2021 Review, Reflections and Ready for 2022

With so much doom and gloom in the world at the moment, I’m making a conscious effort to focus on the things I can control and the positive things happening in my life and business.

And with the rollercoaster that was 2021 behind us, this feels like the perfect time for a bit of reflection and a look forward to the year ahead.

I’d love to share this with you as I thought it would be a good way to keep you in touch with all things SEO+ related and what you can expect from me in 2022.

A quick introduction

Although many of you reading this blog know me well (thank you for your ongoing support!), some of you have become part of the SEO+ community very recently and may not know much about me.

Hello, I’m Hazel Jarrett! I’m an SEO Consultant with a passion (and speciality) to turn poorly performing websites into hard-working and effective sales tools. I’m well-known in the SEO space, and have won many awards during my 20-year career, (more about the latest win in a moment) I’ve also been published on various well-known sites.

If you’ve seen me around, you know that I’m a wielder of user-focused SEO strategies that work and I love supporting smaller brands to grow faster, quicker.

You can read the full story of how a life-changing accident took me from training as a chef to becoming my own boss and SEO-obsessed here.

My reflections on life in 2021

Like most of you, I’m sure, my 2021 was certainly shaped by the pandemic and I felt a lot of sadness for everyone who suffered losses. I look back on the last 12-plus months and it still feels like a weird dream that I’m trying to wake up from!

After being stuck abroad for three months in 2020, I was relieved to be at home this year despite the lockdowns and restrictions.

(If you’re new to SEO+, you might not know that my partner and I travelled to St. Lucia with plans of a beach wedding just before the first lockdown was announced. The restrictions in St. Lucia meant our wedding, holiday and our flight home were cancelled at the last minute. We were very lucky to find accommodation but we were unable to fly back to the UK for three months. I know, I know – it sounds like bliss, doesn’t it? But there’s nothing like a global pandemic and everything that comes with that to make you homesick!)

Anyway, in 2021, I felt lucky to have my family close. As a direct result of the pandemic my daughters, who previously worked as photographers on the Cunard cruise ships, were now back in the UK and creating a different life for themselves. It’s been absolutely amazing to spend time with my grown-up girls. 

My partner and I eventually moved into our dream home – I say “dream” but it’s actually far more than I ever dreamt of! I also now have an amazing home office with a stunning view. It wasn’t so long ago that I worked on a table under the stairs!

I feel incredibly grateful.

I’ve learned a few things about myself this last year and realize I have a tendency to bury myself in work when life gets tough – and it’s certainly been that! Although this often led to periods of overwhelm, it also resulted in making my SEO knowledge and strategies far more accessible through the creation of some value-packed step-by-step training courses aimed at helping solo and small business owners get visible and make sales with ease.

I also learned that my mental health can be delicate at times… I’m sure I’m not alone with this. So in 2022, I’m making my mental and physical health a priority.

With this in mind, my two words for 2022 are ‘Balance’ and ‘Simplicity’.

Do you select a word (or two) to be your focus for the year?

SEO+ in 2021

2021 was an exciting year for SEO+. I think one of the benefits of being locked down for so long in St. Lucia was that it gave me time to think about my goals, how to achieve them and to start working on the now-popular SEO Accelerator program.

I’m delighted to say that this renewed focus is delivering results.

Without wanting to blow my own trumpet too much, I’ve received various five-star reviews and more great feedback this year. Here are some of my favourites:

Better SEO is a priority for businesses trying to get back on their feet

So many businesses have been hit hard by COVID-19 restrictions and are facing a range of challenges to get back on their feet. A growing number have realised that good SEO will be essential to getting their products and services seen in searches.

As a result, I continued to be inundated with SEO enquiries in 2021. I wish I could help everyone, which is one reason that I’ve created my various SEO courses. 

The SEO Accelerator

Even prior to the pandemic, I knew that some solo and small business owners struggle to access SEO support because they just don’t have the budget.

I created and launched my signature program – The SEO Accelerator – in 2020 in an effort to meet this need. This is complete SEO training and certainly packs a punch in terms of the value it contains.

I ran the SEO Accelerator twice in 2021 and that’s my current plan for 2022 as well. It’s the ideal solution for time-poor or introverted small or solo business owners, coaches, consultants, freelancers and entrepreneurs who don’t have the time or energy to spend networking either in person or online but still want to reach more customers and increase sales.

I’ve designed the program to show you how to harness the power of good SEO to reap the benefits of showing up in Google searches so that you naturally increase website sales. It includes eight easy-to-follow modules with lots of step-by-step activities and guided support from me.

Website Sales Booster

As much as I love and believe in the SEO Accelerator, some small business owners find SEO petrifying (there’s no judgement at all if you’re one of them!) and aren’t ready to take a course focused entirely on SEO training.

These people were coming to me last year and asking for a program that could cover a mix of marketing and SEO advice and show how the two overlap.

I kept hearing from business owners who had been promised a “Google-friendly” website only to end up with a site that’s nowhere to be found on Google and certainly not bringing in sales and enquiries. I felt so frustrated on their behalf.

After talking to as many small business owners as possible about their website worries, I created a brand new self-study course in 2021 called the Website Sales Booster.

This course focuses on the ideal customer and shows small and solo business owners how to be visible to their ideal clients and dream customers when they’re looking for information on the service they provide or the products they sell. As well as being able to study at their own pace, people on the course get my full support.

I spent time tweaking this course throughout the year to ensure it provides as much value as possible. Feedback from students has been amazing.

In other news…

I also updated my mini Google My Business course specifically for local business owners and refreshed my SEO checklist too (keep reading to get your copy!).

In addition, I updated the design of my website. There is still a lot of work ahead for me here as I want to refresh some of the content. SEO+ has come such a long way in the last 10 years and I want to better reflect that on the site. 

Speaking of the last 10 years…

Thank you to my clients

I worked with yet more amazing clients in 2021, many of whom found me through a Google search. It was also a complete honour to have so many repeat clients who’ve benefited from my SEO support for years.

I love the diversity of my clients – from funeral stationers, mental health and communication training providers and chandlers to a London-based chiropodist, London-based skin and aesthetics clinic, energy healing therapist, and an online shop for eco-friendly products, scrum trainer, and a people-finding service to name a few!

I’ve always loved working directly with clients and will continue to do this, although I will be scaling this work back. At the same time, I’ll be tapping into my passion to support smaller and solo business owners that aren’t ready to outsource their SEO by offering them some fantastic courses.

Why small businesses matter

I think I’ll always have an affinity with solo and small business owners.

I’ll never forget what it’s like to juggle tasks, time, responsibilities and a small budget, as well as the constant nagging worry that you might not make enough sales this month, next month or the month after.

Ten years ago, that was me.

At the same time, I understand the passion these business owners have for their business and why they are so driven to succeed.

I want to help the best way I can – by helping them to get visible and increase sales naturally through their websites. I fully believe that websites can and should be working far harder and more effectively than they currently are.

Websites are more than capable of being visible, consistently attracting ideal clients and making sales with ease and SEO is the key to unlocking this potential.

I also want to provide this knowledge and support for a price that’s accessible for anyone with a limited budget.

I’ve been creating my own support network

One of my biggest realisations as a business owner is that it’s OK to outsource things or seek support and advice as soon as your budget allows it (in fact, some people would say you should start outsourcing even when it’s a financial squeeze because it will quickly pay for itself).

I worked with an amazing business coach in 2021 – thank you Carie Lyndene! We teamed up towards the end of 2020 and, as a result, I feel I have grown into the business owner I was meant to be. I have more clarity on who and how I can help and am better able to communicate that value to my ideal customers. I’ve also become more confident about getting visible. 

When I only provided my SEO service, all I had to do to attract clients was to rank well in Google. Being an introvert, this suited me down to the ground. I could just do my work and when business owners and marketing managers decided they needed help with their SEO, they found me which meant I didn’t need to go to networking meetings, make a ton of calls or do any form of prospecting. Perfect!

But it’s not the same to attract those who would most benefit from doing my courses because it seems that they aren’t necessarily doing a Google search for anything SEO-related. Getting more visible on social media, especially LinkedIn and Facebook, and getting better at email marketing have been crucial for me this year in order to reach the people I know I can help. 

I learned many new skills in 2021, including video (if you’d have asked me last January, I was convinced that I’d never do video in any shape or form because it felt way out of my comfort zone). This has helped me to uplevel my courses and record a number of SEO masterclasses.

I also learned how to create more effective landing pages that speak to my ideal customers and got much better at showing up more effectively and authentically on my social media platforms – all championed by my coach and other members in the Momentum Mastermind Group.

I feel very blessed to have some amazing experts on my team – I couldn’t have got to where I am now all on my own: content writers – thank you, Emma and Jo; social media – thank you, Elaine; and of course my coach – thank you, Carie.

What’s happening at SEO+ in 2022?

I finished 2021 by mapping out my 2022 calendar to include all the dates for my SEO Accelerator program and various promotions. Keep an eye out for details (if you’re not on my mailing list yet, you can sign up here and grab my free SEO Checklist too)

I’ll continue to provide value through my blog. As I mentioned above, I want to update the content on my site and make a few design tweaks too so it better reflects SEO+.

Beyond that, I’ll be working hard on that goal to support 1,000 small businesses during 2022 whether that’s through my SEO checklist, my blog content, my 1:1 service or my courses and programs.

Before you go, I promised you the link to my FREE SEO Checklist – here it is! Discover 21 checks and changes you can make to your website right now to boost your Google rankings and increase your sales.

And whatever 2022 brings, I hope the year is good to you. Wishing you health and happiness.