Ever handed over a chunk of cash to your web designer for “SEO” and ended up with nothing but a plugin and a lot of empty promises?

Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of SEO F**king What, I’m pulling back the curtain on what really happens when web designers say they do SEO—and how you can tell if you’ve been stitched up.

I’ll walk you through the fixes and explain why most web designers aren’t SEO experts (and why that’s not a dig at them), reveal what real SEO looks like, and share the right questions to ask before you hire anyone.

Plus, I’ve got actionable steps you can take right now to get your site sorted—no bollocks, just practical advice.

If you’re ready to finally get found and make some money, hit follow and click play for some non-wanky SEO guidance that actually works!

Timestamped summary

00:00 "Web Design vs. True SEO"

03:52 "SEO Advice: Get Found"

This episode is all about ensuring your web designer doesn't totally fuck you over on your SEO.

But you'll have even better results from your SEO by having me in your corner - https://nikki-pilkington.com/seo-training/

Want to check out more episodes? https://seofuckingwhatpodcast.co.uk/

Your web designer said they do SEO. They installed a

plugin and charged you two grand extra. You probably got

absolutely fuck all. So what's the fix? How do

you tell if your web designer has stitched you up and what do you do

about it? I'll tell you that in just a moment.

Okay, here's what you need to do. 1.

Check if you have Google Search Console setup. Log into your

Google account, go to search.google.com

search console and see if your website's there.

If it's not, you've got no data about how Google sees your site,

none that needs fixing immediately. Set it up

yourself. It's free, and Google has instructions. Or get someone who knows

what they're doing to do it for you. And the same with Google Analytics.

Go to analytics.google.com and check if your site's connected,

if it's not there or it's set up wrong, like it's tracking the web

designer's test site instead of your own, which happens more often than you think.

Sort it. You need to know how many people are visiting your site, where

they're coming from, and what they're doing when they get there. 2. Take

a look at those 10 keywords you gave your web designer. Open an incognito

window in your browser and search for them on Google. Be honest. Are

you anywhere on page one? Page two? No, please. Page ten no,

please don't. If you're nowhere to be found, those keywords aren't doing

shit for you. Don't blame yourself. You didn't know what to pick,

but now you need to actually research what your customers are searching

for. Use Ahrefs free keyword tool

or get someone who understands keyword research to do it properly.

Do not use ChatGPT. 3. Look at

search intent for each of those keywords. Think about what someone

searching that term actually wants. Are they looking to buy?

Looking for information? Trying to find a local business? If your

content doesn't match what they're after, you're wasting your time. This

is where proper SEO strategy comes in, understanding

not just what people search, but why they're searching it.

4. If your web designer genuinely doesn't

understand SEO, and a lot don't because it's not their job.

Stop expecting them to. It's not a dig at them.

They're amazing at design. That's what you hired them for.

But if you want amazing SEO as well, you need to either bring in

someone who specializes in it or learn enough yourself

to at least audit what's been done and spot when you're being fobbed

off with bollocks. And finally, I'll tell you in just a

moment.

And finally, if you're about to hire a web designer and

they say they do SEO, ask them exactly

what that means. Do they do keyword research? Do they

set up search console analytics? Do they create a content

strategy? Do they build proper tracking so you can see what's

working? If they say, oh, yeah, we install

Yoast and optimize your meta tags, that's your red

flag right there. That's not SEO. That's

the absolute bare minimum. You want someone who either

works with an SEO specialist or is honest enough to say, I

can build you a technically sound website, but you'll need someone else

for the SEO side because that honesty is worth its weight

in gold. Now look, there are some awesome

cracking web designers out there who genuinely understand

SEO or who partner with people who do. If you've got

one of those, brilliant, hang on to them. But if your

SEO consisted of handing over 10 keywords and getting a plugin

installed, you've been sold a load of bollocks. Don't feel

bad about it. These people are convincing. But now you know

what actual SEO looks like, you can go and get it done properly.

That's it for this week. And if this helps, don't keep it to yourself.

Hit follow on SEO fucking what? Wherever you're listening so you don't

miss the next episode. And if you want me to take a look at your

website and tell you what's going on with your SEO, find me on

LinkedIn. Until next time, get found, make money,

stop stressing, be non wanky.