💡 ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Megan Pritts has been doing search engine optimization since 2012. She got into it because a former boss sold SEO to a client before anyone at the company knew how to deliver it, then handed her the project and told her to figure it out. She studied fine art and graphic design in college.
Most people nod along to the word SEO without being able to define it. Megan starts with the definition. There's a technical side, meaning page speed, accessibility, and the quality of links pointing at your site, and a content side, meaning blogs and product pages. Building the website is a separate job from both. AI reads a site topically now rather than by keyword, which changes some things and not others, and Megan has tested it enough to say the SEO advice it gives is bad. It skips images and alt text, and most people don't give it enough context for the answer to be usable.
She also gets into the words your customers actually type versus the ones you'd prefer they typed, what happens when the traffic you paid for shows up and your server can't take it, and why she keeps a waiting list instead of taking every client. Private equity bought the agency she worked at and the priority shifted from good work to revenue. She was ninety percent billable and burnt out. She gave three weeks' notice, spent it building templates and workflows, and started Ducks In Rows in September 2019, a few months before COVID. Her case for finding a therapist before you start a business comes from that stretch.
🌐 Connect with Megan
Website: https://ducksinrows.com
Email: megan@ducksinrows.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-pritts-08a41722/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ducks_in_rows/
Facebook: @ducksinrows
🎙️ Mentioned in this episode
Episode 60, AI Is a Mirror, Not a Bestie: Train It to Be Your Critic, with Kelly Monahan, PhD: https://youtu.be/jQoQgpRaNtQ
🎯 KEY TAKEAWAYS
🔹 SEO breaks into technical work and content work. Building the website is a third job.
🔹 Use the words your customers use. A garbage truck company wanted "refuse" on its site instead of "garbage." Nobody searches for refuse.
🔹 AI skips images and alt text when it reviews your site, and most people don't give it enough context for what it tells you to be usable.
🔹 Traffic isn't the goal. One photographer client more than doubled hers, but the win was better leads and the ability to raise prices.
🔹 Before you invest in SEO, check whether your server and your staffing can handle the traffic you're buying.
TOPICS
LIFE TRANSITIONS
INNOVATION
STRATEGIC THINKING
I📄
Read the Full Transcript
Prefer to read? The complete episode transcript is available here.
