YOU ARE SO WELCOME
The Recipe for SEO Success approach to inclusion and diversityLast updated: June 2021
At The Recipe for SEO Success community we believe that diversity and inclusion aren’t optional.
Everyone is welcome.
We want the Recipe for SEO Success community to be a beautiful, bubbling melting pot of people from all backgrounds, beliefs and life experiences. A place where every person feels they belong.
Everyone is respected, supported and appreciated for their uniqueness, diverse talents and being themselves – no matter who they are or where they come from.
First Peoples of Australia are particularly welcome at the Recipe for SEO Success community.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
The Recipe for SEO Success
The Recipe for SEO Success community includes:
- current Recipe students
- past students affectionately known as SEO beasts (who mostly become members of the I Love SEO Facebook group)
At the Recipe community, we love SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and grappling the google beast.
But, our true passion is understanding that we’re all individual in how we work, the way we speak and how we do business.
We value every voice, every conversation and every contrast in our Recipe community and at our online events.
Being true to ourselves and contributing our different perspectives makes us all grow.
Our success comes from the sense of belonging we infuse. It comes through the delicious discussions sparked by a curious bunch of people.
Our Recipe students and SEO beasts come together with a common goal – to create top notch SEO content marketing.
The more diverse, the more interesting the chat, the more we learn.
But, Diversity means more than ticking boxes and filling quotas. For us, Diversity means welcoming:
People from all over the world, different races, ancestry and religions.
People with different educational backgrounds, disabilities and abilities.
People with different sexual orientations and gender identities.
People who are many years apart in age, and even those who have different food preferences, from fresh veggie vegans to meat-mad maniacs.
And furry people too (as in pets, we love a furry muse).
Come join us on the virtual bean bags, we have biscuits!
ALL THE BITS AND BOBS
THE RECIPE FOR SEO SUCCESS COMMITMENT to DIVERSITY and INCLUSION
The Recipe for SEO Success community is full of extraordinary people. From aspiring newbie solopreneurs, to hardworking small business owners, and thriving successful ecommerce store owners.
The knowledge that comes from such a diverse group of humans makes the Recipe students and SEO beasts stronger.
The camaraderie oozes out at every level.
This is why the group has a positive reputation and an exceptional level of respect among the Recipe community.
To keep this going, we ask you to do your best to follow these guiding principles in all our places:
- Chatting on the Facebook group and other social media
- Participating in our online training and other online spaces (e.g. podcast)
- Collaborating at face to face events
1. Be kind
- Be polite and friendly in every form of communication.
- Be mindful of tone of voice. (It’s so easy to misunderstand online chat).
- Use GIFs, emojis or bitmoji to help your tone be understood (if appropriate).
- Consider video chat if social cues have gone astray.
2. Be inclusive
- Diversity is about mindset and appreciating differences – be supportive to other people’s beliefs and experiences.
- Explain any slang, in-house jokes or idioms that might not translate across cultures.
- Avoid jargon, acronyms and non-inclusive language.
3. Be respectful
- All individual contributions are valued. As well as asking for feedback, it’s also useful to give feedback.
- If a post or comment doesn’t relate to you, appeal to you or interest you, handle it with respect or choose to scroll on.
- Thank others for their advice and tips, even if you don’t necessarily agree with them.
4. Be generous
- We create spaces where people feel comfortable to learn from each other’s experiences and perspectives.
- Offer to help if you see someone struggling. Pay it forward or suggest someone else who could assist.
- Imposter Syndrome happens to us all. Encourage others if you see them struggling.
5. Be open to belonging
- Support each other to participate so they feel like they belong. This helps everyone to be more engaged and motivated.
- You feel a stronger sense of belonging when you participate. Feeling you don’t belong can be tough so start small by connecting with one or two others.
- When you feel trusted and respected, you’re more likely to speak freely and voice your opinions.
6. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable
- It’s impossible to know everything about everything. Be open to hearing new opinions and thoughts even when it differs to your own.
- Diversity can sometimes mean difficult topics are raised or discussed. Accept it may make you uncomfortable initially but could lead to new knowledge and ideas.
- Remember you can choose whether you take part in a post discussion or scroll on if it’s a topic you’re not comfortable with.
7. Be action orientated
- Take responsibility for yourself.
- Don’t message any individual without checking with them first that it’s OK to do so.
- If you see something that isn’t aligned with this commitment, check in with the person that may be impacted.
- None of us are perfect. At one time or another, you may slip up and that’s OK. Owning your mistakes and finding a way forward is what counts.
- If you’re approached by another member of the group as having made them feel unwelcome, listen with an open mind and avoid being defensive. Apologise and move on*.
*(Repeated incidents will be addressed separately by the Recipe for SEO Success Head Wrangler – Kate Toon)
8. Be celebratory
- The Recipe for SEO Success training and courses, podcasts, resources and other online events will have a balanced representation of speakers to present different views and experiences. This can lead to more creative and inclusive solutions.
- The Recipe students and SEO beasts will celebrate achievements that positively impact on the lives of all the Recipe community in their SEO successes.
- The course and group will continue to inspire all members to try new things in their business, speak openly, and be bold.
9. No bullying or hate speech
- Every member has the right to feel safe from being bullied and harassed. This includes unwanted and unwelcome words, actions, gestures, or behaviours that make someone feel uncomfortable.
- This includes but is not limited to:
- Racism or racial/ethnic slurs
- Sexist or misogynist comments
- Homophobic or transphobic comments or slurs
- Negative comments about people with disabilities
- Negative comments or discrimination based on age or family role
- Discriminatory comments against members of religious groups
- Deliberate mis-gendering.
10. No exclusivity
- Be mindful of the language you use. Strive to use inclusive language at all times.
- Always remember you were a newbie once. All questions are good questions. Allow people to freely say, “I don’t know”, “I don’t understand” or “Why?”.
- We don’t all do things the same or run our businesses using the same approaches or in the same style, and that’s OK.
Want a FREE copy of our Diversity Statement template?

CHARITIES
At The Recipe for SEO Success we aim to increase our impact by donating a percentage of our profits to support the following charities

ONE GIRL
One Girl is a world where all girls have access to quality education. A world where all girls, no matter where they are born or how much money they have, enjoy the same rights and opportunities as boys. A world where every girl has the chance to be the best she can be. When you educate a girl, everything changes.
Find out more

SOI DOG
Soi Dog improves the welfare of dogs and cats in Asia, resulting in better lives for both the animal and human communities, to create a society without homeless animals, and to ultimately end animal cruelty.
Find out more

RAFIKI MWEMA
Rafiki Mwema work with children who have experienced trauma in early life. Their work is to remove the shame the children experience and return them to the experience of innocence. To reboot the safety and love they feel in relation to the outside world, so they can grow up to be balanced, loving adults, thereby breaking the cycle of abuse.
Find out more

KIVA
Kiva’s mission is to expand financial access to help under-served communities thrive. They do this by crowdfunding loans and addressing barriers to financial access. Through their work, students pay for tuition, women start businesses, farmers invest in equipment and families afford needed emergency care.
Find out more
THE RECIPE FOR SEO SUCCESS CHARITY SPOTS
I love to help NFPS and Charities entering the SEO world to help them grapple the Google beast.
I particularly want to make sure The Recipe for SEO Success community is welcoming to people who may face barriers, disadvantage or discrimination.
Every round of the course I give away one free spot (3 x a year) to a deserving charity or social enterprise.
What is the Recipe for SEO Success Charity Spot
The Recipe for SEO Success community is a place where all Recipe students and SEO beasts come together to help each other be more successful in their business (whatever that looks like for them).
Taking the course gives you access to:
- Lifetime access to the 7 module Recipe for SEO Success Course (valued at over $2000+) to help you learn how to manage your SEO yourself. It contains:
- Ongoing updates and access – the course is updated each year
- Recipe certification and badge upon course completion
- One bonus SEO course – choose Ecommerce or Local SEO
- Access to the member’s only Facebook Study Group page
- 10 supportive group coaching calls
- Technical audit of your website
- Backlink audit of your website
- Complete SEO glossary covering every term and acronym
- 2 weeks Guru level access to SEMrush
- Upon graduating, the option to join the I Love SEO Facebook group (for continued support with a community of other SEO individuals) or join the Digital Masterchefs.
Here’s how this works
Are you from a registered charity or social enterprise?
Are you working with communities who experience discrimination or disadvantage?
Would you benefit from the Recipe for SEO Success course? It can help kick-start or improve your SEO results to rank higher in the search engine results.
Submit your entry below and we’ll announce the winner on socials
RESOURCES AND FURTHER READING
You may find these writing resources useful for your digitial marketing.
GENERAL
- Writing about race, ethnicity, social class and disability
- Human Rights resources
- Diversity Council Australia
Further reading on discrimination in marketing:
- Social media and discrimination
- Responsible digital marketing tips
- How to avoid discrimination in advertising
- Digital Discrimination
- Examples of how not to do digital marketing
FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES
- Language and Terminology Guide
- Appropriate words & terminology for Aboriginal topics
- Protocols for producing Indigenous Australian writing
- How to write about Aboriginal culture
- Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
- Common Ground
RACE
- What is Inclusive Language – Part 1 and Part 2
- Writing About Race and Ethnicity
- Black History Month | UK
- Tolerance | Teaching Resources
- Vocabulary and concepts
- Mental Health Issues Facing the Black Community | USA
GENDER
LGBTIQ+
- LGBTIQ Inclusive Language Guide
- LGBT+ writing glossary
- Websites that pay writers for LGBTQ content
- Stonewall UK resources
DISABILITY
Want a FREE copy of our Diversity Statement template?
