This week's solo episode started with a last minute photography enquiry that came through a Google search the day before we hit the road in the van. It led to a beautiful golden hour maternity shoot that evening and a very welcome reminder that people still use Google to find local service-based businesses.
It also sent me down a rabbit hole I have been meaning to explore for a while. My website, it turns out, was essentially invisible on Google.
In this episode I share what I found when I finally went in and looked properly, what I learned about the difference between SEO and the newer concept of GEO and why I ended up exporting all my data and having a very long conversation with Claude about what to do next. This is not a technical deep dive. It is the honest account of a time-poor, business-building mum trying to understand a fast-moving topic and take the next right steps without spending a fortune or losing her mind.
In this episode, I reflect on:
✨ The last minute photography inquiry that came through Google Maps and reminded me that organic search still matters, especially for local service-based businesses
✨ A trip down memory lane to the early days of my photography business, when blogging and SEO felt effortless and a single post about a whiskey pilgrimage to Islay led to two Scottish weddings
✨ How switching from WordPress to Squarespace during maternity leave and starting from scratch cost me years of backlinks and blog history, and why baby brain and big business decisions are not always a great combination
✨ What happened when I finally checked my Google Analytics in spring 2025 and discovered my website was not ranking in the first ten pages for anything
✨ The six hour SEO audit I invested in and what it taught me, including the revelation that H tags are not just decorative and that pages on your website can quietly compete against each other
✨ What GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, actually is and how it differs from traditional SEO in a world where AI tools are increasingly answering search queries directly without sending anyone to your website
✨ Why I took all my analytics data and shared it with Claude, what that process looked like and the surprisingly useful list of prioritised next steps it gave me
✨ Why AI explaining AI felt like the most time-efficient solution for a solopreneur in the summer holidays who does not have hours to spend on YouTube upskilling herself in things that are not her zone of genius
✨ What is actually on my to-do list now and why I will be reporting back in six months to let you know whether any of it moved the needle
Takeaway for Mums in Business:
"If your website isn't working as hard for you as you'd like and SEO/GEO are not your zones of genius, you do have another tool at your disposal... and yes, that's AI."
About The Host:
I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️
I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis!
I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams.
Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast.
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