Speaker 1 0:02

Hello and welcome to episode 67 of SEO is not that hard . I'm your host , ed Dawson , founder of KeywordsPeopleUsecom , the solution to finding the questions people ask online . I'm an affiliate marketer , seo , and I've been building and monetizing websites for over 20 years . I've built sites from the ground up , bought sites and sold sites in large exits . I'm here to share with you the SEO knowledge , hints and tips I've built up over the years . Today , I'm going to talk about why you should be starting your own website right now . Now , I know there's two types of listeners out there . There's some of you who have built sites and are working on your own sites and that's fantastic . Still listen . I think this is going to provide plenty more motivation for you to keep working hard on those . And there's other people who have , if they've never built a site of their own , are just getting into SEO and haven't started . But there's even going to be those out there who would only have worked on other people's sites . So this is for you guys . I'm making this episode primarily because I want to explain to you why I think it's really important that you have your own websites as well as anything else you do . Okay , so why build your own website .

Speaker 1 1:10

Now , the best way of learning anything is by learning by doing . You can do all the theoretical research , you can listen to all the podcasts , you can read all the blog posts , but until you actually start doing something , you're never , really ever going to take it in . The best way to reinforce learning is by doing . That's why you have apprenticeships If you're a apprentice bricklayer , for example . You learn by doing . Okay , you can look at the theory , you can watch other people doing it , you can do all sorts of non-doing learning , but the only way to get good at something like that is by actually doing it and practicing it . And it's the same with technical things , it's the same with SEO , it's the same with websites , it's the same with producing content . You get better at it by doing it and you reinforce by doing it . So the main key thing is you've just got to get your hands dirty .

Speaker 1 2:07

By starting a site from scratch , you're going to get the skills from the very beginning , which is having an idea for a site , registering a domain , sorting out hosting , getting your CMS set up , doing all the things that you need to do just to get your first page online . Then doing the things like getting the site registered in Search Console , building your first links , building your first content all those kind of things You're only ever really going to get comfortable with doing them by actually Getting on with it . By then having your own site , you know you'll basically master tasks that you will only Get good up by doing so . Things like keyword research , on page SEO , technical SEO , content creation All things that you can read a lot about , you can listen to a lot about , but and you know you try them you will learn more by actually doing . Now this applies equally if you are Building , want to build websites for yourself , or whether you're wanting to work in an agency or working or working house for a brand . You know Having your own site gives you a lot of freedom to experiment .

Speaker 1 3:15

When you're working on somebody else's site , you know you're going to be constrained by things like budget , the things they want to do , any kind of policies they've got , maybe what people say you can and can't do , whereas on your own site there is there is no rules , there's no one holding you back from trying anything out . You can try , and you can go completely white hat . You can try black cat . So if you can try all sorts of things that you want , and it's that experimentation that helps you stay ahead of the curve . As you've probably realized if you've spent any time Research SEO . Things change all the time . You know things that used to work brilliantly then suddenly stop working and New technologies come along all the time , like you know , the the emergence of AI compared to a couple of years ago . So if you have your own website , you've then have got something you can keep developing and keep working on , keep experimenting on with these new technologies and new techniques as they come along .

Speaker 1 4:09

But I think possibly the most valuable thing that having your own website and starting Rome's website is is it gives you confidence as you actually achieve things and move things on and start to rank for things , even if it's just small things and sort of low competition things . It's just Having that experience in getting things working gives you that motivation to carry on and keep building and it lets you know that you know it is something you can achieve . This is something you can do , but you're only going to prove it to yourself by actually getting started and trying . Just reading , just listening and but not starting doesn't get you there , even if you are , I say , an experienced SEO working on other people's sites . It's . I think it will give you that massive confidence boost when you've got your own site to work on and it can actually give you career opportunities when , if you know , if you've Try the technique , got something working , you can actually take that learning and experience into your employer or into your clients and say , look , you know we've done that , I've done this on my own site and I know it works and I know we can try it .

Speaker 1 5:08

Also , you might also end up building an asset , depending on the site , kind of site you build . I mean I would say to start with , don't worry about trying to make a site that's going to make money . You'll become the next greatest thing . The key thing is just to start , just to get your feet wet , get moving on . But in the long run , yeah , you could end up building an asset . Look , actually only new opportunities . If it's a personal site and a personal brand site , you might find it brings you new work opportunities . If you start a affiliate site or an e-commerce site or anything like that , you could find that you end up making actually making an income from it and , but I think the first instance , you just go start and just give yourself permission to be rubbish . You know , it doesn't have to be great , you just have just to get a site up . For a lot of people in the first instance is a massive achievement and one that isn't to be underestimated . So , yeah , I mean , I think the key thing I'm trying to get across here is that , with anything , doing all the reading , doing all the theory is fine , but nothing ever beats getting out there building something for yourself and and proving to yourself how it works and that you can do it .

Speaker 1 6:19

Thanks for being a listener . I really appreciate it . Please subscribe and share . It really helps . Seo is not that hard as bought to you by keywords . People use calm , the solution to find the questions people ask online . See why thousands of people use us every day . Try today for free at keywords . People use dot com . If you want to get in touch , have any questions , I'd love to hear from you . I'm at channel five on Twitter . You can email me at podcast at keywords . People use calm . Bye for now and see you in the next episode of SEO is not that hard , you .