Today, we’re building an SEO strategy that actually supports your bottom line.
A lot of times, business owners think about an SEO strategy as, “I want to show up on the first page of Google for this keyword.” That is literally what every client says.
And then my question is, “What do you think that does for you?”
SEO should have a strategy that actually supports your business’s growth.
We get so focused on rankings:
- Where we sit
- What pages are we on
- What keywords do we show up for
We forget that SEO is a marketing strategy.
There are so many businesses that sit in position one at the very top and are absolute crap, probably not getting any business. We talked about this on Episode #185—rankings are one of those vanity metrics of SEO.
So instead of focusing on rankings, this is how you actually make money with SEO.
Looking at the Bigger Picture
There’s so much more that happens than Google ➡️ website ➡️ inquire.
- Is your branding cohesive?
- Does your messaging resonate?
- Is your UX strategy simple?
- Does the menu navigation on your website make sense?
- Is everything working together to make that sale?
It’s so much bigger than wanting to rank.
Let’s break this into 5 steps…
#1: Start with Revenue Before Keywords
It can feel overwhelming to look at hundreds of pages on your website and decide where to start. This helps you prioritize which pages to focus on.
Start by looking at:
- What actually makes you money?
- What service has the best margin?
- What product is your best seller?
We have students in SEO on Tap who have been slowly prioritizing pages to optimize and have seen some insane traffic increases, even though their entire website isn’t optimized yet.
You have to prioritize the pages that will actually drive more revenue for you, rather than treating your website like a checklist. You don’t need to optimize the whole thing at once.
And remember—SEO isn’t a one-and-done thing. It’s something that will evolve and grow with you, so it’ll need tweaks over time.
#2: Optimize Pages That Already Sell
Before you start creating new content, focus on the pages that make you money. Optimize the pages that already sell, that already are profitable, are already things that are working for you, and that you want to work even harder.
Here’s what we’d do first:
- Competitive Research—who is ranking now for these offerings?
- Keyword Research—what keywords should these pages be optimized for?
Then, optimizing each page:
- Headlines
- Copy
- SEO titles
- Meta descriptions
- URL slugs
Crawl that page in Google Search Console again to make sure Google knows about your updates.
#3: Create Content Exactly for Your Audience
A huge opportunity we see our clients miss out on is local business growth—we talked about this last week in Episode #216. Google Business Profile growth is one thing, but content is another opportunity.
You don’t have to always share content related to exactly what you do.
You can share content that resonates with your ideal audience and gets you on the map. A few real-life examples…
- Painting: Best Paint Stores in the East Metro
- Therapy: The Best Kid-Friendly Things To Do in Bel Air To Decompress
- Tour Company: The Ultimate Guide to Veneto
- Wedding Venue: Micro Trends in Los Angeles
- Physical Therapy Clinic: Best Fun & Healthy Winter Things to do in Minnetonka
#4: Know Your Goals
Your goal should not be to rank #1 on Google. It sounds great, but it’s an SEO vanity metric and won’t help you make money with SEO alone.
SEO is a long game, and you need goals to stay motivated. Better yet, you need tools to help you track your goals.
The goals and analytics tracker in module one of SEO On Tap (below!) is a favorite resource of ours for understanding which metrics to track—like domain authority, indexed keywords, organic traffic, and backlinks.
But most importantly, you need the right tools to track this stuff:
You really need to think about the end goal and the journey the user takes to get there. This is where vanity metrics go away, and you actually see real traffic.
#5: Turn SEO into a Habit, Not a Chore
The most common question we get consistently is “How often do I need to write blogs,” or “change keywords,” or “update pages”?
Our answer is always the same… Consistency and Quality over Quantity.
SEO maintenance is our newest module in SEO On Tap, designed for this exact purpose.
So what are the highlights?
- Monitor your performance in Google Search Console.
- Update old content using data.
- Create new content that focuses on #3
- Don’t panic
As you continue to work on it and improve it, SEO will become fun because you’ll start to see real results and payoffs of your efforts.
Make SEO Easy in 2026
Starting this week, we are hosting a couple of completely free webinars to simplify this world for you… How can we make SEO easier in 2026 when everyone else is trying to complicate things?
FAQs About How to Make Money With SEO
No, ranking #1 isn’t the goal. You can generate consistent revenue by optimizing your website for highly specific, intent-driven keywords that attract the right audience, even if they have lower search volume.
SEO is a long-term strategy, but you can start seeing traction in a few months if you focus on optimizing pages that already drive revenue. Consistency is what compounds results over time.
No. A smaller, targeted audience that’s ready to buy is far more valuable than a large audience with no intent to buy. SEO is about quality traffic, not just quantity.
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Abbey Oslin and Courtney Petersen are Minnesota-based marketing experts with over 20+ years of combined experience working with big brands. They are educators and co-founders of Duo Collective; a boutique organic marketing agency specializing in SEO, branding, and custom websites for women-led small businesses and creative entrepreneurs.
Ready to grow your visibility and become unforgettable?
Learn more or work with our team here.
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