Read time: ~7 minutes
Is SEO still sitting on that ‘I’ll get to it’ list that lives in the back of your mind?
You never quite get around to it because you never have a clear enough picture of how to proceed.
- You don’t feel like you can hire a full timer because there’s no one to train
- You tried it in the past and shelled out thousands of dollars to an agency or a mysterious freelancer for … well, you’re not entirely sure what for.
- TBH business is good without it
I get it 🤷🏻♀️. The SEO industry doesn’t exactly have a good rep.
But that’s why I’m here. To bring values and morals and work with your brand’s mission to help you get in front of the right people.
Because you’ve built something intentional.
Your brand is rooted in values.
Your website is thriving.
Your offers are dialed in.
Your customers love what you’re doing.
You’re not new to this — you’re actually doing just fine.
So you start to think, “does SEO really matter for a conscious business like mine?”
Is SEO worth the investment or is it just more noise?
First of all — remember contract labor is a tax write off 😁
But more importantly — yes, SEO is still relevant. And necessary.
But not the traditional kind that hyper tracks single keywords, never explains what it’s doing, and just feels… off.
I’m not about that.
I’m here to help create values-aligned, strategic, and genuinely helpful SEO for your business.
Because the TL;DR is, we can infuse SEO and marketing with real emotions, values, and ethics to attract and retain your ideal audience of conscious consumers.
It’s just that not many people have wanted to do it in the past. Until now.
You’re Not Wrong To Be Skeptical About SEO
SEO helps you get in front of the people who are looking for your solution. Simple as that.
But a lot of SEO in the past has focused on quick wins, traffic gains without considering type of traffic, and hasn’t always felt aligned with conscious business practices.
It’s left a lot of us to ignore the industry entirely and just do it ourselves. But you don’t have to.
SEO doesn’t need to be loud, pushy, or manipulative. Shocker! I know.
Mindful, strategic SEO is 100% possible. That’s the way I, and other people who practice ethical SEO, approach every new client. We look at where you are now, your plans for growth, and your values to determine the best strategy for you.
Because an SEO strategy looks a little different for everyone.
- Your needs as a small business are not going to be the same needs as an enormous household name brand conglomerate.
- The SEO needs of an e-comm business are not going to be the same as a service-based business.
- Every SEO solution is (and should be) customized to your needs and goals. Maybe prioritizing backlinks is better than blogging for you.
If you’re already creating helpful content, showing up with integrity, and focusing on your audience you’ve already got an SEO foundation. But as you look to grow and dial into your ideal audience it’s going to need some sort of structure.
We need to take a more holistic approach. Looking at your entire website.
- Do you have the right pages/enough pages that your audience needs?
- Do you have an internal link strategy that guides visitors through your site?
- Do you have your metadata and headers optimized with keywords that your audience is searching for and that align with your brand?
- Have you checked your page load speed recently?
- Are all of your broken links redirected?
- Have you invested time in getting backlinks?
The reason I went into SEO was because I also felt alienated by the industry. I don’t want to do things the way they’ve always been done.
I will always prioritize consistent, long-term growth over quick wins that make a monthly report sound better.
Sometimes SEO can feel like the antithesis to sustainability. It feels icky, spammy, and kind of like you’re tricking people. But it doesn’t need to.
The right SEO approach protects your mission, it doesn’t pressure it. It reflects your brand and seeks to build trust and relationship with your ideal audience.
But really? It helps the right people find you at the right time, creating momentum without burnout.
That’s why I love SEO retainers. I get to dive into your business, learn more about you and create a slow, sustainable plan that grows with you.
How SEO Can Work With Your Sustainable Brand & Ethical Mission
Marketing is icky. I said it.
The loud stuff, the big stuff, the stuff think pieces and industry icons write about.
But think about your inbox.
Put aside the people, topic, and brands you follow because you should.
Focus on the ones you enjoy receiving. The newsletters you wait to open until you have time to fully take it in and appreciate it.
I’m guessing those don’t feel icky, right?
There’s a reason for that. They’re mindful.
Marketing works.
We know this.
But we’ve all just gone along with the assumption that 1.) Success looks the same for everyone and 2.) That we have to do it one way (the icky tech bro way).
We don’t. You don’t.
Not all of us are trying to take over an industry. To grow as fast as possible without regard to product or people. So why are you following that advice?
I’ll say it a thousand times in my career: SEO doesn’t have to be icky.
How?
1. A focus on organic, long-term, sustainable traffic
A strategic organic strategy provides you with a steady stream of aligned, high-quality traffic. The goal is not overnight wins but rather prioritizing long-term, high-quality content (which is part of the retainer) builds a strong foundation that we can continue building upon.
2. No greenwashing in sight site
We’re friends, right? I know you’re not sustainably perfect. And you know what? I bet your audience knows that too. So you don’t have to pretend to be perfect either. YES, we need to use large, overarching, all-encompassing sustainable words and phrases to bring people in. BUT we DO NOT need to lie, purposely mislead, or hide the truth. We use copy — everywhere — to clarify. No one’s expecting you to be perfect, they’re expecting you not to deceive them.
3. Knowing when to use, or lose, trends
How many times have you seen a viral post, loved it, then learned the content creator doesn’t normally make content like that? Or their other content is nothing like the one you loved?
Virality and trends are cool and they can create some pretty sweet overnight wins but they’re not a tactic we rely on for long-term sustainable growth. So yeah, let’s above have fun and use the good ones — but understand it’s a fun that should support the overall strategy.
4. Mission not mimic
I keep saying mission-mission-mission, obviously I’m not talking about plastering your missions all over your site. What I mean is we’re using the values and goals of your brand to guide your strategy, not copying what the competitors are doing. In every SEO title, page, headline, and paragraph your ideal audience should feel connected to what you’re saying and understand where you stand.
5. Education & relation-based selling
Here’s a fun story. I come from a sales background. My first job was inside sales for newspaper (lol) and online job listings. I cried every Sunday and lasted 11 months. Later, I worked in inbound sales selling international internships. And absolutely killed it.
Because at the end of the day I did very little selling. I explained. Everything. How it works, my experience, others’ experiences, the benefits, the costs, what’s included, what’s not included. People, especially conscious consumers, need to learn before they buy. SEO-optimized content lets you educate, relate, and build trust over time—no pressure tactics required. It’s selling through service, not scarcity.
6. Control
Control over the messaging and the keywords used. Control over non-pushy or salesy content, control over your traffic instead of always needing to be paying something for your traffic. SEO gives you more ownership over your traffic, your message, and your growth. On your own terms and timeline.
Hot Take: You Don’t Need More Traffic, You Need The Right Traffic
SEO’s like to talk about traffic — it’s one of the easiest ways to show that what we’re doing works!
And obviously it’s important.
If you started working with me and were getting 40 clicks over a 30 day period and are now getting 200 clicks in a 30 day period — that’s kind of a big deal.
(true story by the way).
But we can’t ignore who’s clicking.
It’s not enough to say that traffic doubled and clicks increased by 50%. Are they converting? What’s happening to those clicks?
We don’t want more traffic taking less action.
I once heard an SEO professional say a client told them their traffic was going up but their sales were going down. He seemed to think there was nothing wrong with that and was PERPLEXED that the client was complaining.
I ended the call shortly after that because that’s the exact opposite of what we want to achieve with SEO optimization.
I care about helping your brand show up for the right people — people who actually care what you’re doing and are ready to take (some sort of) action.
Because what’s the point of doubling your traffic if it doesn’t lead to aligned clients, conscious customers, or real growth?
High-quality traffic means fewer ghosted inquiries, fewer “just browsing” calls, and more connection with people who actually want to work with you. That’s what good SEO should deliver. A strategy that serves you and your mission.
Skip the tricks. Ditch the bro tactics. Let’s grow your traffic the sustainable way.
You might also be interested in….
