SEO for Virtual Assistants And Web Designers: A Case Study on Earning More With Every Project
Why Learning SEO Was the Missing Piece in My Business. and Why It Might Be Yours Too
When I decided to pivot from virtual assistant to web designer, I knew I didn’t want to be just another pastel-template girl selling pretty websites and Pinterest moodboards.
I wanted to build websites that worked, and as VA, I wanted to offer more than Social Media Templates or create endless content.
Websites that actually brought in clients.
That simplified marketing.
That gave entrepreneurs their time, energy, and freedom back.
Luckily, I’d been soaking up marketing magic from Alana (founder of Mudra) for years—learning how strategy and clarity beat the crap out of endless content creation. I knew this much:
A beautiful site means nothing if it’s not showing up for the right people.
This is what I really wanted to offer:
Websites that are SEO-optimized, energy-aligned, and made to convert—without the hustle.
Because like a lot of us...
I knew there was a better way to grow my business than to plaster myself on social media 24/365 just to get seen, a way that was more aligned, sustainable and honest, not pushy.
Sound familiar?
If you’ve ever dreamed of marketing on your own terms, if you’re craving sustainable visibility and you're ready to grow without burning out, then friend, SEO might just be your missing piece too.
And the best part?
you don't have to write code, deal with complicated technology or be a content machine and a Hook expert.
I followed Alana’s SEO Crash Course/ and SEO starter guide—step by step—and what happened next blew us both away.
Are you ready?
Table of contents:
➡ The Power of Content Repurposing
➡ The Benefits of Content Repurposing
Time Efficiency
Expanded Reach
Consistency
➡ Steps to Effective Content Repurposing
Identify Your Core Content
Understand Your Target Channels
Adapt and Reformat
Optimize for SEO
Maintain Consistency
Analyze and Iterate
The Power of Content Repurposing
I was so tired of trying to make Instagram magic out of thin air.
Crafting clever captions that read like mini TED Talks.
Designing carousel posts that perfectly matched my brand palette.
Getting… three likes. (Two from friends. One from my hairdresser. Thanks, Lina.)
And don’t even get me started on the comparison spiral:
How are these people posting five times a week, launching things, writing newsletters, and somehow still have functioning nervous systems?
It felt like everyone had cracked the code, except me.
But the truth is, I’m a Manifesting Generator.
I don’t thrive by pushing. I thrive by responding.
My energy comes in waves—and trying to squeeze consistent, inspired content out of me every day for six months straight? Let’s just say… it wasn’t happening.
All the content calendars, the DM pitching, the endless Reels that had to be both viral and perfectly branded?
None of it felt like me.
It felt like pressure.
What I really wanted was a tool I could control.
A place that could hold all of me—my voice, my offers, my story—without depending on trends or dopamine-fueled engagement.
I wanted that for my clients too.
So I turned to the one piece of the online business puzzle that actually felt sustainable: A website.
One I could grow with.
That worked while I rested.
That brought in the right people, on my timeline—not the algorithm’s.
But then the SEO panic set in...
The Beginner SEO Guide That Finally Made It All Click (No Expensive Tools Required)
I am the actual queen of online courses.
I’ve spent more money on marketing courses over the last five years than on my whole university degree.
So when I realized I needed SEO to bring in organic traffic? I went all in.
I watched tutorials.
I bought mini-courses.
I tried every strategy under the sun—and still felt completely lost.
Most SEO “education” left me more confused than when I started:
Written for robots or marketing bros
Using paid tools that cost a kidney (hello, beginner budget here)
Full of funnel jargon and “conversion metrics” that made me want to scream into a Canva template
What I needed wasn’t more theory.
I needed clarity. I needed structure. I needed something that actually worked—for real people with real businesses and limited energy.
And that’s exactly what I found in Alana’s SEO Crash Course and SEO starter guide for small businesses:
Here’s what changed everything:
SEO, demystified. She broke it down into the 10 real components of SEO. (Turns out? Keyword research is just one piece of the puzzle.)
Keyword research, restructured. I finally understood how to categorize keywords around my services, ideal client, pain points, and benefits—hello, strategy that makes sense.
How to find unicorn keywords. Not the ones everyone else is competing for—but the low-competition gems that are perfect for your niche.
Site structure that guides, not guesses. I learned what content to create, how to organize it, and how to connect it to what my clients are actually searching for.
Free tools, not tech overwhelm. Google Keyword Planner. The search bar. Basic stuff that works—once someone shows you how.
This wasn’t another list of “shoulds.”
This was a system. A flow. A grounded framework that made SEO feel... do-able.
Like something I could actually build into my business—without panic, pressure, or needing to sell a kidney on Fiverr.
How I Used This Beginner SEO Strategy to Help a Real Client Rank Organically
THE AI SOCIAL WORKER
Let’s talk real results.
Here’s how I used Alana’s SEO framework on a real client project—The AI Social Worker—and helped her start ranking on Google within the first month of launch.
No paid ads. No shady hacks. Just soul-aligned SEO that actually works.
1. It All Starts with Website Structure and Strategy
Before I even touched keywords, I focused on something most people skip:
Building a website that makes sense for real humans.
Because here’s the truth:
If your website confuses your visitor (or Google)… no keyword is going to save it.
So I started with the foundation—a strategic sitemap and wireframe based on how a real person would move through the site:
Every page had a clear purpose
Every section had one job: guide the visitor forward
No fluff. No dead ends. No “pretty but pointless” sections
And instead of guessing, I followed a framework that’s become my go-to: StoryBrand.
That gave me a structure to layer SEO into—not slap it on after. It looked like this:
Ideal Customer Clarity: We got ultra specific. Not “social workers in general.” Just Sophia—her dream client. We built everything around her.
Problem-Focused Messaging: We defined Sophia’s external, internal, and philosophical problems. (Yep, the real stuff—like burnout, confusion, and questioning whether she could grow a values-aligned business.)
Transformation and Outcome: We made it clear what Sophia wanted: more confidence, clarity, and ease. And we mapped that to exactly how the service helped get her there.
Clear Process, Clear Path: We showed her the roadmap. No vague promises—just a simple process with step-by-step clarity.
Positioning the Client as the Guide: The website wasn’t about “look how great I am.” It said: “I understand you. Here’s how I can help.” Big difference.
What’s at Stake: We didn’t shy away from real stakes. If Sophia didn’t take action? She’d stay stuck in overwhelm. But with the right support? She could lead and thrive.
This approach didn’t just make writing copy easier.
It gave the entire website an SEO-powered backbone.
Because once the structure was clear and the message resonated?
We could weave in the right keywords—naturally.
(No keyword stuffing. No Google trickery. Just honest strategy that connected.)
2. How I Used Brand Clarity to Find Strategic Keywords That Actually Convert
Next came the copy. But I didn’t start with a blank doc and a blinking cursor.
I started with clarity.
Instead of guessing what to say—or which keywords to use—I went straight to the source:
My client’s Brand Clarity Guide that I created and asked her to complete.
From there, I created her brand strategy (not to be confused with brand identity, which is the visual side). That included:
Her brand discovery (mission, vision, values, and positioning)
Her brand message framework (based on StoryBrand)
Her voice + tone (how she speaks to her audience)
This gave me everything I needed to build an intentional SEO keyword strategy—because I understood:
The real transformation she offers → These became her benefit-focused keywords
The pain points her audience feels → These became emotional/pain point keywords
Her unique approach and positioning → These became her differentiator keywords
Her niche (AI for Social Workers) → A low-competition space with high potential
Here’s what I found:
Her niche was new—which was amazing for SEO (low competition = easier to rank) But it also meant limited data on traditional free tools like Google Keyword Planner
So as I had to use a free trial software [MOZ gives you a month!] I leaned into something powerful, in order to make the most out of my free trial.
Deep brand clarity, clear messaging, and human language.
Because when you know your ideal client’s:
Frustrations
Hopes
Internal struggles
External obstacles
...you start seeing keywords everywhere.
Headlines. Section copy. Blog titles. FAQs. And best of all? It sounds human—not like it was written for robots.
3. Getting Scrappy with Keyword Research: Finding “Unicorn” Keywords That Actually Rank
Since Google Keyword Planner didn’t give me enough data (new niche problems, am I right?), I got creative.
I used a free trial of Moz to dig deeper into keyword possibilities. Because sometimes?
You’ve gotta get scrappy. SEO doesn’t have to be expensive—but it does need a system.
Luckily, I had one:
Alana’s SEO Crash Course and starter guide gave me a research structure that made sense.
Here’s how it worked:
Start With the USP Formula
I used her signature USP framework to brainstorm targeted keyword buckets:
[Service] helps [Audience] with [Problem] achieve [Benefit] through [Unique Solution]
From that one sentence, I pulled:
Service-based keywords
Audience-specific phrases
Pain point language
Benefit-driven searches
And unique-positioning angles
And once I got into the flow?
I ended up with over 200 keywords. (Not to use all at once—but having a well of ideas helped me adjust and refine the site strategy as I went.)
Then I Filtered for “Unicorn” Keywords
Using Alana’s method, I filtered those 200+ keywords based on:
Search volume
Difficulty score
Search intent (aka: Is this person just browsing—or ready to buy?)
The goal? Find low-competition, high-intent keywords that speak directly to ideal clients.
Those magical little phrases that are easy to rank for but still bring in aligned traffic. (Yes, they exist.)
We call those unicorn keywords. And with the right process? You can find them, too.
4. How I Chose Primary Keywords for Each Page (Without Cannibalizing My SEO)
From my giant keyword list, I narrowed it down to 5 primary keywords per page—based on the purpose of the page and what I wanted it to rank for.
Because here’s something I learned the hard way:
You can’t target the same keyword on every page.
That’s called keyword cannibalization—and it basically confuses Google (and your visitors) about which page to show for what. Thanks Alana!!
So instead of repeating keywords across the whole site, I assigned each page its own focus based on intent and content.
5. How I wrote the SEO Title + Meta Description
Once I had my keywords, I built the SEO title and meta description with a focus on clarity and outcome.
Title:
Social work competencies mastery, burnout relief and better self-care | AI technology tools in Social Work
Meta Description:
The AI Social Worker empowers licensed social workers and students to master core skills, boost self-care, and beat burnout—using AI technology tools that free your time for what matters most.
Then I integrated those same five keywords naturally throughout the homepage copy.
No keyword soup. Just five well-placed, strategic terms that fit seamlessly into the story.
6. Tracking Everything with an SEO Spreadsheet
This is a step a lot of people skip, but thanks to Alana I knew it was gonna simplify my life.
I created an SEO tracker with:
Page URL
Focus keyword(s)
Page title
Meta description
Date indexed
This helped me stay organized and keep a pulse on which pages were optimized—and ready to be tracked in Google Search Console.
Tracking SEO Results (and What I Wish I Knew Sooner)
The guide also taught me something crucial:
You have to index your website manually. But don’t worry because she walks you through it on the guide and course.
Indexing tells Google:
“Hey, my site is live. Here’s what it’s about, and here’s how it’s structured.”
Once I indexed the site and submitted the sitemap, traffic started showing up. And it honestly blew my mind.
From Invisible to Indexed: What Happened One Month After Launch
Here’s what we achieved within the first month of launch, and this is a comparison chart from Google search console that shows that 3 months before she had Zero traffic, so basically a website that was just a placeholder but nobody could find, because well, Google didn’t even know it existed…
137 clicks
2.6K impressions
5.3% click-through rate
Average position: #9.9 [first page on Google for the average keywords]
And remember—we haven’t even fully optimized her blog posts yet. That was something I taught her how to do it herself thanks to what Alana and this guide taught me.
That’s the power of a strategic website + aligned SEO from day one.
What These Numbers Actually Mean (Even If You're Not an SEO Nerd Yet!)
If you’re not deep into SEO (yet), these numbers might not mean much—so let me break it down:
137 clicks in the first 3 months = 137 real people landing on my client’s website through Google search.
Not through Instagram.
Not from ads.
Not from endless content creation.
These are strangers who were looking for something related to her services—and found her.
That’s visibility. That’s discoverability.
That’s organic lead generation already working.
2.6K impressions means that her website showed up in Google search results 2,600+ times in just 90 days. That’s 2,600 chances for aligned clients to click, connect, and convert.
And we’re just getting started. We didn’t even optimize her blog content yet.
CTR stands for “Click-Through Rate.”
It tells you how many people actually clicked on your website after seeing it in Google search results.
Think of it like this:
Let’s say 100 people saw your site pop up when they Googled something...
If 5 of them clicked? That’s a 5% CTR.
So in my client’s case, with a CTR of 5.3%, it means for every 100 people who saw her listing, more than 5 clicked through to her site.
That might not sound like a lot—but in the SEO world, that’s considered very good (especially for a brand-new site).
CTR is important because it shows that:
Your title and meta description are compelling
People are actually interested in what you're offering
Your SEO isn’t just making you visible—it’s making people act
Bottom line?
A strong CTR means your site isn’t just floating around online— It’s attracting the right people to click, explore, and potentially convert.
An average position of #9.9 means she’s already showing up on page one of Google for several keywords, something that can take websites months (or even years) to do.
And remember, this is all with a brand-new site in a low-competition, niche market. There are harder-to-rank businesses, but this guide shows you it’s still possible.
So, Is SEO Worth It for Beginners?
Absolutely. And here’s why.
This experience taught me something simple—but game-changing:
You don’t need to be everywhere to get seen.
You don’t need to post every day to attract clients.
And you definitely don’t need a $99/month keyword tool to build organic visibility.
What you do need is:
A clear message
A solid website strategy
And a search engine–friendly structure that gets your content in front of the right people—without algorithms or burnout
That’s what Alana’s SEO Starter Guide gave me, plus the possibility of charging more and giving proven results to my clients.
I went from overwhelmed and confused to confident and strategic.
I stopped guessing—and started tracking real results.
And the best part?
I can replicate this process—again and again—for my clients and my own business.
So if you’re tired of feeling like your marketing depends on how often you post...
If you’re ready to build something sustainable, searchable, and strategic...
Then SEO isn’t optional—it’s essential. And trust me: you don’t have to figure it out alone.
Start with a guide that makes it clear, human, and doable. Because your website should work harder than you do.
