. Clean it up, make sure that it's clear, organized, clickable, and aligned with your goals. Keep it simple, leave it your most important action, use keywords in your link labels, and allow your LinkedIn bio to work smarter and not harder. Okay.

All right, so moving along, now we're gonna get into our profile photos and our username tips, okay? So, whew, this has been a lot, okay. So now that we've covered the name field, the bio, the LinkedIn bio, it's only right that we wrap things up with talking about your profile photos and your usernames, okay?

Now these two don't directly affect your SEO, but they do play a role, but they do absolutely play a role in how people perceive your brand. Because when someone lands on your page, your profile photo and username are, your profile photo and username are the first impression that people see when they land on your page. And so you want to make sure that your first impression is, that your first impression to feel

You want to make sure that your fresh impression to feel clear, professional, and aligned to what you do. So your profile picture should be clean, high quality, and easy to recognize. If you're using a headshot, make sure it's a clear and well lit headshot. Please, please, please, please do not use the heavy filters, the Snapchat filters, the artificial intelligence filters.

all of the things that we like to try to do when we're posting on our stories, please do not use that because that can come across as very in our get inauthentic and skimish. Okay.

because they can come off as inauthentic and very much so skimish. So make sure that you are using a professional photo. It should look like you. It should not have any of the rabid ears and the doggy ears with the tongues and all of the things. Like you wanna make sure it's a good professional picture. You don't have to be in a blazer and it doesn't have to be like in a three piece suit or anything, but you wanna make sure that you look like someone people will wanna work with.

Now, if you're using a logo instead of a photo, you need to make sure that your logo is readable, it's clean, and it's high resolution. No blurry screenshots or low quality graphics, okay? We need high quality 1080p 4K logos, crisp and clear. And it should also fill the entire circle. So don't leave a bunch of background space around it if you take in a screenshot.

make sure your logo takes up the entire circle, okay? You also wanna make sure that there's no unnecessary backgrounds, no watermarks, no distractions, because the main focus should be either you or your logo. This is your digital storefront, your digital welcome mat, so when someone's scrolling and your picture pops up, your page or your picture should make them stop and click and learn more about you.

Now the next thing I want to talk about is your username because this should also be simple, easy to spell and easy to remember. So I want you to avoid using a bunch of underscores because that is going to be hard for someone to remember. I also want you to avoid using repeating letters. So if I have my name is Carly and I have eight I's like that's going to be so hard to remember.

You also want to avoid using random numbers that have nothing to do with your business or your brand. So if my name was Carly and I put Carly underscore two, three, five, eight, nine, that's hard to remember. So go for something that's clearly, so go for something that clearly represents your brand, your name.

So go for something that clearly represents your brand or your name and can be said out loud easily. Remember the goal, if you are trying to have this big brand, you go on panels, you go have speaking engagements. No one has time to say, follow me on Instagram at Carly with eight I's, two underscores and seven nine seven at the end. You wanna make sure that it is easy for you to say out loud, but also when people hear it, they can remember it. So think ahead, you know.

wait. You want someone to instantly know how to type that in the handle without asking, like, wait, how do you spell that or how many underscores? Also, if your business name is already taken, another thing you can do is add simple modifiers like buy Carly or it's Carly.

rather than just throwing a bunch of random extra characters. So if you're one of those people that fall in that category, I'm going to advise you to clean up your username, make it super, super easy to understand, to read, to remember. So that way you can make sure that you are also increasing your visibility in that aspect as well.

Okay, so now that we have covered your name, your bio, your links, let's talk about a few bonus tips that can help you get even more visible on social media by using keywords in your actual content. So these strategies might not be what people always think of whenever you hear SEO, but they're definitely gonna make a difference when it comes to getting found by the right people.

The first thing I like to tell people is to add keywords into your captions. You can start by using keywords in your captions, especially on platforms like Instagram. These words and phrases, your ideal audience type in the search bar whenever they're looking for something like you, you want to make sure that they're also in the captions that you type. Now, if you like to use AI to help you to write your captions like I do, you want to make sure that in your prompt, you add...

that in your prompt, you give chat GPT that direction. So for example, write a caption promoting my content creation packages for entrepreneurs, highlight how it helps them save time and eliminates the stress of planning a month worth of content. Include keywords my audience would be searching for, like Houston content creator or content for business coaches or done for you content in my caption.

That way your captions are not just cute with all the emojis, but they're strategic. And you're also organically using the keywords to pop up in the search engine. Now, another thing you can do is utilizing hashtags strategically and not randomly. Okay. Yes, hashtags still matter. And I think I shared this on an episode ago. want to say about a couple of weeks ago where I was talking about my first actual client that I booked. Stated she found me through a hashtag, which is

Absolutely amazing. So I tell people hashtags still matter, but you've got to make sure that you're using them in the right way. And so when I say the right way, you need to make sure you're using niche specific hashtags and solution focused hashtags. So instead of just using hashtag entrepreneur, try Houston branding photography or hashtag marketing coaches in Houston, or you know, something, yeah.

You also want to make sure that you're using hashtags that have anywhere between 10,000 to 500,000 posts. The bigger the hashtag, the harder it is for you to show up. So if it has millions of posts, it's over saturated, completely throw that one away because your content will most likely get buried in that hashtag. Another key strategy I like to tell my clients is only use five to seven hashtags per post. Back in the day,

Instagram had us thinking we had to have 30 hashtags on each of our posts, but that's simply not true anymore. So if you have a group of 30 hashtags that you like to rotate, maybe break those down in groups of five and rotate each group throughout your posts. Because using too many hashtags could look spammy. It can also cause your content to get shadow banned and may even affect your reach and your visibility. So don't use the same hashtags in every post.

create your hashtag groups and switch them out throughout the week. So if you post three times a week, use three different sets of hashtags. And you also want to make sure that you are including location-based hashtags in your content or in your hashtag strategy, especially if you service a local audience. So like I was saying, instead of using hashtag entrepreneur, maybe you'll use hashtag Houston entrepreneurs or hashtag Houston small businesses.

And then another thing that you could do is you could create a branded hashtag specifically to your personal brand or business. like content with Carly or hashtag Cy Hustler Tips. That way you can also have your own hashtag growing. People are searching your business as well. Now don't keyword stuff. Okay. You want your key, you want your hashtags to be natural. You want to use keywords where they make sense. You don't want to force them into every sentence.

or overload every post with hashtags just to be seen. People can tell when it's robotic or it feels spammy, and it actually hurts your engagement rather than help. So you want your content to work for you for the long run after you hit publish. And if it's optimized in the right way, your keywords and your audience are able to already search for it. Wait.

The bottom line here is your content can work for you long after you hit publish. And if it's optimized in the right way.

Your audience is going to be able to find you whenever they search whatever they're looking for. All right, my friend. So that's it for today's episode. I hope that you found this episode super helpful and that you're walking away with a couple of action items that you can start to implement today. It's start optimizing your profile and showing up in the search engine where your dream clients are out there looking for someone just like you. Now, if you need a little bit of extra support and you would like to, ⁓

and you would like to work together, don't forget that I am currently offering my free social media audits that are completely free just for my podcast listeners. So go to cdcreativecoagency.com slash audit. I'll go through your profile. I'll give you live feedback on what's working, what needs tweaking and how you can make your page really work for you. Okay. So you can sign up for your audit at cdcreativecoagency.com slash audit.

Also, I would love, love, love to see the changes that you make. if you are doing a quick audit for yourself after listening to this episode, definitely send me a DM on Instagram screenshot your updated profile and tag us. I would love to cheer you on and maybe even shout you out on the stories. Okay. So remember your profile is your welcome at make sure that you are making it searchable and working for you. Make sure that it is clear because the truth is the right people are searching. They just need to be able to find you. So.

That's all for today. If you love this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share with a friend who's working on growing their brand online. That's all for today and I will catch you in our next episode. Don't forget to keep hustling.

Wait, what's that say?

That's it for today's episode. And as always, keep hustling, sis. You got this. Bye.