​I’ve learned a lot in this class. Some of it was useful, some of it… maybe not so much. But I’m still glad I learned about everything, because now I know what’s out there. If I ever want to go in a new direction with my business, I’ve got some solid tools under my belt.


One of the biggest things for me was learning about different platforms. I really like Weebly—it’s super user-friendly and great for throwing a website together fast, even if you don’t totally know what you’re doing. That said, there were some design elements I wanted on my site that Weebly just couldn’t do. And I found out that I can’t really adjust how the mobile layout looks, which is kind of frustrating. WordPress gives you more control with things like that. I don’t have those skills right now, but maybe I’ll switch over in the future. For a basic website, I don’t need WordPress—but I can definitely see why so many companies expect people to know how to use it.


Google Ads wasn’t really my cup of hot chocolate. I got a lot of impressions but not many clicks. It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t come up with the right keywords—it’s just that my product is really specific. Dinosaur-themed pottery is a pretty niche market, and that made it hard to find keywords that worked well with Google’s system.


​Some of the broader keywords brought in clicks, but not the right kind of traffic. The more specific keywords—the ones that actually described what I was selling—ended up being so narrow that Google restricted them or didn’t show my ads very often. So even though I gave it a try, I don’t think Google Ads is the best fit for my business at this time.

I’m also pretty excited about affiliates. I don’t know if I’ll become one, but it’s cool to know it’s an option. And same with wholesalers—it’s just good to know that’s a possibility if I ever need to scale up.


The one thing I know for sure I’ll keep working on is SEO. I want to get better at it so more people can find my site organically. I don’t think blogging is really my thing, but I’m still glad I learned how to write with keywords in mind. It helps me understand how content shows up in search results, even if I’m not planning to write a ton of blog posts myself.


Overall, this class gave me a ton of new tools and ideas. Even if I don’t use all of them right away, I know they’re there if I ever need them. And that’s a good feeling.

One of the trickiest—and most important—topics we tackled in my Web Business Creation class was conversion tracking and how it ties into ROI (Return on Investment). If you’ve ever wondered how to tell whether your ads are actually doing anything, this is how you figure that out.


What Is a Conversion?
A conversion is whatever you want your website visitor to do that counts as “success.” For some businesses, it’s a purchase. For others, it might be someone filling out a contact form, clicking a link, signing up for a newsletter, or even calling your phone number.
For me, I decided my main conversion would be when someone clicks on a product page or fills out a contact form.


What Is ROI?
ROI means Return on Investment—it’s how much money you earn compared to how much you spend. In terms of ads, it helps you understand whether your advertising efforts are actually making you money. If you’re spending $10 on Google Ads to make a $50 sale, great! If you’re spending $50 to make a $10 sale… not so great.
Learn more about ROI on Google Ads →


Setting Up Conversion Tracking (In Theory)
While I didn’t quite get my tracking to work yet, I still learned a lot about what’s involved:

• You need a Google Ads account and a Google Tag Manager account.
• Then, you create something called a conversion action in Google Ads.
• You install Google Tag Manager on your website.
• Finally, you connect the pieces—using tags and triggers to fire when a visitor takes a specific action.

If you’re using Weebly, like I am, you can install Google Tag Manager through your site’s Settings > SEO > Header Code section.

Here are some resources that walk through the process:

• Set up conversion tracking in Google Ads
• Track link clicks or button clicks
• Determine your conversion value
• Watch the video tutorial we used in class

So… Why Bother?
Even though it takes time to set up, conversion tracking is how you know if your marketing is working. Once it’s in place, you can:

• See what actions people take on your site
• Optimize your campaigns to get more of those actions
• Automatically adjust your bidding based on real performance

And all of that leads to better ROI.


Final Thoughts
I’ll be honest—this part of class was frustrating for me. But it also opened my eyes to how powerful and precise online advertising can be when it’s done right. Even if you’re not ready to run Google Ads today, it’s worth learning about this stuff so you're prepared to grow your business in the future.
If you’re like me and still trying to figure it all out, don’t stress. Bookmark the resources above and chip away at it one piece at a time.

Hi friends! In my Web Business Creation class, we’ve been learning all kinds of things about running an online business—from keywords to SEO basics—and recently, we touched on something I had never heard of before: GEO.
I thought it was fascinating, and I wanted to share a quick summary here in case you’re trying to build your own business or website and want to stay ahead of the curve.

What Is GEO?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It’s similar to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but instead of optimizing your site for traditional search engines like Google, GEO is about optimizing your content for AI-driven search tools.
Think of how people use ChatGPT, Bing Chat, or Google’s AI Overviews to ask questions and get instant answers. These tools often pull content directly from websites to form their responses--without always linking to the original source. GEO is all about learning how to structure your content so that these AI tools:

1. Find your website, and
2. Choose your words to include in their generated answers.

Why Does GEO Matter?
In the future (and honestly, even now), more people are going to ask AI tools questions instead of typing into a search bar. If your website is built to answer those questions clearly, you have a better chance of being featured in AI-generated responses—which means more visibility, more clicks, and more potential customers.

How Can You Prepare for GEO?
Here are a few beginner-friendly ways to start thinking about GEO, especially if you’re a maker, artist, or small business owner like me:

• Answer common questions clearly on your site.
  (Example: “How do I clean handmade ceramic mugs?” or “Where can I find handmade dinosaur mugs or decor?”)
• Use natural, conversational language. Write the way people talk—this makes it easier for AI to pick up and summarize your content.
• Use headings and bullet points to break up info so it’s easier to scan (for both humans and AI).
• Keep your answers helpful and direct. AI tools prioritize sites that provide real value to users.

Final Thoughts
Right now, GEO is still a new and developing field, but learning about it in class made me realize that how we show up online is changing fast. If you’re already working on SEO and creating honest, helpful content, you’re likely already laying a strong foundation for GEO too.
I'll keep sharing what I learn as I go—and if this kind of thing interests you, let me know! I’d love to create more behind-the-scenes posts like this.

In my last blog post, I went over the basics of what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is and why it’s important. In short, SEO is about helping your website appear in search engine results without paying for ads. It's free, but it takes time and effort to do it well.
This post is all about how to actually improve your website's SEO, based on what I’ve learned in my Web Business Creation class.

Step 1: Do a Website SEO Audit
Start by seeing how your website is doing right now. There are free tools that will give you a report card and suggestions for improvement. Two easy ones to try:

• websitegrader.com
• grademywebsite.com

These tools look at things like how fast your site loads, whether it’s mobile-friendly, and whether your keywords are in the right places.

Step 2: Choose Strong Keywords
Keywords are the words people type into Google when they’re looking for something. Think about what your target customer would search for—not technical or “insider” terms, but real words they would actually type.
Each page should focus on one or two keyword phrases. For example, if you’re selling bowls, maybe one page could target “handmade ceramic bowls,” and another could focus on “rustic pottery dinnerware.”

Step 3: Optimize Your Pages (On-Page SEO)
Once you have your keywords, you’ll need to place them naturally in:

• The page title
• The URL
• The first paragraph of text
• The image alt tags
• Headings 
• The meta description

Your goal is to make it clear what the page is about—without stuffing the page full of keywords. It should still read naturally.

Step 4: Build Backlinks (Off-Page SEO)
Backlinks are when other websites link to your website. Google sees this as a sign that your content is valuable. Getting backlinks is harder to do, but here are a couple of ideas:

• Guest Blogging – Write a blog post for someone else’s website and link back to yours.
• Collaboration – Work with other small businesses or artists and link to each other’s websites.

Backlinks carry a lot of weight in Google’s ranking system, so even just a few quality ones can make a big difference.

Using Weebly?
Here’s How to Apply SEO on Your SiteIf you're building your website on Weebly (like I am), the good news is that it's beginner-friendly when it comes to SEO—but there are a few places you’ll need to go to update everything properly.
Here’s how to apply some of the SEO basics directly in Weebly:

Page Titles & Meta Descriptions

• Go to Pages > click the page you want to edit > click the SEO Settings
• Add your Page Title (this shows in Google results)
• Add a Meta Description (brief summary that encourages people to click)

Custom URLs

• In that same SEO Settings area, you can also create a Custom URL. Use your keywords and keep it short (like /ceramic-bowls instead of something random or too long).

Image Alt Text

• When you upload an image, click on it and choose Advanced.
• Add a simple Alt Text using your keywords (e.g., “handmade ceramic plate”)

Header Tags

• Use Text Elements on the page and style them with the H1, H2, H3 tags. Make sure each page has one clear H1 heading with your main keyword.

Blog SEO

• For blog posts, Weebly also lets you set an individual Post Title, Meta Description, and Permalink—all under Post Options at the bottom of your left side menue when editing the post.

These small steps inside Weebly make a big difference when it comes to helping Google understand and rank your site.

Bonus: Want to See How Google Sees Your Website?
Here’s a trick I learned: type "site:[yourwebsite.com]" (the quotation marks are key) into Google (replace with your own domain). This shows you which of your pages are included in Google’s index.

Hopefully this gives you a solid roadmap to improving your SEO—even if you’re just getting started like I am.

If you’ve ever wondered how websites show up on Google, you’ve already brushed up against something called SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
At its core, SEO is the process of improving your website so it ranks higher in search results. The goal? To help more people find you online--without having to pay for ads.

Why SEO Matters
​When someone searches for something on Google, they’re shown a list of websites that match their search. But not all websites are treated equally. Google uses a complex system to decide which pages show up first, and those top results get the most attention (and the most clicks).
If your site doesn’t show up near the top of the page, people might never see it—even if you offer exactly what they’re looking for.

How Google Finds Websites
Google uses bots—also called crawlers or spiders—to scan the internet. These bots collect information from websites and store it in a giant database called the index.
When someone types a search, Google checks its index to find the most relevant results.
If you want to see if your site is in Google’s index, try searching:
site:yourwebsite.com

SEO Is Free, But Not EasyOne of the best parts about SEO is that it’s free! You don’t have to pay to show up in search results. But ranking high organically (without paying) takes work.
You need to:

• Understand what your audience is searching for
• Use the right words on your site (called keywords)
• Make sure your site is helpful, clear, and trustworthy

If you're more of a visual learner, this short video gives a great introduction to how search engines work and why SEO is important. It’s a quick and clear breakdown of the basics—and it’s definitely worth the watch if you're just getting started.
​
How Search Works - SEO Explained 


Final Thoughts
SEO is all about helping search engines understand your content--so they can help the right people find it. It’s a long-term game, but when done right, it can make a huge difference in how visible your website is online.