Have you ever wondered about some easy to achieve yet impact driven ways to get more people to your website without dropping a bunch of money on paid ads?
In this episode of The Hayley Osborne Show, I sit down with the amazing Nicki Sciberras from The Digital Exchange to talk about exactly that.
Nicki is talking about some good, great and amazing strategies to get quality traffic to your website. Ways, you can implement yourself and I know you like the sound of this.
Nicki and I are very similar which is why I couldn’t wait to get her on the podcast. If you’re an avid listener of my podcast, then I know you will love her.
There is knowledge bomb after knowledge bomb and some great banter in there to balance out the learning, so I hope you enjoy this as much as we did recording it.
Nicki is a Meta Ads and SEO strategist and coach. An expert in her field, she helps online businesses profitably grow and scale their brand so they can live life on their own terms.
You can reach Niki on her website: thedigitalexchange.co She has an awesome traffic and sales calculator + planner which you can download here: https://www.thedigitalexchange.co/traffic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedigitalexchange
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedigitalexchange.co/
SUMMARY
0:00:01 Introduction to the Hayley Osborne Show
0:03:36 Introduction of Nikki Sciberras
0:04:00 Nikki’s Background and Services
0:05:41 The Importance of SEO and Website Optimization
0:10:23 Traffic Strategies and the Role of SEO
0:16:09 Challenges and Timeline for SEO Results
0:19:21 SEO Best Practices and Long-Tail Keywords
0:24:43 The Benefits of SEO Over Other Marketing Channels
0:24:49 Nikki’s Courses and Workshops
0:26:35 Conclusion and Contact Information
Hayley Osborne
Welcome back to another episode of The Hayley Osborne show. I am so glad that you are here listening with me today in your ears to learn amazing things on how to grow your business, grow your marketing and grow your confidence.
And while you are here, I have a new key marketing tool for you over on my website, which I think will help you with your business in order to show up with a super optimized social media presence, and it has the three essential posts that your business needs to get more people through the door with templates and swipe copies.
So, I tell you what you need to post, and then I’m going to show you how with my templates and my swipe copy. So, head over to my website. Hayley osborne.com, to get it, you will not be able to miss it. It’s at the top of the website. It’s also going to be in the show notes of today’s podcast episode.
So, head over there now so that you can use this key marketing tool in your business and really show up in the most optimized way possible for your business, because let’s be honest, we’re not here for a hacker, and I want to see you do really well. So today, my lovely friends, I have a beautiful guest expert that I am bringing you into your ears today.
She is Nicki Sciberras from the digital exchange. And Nicki is all things Facebook ads and Google ads and SEO, and she’s super passionate about what she does. She is also a lover of the gym. She also calls herself an unofficial Margarita connoisseur.
Yes, apparently it is possible to be both an ex marketing manager turned online marketing expert who has helped hundreds and hundreds of business owners transform their life into one that they love and one that feels really aligned with the very reason they started their business.
So, you know, to be able to pick your kids up from school and do all the things that you love to do Nikki really is the meta-ads and SEO strategist and coach and expert in her field. She helps businesses like yours with their online profitability, to help you grow and scale your brand so that you can live life on your own terms and do the things that you love.
She’s super passionate. She speaks the same language as me, which means that you’ll love her. And without further ado, let’s just get into today’s episode, hi Nicki and welcome to the Hayley Osborne show. I’m so glad that you are here.
Nicki
Hello, hello, thank you for having me. I’m so excited that we decided to do this. Yeah,
Hayley Osborne
It’s been like a long time in the making, but I got you here.
Nicki
I’m so glad you did.
Hayley Osborne
So, I’ve done a little intro about you, but I would love you to tell my listeners who you are and what you do.
Nicki
So, my name is Nicki, and I am the founder of the digital exchange, and basically, it’s an agency where we help brands grow and scale using Facebook ads SEO and Google ads. So, I teach Facebook ads and SEO, but we also manage Facebook ads and Google ads for clients. So essentially, we try to help brands grow and scale so that they can live life on their own terms.
Hayley Osborne
Yeah. So, it’s a hybrid model, so you do a bit of both. You do, which is kind of like me. So, you do teaching, and you have courses which people can learn independently, which you know it works for some people, but then others are like, do it for me. Here you go. Yeah,
Nicki
exactly. We kind of cater to, I guess, people wherever they’re at so they’re new in business, they might like to do a course. And if they’re really busy and they’ve been in business for a long, bit a little bit longer, they might like to hand it over. Or it doesn’t matter, I guess there’s something new. People come in at all levels, but at least we cater to all those different groups.
Hayley Osborne
Yeah. So, SEO stands for, which, you know, I’m sure most people know, but let’s dumb it right back.
Nicki
Search engine optimization, yeah,
Hayley Osborne
So like, talk a little bit about, like, I guess the importance, I bang on so much, because I don’t think people really realize that the social media space is rented, be it a very, very powerful marketing tool, it is a rented space. So, like, tell me the importance of web, Google, SEO, like all of that stuff, and why it is so important?
Nicki
Yes, so you touched on a really good point, that social media is rented space, so your website is its own platform, which means that it can’t be taken away from you at any time. So, it’s really important to drive as much traffic as you can to that space that you own, which is your website, and a really good and easy way to do that is using search engine optimization.
So, SEO, as the acronym, is all the actions that you take on your website and on other people’s website in order to push you to that first position in Google for the keywords that best describe your business. And it’s really important that you do set that up, because it’s going to drive more traffic to your website, which is going to equal more clicks and conversions, but it’s also going to, you know, get you more visible when you’re in those top positions in Google people, I guess it’s like, really good PR people think they trust you more because they think, Ah, I so, you know, you’re in that top position, they’re more likely to click.
They’re 30% more likely to click if you’re in that top position, and its SEO is completely free to do. So, it’s kind of a no brainer, brainer, and all the work that you do now compounds for years to come. It doesn’t just stop, like social media, which expires, you know, a couple minutes after you post. So
Hayley Osborne
Yeah. So how long have you been doing this for? How long have you been running your business? And have you seen, like, so much change, like rapid change in this space? Because, like, the Google algorithms, search engine, all the things in Google, like, it can be really confusing when you’re not in it
Nicki
Definitely. And I think Google, Google as a whole, has, they’re always releasing new updates and things that we need to keep on top of. But the beauty with the things that Google changes, is it’s always things that make sense that you should be doing anyway. It’s not like crazy changes that you might see in other platforms.
And so just going back to your question, I’ve had my agency for six years. Prior to that, I was a marketing manager for a big international business, and we used to do all of this kind of marketing as well in house. But essentially, the things like creating really high-quality content, or getting other websites to mention yours, and things like that, all the things that Google is constantly updating, as I said, are things that you should be doing any way you don’t want to be creating bad content. You want to be creating good content. You don’t want to be, you know, getting bad quality people to talk about your business. You want to be getting good quality people. And if you do, then you’re going, you won’t get penalized. You’ll benefit, benefited by Google.
Hayley Osborne
And when you say you want to be creating good content, you mean like blog articles or like the podcast transcript, summaries, um, keeping your page content up to date. So, you know, for those of you that are so busy in your business and you never work on your business, leaving your website untouched for like a year is not best practice. Is that right? Exactly.
Nicki
Google, you know, rewards people that are constantly updating things and keeping, you know, I guess, up with their algorithm and adding new things that relate to whatever’s relevant at the moment at the time. So, if you can create quality content, even across your website, pages, your blogs and other podcast things, and everywhere else that the copy is and content is on the web, then you are going to keep Google happy and they are going to be more likely to rank you.
So, when I say quality as well, I don’t just mean like pulling a whole bunch of random stuff from Ai. You can use that as a guide, but you definitely want to have your own unique spin and source on things that sets you apart from other people,
Hayley Osborne
yeah, and so you’ve just taught a masterclass inside superhero marketing. So, there were so many knowledge bombs in there. And will you call them truth bombs? But it’s like, I couldn’t believe some of the things that you said. So, I guess, like, let’s start with, you know, what is a traffic strategy and why is it important.
Nicki
So, a traffic strategy is the way that you get, P all the, I guess, the ways that you get people to your website. So, when you have a traffic strategy, or when you have a business, you need to get eyeballs on your website, or people that are seeing your business, because if you don’t have people clicking through to your website, so. Or coming from all different marketing places, then you’re never going to have anyone to buy or book from you.
And the way that you create one is, well, we’ve actually got a calculator that we’ve created so you can go to digital exchange.co, forward, slash traffic. And basically, we have this calculator, and you put in how much money you want to make this year, and it will spit out how much traffic you need on your website from your website. I’ll
Hayley Osborne
put that in the show notes too. If someone’s driving and they don’t, they can’t do that straight away. Just lost my words. I
Nicki
Was going to say they can DM me traffic, but then they still need to remember my Instagram handle.
Hayley Osborne
No, I’ll put that in there too. But that’s a, it’s a that is a I’ve got that it’s a really good tool. So, thanks.
Nicki
Oh, amazing. Thank you. Yeah. So essentially, you need to know how much traffic you’re needing in order to hit your revenue goal, so that you can break it down and create a plan on how you’re going to reach that traffic goal.
And the way that you reach that traffic goal is all the different marketing that you implement, and then that serves as and then the clicks that you get from that marketing through to your website, so they make up the traffic.
So, say, if you had, say, my calculator spat out that you needed 1000 people visiting your website every month, then you need to think, okay, well, I’m doing what social media, search engine optimization, Facebook ads, how many clicks Am I getting from each one? If I’m not hitting those click goals, then I’m probably not going to hit my sales goals either. So, you can’t just hope to say, oh, I’m not hitting my sales goals, but not actually creating a traffic plan in order to hit those revenue goals. Yeah.
Hayley Osborne
And I think when you look at the way your website works, and for businesses that don’t have a website, that’s the first thing that I think that you need to do, because it’s just, I guess, that’s your suit and tie version of your business. And I like to call the social stuff your shorts and T-shirt version. It really makes you, like, legitimate in business when you have a website.
And then, you know, doing the practical stuff like this work is, I think, takes the first place over any other like marketing, like, you know, social media or PR, or anything like that. This is the most important work, first and foremost, because you have to have your house like you’ve got to, you know, landscape, exactly. Yeah. Exactly, yeah.
No. This is, this is like, just keep everything, like, you know, intact. And this is the foundation for that. I definitely feel because, yeah, lots of people come to me, for example, and they’ve just got their socials, but it’s not enough, because otherwise, you know, that’s really a hobby, but the website is takes precedent
Nicki
Exactly. And the thing is, you really need a landing page where people can see everything that you offer or that you sell. And truthfully, it’s really hard to get a lot of traffic, if you like, from social media itself, it’s much easier to direct traffic to a website and to get eyeballs on your website.
So, if you want to be favored by Google and start getting a lot of traffic to your website so that you’re hitting your sales and revenue goals, then a website is definitely where you want to start. And then you want to start looking at ways to drive traffic to your website using whatever marketing you want.
Obviously, what we’re talking about SEO today, because SEO accounts for 54% of organic search traffic. So, it’s a big part of it. So, if you’re not implementing SEO, you’re missing out on a whole bunch of free traffic that doesn’t require that much work to get
Hayley Osborne
so, what are some good ways to drive traffic to your website? So
Nicki
Do you want SEO related, or do you want anything?
Hayley Osborne
Let’s go with anything.
Nicki
So I will start off by saying that social media can be quite hard to drive traffic to your website because a lot of the platforms are created so that you don’t know that you don’t leave the platform. They want you to stay there.
So, they make it really hard for you to x out and say, if you’re saying like I was saying before, you want 1000 people to visit your website a month. It’s really good to go into your last post and actually have a look at how many clicks came from that post to you, or how many clicks through to your link in bio and then through to your website you got because honestly, it’s going to take you months if you’re just using social media to hit your traffic goals, which will then mean you’ll hit your sales and revenue goals.
But the best way is definitely, by far, search engine optimization, because it’s free to do. Its people are searching using keywords, and they’re going to be matched with you, so their intent to buy is high. So that’s probably the best way.
I am also a big lover of Facebook and Google ads. That’s why I use all of the marketing tactics that I use in my agency. These are the ones that I have seen get results for clients’ time and time again. So, I’m a big believer. Ever in paid advertising. If you’re ready to scale, you need to get your organic in line first, so they will accelerate your marketing as long as you have everything else in place.
So, if your business isn’t working well to start with, don’t, don’t do paid ads. Keep on the organic strategy. So going back to organic, the best one that you can probably implement is email marketing. So, email marketing is a super easy way to drive traffic to your website, because basically, you’re sending out emails, and you’re giving all the links directly to your website in the email and you’re keeping top of mind in your customer’s mind.
And yeah, basically, if you do that every week, you’re going to be held, like, all of that’s going to be compounding, and you know, you’re going to reach your click goals higher, and your website traffic goals, and then your sales goals, etc. But they’re probably my top ones. But of course, you know, it depends, you know, like, I find podcasting is also super helpful if people do that, which I mean, we’re doing a podcast right now. So that’s even having to have a podcast. You can go on someone else’s podcast, yeah, because that still drives traffic to your website.
Hayley Osborne
I think, yeah, honestly, you know, you say, like I said, what are some good ways to drive traffic? But you know, for those listening, it’s not just one thing that you need to be doing. It is all the things and what practice makes perfect.
So, when you like, tick off one thing, try and do something else and just keep compounding, and it’s that like 1% right? So, if you do 1% every day, you’ll be 365% further by the end of the year than you were at the beginning of the year, and that’s a beautiful place to be.
So, it’s just like managing, I guess, that workload, and choosing what you’re going to do that week to reach that North Star of increasing your website landing on page one. Yeah, exactly.
Nicki
And it’s like, don’t do it all at once, because it will be overwhelming, but if you implement it, like you said in those small steps, it won’t be, you know, it’s not as scary. But email marketing is like a super easy one, and it’s not that expensive to do, so it’s a good place to start.
But, yeah, it definitely, you know, it definitely helps if you know, the more places that you’re appearing, because, you know, you start showing up and people start seeing you everywhere.
Hayley Osborne
And how long does it take to get results from like, like, when you start, yeah, when you start to do things like, how long? Because people are impatient, right? I think more impatient society as a society, I think
Nicki
It probably depends on how much time you have and then how much budget you have, like, obviously, if you have a big, big budget, it’s much easier because you’ve got all hands-on deck. But if you were doing it all yourself, like to, in all honesty, it can take like, six months to a year to really start to get that traction that you want, and start to get, like, a full, like, load of people coming in so and sometimes it can be even longer.
But if you’re relying on social media alone, you’re going to be it’s going to be taking you a very long time to get there, unless you create something super viral that aligns with what you sell. But really, that doesn’t happen for the average person. So, I have a
Hayley Osborne
sorry go.
Nicki
I was going to say, Yeah, I would give it. I would give it at least six to 12 months to kick
Hayley Osborne
off. I have a saying in my business, and it’s done, is better than perfect. Do you think this would relate to, you know, Seo?
Nicki
Yes, I think so. But as long as you’re, I think the main thing with SEO is that people don’t implement backlinks. They implement the website setup component, and they put keywords on their website, but they forget to implement the backlinks, which are links from other websites to yours.
And without that component, then you won’t, you won’t ever go like your ranking won’t ever increase. So near enough is good enough, but it has to have the right bits that are near enough, you know, near enough to be the right components. Otherwise, yeah, otherwise you won’t see those results in the so it
Hayley Osborne
is, yeah, it is more technical when it comes to Google, because keywords are keywords. And so, when you taught, in the masterclass, you mentioned that, like, ranking for like four keywords is better than just, say, marketing. That’s not going to be something that you would try and rank for
Nicki
Exactly. So, for example, just using a product example that came to mind. Or I could use the marketing one as well. Or I’ll use marketing. So, if someone was to search marketing versus Facebook ads agency Sydney, Australia, right, the person that’s searching for Facebook or marketing could be searching for anything, whereas someone that’s using very specific keyword terms and like a longer sentence with more description in there, they’re going to be more qualified in when they hit your website, because they’re actually using keywords and they know what they want, whereas you know.
So, you can see that there’s a big disparity between those two different searches. So, it’s better to try and use it longer. Like a longer phrase, it’s three or four keywords when you’re first starting out, because those bigger ones are going to be too broad, the traffic volume will be too high. You won’t be able to compete with big brands, but also it won’t probably properly align, and the reason for their search won’t be matched properly. So yeah,
Hayley Osborne
You say so I did a little test on myself when you were presenting in the masterclass. It was digital marketing. And obviously, I’m nowhere to be found, because, like HubSpot and those really big education platforms, they have lots of money behind ads, as well as they just punch out a blog probably every single day. You can’t compete with that. So yeah, the longer phrase Keywords are the ones that are like better to try and rank for as a smaller business, exactly,
Nicki
Especially when you’re first starting out. So maybe if you went in and put in, like, you know, marketing agency, and then your area or something more specific to what you do, then you would, you know, come up a little bit higher in the search results, but, yeah, you’re never going to be able to outrank these people because they they’re too big, so it’s better off just to go with those specific keywords that they aren’t going after.
Hayley Osborne
Yeah, nice. And we also talked about dashes or adding things like that, and I was really, like, impressed with your answer, because I didn’t actually know that. So, if we’ve got self-contained with the dash, what, what happens there?
Nicki
So, Google’s going to be able to do Google’s smart enough to be able to read those words. So, I generally would use what in the copy itself. I would be using the dashes because if that’s the right English, and that’s what people are searching for, then do that. But when you look in something like SEMrush, you’re probably just going to see the word without the hyphen, but always in your content and copy, you write the correct English and what people are searching, but Google will match you anyway, because it’s these are dashes of space, so it’s able to read those two words separately.
Hayley Osborne
Yeah, which is so clever, because I know that that would be a question that a lot of people would have just listened to. So why? Why would we choose SEO over other marketing?
Nicki
Well, SEO is the main way that traffic is like that is the main source of traffic to websites. So, it’s completely free to implement. It compounds over time, so all the work that you do today will keep paying off fears to come, which is unlike any other marketing, like with paid ads, as soon as you stop paying, they stop, you know, promoting your social media as soon as you post, it expires.
It’s super good PR for your business to be in that top position. People are searching using keywords which makes them more qualified and more likely to buy. You’re not just randomly popping up in their social media feed and hoping that they like what they see. So, for all those kinds of reasons, it makes it a super easy way to capture your attention, the attention of the person that wants what you sell.
And because they’re using keywords, they can be matched with you. All you have to do is, you know, do the action steps in the back end of your website, and then you’ll be matched with them. And it’s, it’s just such a simple, no brainer way.
Whereas, like other forms of marketing, you actually have to actively go out all the time and be making adjustments, creating posts, you know, doing whatever you need to do, creating more work for yourself. Whereas this is more like, I don’t want to say it’s a set and forget, but you do the bulk of the setup at the start, and then it doesn’t require much maintenance after. So that’s kind of like another thing that makes it such an attractive marketing tool.
Hayley Osborne
Yeah, yeah. And it just seems like you also said something really important that’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Whereas, you know, like TikTok, for example, has been banned in some countries, whereas you always own your website, Google is strong. They have, like, amazing algorithms, and just like the foundation is there, and it really isn’t, it’s how much market share do they have?
Nicki
I think 90 92% I think it is because people use Google, yeah.
Hayley Osborne
So, it’s so strong, and yeah, you own your website. Your website does appear in other search engines, but Google is Yeah, number one, and it’s strong, and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Nicki
Yeah, it’s very sophisticated, the algorithm, and so everything that you do to boost your position to one in for Google will also help you in all the other search engines. Because of that sophistication, it’s really smart at reading things and yeah, so all the work that you do to rank in first position for Google will help you in all the other search engines too. So, focus on that one, considering it has 92% market share, and you’ll get the best, I guess, bang for your buck.
Hayley Osborne
So, talk to me about your courses. What, what? How can we work with you?
Nicki
So, I have two different programs. I have my SEO program, which is, I like to say , probably the simplest way to learn. Kin first positioning Google, so without having to spend any money or show up on social media, if that’s not what you like to do, I know it’s not what I love. I don’t love doing it.
So, it’s so that’s SEO Made Easy, and that is open twice a year, generally in February and October, and then when people have got their organic social media sorted out. I also have Facebook ads workshops.
So essentially, if you want to get more leads or clients or build your email contacts, or you want to get more sales, if you’re an Ecom Business, I have a workshop for each business type. And yeah, it’s just a two-to-three-hour workshop that you can go in, and it teaches you how to set those ads up, manage them and optimize to scale your business. Yeah, nice.
Hayley Osborne
I love that. Well, how can we find you? Where are you? Where does your website, your Instagram, like to stalk you?
Nicki
So, I’m at thedigitalexchange.co that’s “dot C O” and I am also thedigitalexchange.co on Instagram, but if you search me on other platforms, like Facebook, I’ve also got a YouTube channel where I take you through how to do lots of things on Facebook, ads like do little tutorials and LinkedIn, I’m the Digital exchange on all of those platforms. So, you can come find me there and say hello,
Hayley Osborne
Hey, I loved this conversation. Thank you so much for sharing your likes, insights and just zone of genius with the audience. I’m sure I’ll reach out to Nikki. She’s super, like, accommodating and lovely if you have any questions. But thanks so much.
Nicki
No worries. Thank you for having me. I loved it. I’m so glad we finally did this.
Hayley Osborne
I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to this episode. If you have hit subscribe, so you don’t miss any new episodes released every Tuesday, and while you’re there, leave me a review. I would absolutely love to read it.
Also, don’t forget to tag me @hayleykosborne over on Instagram, and share this post with your audience so they can get learning too. Sharing is caring if you want more, head over to https://hayleyosborne.com/category/podcast/ for today’s show notes and links. Catch you next week for another episode of The Hayley Osborne show.
