The Edward Show

Epizode

• Medium Parasite SEO Is Back: How Brands Are Ranking Fast - and the Risks 21.07.2026 12min

  E1112: Medium is ranking strongly in Google again, and brands are using it to publish keyword-focused content, earn fast rankings, and appear in AI-generated search results. I explain why Medium has returned as a useful parasite SEO platform, how companies are using it alongside LinkedIn and other social platforms, and what can go wrong when the strategy becomes too promotional. You'll learn: - What parasite SEO means and why high-authority platforms can rank quickly - Why Medium's organic traffic and top-three keyword rankings have increased - How Medium articles can rank within days of publication - Why Medium content can also appear in AI Overviews and AI search tools - How to optimize a Medium article's page title, URL slug, H1, meta description, opening sentence, and image alt text - Why LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and X can support similar strategies - How brands are creating separate author profiles and consultant-style identities to promote products - Why some companies hire employees specifically to publish Medium and social content - How brands balance general niche content with posts targeting commercial keywords - Why publishing frequency and cross-platform distribution matter - How Medium articles are repeatedly shared through social accounts using keyword-focused language - Why this strategy works better in industries where customers are less familiar with SEO tactics - Why excessive links and one-sided recommendations can make content look promotional - How poor content can cause searchers to return to Google and choose another result - Why Google can reduce visibility across an entire author profile - Why brands should not depend on one third-party platform for long-term rankings - What past platforms such as Yahoo Answers can teach us about temporary search visibility - Why Medium may rank well today but lose visibility after a future algorithm change Medium currently benefits from Google's preference for useful user-generated content, but that does not make every tactic safe or sustainable. The strongest content still needs to satisfy the searcher, answer the query clearly, and avoid misleading claims or undisclosed promotion. This episode covers what brands are doing, not what every company should copy. The more aggressive versions of this strategy can create legal, reputational, and search-related risks. 💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Medium Parasite SEO Returns 00:18 What Parasite SEO Means 00:45 Medium Traffic Surge Stats 01:30 Why Medium Ranks Fast 02:53 Tim Soulo Medium Playbook 04:05 Brands Running Stealth Parasite SEO 05:16 Posting Cadence Across Platforms 07:28 Why It Works and Where 08:58 Biggest Risks and Penalties 09:57 Platforms Change Over Time 10:50 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #parasiteseo #searchengineoptimization #seo #blackhatseo
• Why Red Bull Ranks for Everything: The SEO Power of Viral Marketing and Sponsorships 20.07.2026 14min

  E1111: Red Bull ranks for far more than energy drink keywords. It ranks for searches related to GTA V cheat codes, skateboarding, Formula 1, surfing, motocross, breakdancing, athletes, and many other topics across sports, gaming, and entertainment. I break down how Red Bull built enough authority to rank across such a wide range of subjects - and why its success comes from much more than publishing SEO content. Red Bull's search performance is closely connected to its broader marketing strategy. Its sponsorships, events, athlete partnerships, original content, and viral stunts generate backlinks, press coverage, branded searches, referral traffic, and repeated mentions across the web. Topics covered: - Why Red Bull ranks for GTA V cheat code keywords - How much organic search traffic Red Bull receives - How Red Bull's search visibility compares with Monster, Rockstar, and Celsius - Why most of Red Bull's highest-ranking keywords are non-branded - How Red Bull built authority across sports, gaming, and entertainment - Why sponsorships can produce more value than a standard backlink campaign - How events generate links, press coverage, brand mentions, and searches - Why unlinked brand mentions may still support search visibility - How Red Bull's viral stunts contribute to its long-term SEO performance - Why Red Bull's SEO growth has been steadier than HubSpot's - The difference between publishing unrelated content and building genuine topical relevance - How experiential marketing can support SEO, AEO, and visibility in large language models - Practical ways smaller businesses can apply the same principles Red Bull's SEO numbers discussed in the episode include: - Approximately 7.8 million organic clicks per month - Rankings for approximately 1.6 million keywords - A domain authority comparable to major publishing and software websites - Roughly 84% of its top 10,000 keywords being non-branded - Search visibility significantly greater than several competing energy drink brands The main lesson is not that every company should copy Red Bull's budget or attempt a large-scale stunt. The lesson is to invest in marketing activities that create several benefits at once. A good sponsorship, event, partnership, interview, or original project can produce: - Relevant backlinks - Earned media coverage - Branded searches - Referral traffic - Social media content - Brand mentions - Relationships within your industry - Greater topical authority - More reasons for people to search for and talk about your business Ways businesses can apply this strategy: - Sponsor events that are closely connected to your customers - Negotiate for inclusion on event websites, newsletters, press pages, and social posts - Sponsor creators whose audiences overlap with your target market - Organize recurring meetups, tournaments, workshops, or challenges - Partner with complementary businesses on shared events - Publish dedicated pages for sponsorships, partners, athletes, creators, or organizations - Interview industry experts, customers, and event organizers - Turn events into videos, articles, short clips, and other useful content - Create tools, resources, or other assets people have a reason to reference - Test interest in stunt or campaign ideas before investing heavily in them Red Bull did not build its search authority through SEO pages alone. It built a brand that is genuinely connected to the topics it ranks for. That is what makes this case study useful for businesses of any size. ⭐️ HubSpot SEO collapse - https://thestacc.com/blog/hubspot-traffic-drop-analysis/  ⭐️ The GaryVee podcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUnV-xaH32k  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Red Bull GTA SEO Surprise 00:40 Keyword Footprint Beyond Brand 01:23 Authority Versus Competitors 02:16 Steady Growth and Volatility 02:47 Sponsorships That Earn Links 04:14 Mentions Entities and Brand Search 05:25 HubSpot Traffic Drop Contrast 07:05 Analog Events Barbell Era 08:43 Red Bull Stunts and Examples 10:46 Action Plan for Your Brand 13:33 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #seocasestudy #digitalmarketing
• Google's Next SEO Apocalypse: The Scaled AI Content Crackdown Is Coming 18.07.2026 53min

  E1110: Google may be preparing its biggest crackdown on scaled AI content yet. David Quaid joins the show to explain why he believes the next major Google update could be as significant as Panda or Penguin, why automated content production is the real risk, and how legitimate websites could get caught in the fallout. We discuss the difference between using AI to help create content and using AI to publish thousands of SEO pages automatically. David argues that Google is not simply judging whether AI content is "good" or "bad." It is looking at how the content is produced, how quickly pages are published, how templates are used, and whether the website appears to be built primarily to manipulate search results. We cover: - Why scaled AI content could trigger a Panda- or Penguin-level Google crackdown - The difference between AI-assisted content and automated content production - Why high-quality writing does not automatically make scaled content safe - How Google can detect publishing velocity, repeated templates, URL patterns, internal linking patterns, and sudden site growth - Why publishing 20,000 pages on a new domain is fundamentally different from adding pages gradually to an established site - How site authority, branded searches, direct traffic, and existing search history may affect how much content a site can safely publish - Why programmatic SEO is not always the same as scaled content abuse - How ecommerce sites, marketplaces, service-area pages, plugins, and template-driven websites could become collateral damage - Why some businesses are unknowingly buying risky AI SEO services - The "Mount AI" traffic pattern where traffic rises quickly and then collapses - Why Google Search Console traffic drops must be diagnosed carefully - The difference between AI Overview click loss, ranking loss, authority tightening, and an actual penalty - What "crawled, currently not indexed" and "discovered, currently not indexed" can reveal - When machine-generated pages should be removed or noindexed - Why blocking pages in robots.txt is not the same as noindexing them - How WordPress plugins can accidentally create thousands of unnecessary URLs - Why branded demand and off-site brand building can help protect a website - How HouseFresh recovered by investing in its brand, audience, and branded searches - Why social media profiles should be treated like valuable search assets - Whether businesses should build more than one domain to reduce their dependence on a single website - Why slow, deliberate SEO is more likely to compound than aggressive automation The main takeaway is simple: using AI as a writing and research tool is not the problem. Automatically generating and publishing large numbers of pages for search engines is where the risk begins. If your SEO strategy depends on publishing hundreds or thousands of similar pages as quickly as possible, this episode explains what to audit now, what warning signs to watch in Google Search Console, and why being conservative may protect your site from the next major update. ⭐️ David Quaid on 𝕏 - https://x.com/DavidGQuaid  ⭐️ David Quaid on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidquaid/  ⭐️ David Quaid on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DavidQuaid  ⭐️ David Quaid's agency - https://primaryposition.com/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Algorithm Update Warning 01:29 Traffic Drops Diagnosis 02:19 Authority Tightening Shift 04:12 Scaled Content Rules 06:54 AI Content Versus Scale 08:31 PAA Hack Clarified 09:58 Heuristics And Upload Velocity 14:42 Friendly Fire Risks 16:32 Doorway Pages And Templates 18:20 Black Hat Chatter Example 21:09 Indexing Issues Explained 24:12 LLM Riddle Limitations 26:14 Clickless Search Signals 28:50 Copilot To Bing Behavior 30:20 New Signals Beyond Clicks 31:33 SEO Prep And Site Audits 34:04 Search Console Diagnostics 37:23 Negative SEO And Domain Spam 39:12 HouseFresh Brand Recovery 40:39 Why Google Hit HCU 45:31 Conservative AI SEO Playbook 47:14 Slow is Smooth SEO Mindset 49:35 Multiple Domains Risk Hedge 52:45 Podcast Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #aiseo #webdevelopment
• How Local Businesses Build Powerful Backlinks Through Community Sponsorships 17.07.2026 1h 12min

  E1109: Local backlinks do not have to come from guest posts, national websites, or expensive digital PR campaigns. In this episode, Ellen Sartin and Garrett French explain how local businesses can build backlinks through community sponsorships, nonprofit partnerships, chambers of commerce, local events, schools, youth sports teams, and other organizations operating in their area. They break down how to find sponsorship opportunities, what these placements usually cost, where the links should point, how many links a business may need, and how to make sure the sponsorship produces more than just a backlink. We cover: - How local businesses can find sponsorship opportunities themselves - Why local relevance can matter more than domain authority - How to approach nonprofits and community organizations - What information to prepare before beginning outreach - Why personal emails and phone calls work better than mass outreach - How much local sponsorship links typically cost - Why businesses should start with organizations they already support - The difference between a sponsorship placement and a paid advertisement - Where local backlinks should point on your website - Why location and service pages are often stronger targets than the homepage - How to think about anchor text without making it look forced - Whether businesses should build links directly to their Google Business Profile - How chambers of commerce can provide links, articles, press releases, and local visibility - When local directories are worth joining - How newsletters, social posts, event banners, and offline placements can generate additional exposure - What makes a local backlink valuable - Which sponsorship and directory links businesses should avoid - How to measure whether local link building is improving rankings and visibility - Why businesses should create a page highlighting the organizations they support - How one plumbing company earned 43 local links, ranked for 86 new keywords, and improved its average position by nine spots The main lesson is simple: the strongest local backlinks often come from being genuinely involved in the communities where your customers live. Instead of only paying for links on unrelated websites, local businesses can sponsor real organizations, earn relevant links, reach new customers, build brand recognition, and support causes in their area. ⭐️ Ellen Sartin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-sartin-zipsprout/  ⭐️ Garrett French on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettfrench/  ⭐️ Contact Ellen Sartin directly - ellen@zipsprout.com and 470-250-0670 ⭐️ Book a call with Ellen - https://meetings.hubspot.com/ellen-sartin-zipsprout/discovery-call-zipsprout  ⭐️ DIY Sponsorship Guide - https://zipsprout.com/diy-sponsorship-link-building-for-local-businesses-on-a-budget/  ⭐️ Dial One Case Study - https://zipsprout.com/texas-plumbing-company-ranks-higher-with-sponsored-link-campaign/  ⭐️ AI Visibility with Community PR - https://zipsprout.com/building-local-trust-and-ai-visibility-through-community-pr/  ⭐️ Survey Study: How Businesses View Local Sponsorships - https://zipsprout.com/local-nonprofit-sponsorship-report-business/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Local Link Building Kickoff 01:01 Meet The Guests 02:54 Community Sponsorship Strategy 06:42 Sponsor Outreach Process 08:03 Dentist Example Planning 17:07 DIY Sponsorship Links 23:14 Results And AI Visibility 25:19 Press PR And Chambers 31:30 Directories Local Relevance 33:39 Anchor Text Guidelines 36:28 Links To Google Business Profile 37:22 Testing Lessons Learned 38:47 Local Relevance Basics 39:31 Best Pages For Backlinks 41:40 URL Structure Debate 43:31 Pricing And Pilot Plans 46:09 How Many Sponsorships 47:45 Good Vs Bad Links 49:05 Newsletters And Lead Gen 54:38 Sponsorship Perks Catalog 59:45 Proving It Works 01:02:31 Community First Link Building 01:07:23 Wrap Up And Resources The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #localseo #linkbuilding #localmarketing #searchengineoptimization
• The SEO Lessons From Working With 5,000 Publishers 16.07.2026 1h 31min

  E1108: Hank Azarian has worked in SEO for more than 20 years across LegalZoom, Like.com, Refinery29, TMZ, Raptive, and thousands of independent publisher websites. In this episode, Hank explains what he learned from working with more than 5,000 publishers, scaling major media sites, building SEO systems, and testing what actually improves traffic, engagement, and revenue. We cover: - How organic search helped take an ecommerce company from zero to a $1 million annual run rate - How Refinery29 grew from roughly 1 million to 18 million monthly search visits - How TMZ increased its search traffic by updating breaking-news pages instead of publishing multiple competing versions - Why publishers who stay close to their content tend to outperform those who outsource everything - Why testing matters more than blindly following SEO best-practice lists - How to choose which old pages to update - Why SEO teams should focus less on raw traffic and more on revenue, returning visitors, and email signups - How to turn basic FAQs into pages that solve specific customer problems - Why narrow, focused pages can perform better in AI search and passage-based retrieval systems - Why generic programmatic SEO pages are becoming less useful - How to find information that AI systems are missing, uncertain about, or getting wrong - What Hank means when he says SEO is moving from keywords to "key people" - Why LLMs.txt has not shown meaningful results in his testing - How entity disambiguation helps Google and AI systems distinguish between similar people, brands, and businesses - How Hank separated his identity from actor Hank Azaria in search and AI results - Why third-party mentions, podcasts, structured data, media pages, and Wikidata can strengthen entity recognition - What separates publishers that consistently grow from those that plateau - How Hank would spend 10 hours on SEO for a new website - How he would approach a mature website that has lost revenue or traffic Hank also shares lessons from working across editorial, engineering, product, advertising, and executive teams, and explains why modern SEOs need to become better experimenters, builders, and decision-makers. ⭐️ Hank Azarian on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hankazarian/  ⭐️ Hank Azarian's website - https://hankazarian.com/  ⭐️ Hank Azarian Is Not Hank Azaria - https://hankazarian.com/hank-azarian-not-hank-azaria/  ⭐️ Hank Azarian's AI SEO testing - https://hankazarian.com/ai-seo-testing/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Meet Hank Azarian 00:19 Accidental SEO Start 01:41 First Million Run Rate 03:28 Agency Life and Big Clients 04:15 Scaling Like Selling to Google 06:30 Miami Move and Refinery29 10:11 TMZ Tech Migration 11:39 Winning the News Box 17:51 Raptive SEO at Scale 20:54 Tooling and Network Keywords 25:23 ChatGPT Changes Investment 28:53 Decision Architecture Products 33:57 Actionable SEO Plays Today 39:27 Career Advice and Testing 44:13 Experiments and What Works 48:10 Peers Schema and Knowledge Graphs 49:47 Testing Beyond Best Practices 51:19 Why Entity Disambiguation Matters 54:31 Building a Distinct Personal Brand 58:59 SEO Patents Worth Watching 01:02:08 Volatility and Probabilistic Rankings 01:05:39 Entity Disambiguation Playbook 01:09:50 What Makes Publishers Grow 01:14:11 How to Spend 10 SEO Hours 01:19:03 Why Pages Don't Get Indexed 01:23:44 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #enterpriseseo #publisherseo
• E-commerce SEO for AI Search: Faceted Navigation, Bottom-of-Funnel Pages & Scaling Without Getting Hit 15.07.2026 1h 14min

  E1107: E-commerce SEO is no longer only about ranking product and category pages in Google. AI search tools are also surfacing filtered URLs, faceted navigation pages, intent-based collections, and detailed product pages for highly specific buying queries. I speak with Gagan Ghotra and Harpreet Singh about how e-commerce brands can improve visibility in Google, ChatGPT, AI Overviews, and AI Mode without creating crawl problems, duplicate pages, or large amounts of low-value content. We explain how ChatGPT can surface faceted URLs for searches such as TVs under a certain price, products in a specific size, or items that match multiple attributes. The discussion also covers why some of these pages may appear in AI search even when they are canonicalized, noindexed, or not designed to rank in traditional search. Topics covered: - How faceted navigation works on e-commerce sites - Why filtered URLs are appearing in AI search results - How ChatGPT query fan-out creates detailed buying searches - When faceted navigation helps SEO and when it causes crawl waste - How to manage indexation, canonicals, robots.txt, and duplicate URL combinations - Why Wayfair's keyword and search pages are worth studying - How intent-based category pages can capture searches that standard product categories miss - Why pages such as airport outfits, graduation dresses, products for sleep, and holiday sale pages can convert well - When scaling category and collection pages becomes risky - How much unique content similar collection pages actually need - Why site size, authority, internal links, demand, and revenue data should guide page creation - How scaled AI content can damage the wider site, not only the blog - What e-commerce brands can learn from major organic traffic declines - Why product options hidden behind JavaScript should also be explained in visible text - How to write useful collection-page copy without keyword stuffing - Where collection-page content should appear in relation to the product grid - How FAQs, comparisons, buying guidance, and product education can support conversions - How to optimize product descriptions, product variants, specifications, certifications, and use cases - How to write unique image alt text for different product images and angles - Why related-product sections should contain genuinely related items - How to use internal site-search data to find bottom-of-funnel page ideas - Why Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and other sale pages should stay live year-round - How Google Merchant Center is beginning to report product-feed performance in AI search The episode focuses on a practical balance: create pages that match real customer demand, explain products clearly, and help people make buying decisions, while avoiding uncontrolled URL growth and content created only to increase page count. ⭐️ Ep 1081 - Google Merchant Center Mistakes Killing Your Ecommerce Revenue - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIyAv_Li1qA  ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on 𝕏 - https://x.com/gaganghotra_  ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gagan-ghotra/  ⭐️ Gagan Ghotra's website - https://gaganghotra.com/  ⭐️ Harpreet Singh's Personal Site - https://harpsdigital.com   ⭐️ Harpreet on X - https://x.com/harpreetchatha_  ⭐️ Harpreet's Newsletter - https://seoespresso.com  ⭐️ Harpreet on LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/harpreetsingh8/  ⭐️ Harpreet on TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@seoharp  ⭐️ Harpreet on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@harpsdigital  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Ecommerce SEO kickoff 00:16 Facets in AI search 01:09 Faceted navigation basics 02:35 SEO risks and crawl control 03:25 Why facets get cited 06:22 Wayfair sitemap strategy 08:40 How to implement facets 10:41 AI partnerships and JS limits 15:24 Query fan out investigation 20:33 Traffic drops case studies 26:42 Meaningful category page copy 30:30 Where to place the text 31:53 Safe URLs and takeaways 33:47 Intent Category Pages 36:01 Supplement Intent Collections 36:57 Granular Products Blogging 40:16 Long Term Content ROI 41:39 Scaling Category Variations 47:03 Internal Links Risk 48:52 Evergreen Sale Pages 52:43 Merchant Center AI Report 54:21 Product Page Essentials 57:09 Alt Text Related Products 01:01:39 CRO Copy And Keywords 01:04:12 Navigation Architecture Fixes 01:06:03 Authority And Backlinks 01:11:34 Digital PR Link Tactics 01:13:47 Final Wrap And Thanks The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #ecommerceseo #ecommerce #seo
• Google Isn't Indexing Your Pages? Fix These 3 SEO Mistakes 14.07.2026 8min

  E1105: Google is not indexing every page it discovers. As the web keeps growing, Google has to decide which pages are worth crawling regularly, storing in its index, and showing in search results. That means weak site structure, accidental noindex tags, and poor internal linking can make it harder for your important pages to get indexed. We break down three simple SEO mistakes shared by Mike Friedman (SEO Pub) that can reduce crawling and indexation across your website. You'll learn: - Why you should be careful about adding noindex tags to category pages - How noindexed category pages can make it harder for Google to discover new content - Why internal links help Google understand which pages matter most - What it tells Google when an important page only has one or two internal links - How crawl depth affects how frequently pages are crawled - Why your most important pages should ideally be reachable within three clicks of the homepage - How to use high-authority pages on your site to help Google find deeper pages - How to check crawl depth inside Screaming Frog - How accidental noindex tags commonly appear during website redesigns - How to quickly identify non-indexable pages that return a 200 status code - Why duplicate or undifferentiated content may struggle to remain indexed - How stronger page titles can help your result stand out and earn more clicks Before changing your site structure, also check the basic technical problems that frequently prevent indexing: - Review your robots.txt file for accidental blocks - Check your WordPress SEO plugin for unintended noindex settings - Make sure staging-site noindex tags were removed when the new site went live - Crawl your website and confirm that every intentionally published page is indexable - Look for important pages buried too deeply inside your site A page can be technically accessible without being treated as important. If your own website rarely links to a page, Google may crawl it less frequently. If it takes nine clicks to reach from your homepage, Google may treat it as less important than a page linked directly from your main navigation or strongest pages. Good indexing starts with making your content easy to find. Your important SEO pages should be: - Unique enough to add something useful - Internally linked from relevant pages - Close to your homepage or other high-authority pages - Free from accidental crawling and indexing restrictions - Part of a clear site structure that search engines can follow ⭐️ The article - https://theseopub.com/3-simple-ways-to-improve-the-indexing-of-your-webpages/  ⭐️ Ep 779 - "Beating Google with AI SEO, Brand Signals & Obnoxiously Long Titles" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkTnuOxCYT4  ⭐️ Ep 951 - "Why Google Crawls Your Page but Refuses to Index It (And How to Fix It)" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahNhcLDa1LQ  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Why Indexing Got Harder 00:36 Common Sense Indexing Checks 01:26 Avoid Duplicate Content 01:42 Titles That Earn Clicks 02:49 Robots Txt Pitfalls 03:27 Accidental Noindex Tags 04:22 Tip One Index Categories 05:23 Tip Two Internal Linking 05:45 Tip Three Crawl Depth 07:25 Wrap Up 08:32 Final Thanks and Outro The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #technicalseo #digitalmarketing
• Former Google Search Quality Analyst Reveals How Google Really Ranks Websites 14.07.2026 1h 44min

  E1106: Pedro Dias spent six years working in Google Search Quality, where he investigated web spam, reviewed search results, and helped identify quality problems across different markets. In this episode, Pedro explains how Google evaluates websites, why many popular SEO metrics are misleading, and what site owners should focus on if they want stronger rankings. We begin with the LinkedIn post that caused Google's AI Overview to describe Pedro as the "world's most renowned AI visibility expert." Pedro explains why the result was partly a joke, but also why his experience, authority, and consistent online positioning likely helped Google make that connection. We also discuss what his work inside Google actually involved. Spam detection was not simply about finding one suspicious pattern and applying a penalty. Google had to consider intent, context, false positives, user satisfaction, language markets, and the quality of the search results that would remain. We cover: - What Pedro did as a Google Search Quality Analyst - How Google investigated spam, abuse, and low-quality results - Why suspicious patterns do not automatically prove manipulation - Why search quality decisions were often handled case by case - How Google's processes may have changed with AI - What "quality content" actually means - Why longer content is not automatically better - Why people scan a page before deciding whether to read it - How design, structure, and presentation affect perceived quality - Why content quality declines as user expectations increase - Why Google is moving away from repetitive commodity content - What makes firsthand experience and original information more valuable - How brands become associated with specific topics in Google - Why consistency strengthens topical authority - Why trying to cover every topic can weaken a website - Why backlinks still matter in 2026 - Why referral traffic and qualified leads matter more than link scores - Why Domain Rating, Domain Authority, and other third-party metrics can mislead you - How supposedly natural link building can still look manipulated - Why content at scale repeatedly causes problems - The difference between controlled programmatic SEO and uncontrolled AI content - How to use AI for structured tasks where the output can be checked - Why producing more pages is not automatically better - What companies can do to improve visibility in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews - Why websites must be crawlable, fast, retrievable, and internally consistent - Why schema, JSON-LD, and LLMs.txt may not work the way many SEOs claim - Whether GEO requires different tactics from traditional SEO - Whether semantic HTML helps search engines understand a page - The technical SEO problems Pedro repeatedly finds on large websites - Why architecture, click depth, server speed, and caching still matter - The common SEO audit recommendations that waste time without improving traffic Pedro also gives listeners three practical assignments: - One SEO action to complete tomorrow - One controlled AI project to build over the next 30 days - One capability SEOs should develop over the next year This conversation explains Google rankings from the perspective of someone who worked inside Search Quality and then spent years applying those lessons to real websites. ⭐️ Pedro Dias on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedrodias/  ⭐️ Pedro Dias on 𝕏 - https://x.com/pedrodias  ⭐️ Pedro Dias consulting - https://visively.com/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Welcome and Intro 00:50 Pedro's Google Journey 03:12 Matt Cutts Era Stories 03:31 Viral LinkedIn AI Title 05:21 Spam Signals and Intent 10:33 Webspam Work Then vs Now 15:17 Defining Quality Content 21:30 Non Commodity Content SEO 27:21 Entity Authority Consistency 32:56 Do Backlinks Still Matter 37:55 Earning Links with Great Assets 40:58 SEO Myths and Fake Natural Links 46:29 Safe AI Content Scaling 53:58 AI Visibility and GEO Theater 54:49 Many Bots Era 55:22 SEO Mindset Shift 57:08 LLMs Txt And Schema Myths 01:00:35 Be Retrievable And Fast 01:04:19 Semantic HTML Debate 01:07:30 Top Technical SEO Fixes 01:11:02 Internal Linking And Crawl Budget 01:15:01 Pruning Weak Pages 01:18:53 Diagnosing Traffic Drops 01:22:31 Search Intent And Topicality 01:27:14 SEO Polishes Value 01:29:13 Vanity Metrics To Ignore 01:31:23 Tomorrow 30 Days 1 Year 01:37:30 GEO Vs SEO Future 01:40:36 Google Memories And Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #technicalseo #webdevelopment
• The 1-Hour SEO Update That Makes Your Best Pages Rank for More Keywords 13.07.2026 8min

  E1104: Your best-performing pages may already be ranking for dozens or hundreds of searches that they do not fully cover. I show you a practical one-hour SEO update that uses Google Search Console and Claude to find those missed opportunities, add the right sections to your content, and help pages that already perform well rank for even more keywords. You are not guessing which topics to add. You are using the actual searches Google already associates with your page. I walk through the complete process: - Find your most-clicked pages in Google Search Console - Choose an existing page that is worth updating - Export every search query the page currently ranks for - Upload the article and query data to Claude - Identify keyword clusters with meaningful impressions - Find topics the article does not currently cover well - Turn those gaps into relevant new H2 sections - Decide exactly where each new section should be inserted - Rewrite the AI output so it is accurate, concise, confident, and sounds like you - Add two or three useful sections instead of unnecessarily expanding the entire page - Use the updated page to internally link to other pages you want to rank - Add context when an internal link would otherwise feel unrelated - Update the introduction so it reflects the expanded article - Update the published date after making a substantial revision - Request indexing through Google Search Console I also share the exact prompt you can use: "I'm attaching my article and a CSV of Google Search Console queries it currently ranks for. Analyze the queries against the article's existing content, identify keyword clusters with meaningful impressions that aren't well-covered in the article, and suggest new H2 sections to add - so the article can rank for more of the queries it's already partially matching." You will also learn how to use a ranking page to support other pages on your site. Pages that already rank and receive clicks pass value through internal links. Instead of adding links randomly, you can find the most natural place to link to a page you want to improve. The internal-link prompt covered in the episode is: "This is the page I want to boost. Find the most natural place in the first article to add an internal link to it. Give me only where to add it, the sentence or H2 section to insert, and the anchor text. Keep it concise and in my voice." When the two pages are not closely related, adding a short section can give the link the context it needs. That makes the link more useful to readers and strengthens the connection between the two topics. This process helps you: - Get more value from content that already ranks - Find keyword opportunities using your own Search Console data - Improve existing pages without rewriting them from scratch - Build more relevant internal links - Support existing or weaker pages - Expand your site's coverage of related topics - Spend your time on updates backed by real search demand You probably already know that updating old content is important. This episode gives you a clear process you can complete in about an hour. ⭐️ Ep 675 - "How to Humanize ChatGPT Content" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_bmGoLFfRo  ⭐️ Ep 1100 - "The SEO Colony Hack That Ranks Money Pages Without Backlinks" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFGNSAjdz6Y  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 One Hour SEO Win 00:16 Find Top Pages In GSC 00:46 Export Ranking Queries 01:01 Claude Prompt For New H2s 02:04 Rewrite And Humanize AI 03:39 Add Sections Then Link Boost 04:29 Internal Link Placement Prompt 05:39 Refresh Intro And Reindex 06:08 Why This Works 07:47 Podcast Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #googlesearchconsole #digitalmarketing
• Google Just Added Instagram, TikTok, X & YouTube to Search Console 12.07.2026 10min

  E1103: Google has added a new Search Console property type that shows how content from Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube performs across Google Search and Discover. The new "platform properties" feature lets creators and businesses see which search terms lead people to their social and video content, along with data about how people interact with those posts. This is further evidence that Google's increased focus on social media content is not temporary. I explain: - What Google's new platform properties are - Which social and video platforms are currently supported - How to connect Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube to Search Console - Why this update matters for SEO - How social posts can rank for valuable keywords - Why the first words of a LinkedIn post matter - How LinkedIn uses those words in the page title and URL - Why placing your target keyword near the beginning of a post can improve relevance - How to reuse the same text post across LinkedIn, X, Threads, and Facebook - Why detailed video descriptions are better than a few words and hashtags - How transcripts can help Google and AI systems understand your videos - Why websites are still important even as social content becomes more visible in search - What happened when I used an indexer to get a LinkedIn post indexed within 30 minutes - Why getting indexed does not necessarily mean the post will rank on page one - The risks of using indexers across every social post Most creators are not intentionally targeting keywords with their social content. Their descriptions are often short, vague, or filled with hashtags that give search engines very little useful context. That creates an opening for businesses that understand how keyword targeting works. You can continue building bottom-of-funnel pages on your website while also targeting related searches through social posts and short-form videos. The platforms receiving the most attention may change, but your website remains the foundation that you control. Google says platform properties are rolling out gradually over the coming weeks. At launch, the feature supports Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube. ⭐️ See how content from social and video platforms performs on Google Search - https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/07/search-console-social-video-platforms  ⭐️ My Exact Social Media Posting Strategy - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/social-media-posting-strategy/  ⭐️ GaryVee: Gemini Is the Only Guaranteed Winner in AI Search - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUnV-xaH32k  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Google Embraces Social 01:02 Websites Not Dead 01:20 LinkedIn Keyword Hack 02:50 Cross Post Everywhere 03:44 Short Form Reality Check 04:12 X Video Opportunity 04:58 Transcripts For AI SEO 05:32 Website Plus Social Strategy 06:19 Enable Platform Properties 06:53 Keyword Edge On Social 07:39 Indexers Testing Risks 08:51 Wrap The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing
• They Ranked #1 on Google and Got Only 5 Calls a Month - So He Told Them to Move 10.07.2026 50min

  E1102: Ranking #1 on Google does not matter if the market is too small to produce meaningful business. Legal SEO expert Nick Cohen explains why he told a law firm to move offices even though it ranked first for nearly every important personal injury keyword in its city. The firm had around 200 reviews but received only about five calls per month from SEO. The problem was not its rankings. The problem was the city. Nick has worked in local SEO for 17 years and runs Matador, an agency serving more than 180 law firms. He also has his own personal injury firm, giving him direct insight into which SEO strategies generate cases rather than just rankings. We discuss: - Why ranking #1 in a small city may still produce almost no calls - How to choose cities based on population, competition, reviews, and demand - Why Nick recommends targeting markets with at least 50,000 people for a Google Business Profile - How opening a real satellite office can give a business access to an entirely new county - Why his Ventura office now generates roughly 50% of his cases - Why mailbox locations and fake offices are not a reliable long-term strategy - How to structure city and service pages - When a competitive page needs supporting content - How internal links from supporting pages strengthen higher-value pages - Why Nick focuses on only two or three cities at a time - How he expands outward from an office in five-mile stages - Why publishing hundreds of nearly identical city pages is likely to fail - How to make location pages unique with case results, statistics, intersections, and local resources - Why he usually targets cities instead of neighborhoods - How he updates pages in stages instead of publishing 4,000 words at once - When to add more copy, images, video, links, and footer placement - Why strong rankings still need reviews, real photos, clear phone numbers, and conversion-focused pages - Why low-volume keywords can still produce extremely valuable cases - Why rankings should be judged by calls and clients, not position alone Nick also explains how he tracks cities, keywords, population, rankings, and published pages, why rank trackers often need manual verification, and how search results can differ depending on where the searcher is located. This episode is about choosing better markets, building pages that deserve to rank, and expanding without putting the entire website at risk. ⭐️ Matador Solutions - https://www.matadorsolutions.net/  ⭐️ Nick Cohen on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickecohen/  ⭐️ Get in touch with Nick - nick@matadorsolutions.net  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Nick Cohen Returns 00:36 From Teen SEO to Matador 02:15 What Rapid City Scaling Means 06:25 Spreadsheet Tracking System 07:48 Clean URL Structure Strategy 12:08 Supporting Pages for Rankings 14:43 Making Location Pages Unique 18:48 GBP Impact and New Offices 20:26 Satellite Offices and Compliance 22:22 Ventura Content Buildout Model 24:38 Links and Outreach Partners 25:53 Buying Links Smart 27:05 Vetting Sites and Traffic 27:34 Rank Tracking Reality Check 28:39 Geo SERP Volatility 30:57 GBP Population Strategy 33:21 Satellite Offices and Value 36:55 Scaling Cities Safely 39:56 Avoiding Common Mistakes 41:17 AI Images and Trust 45:24 Footer Links Rotation 47:38 Three Month Content Loop 49:18 Wrap Up and Takeaways The Edward Show. The #1 search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #legalseo #searchengineoptimization #legalmarketing #localseo
• The Reddit SEO Hack That Ranks Your Website Instead of Reddit 09.07.2026 1h 12min

  E1101: People search Google with the word "Reddit" because they want real opinions, real discussions, and answers that feel less filtered. But here's the part most SEOs miss: Google does not always rank Reddit for those searches. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini do not always pull Reddit pages when the query includes Reddit either. That means you can build pages on your own website that target these "Reddit" searches and rank your site where people expect Reddit to appear. David Quaid returns to the show and walks through how he does this in practice, why it works, and how he uses these pages to collect Search Console data that keyword tools often miss. We get into: - How people add "Reddit" to searches - Why AI tools also use Reddit-style search modifiers - How Google can rank non-Reddit pages for Reddit keywords - Why Semrush and Google Ads often show no data for these searches - How to find Reddit keywords before your competitors - How David builds short pages to test search demand - Why the page title and URL slug matter so much for long-tail keywords - How to use Search Console data to expand pages after they rank - Why Reddit searches can reveal hidden buyer intent - How to build topical authority from lower-competition keywords - How David "cornerstones" from easy queries into harder queries - Why ranking in the click zone matters more than simply getting indexed - How internal links help newer pages rank - Why you should not publish hundreds of new pages on a new site - Where the line is between legitimate SEO and scaled content abuse - Why Reddit parasite SEO is getting more crowded - How to participate on Reddit without making moderators hate you - Why listicles can dilute your own brand in AI search - How spammy hacked pages get indexed so quickly - Why legitimate pages often struggle to get indexed - What the Japanese keyword hack reveals about crawl discovery - How indexing tools may be creating false hope for newer sites David also shows examples of live rankings, Search Console queries, and how he thinks through creating pages from scratch. This is a practical episode for anyone doing SEO, SaaS SEO, local SEO, affiliate SEO, content strategy, or AI search optimization. The core idea: If people are searching for your category plus "Reddit," you may not need to rely on Reddit to capture that demand. You may be able to rank your own website instead. ⭐️ David Quaid on 𝕏 - https://x.com/DavidGQuaid  ⭐️ David Quaid on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidquaid/  ⭐️ David Quaid on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DavidQuaid  ⭐️ David Quaid's agency - https://primaryposition.com/  ⭐️ The GaryVee podcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUnV-xaH32k  ⭐️ The Kass and Mike Lazerow podcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OslN_eLOCes  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Reddit Search Hack 00:43 Why LLMs Miss Reddit 01:59 Build Reddit Resource Pages 02:37 Keyword Data Blind Spots 06:17 Search Console Proof 09:23 Live Ranking Examples 12:38 Finding Starter Keywords 14:06 Parasite SEO Reality 16:30 SaaS Cornerstoning Demo 20:50 Indexing Click Zone 30:27 Slug Title Relevance 35:30 Going For Money Terms 36:20 Search Console Query Fanout 38:53 Reddit Keyword Ranking Timeline 41:54 PAA Publishing Limits 44:43 Scaled Content Abuse Explained 47:14 LinkedIn Parasite Indexing Idea 55:34 Listicles Without Dilution 58:18 Why Hack Pages Index Fast 01:03:44 GaryVee Episode Backstory 01:09:45 Anti GEO Propaganda Rant 01:11:52 Final Thanks And Wrap The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #generativeengineoptimization #searchengineoptimization #seo #answerengineoptimization
• The SEO Colony Hack That Ranks Money Pages Without Backlinks 09.07.2026 12min

  E1100: Breaking down the SEO colony strategy: how to use easy, low-competition pages to build topical authority, pass that authority through internal links, and rank money pages without needing to rely on backlinks first. This comes from one of my favorite Reddit posts about topical authority, PageRank, clicks, links, and how Google ranks pages. The post explains a simple but important idea: every keyword you rank for puts you into a topical space, and every satisfied click you earn helps build authority in that space. That matters because SEO is not just about publishing more blog posts. It is about creating pages that rank, earn clicks, build authority, and then using internal links to direct that authority toward pages that can actually make you money. I cover: - Why topical authority is built through clicks, links, and repeat user behavior - Why PageRank is page-level, not just domain-level - How easy keywords can create their own authority over time - Why People Also Ask questions are a great starting point for SEO colonies - How to use FAQ-style pages to start ranking in your topical space - Why internal links can pass authority from one ranking page to another - How Page A can help Page B rank, then Page A and Page B can help Page C rank - Why harder keywords may need more internal authority pointed at them - How to use SEO colonies to support bottom-of-funnel pages - Why money pages should usually be landing pages, not blog posts - How to use your page title, URL slug, H1, and first sentence to target keywords clearly - Why bottom-of-funnel keywords often have less competition than obvious high-volume keywords - How this strategy helps you build authority before you have strong backlink acquisition - Why Google rewards the external signals around content, not content quality in isolation - How clicks can act like votes with time and attention attached The big idea is simple: you can create your own authority. You do this by publishing pages that target easy keywords, getting those pages to rank, earning clicks from Google, and then using internal links to push that authority into new pages. Over time, your site becomes stronger inside a specific topical space. Then you use that strength to rank pages that bring in leads, sales, calls, demo requests, or customers. I also talk about how this connects to my Compact Keywords method, where the goal is not just to get traffic, but to find high-intent keywords and build conversion-based SEO landing pages around them. This is episode 1,100 of the podcast. ⭐️ A Few Things That Finally Clicked About Authority, Topics, and How Google Actually Ranks Pages - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1p06nk4/a_few_things_that_finally_clicked_about_authority/  ⭐️ The SEO Colonies Strategy: Turn One Ranking Page Into Dozens - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/seo-colonies-strategy-turn-one-page-into-dozens/  ⭐️ Turn People Also Ask Questions Into Easy Traffic, Authority, and Sales - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/people-also-ask-seo-traffic-authority-sales/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Reddit Post Setup 00:53 Topical Authority Basics 01:29 Page Level PageRank 01:58 Topical Bridges Explained 03:07 Signals Over Craft 03:52 Links And Clicks Proxy 05:07 Colony Strategy Overview 05:51 People Also Ask Workflow 06:47 Internal Linking Flywheel 08:49 Turning Traffic Into Sales 11:56 Thanks And Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #growthhacking #digitalmarketing
• GaryVee: Gemini Is the Only Guaranteed Winner in AI Search 07.07.2026 31min

  E1099: Gary Vaynerchuk joins the podcast to talk about AI search, Gemini, social media, content volume, and what brands need to understand before the internet changes again. The biggest moment from this conversation is Gary saying Gemini is the only guaranteed winner in AI search because of the stack Google already has: YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Gmail, Calendar, and the rest of Google's infrastructure. We also get into why social content may become even more important as AI tools decide which brands, people, and companies to cite. We cover: - Why Gary Vaynerchuk believes AI search is a real marketing change, not a passing trend - How VaynerMedia is thinking about AEO, GEO, and AI search for clients - Why SEO people need to understand how AI search changes discovery - Why social content, video descriptions, Substack, Reddit, LinkedIn, and YouTube may matter more inside AI answers - Why Gary thinks Gemini has a major advantage over other AI tools - How YouTube transcripts could become a huge advantage for Google - Why Gmail and Calendar give Gemini a different kind of edge - Why Gary believes social media already weakened the old niche blog model before AI did - Why AI probably will not kill the internet, but will change how people reach information - Why Meta and ByteDance could become major players in AI search - Why brands should think carefully about where their content actually lives - Whether posting more still matters when AI content is flooding the internet - Gary's view on volume, content quality, and why "AI slop" is not that different from human slop - Why analog experiences, events, pop-ups, and in-person marketing may become more valuable - How real-world events can create social content, mentions, links, and stronger brand signals - What Gary Vaynerchuk learned from building a team around his personal brand - Why he says to hire fast, fire faster, and promote fastest - The mistake Gary made carrying underperformers too long - How VaynerMedia kept 134 people for more than 10 years in an industry where tenure is usually much shorter This conversation is about where attention is moving next. AI tools are pulling from websites, social platforms, video transcripts, forums, descriptions, and brand mentions. The companies and creators who understand that early will have a major advantage. Gary Vaynerchuk explains why Gemini may be positioned better than anyone else, why social content is becoming part of search, and why brands that still treat social as separate from SEO may be missing what is happening. ⭐️ Gary Vaynerchuk's Substack - https://garyvee.com/substack  ⭐️ Gary Vaynerchuk on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk/  ⭐️ Gary Vaynerchuk on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/garyvee/  ⭐️ VaynerMedia - https://vaynermedia.com/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Future Internet With GaryVee 00:16 AEO GEO Inside VaynerMedia 04:52 Social Search And TikTok Trips 09:08 Why Social Still Underrated 11:20 AEO Boosts Social Budgets 12:22 Will AI Kill Websites 15:31 Gemini YouTube Advantage 19:58 Volume Versus AI Slop 23:58 Rise Of Analog Events 25:34 Building Your Brand Team 26:57 Hire Fire Promote Fast 30:38 Closing Thanks And Outro The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #marketing
• This Backlink Pivot Ranked a Startup Above Industry Giants in 2 Months 07.07.2026 7min

  E1098: Breaking down a link building case study about what to do when your business is so niche that "perfectly relevant" backlink opportunities barely exist. The example comes from a petrochemical / chemical manufacturing startup trying to rank against much larger competitors. At first, they tried the obvious approach: - Create content around their exact niche - Place links inside that content - Get those links published on relevant websites - Focus on websites in the right country - Prioritize traffic, quality, and metrics The problem was simple: There just were not enough chemical manufacturing blogs or websites to keep building links at scale. So they made a pivot. Instead of only targeting hyper-specific chemical manufacturing sites, they moved broader. They started getting links from engineering, industrial, and manufacturing-adjacent websites. The sites were not perfectly about the client's exact product, but the content still included a relevant section about chemical engineering, with the keyword naturally worked in. After two more months, they ranked for a difficult keyword ahead of major chemical manufacturing competitors. That is the lesson of this episode. Perfect relevance matters, but in extremely niche industries, perfect relevance can become a bottleneck. Sometimes the better link building move is to target broader industry websites while keeping the content angle tight, believable, and relevant enough. In this episode, I cover: - Why ultra-niche businesses struggle to build relevant backlinks - How "perfect relevance" can slow down link building - Why broader industry sites can still work when the content angle makes sense - How a startup used engineering and industrial sites to compete with larger manufacturers - Why link quality is about more than domain metrics - Why the content around the backlink still matters - Why indexed backlinks are more valuable than links sitting on pages Google ignores - How to think about relevance without becoming too rigid - Why slightly off-niche websites can still support rankings - How to make broader link placements feel natural - Why this strategy works best when the surrounding content is unique, well-written, and genuinely useful I also talk through two related link building methods: - Adjacent industry placements, where you look one step outside the exact niche - Expert quote submissions, where a founder or subject-matter expert becomes the reason the link makes sense The key is not to ignore relevance. The key is to understand that relevance can come from the page, the section, the angle, the expert, and the context - not only from the entire website being about your exact niche. This is especially important for startups and B2B companies in industries where there are not hundreds of obvious blogs to pitch. If you only chase perfect-fit websites, you may run out of opportunities fast. But if you know how to stretch into related industries while keeping the content useful and believable, you can keep building links without making the placements look forced. ⭐️ Move From Super Defined Content To Generic - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/12ihay2/link_building_in_2023_strategies_that_have_worked/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Ultra Niche Link Building 00:34 Why Content Quality Wins 01:24 Indexed Links Matter 01:59 Case Study Niche Expansion 03:13 Relevance Without Bottlenecks 04:07 Adjacent Industry Placements 04:41 Expert Quotes and Founder Branding 06:14 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #linkbuilding #backlinks #searchengineoptimization #seo
• Charles Floate Tested 10 SEO Indexers - One Got Reddit Indexed in 2 Hours 06.07.2026 13min

  E1097: Charles Floate tested 10 SEO indexers with real URL cohorts to find out which tools actually get backlinks and pages indexed in 2026. The big point: if your backlink is not indexed, it passes zero PageRank. I break down Charles's test, the best-performing indexers, why so many backlinks never get indexed, and when it is or is not safe to use indexing tools on your own sites or client sites. We cover: - Why unindexed backlinks do not pass authority - Why Google is crawling and indexing fewer low-quality pages - The difference between forcing a crawl and forcing indexing - Why no indexer can guarantee Google will index a page - How Charles tested 10 backlink indexing tools with real URLs - The three URL groups he tested: editorial links, hard-to-index formats, and tiered links - Why press releases, profile links, citations, and duplicate-heavy pages often fail to index - Why third-party backlink pages cannot be pushed through Google Search Console - The top three indexing tools from Charles's test - Why Indexceptional stood out in the test - How one new Reddit thread got indexed in under two hours - Where Rapid URL Indexer fits - Where SpeedyIndex fits - What the safe free options are - Why internal links from regularly crawled pages can still beat paid tools - The risks of low-quality indexers - Whether SEO indexers should be used on money sites or client sites - Why the quality of the page and domain still matters more than the indexing tool The main lesson is simple: Indexers can help Google discover a URL faster, but they cannot make a worthless page worth indexing. If your link is on a page Google does not want in the index, no tool can magically turn it into a strong backlink. But if you are building real links, parasite SEO pages, PR mentions, citations, or high-volume tiered links, the right indexing tool can make a big difference in how quickly those URLs get crawled and potentially indexed. ⭐️ Best Backlink Indexing Tools 2026: I Tested 10 Link Indexers With Real Data - https://www.charlesfloate.com/best-backlink-indexing-tools  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Indexing Tools Overview 00:25 Charles Floate Study Setup 01:49 Testing Method And Cohorts 03:13 Why Links Fail To Index 04:37 How Indexers Really Work 05:01 Top Pick Indexceptional 06:31 Runner Up Rapid URL Indexer 07:04 Budget Option SpeedyIndex 07:56 Google Tools And Free Options 09:50 Money Sites And Client Risk 11:22 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #urlindexers #linkbuilding
• Chewy Used This Google Spam Tactic 88 Times - Then Traffic Fell 05.07.2026 8min

  E1096: We're talking about keyword stuffing, Google's own definition of it, and why copying what big authority sites do can be a dangerous SEO mistake. I came across a Search Engine Land article pointing to Chewy's dry dog food page as an example of strong "cosine similarity." But when I looked at the page, it looked much closer to old-school keyword stuffing than smart SEO. The phrase "dry dog food" appears 88 times on the page. In one block of text alone, it appears 19 times. And according to Ahrefs, the page had a huge spike in estimated organic traffic before falling back down hard. I'm not saying keyword stuffing caused the entire drop. But I am saying this is exactly the kind of thing Google warns about in its spam policies, and it is not something most sites should copy. We cover: - What Google says keyword stuffing is - Why repeating a keyword too many times can make a page sound unnatural - Why a high-authority site like Chewy can sometimes get away with worse SEO - Why copying big brands is not always a smart SEO strategy - What I saw on Chewy's dry dog food page - Why "cosine similarity" can become bad advice when taken too far - How many times Chewy used the phrase "dry dog food" - What happened to the page's estimated organic traffic after its spike - Why giant blocks of SEO text at the bottom of pages are usually a bad sign - Where I think your target keyword should actually go - Why I often remove keyword repetitions from pages instead of adding more - How using natural variations can be better than repeating the same exact phrase - Why satisfying search intent matters more than stuffing a page with keywords My basic rule for keyword targeting: - Put the target keyword in the page title - Put it in the URL slug - Put it in the H1 - Use it near the beginning of the first sentence - Optionally use it in the meta description - Optionally use it in first alt text if relevant - After that, use natural variations when they make sense The goal is not to hide from Google. The goal is to make the page clear without making it unnatural. If your page sounds like Google's own example of keyword stuffing, that is not a good sign. I also explain how I have seen pages improve after removing repeated keyword usage. Sometimes the best SEO move is not adding more keywords. Sometimes it is removing them. This episode is especially useful if you are working on: - E-commerce category pages - Local SEO pages - Service pages - Affiliate pages - Programmatic SEO pages - Landing pages targeting long-tail keywords - Pages with large blocks of SEO text - Pages that rank but feel over-optimized The big takeaway: Just because a major site is doing something does not mean it is good SEO. Chewy has a powerful domain. Most sites do not. A big brand may rank despite bad optimization, not because of it. If you want better rankings, better traffic, and pages that actually convert, focus on search intent, clean keyword placement, useful content, and natural language. ⭐️ Google's Spam Policies - https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Keyword Stuffing Intro 00:20 Google Spam Policy's Definition 01:37 Cosine Similarity Controversy 02:44 Chewy Dry Dog Food Example 03:19 Hidden Text SEO Tactic 04:22 Keyword Count And Traffic Drop 05:37 Practical Keyword Placement Rules 06:35 Write For Intent Not Hacks 07:17 Read Google Policies 07:53 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #searchengineoptimization #seo #seocopywriting #digitalmarketing
• He Audited 70,000 Websites. Here's Why Your SEO Traffic Isn't Converting 03.07.2026 1h 24min

  E1095: Most businesses think they need more SEO traffic. But if the page does not convert, more traffic just means more wasted visitors. I talk with Irwin Hau, founder of Chromatix and ConversionCow, about why SEO pages, landing pages, homepages, service pages, and blog posts fail to turn visitors into leads. Irwin has audited close to 70,000 websites over 17 years. After seeing that many pages, he has noticed the same problems show up again and again. We talk about: - Why ranking on Google is only half the battle - What happens after someone clicks from SEO - The four questions every page needs to answer - Why people do not trust most landing pages - How weak calls to action kill conversions - The "one, two, three" CTA framework Irwin uses - Why every frame of the page should have a clear next step - How to make CTAs visible without making the page feel too aggressive - Why a phone number in the top right still matters for many businesses - Why broken forms and wrong click-to-call numbers cost businesses leads - The form fields Irwin recommends for service businesses - Why businesses should test their own forms every month - How to turn blog traffic into leads - Why tools, calculators, PDFs, videos, and quizzes can make SEO pages convert better - Why proof density matters - How testimonials, case studies, awards, certifications, and real photos build trust - Why AI-looking images can hurt trust - Why overly polished content can feel less believable - How bad SEO pages create poor user signals - Why satisfying search intent above the fold is so important - How clutter hurts conversions - Why some pages need less content, not more - How one-page UX changes can increase leads - Why mega menus can help B2C and service websites when used correctly - Why people should improve pages that already rank before chasing more traffic We also get into the connection between SEO, user signals, trust, and conversion. If someone lands on your page from Google and immediately goes back to the search results, that is not just a conversion problem. It can become an SEO problem too. The goal is not just to get the click. The goal is to make the person understand who you are, what you do, why they should trust you, and how they can take the next step. This episode is for SEOs, business owners, agencies, SaaS companies, local businesses, and anyone getting traffic that is not turning into leads. ⭐️ Irwin Hau on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/irwinhau/  ⭐️ Irwin Hau's agency, Chromatix - https://www.chromatix.com.au/  ⭐️ Irwin Hau's tool, ConversionCow - https://www.conversioncow.com/  ⭐️ Irwin Hau's website - https://irwinhau.com/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Meet Erwin the Auditor 03:22 Four Conversion Questions 05:44 Heart Head Hands Framework 07:41 Move Readers Down Funnel 09:25 Lead Magnets That Work 11:41 Popups and Chat Widgets 14:41 CTA Count and Placement 19:03 Common Conversion Mistakes 22:41 Test Your Own Website 25:47 Case Studies and Patterns 29:32 Menus and UX Clarity 35:34 Trust Signals for SEO Pages 38:19 How To Lose Trust 38:43 Above The Fold Selling 40:55 Four Writing Modes 41:47 TLDR For Search Intent 43:13 Interactive Content Tools 46:16 Update Winners Only 47:53 Mount AI User Signals 51:11 Authenticity Beats Perfect 53:36 Testimonials Timing Tips 01:00:59 H1 Versus Benefit Line 01:03:40 Above Fold By Business 01:08:00 Ecommerce Page Structure 01:14:10 Keyword Stuffing Reality 01:17:16 Post Purchase Feedback 01:18:22 Ten Minute Website Audit 01:23:34 Wrap Up And Where To Find The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #conversionrateoptimization #searchengineoptimization #seo #uiux
• An iGaming SEO Reveals How He Manipulates ChatGPT Recommendations 02.07.2026 1h 11min

  E1094: I talk with Léo Poitevin, an SEO who spent years in iGaming, CBD, and some of the most competitive search niches online. Léo has been testing how to influence ChatGPT recommendations, AI search visibility, and traditional Google rankings using tactics that come from aggressive affiliate SEO. We get into how SEOs are using third-party listicles, backlinks, Reddit, review pages, and brand mentions to influence what ChatGPT recommends when someone asks for the best company, product, or service in a category. This is a very tactical episode on where SEO and AI recommendations overlap. We talk about: - How Léo went from iGaming SEO to running his own agency - Why competitive niches like gambling and CBD produce aggressive SEO tactics - How external "best of" listicles can influence ChatGPT recommendations - Why ranking on Google still matters for AI visibility - How ChatGPT may use Google results, query fan-outs, and source consensus - What makes a third-party listicle more likely to get picked up by AI - Why putting your client number one everywhere may start looking suspicious - How Claude and other AI tools may filter out obvious SEO spam - Why linking out to competitors may make a listicle look more trustworthy - How Reddit is becoming more important for AI recommendations - Why Reddit manipulation is harder than most SEOs think - The risks of buying Reddit comments, upvotes, and aged accounts - Why Trustpilot and reputation signals can override SEO manipulation - How ChatGPT checks reviews before recommending a brand - Why some brands get mentioned by AI even when others rank higher - Whether AI tools actually follow links or just keep doing query fan-outs - Why "too much SEO" can make a site, page, or brand look less trustworthy - The difference between manipulating rankings and building a real brand - Whether white hat or gray hat SEO can still work in iGaming and CBD - Why long-term brand building may be the strongest SEO strategy Léo also shares how he thinks about buying placements, choosing sites for listicles, structuring comparison pages, using backlink marketplaces, and testing what AI tools actually pick up. ⭐️ Léo Poitevin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/leo-poitevin/  ⭐️ Léo Poitevin on 𝕏 - https://x.com/LeoPoitevin  ⭐️ Léo Poitevin's agency, Astrak - https://astrak.agency/  ⭐️ Léo Poitevin's backlink marketplace, Linkavista - https://linkavista.com/  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 Meet Léo Poitevin 01:57 From Black Hat to AI Influence 02:46 Listicles That Shape ChatGPT 05:46 Buying Listicle Placements 08:14 Picking Sites and Metrics 10:30 Writing Listicles Without Spam 15:33 Titles H1s and Structure 25:27 Reddit Manipulation Reality 29:35 Buying Comments and Subreddits 33:07 Too Much SEO and Brand Trust 35:46 Multi Channel SEO Signals 37:12 Helpful Content Update Fallout 39:51 Branding Beats Manipulation 40:57 White Hat Pages That Last 44:29 SEO in Regulated Niches 48:28 How AI Picks Winners 54:14 Trustpilot Reputation Battles 58:37 Customer Support as Growth Hack 01:02:24 iGaming Spam Tactic Patched 01:05:43 Backlink Strategy Playbook 01:09:23 Agency Focus and Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #generativeengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #searchengineoptimization #blackhatseo
• Google Can't Stop Fake DMCA Attacks - And SEOs Are Getting Wiped Out 02.07.2026 9min

  E1093: Fake DMCA takedowns are becoming one of the scariest forms of negative SEO in Google Search. I break down how fraudulent copyright complaints are being used to remove legitimate pages from Google, why original publishers are getting hit, and why the counter-notice process can still leave your content out of search results for days, weeks, or even months. Search Engine Roundtable, Press Gazette, Search Engine Land, Moz, and others have all covered or experienced versions of this problem. Google has even sued over weaponized DMCA abuse before, but the issue still appears to be growing. I cover: - How fake DMCA takedowns can remove real pages from Google Search - Why this has become a serious negative SEO problem - What happens when someone copies your content, files a DMCA claim, and gets your original page removed - Why Google Search Console may not show every DMCA issue affecting your site - How multiple DMCA complaints can compound and keep URLs out of Google for longer - Why publishers, affiliates, and commercial sites are especially vulnerable - The Search Engine Roundtable coverage from Barry Schwartz - Charles Floate's warning about DMCA negative SEO - Why launches are especially exposed to this kind of attack - What to do if you receive a DMCA removal notice from Google - Why you should file a counter-notice quickly - Why this problem may eventually lead to lawsuits, regulatory pressure, or forced changes at Google The scary part is that this can hit right when a page is ranking, right when a site is making money, or right when a launch is happening. If your business depends on Google Search traffic, you need to know how this works. And thank you to Gagan Ghotra for sharing the Search Engine Roundtable article with me. ⭐️ Fraudulent DMCA Takedowns Wreak Havoc In Google Search - https://www.seroundtable.com/fake-dmca-takedowns-google-search-41596.html  ⭐️ Pedro Dias - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7472951071397732353/  ⭐️ Charles Floate - An Engineer Told Me Google KNOWS About This... But Said They Can't Stop It!!! - https://x.com/Charles_SEO/status/2055067488124354605  💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/  00:00 DMCA Takedown Crisis 00:36 How Google Got Here 01:34 Lawsuits and AI Scams 02:53 Press Gazette Example 04:13 Real World Damage 04:55 Negative SEO Playbook 06:11 Google Knows But Won't Fix 07:10 What Happens Next 07:52 What To Do Now 08:32 Sign Off The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  #negativeseo #blackhatseo #searchengineoptimization #seo