EDGE of the Web - The Best SEO Podcast for Today's Digital Marketer

Eli Schwartz joins us on the second part of his interview on the EDGE, discussing how to achieve Blue Ocean status with your SEO strategy. Learn some key points on how to acquire that valuable knowledge of customer need and experiences by tried and true methodology. Lastly - learn why you shouldn't care about Position Zero. Make sure you check out his new book, "Product-Led SEO: The Why Behind Building Your Organic Growth Strategy". [00:06:05] Blue Ocean and Red Ocean [00:11:27] Are Blue Ocean Strategies for Everyone? [00:12:23] Learning Customer Blue Oceans: Surveys, Customer Data & Customer Support [00:15:32] The Interview Series Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:16:17] The Challenge: SEO Siloed Away from Sales and Marketing [00:18:43] Paid Search is Research [00:19:40] The Goal is the North Star [00:20:47] Sponsor for EDGE of the Web: Wix [00:22:13] How to Guide Clients Away from Keyword Volume Buglights [00:25:18] Touching the Third Rail: Who Cares about Position Zero?

Celebrating 10 Years of our SEO podcast - we had a great time covering digital marketing news from Barry Schwartz, Roger Montti and Kirk Williams. We strolled through memory lane with a video montage of all of the studios we have been in over the years. Please check out the video on YouTube. Lastly, we just have to share Mordy's new job - throwing in as many curse bombs as he can get away with to provide Jacob's job security. Yeah, that happened, today on the EDGE! [00:05:27] Mordy bomb drop 1 | Jacob edit [00:05:46] Is Google Ads emailing your opted out customers? [00:09:21] Mordy bomb drop 2 | Jacob edit [00:12:41] Really, Mordy - even with Daniel Tiger? | Jacob edit [00:14:56] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:15:45] Structured Data? Maybe… no problem? [00:21:10] Show Notes [00:21:57] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks.net [00:22:50] Top SEO podcasts for 2022 (yeah, gratuitous plug)

Eli Schwartz has helped in honing a much better perspective of understanding where SEO really needs to reside: Product-Led SEO. On this podcast we cover his career, his struggles in the early days of SEO as well as his new book, "Product-Led SEO: The Why Behind Building Your Organic Growth Strategy". It's a great take on how SEO is really about the customer needs, not the rank you receive. Dive into the first of two interview segments with us as we unpack a philosophical change in SEO. [00:05:45] Eli's start - how he learned SEO by getting smacked upside the head by Google. [00:16:09] You need to help people in your industry as you have been helped along the way. [00:17:12] The Interview Series Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:18:03] Eli Schwartz's Book: Product-Led SEO: The Why Behind Building Your Organic Growth Strategy [00:18:30] A philosophical change for SEO [00:23:27] Sponsor for EDGE of the Web: Wix [00:25:48] The Core of SEO: The User and then The Product [00:28:39] Reclaim your own Product and Features [00:31:04] Don't chase the alogrithm: algorithms change, users don't change

Erin, Mordy and Jacob cover the digital marketing news of the week with articles from Roger Montti, George Nguyen, Brock Cooper and Danny Goodwin. Oh yeah, and Mordy tries to pitch you buying a ticket to hear him speak at Brighton SEO. So that happened….. [00:05:06] New Feature on Mobile: "People Search Next" [00:09:29] Google changes the majority of Title Tags [00:16:47] Our Poll This Week [00:18:11] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:19:16] New SEO app for Wix from company Deepcrawl [00:21:33] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks.net [00:22:56] New API Connection to GSC URL Inspection

The second part of the Joe Martinez and Michelle Morgan (Paid Media Pros) interview. We discussed how marketers have to adapt to new platforms and metrics inside the new paid ad setting we are finding ourselves in, in 2022. The theme of the show today is Adapt, and do that nimbly. Join the Paid Media Pros as the share some great thoughts in studio with the EDGE! [00:04:16] What have we lost from going virtual for our marketing conferences? [00:11:25] There's a lot of people that are selling paid media services, but not really delivering. [00:12:07] The Interview Series Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:16:12] What changed in paid ad marketing 2021 and what to expect this year [00:17:59] We're going to have to adapt to the dynamic search ad paradigm [00:21:05] Losing the Google Partner badge? [00:21:42] Are these really Google reps making recommendations? [00:23:10] Sponsor for EDGE of the Web: Wix [00:23:41] The loss of ETAs [00:26:03] The changes - embrace them and get there before your competition does. [00:28:23] The only time the platforms will do anything…It's because you left. [00:30:08] Privacy changes in Facebook and the rest… [00:43:10] Investing to build the awareness if your brand is unknown

Well, Mordy may have blown all of the headlines even before the intro, but we did cover some great stories from Henry Powderly of SEL, Roger Montti and Barry Schwartz. Make sure that you check out this week's poll. Plus, we found our mission, after 10 years - SEO Bobbleheads! [00:03:37] There's someone new at Search Engine Land! [00:06:18] Is your content being outranked by a site that just used Copy/Paste? [00:12:10] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks.net [00:13:09] A spike in crawl traffic does NOT mean impending doom [00:19:25] Our Poll This Week [00:22:53] This is where the brilliant idea started. SEO Leader Bobbleheads!

Joe Martinez and Michelle Morgan of Paid Media Pros join the EDGE team IN STUDIO! They have so much information to share with our listeners when it comes down to changes in privacy and how it affects digital marketing. We went everywhere. Have a look at the time stamps…..can't contain it all in one description. This is where we have to go as digital marketers this year and into the future. [00:06:12] Marketing in college and foundational education, not tactics. [00:09:46] Foundational Understanding: Knowing the New Media Audience [00:10:51] Don't pick tactics that are measurable all the time: adapting to the lack of tracking [00:11:26] The Interview Series Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:14:54] Privacy in digital marketing: what you need to know [00:17:10] Google's first major step in privacy: Google's FLoC [00:19:17] What are marketers facing with privacy challenges in 2022 [00:22:23] Our lawmakers have no idea: we need a panel of digital marketing representatives. [00:23:58] Going to the target audience, not just the big platforms [00:24:22] Sponsor for EDGE of the Web: Wix [00:25:26] What are first-person cookies? [00:30:16] Having a good offer is more important than the platforms you're on [00:32:20] You've got to roll with authenticity first [00:33:09] The brands that will be nimble will win [00:35:06] CRMs: Are you keeping your own data [00:36:26] What about the small audience data set? [00:40:21] Building an understanding of your audience [00:42:38] If you're going to win at online marketing, you've missed the window when it was easy. [00:44:22] When you give away stuff, you're going to build a bigger audience [00:46:22] What is your differentiator?

We're feeling very blessed with our new sponsors, Ahrefs and Inlinks! Listen to the team as Erin actually wears a color during recording! Great articles from Mordy, Barry Schwartz and Michael Stelzner for this week's digital marketing news! Be sure to participate in our episode poll on Twitter. [00:04:04] Deep dive the December Product Review Update [00:14:13] DUCKDUCKGO passing 1 Billion Searches [00:18:36] Our Poll This Week [00:22:01] Ahrefs.com | Title Sponsor of EDGE of the Web [00:22:58] Our New Sponsor: Inlinks.net [00:23:41] Just registered your business on GBP? Get ready to wait. [00:26:45] Site Strategics, Sponsor of the EDGE [00:27:13] Is Google Analytics getting blocked and giving you half the picture of your traffic?

The EDGE team tackles the Steelers entering the playoffs, key articles from Matt Southern, George Nguyen and Sean Hollister, as well as a poll regarding out take on Shopify getting Yoast. But what is most notable this week is the lack of a Barry Schwartz. 04:46 Google Launches Shops Section in Mobile Search 12:28 Ahrefs.com | Title Sponsor of EDGE of the Web 13:32 Shopify SEO Gets Easier With Yoast App 21:09 Our Poll This Week 22:44 Our New Sponsor: Inlinks.net 23:56 Google Exec Say Apple is Holding Back Customers Who Text 29:45 Site Strategics, Sponsor of the EDGE

Welcome back to the EDGE for a new year of SEO and Digital Marketing News in 2022! We started off in rare form with a resolution of #MoreMordy from the Head of Communications at Semrush. Covering articles from Barry Schwartz and Miriam Ellis of Moz, we dug into Local SEO stories and stats. Check out our new poll running on Twitter as well - chime in there and we'll cover the recent poll every show. [00:03:07] Products on your Google Business Profile Page & Maps! [00:05:04] Our Title Sponsor: Ahrefs. edgeofthewebradio.com/AWT [00:06:05] December has been called the most volatile month in 2021 for Google Search [00:11:58] This Week's Poll [00:13:13] Thanks to our sponsor: Site Strategics [00:13:44] Stories about our industry from Local SEO Stats [00:25:50] RIP John Madden: The Turducken Story

Darren Shaw of Whitespark.ca joins the EDGE in the second of two parts as we dive into the persistent Local SEO Myths. We covering a great deal that Darren has seen for years and we kill them off, one by one. Darren is a fantastic resource for understanding the true impact that Google My Business (now Google Business Profile) has on a local service company's customer relationship and conversions… today on the EDGE. [00:02:33] Local SEO Myth: Does everything have to be perfect for Google? [00:05:26] Local SEO Myth: Using a Call Tracking Number Negatively Impacts Rankings [00:07:22] Local SEO Myth: Setting Service Area in Google My Business Impacts Ranking [00:09:24] Local SEO Myth: Keywords in the Business Description [00:12:53] The Absolute, Most Important Thing to Convey: Trust [00:13:52] Local SEO Myth: Geotagging Images [00:18:16] Google Knows Your Space, Knows Your Brand, Knows Your Business [00:19:27] Local SEO Myth: No One Reads Reviews Anymore [00:25:25] Consumer Reviews Are A Conversion Step [00:34:35] Shoppers Are Not Clicking Through to Websites Anymore

The end of the year is here and we covered so much on today's show. Not really - it was a Matrix 4 bashfest. A couple of news items, yadda yadda and how bad could a movie suck? Truly? Thanks to Barry Schwartz, Matt Southern, Kevin Indig and Garret Sussmann for their articles, but the thanks really goes to Warner Brothers for making the Matrix 4, what a great gift to end the year with. Special thanks to our title sponsor Ahrefs - check out their free SEO audit tool at www.edgeofthewebradio.com/AWT [00:00:54] Our Matrix4 reviews/bashing [00:08:20] TikTok takes the crown of WORLD'S MOST POPULAR DOMAIN from Google [00:11:31] G-Rated sounding domains that lead to not-so-G-rated sites don't show up in Google Search… unless you pay for ads. [00:19:28] We've got your Predictions, YOU'RE PREDICTIONS HERE! See you next year!

We welcome our new title sponsor, Ahrefs as part of the EDGE team. Welcome back! We're coming in for a landing of this year's news items with UPDATES! Get your UPDATES here! [00:02:47] Updates…get your updates here! You know what would make the holiday week even better? Product review updates from Google! [00:10:00] John Mueller says you can't even tell which SEO efforts have changed your rankings [00:17:50] YouTube is going to be adding automatic links to places mentioned in videos…

Mordy's back with the EDGE team, talking about the news of the day. We covered stories from Roger Montti, Barry SChwartz and Patrick Stox of Ahrefs. Really interesting one there - pretty bold move to disavow ALL links to 3 of your top articles to see if links do, in fact, mean what we think they mean to SEO. Let's all pull a Mordy and listen now to the EDGE! [00:04:17] Hey Alexa, do you now that Amazon is shutting you down? [00:08:15] Google's December update was a big one [00:18:55] Do inbound links even matter anymore?

Andrew "Optimisey" joins the EDGE team this week, covering just a fraction of the hot digital marketing news. There's so much happening, it was tough to pick but we settled on these headlines to get to you. Covering news from Search Engine Roundtable and Brodie Clark, with a hot take on Google's playground, we finished with a hearty Happy Birthday to an 18-year-old SER! Thanks, Barry, for these past 18 years of reporting! [00:02:01] Political ad changes at Google for 2022 [00:08:20] Google is testing a lot of their own real estate on the SERP [00:14:40] The Volatility of the Dec 2021 Product Reviews update continues [00:21:04] Happy 18th Birthday to Search Engine Roundtable [00:24:37] #SEOChat 1 PM EST - Products, Reviews, and your GBP: Hosted by: Riley Hope @reillyhope13 [00:25:17] WEIRD SEO: John Mueller on SEO to quote Jurassic Park: Just because you can, should you?

Mordy's back from vacation and we're covering his review of the November Core Algorithm update from Semrush. We're back to trolling each other with the regular jabs. Covering news from Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Land this week. [00:04:21] The Mobile-First Indexing Deadline is Gone. [00:09:12] How Does One's Site "Fit Into the Internet" [00:21:57] Discussing the November 2021 Core Update with Mordy

Darren Shaw of Whitespark.ca joins the EDGE again (been a while) to discuss Local SEO, Google Business Profile as well as his annual Local Search Ranking Factors survey from 40 of the top Local SEO professionals in the business. Get up to date on what affects local search engine optimization and where Entity SEO works into the Local SEO concepts, today on the EDGE. [00:05:02] What Does Whitespark Do for Companies? [00:07:05] QR codes are back! [00:08:52] Stats on Local Search [00:10:43] In some industries, Google drives upwards of 90% of all of their business. [00:13:12] Google as your new homepage, care of Mike Blumenthal [00:15:17] In the past 6 years, Google has been rolling out a ton of incredible features [00:17:51] What are the first steps you help a business owner understand in Local SEO? [00:18:52] What is the top local search ranking factor? [00:21:29] Three Pillars of Local Search [00:23:04] What are citations? [00:26:14] Consistency is a myth in Local SEO [00:28:08] Local SEO = Entity SEO [00:30:02] Get the keywords in the review! [00:31:57] The Local Search Ranking Factor Survey [00:39:02] Keywords in the Business Name? Seriously, Google?

Jason Barnard and Lily Ray join Erin Sparks on an EDGEFlash - a breaking digital marketing news episode. When it happens, we will get it to you as soon as possible! We uncovered a relationship of factors that lead us to believe that this is not just another core update! Breaking news, here on the EDGE! [00:02:24] The social media outcry regarding the November Google Core Algorithm updates [00:03:32] Ray: This is a tricky update due to the holiday season [00:05:28] Ray: How the Volatility Tools Work [00:06:39] Barnard: Does Dictionary site visibility increase = new entity knowledge? [00:09:08] Barnard: Completely new: core algorithm updates and knowledge graph update together [00:10:52] Barnard: 8% rise in the number Rich Elements [00:11:43] Increase in "People Also Search For" to 21% [00:12:34] BREAKING NEWS: People Also Search For + Dictionary ranking spikes + Knowledge Graph Entity growth….Google's more confident, folks! [00:14:57] Ray: Intense shifts can change because of current events [00:17:57] Words of advice from Ray and Barnard

Covering a lot of (Site)Ground here on the show today with Erin Sparks and Mordy Oberstein. Learning about the carbon emission expense of IndexNow, SiteGround sites being deindexed from a 4-day DNS outage and how machine written content may not be so bad in the future. Bonus on this episode: see Erin lose it when Mordy calls our toll-free number for the podcast. That's conversion optimization, baby! [00:06:11] Will Google use Microsoft's new IndexNow protocol? [00:11:30] A four-day outage at SiteGround is over, but still recovering. But Google dropping indexing in that short of time? [00:18:15] So Google has talked about how machine written content is currently against Google's guidelines, but someday it might not be. [00:23:14] Bonus: Mordy dials our toll-free number and we discover that it is taking faxes…...only faxes. Listen to Erin lose it…..

Mordy missed this episode! Please publicly shame him, if you would! We covered pretty important news - GMB is gone! What's in a name, really. The news is really about the changing way to edit your Google Business listing, and what is going away. More news to check out from Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal today on the EDGE. [00:03:15] Goodbye Google My Business! [00:07:42] Google tells us where we should put our videos for maximum exposure [00:14:25] We've got a new Page Speed Insights version and [00:18:14] Incoming is a Page Experience Update coming to Desktop!

In our second segment of our Victor Zhitomirsky interview, we unpacked the caching and optimization tools available to help speed up your websites. Understanding the part that JavaScript plays in the rendering speed is a must. We dive into difference caching systems and hosting providers, arming you with an incredible set of options to future-proof your site speed. [00:07:12] Caching and Optimization tools for your WordPress site [00:08:30] What to look for in optimization and Javascript delay tools [00:09:17] Branching Javascript loading is the future of the Wordpress ecosystem [00:10:44] Page build platforms: which are the heaviest JavaScript load? [00:14:30] Will speed be a ranking signal in the future? [00:16:12] The new ecosystem of page-builder tools & Google's reward. [00:17:59] If we can't rebuild, what should we be looking for in caching tools? [00:22:11] Caching is not caching anymore [00:25:35] Comparing hosting providers

We go "Meta" on today's episode. Mordy wants to rename our firm's name, Jacob wants to rename Indianapolis, Erin renames Morday, it's all-Meta All-the-time today on the EDGE. Find out our take on Facebook-to-Meta, Google's evaluation on spammy links and domains and, yup - a take on the AMP debacle, yet again. Stories covered from SEL, The Verge and SER today on the EDGE. [00:04:57] What if the meaning of a name, was the meaning of the name? Facebook is now Meta. [00:12:33] Is Google ignoring spammy links? Or not…? [00:21:16] We're re-evaluating usage of AMP- Maybe you should too.

With Core Web Vitals prominent in the SEO community dialogue, we wanted to take a moment to dive deep into understanding the issue. We researched and found a world of caching and optimization tools, and then tripped across and tested one that had somewhat of a contentious discourse in the public square. We reached out to the author of an article crying "FOUL!". Let's learn about the CWV issue and find out about Black Hat Core Web Vitals today on the EDGE. [00:08:04] What is the problem with WordPress sites? [00:11:14] Google has a history of trying to help people recognize the speed problem [00:14:29] The difference between PSI scores and Core Web Vitals [00:18:58] Google understands that the time of the hand-coded websites is finished and we're in the era of bloat [00:23:31] It's simple: You have to make sure that JavaScript is not render-blocking [00:26:19] What about shared hosting applications and platforms? [00:30:48] The new world of caching tools in the battle for speed [00:31:50] Field Data and Lab Data [00:35:34] A New Solution: Nitropack?[00:38:35] Of course your site will be lighter if you remove ALL JavaScript![00:44:13] Nitropack's Response [00:45:53] Be prepared for a penalty from Google, because you're cheating.

It was an all-skate for Google topics this week on the EDGE. The EDGE team covered articles from Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal with a sidebar regarding Shaquille O'Neal's appearance without podium on a Formula 1 race (serious squirrel chasing). Dive into the potential serious connotations of alleged ad throttling from Google related to AMP. Find about this and Mordy's helpful tips on how to pace one's own liquid intake on this episode of the EDGE. [00:04:00] Up and down, up and down- More Volatile search results this year [00:09:51] Quality Rater Guidelines add 5 new important updates [00:24:06] Could there be Corruption and Anti-trust at Google?

Rollin, rollin, rollin...keep that mobile search rolling! Mordy, Jacob and Erin review the biggest news from last week - the Infinite Scroll on Google's mobile search: did we just lose a psychological barrier that kept us in query revision mode? Are long tail phrase optimization strategies going to lose here? Also covered in our episode this week is the low performance of WordPress in Core Web Vitals and Google's podcast knowledge panels discoveries! Yup - we're in there. Have a seat around the campfire and listen in. [00:03:55] WordPress Proposes Team to Improve Core Web Vitals [00:13:16] Podcast knowledge panels go live in Google Search [00:17:38] Google rolling out continuous scroll on mobile

Mordy's back in the second chair to discuss Google's SearchOn event from last week and join Erin in basking in all of the great reveals that Google had in store for us. We cover articles from Search Engine Land and The Verge, deep diving into the challenge that Google has as it tries to move users away from the Ten Blue Links. [00:06:26] MuM's the word at Google's SearchOn event last week [00:17:47] Google search gets larger images, enhances so much. [00:22:33] Google wants to bring a richer, deeper search experience to its users.

George Nguyen of Search Engine Land joined Erin on the show this week to cover the news this week in Mordy's absence. We always love George's take on the digital marketing fronts. This show focused on an article that PPC marketers need to pay very close attention to. Check your match types, everyone, things are changing. [00:03:15] Ad Transparency from Google Ads by way of the "About This Advertiser" page [00:12:08] Google Ads also now preferring phrase match or broad match keywords that are identical to a query [00:20:44] TikTok and Instagram might get indexed by Google News from Search Engine Land [00:28:05] SMX Next: November 20-22nd, 2021 [00:31:12] Search Engine Land Award for Diversity and Inclusion in Search Marketing

Mordy gave the 450 episode his own 450 response code (yes, check out server codes all of you SEO geeks)! He's away on holiday and we brought it to the pre-eminent SEO auditor, Andy Drinkwater to come alone side Erin to discuss the news of the week. We're talking Title tags yet again, but there's much more in this episode. 450 episodes and still going strong! [00:06:14] Google speaks out about recent title changes, it's not nearly as bad as we think it is…. [00:19:45] Are your website redirects a ranking factor? [00:27:02] What should you be aware of for eCommerce websites into next year?

Olga Zarzeczna appears on the EDGE for her second segment as we discuss her recent articles, a list of 52 SEO tools from Google and 79 Best Chrome Extensions for SEO as well as the incredible success she has had with your consultancy, being that her site has only been indexed for a year. This is how you do content, folks! Providing value every step of the way, here on the EDGE. [00:07:28] What spurred you to actually start your own business? [00:09:26] Olga's initial strategy for her site. The uniqueness of her content. [00:16:30] How she's keeping her knowledge sharpened. [00:24:06] Google Tools: Google Search Console Insights [00:25:19] Google Tools: Core Web Vitals [00:31:25] Google Tools: Page Speed Insights and Lighthouse [00:35:05] Google Tools: Google Chrome Dev tools [00:36:47] Google Tools: Data Highlighter [00:38:48] SEO Chrome Extensions: Olga's Best Pics!

Let's regroup. Erin Sparks, Mordy Oberstein and Andrew "Optimisey" Cock-Starkey hold the first EDGE of the Web SCRUM to discuss the growing concern of Google Search dominance and content aggregation overreach. Is Google taking too much of our own content for its uses? Where do we, as content providers, stand when it comes to our goals of visits to our websites as opposed to data purveyors to Google? Is there a Plan "B"? Welcome to the SCRUM! [00:05:48] Perspectives of Google domination [00:09:40] Taking you away from websites and keeping you on the SERP itself. [00:14:28] An old media consumption pattern [00:16:10] Is Google taking too much? [00:19:44] Google Ads eroding away the separation of Ad versus Organic [00:26:35] Are they giving us what we're asking for? [00:29:45] Can Google be replaced?

Olga Zarzeczna appeared on the SEO radar in August of 2020 with an incredible series of contributions to the community. With incredibly crafted posts such as "Technical SEO Audit (188+ Steps)" and "SEO Audit Tools: 65 Tools For SEO auditing" and spending upwards of 40 - 60 hours of meticulous writing, Olga is clearly defining herself as a thought leader in our digital marketing community. Give a listen as we go through her SEO Audit Tools list as Erin tries not to be a SEO Veruca Salt! [00:11:49] The Fail of SEO Auditing: Relying on a Single Tool Too Much [00:16:47] What Factors Kept Some Tools Out of the List? [00:20:19] First Tools: Errors, Warnings and Notice Audit Tools: Screaming Frog and Site Bulb [00:24:16] A Focus on the Semrush SEO Technical Audit Tool [00:25:29] The Requirement of SEO and Site Context When Reading Audit Results [00:28:24] On Crawl [00:29:00] Net Speak [00:30:28] DeepCrawl: The Enterprise-Level SEO Audit Tool [00:32:34] AHRefs Website Analysis Tool: Best Site Monitoring Tool [00:34:20] Check My Links [00:35:12] Link Redirect Trace [00:36:01] Why Javascript Rendering Analysis is So Important as an SEO Audit Tool [00:38:20] Log Analyzer Tools: Why is it so important to focus on the logs? [00:40:30] Volatility Sensors [00:44:37] Great Guidance: How to Start Your SEO Audit Process

Mordy and Erin tear into the topics this week (except for the Google Algorithm changes this weekend...missed that). We even got Mordy to pipe in about Google Ads, great info about impression-only data from your ads. The State of SEO 2021 from Search Engine Journal was The guys cut up again, so dive in today! [00:03:23] Twitter's Communities might be different - and have better context [00:08:37] Historical Query Data without Clicks from Google's Search Terms report [00:15:34] Search Engine Journal's State of SEO 2021 Report

We continue our conversation with Kristina Azarenko, educating people through her SEO Challenge (#SEOChallenge). We break down some of the learning blocks when it comes to SEO and how to navigate your continued education inside of the organization you work for. Improving the value or your own SEO skill sets is just as important as the SEO talent you bring to your company. [00:03:08] The John Mueller tweet that should be heard around the SEO world. SEO audit tools create "Hundreds of Recommendations. Most of these are not going to be relevant to your sites" [00:07:32] Do we need to shield our clients from spam notifications of SEO issues? [00:14:05] Lack of Structure is your enemy. [00:18:17] SEO knowledge structure should be like shelves [00:21:29] How do you keep learning a priority, in an agency or organization [00:27:40] Bringing value to yourself, not just the company you work for.

Carolyn Lyden drops in on the EDGE team to discuss her recent article that has the SEO industry looking at our relationship with Google. We're part of the business model, right? We continue to talk about the Google SERP Title debacle as well as other news items of the week. [00:02:36] GMB posts can actually now appear on third party sites without your knowledge. [00:04:17] Google dropped HTML title tags usage by 77%! Analysis from Mordy of Semrush. [00:11:32] Carolyn Lyden chimes in on her own article. Discussing the Google/SEO relationship.

In this episode, of which the SERP Title is yet to be determined by Google, we have a special guest with us to interpret the hot mess of Title replacements by Google. Lily Ray, Senior Director, SEO & Head of Organic Research at Amsive Digital reviews her recent article, her observations and the SEO climate at hand. This is NEW, folks. And it is an Earthquake. [00:02:55] Holy Jumbled Titles, Batman! What is Google doing?! [00:19:01] Google Search Console has Cross-Language Results [00:20:36] Timestamp Previews and Translated Captions coming to YouTube

With Kristina Azarenko educating people through her SEO Challenge (#SEOChallenge), we thought it would be great to get her and Erin Sparks together to talk about how SEOs can stop chasing perfection. Plus, any of our listeners can use the code EDGE at her course's checkout to receive a special surprise—she didn't pay us to promote; we just love it and want to pass it along. [00:07:54] Starting SEO with the right mindset. [00:00:00] Is there a particular attitude that we should have while performing SEO? [00:16:06] Obsession can be a good thing at times, but "out-of-context" panic on technical SEO issues are harmful [00:16:37] Reactive SEO - Is it worse that FOMO? [00:22:31] Agency SEO starts with communication and a deeper understanding. [00:24:01] Setting SEO priorities.

Prater & Martinez are back! This time around, we talk about brand perception shifts throughout the Pandemic, inclusive marketing and how audiences are way smarter than everyone thinks. [00:07:28] Examples that Joe and JD have seen of permanent brand perception and buying choice of consumers we've experienced through the pandemic [00:14:52] How Big Tech's efforts to flag socially offending accounts have over-reached and harmed legitimate advertisers. [00:16:59] Are Ad platforms too hyper-sensitive? [00:19:00] We will have more inclusive marketing in the future. [00:23:43] Audiences are smart, passionate and the most vocal they have ever been. [00:25:26] You can't please everyone [00:23:43] The world of product marketing and demand generation

In this week's news coverage, Erin Sparks and Mordy Oberstein are keeping an eye on Facebook and Google. Facebook is trying to work user privacy into their ads, ahead of regulatory worries. And, if you want your podcast featured on Google, you need to meet new requirements. [00:05:07] Podcasts featured on Google have new requirements [00:11:33] Pages are dropping and re-appearing in Google's index [00:15:12] Facebook Ads are aiming at user privacy [00:24:30] 500 errors cause Googlebot to crawl less often

Erin and Mordy talk COVID and tech SEO. Proof of vaccination on Yelp, Google's structured data testing tool is gone, potential rumblings of an unmentioned update on the 6th and a new Schema recommendation. There's no slowdown for marketing opportunities or technical SEO in August; try to keep up! [00:03:31] Yelp is Adding Searchable Covid related attributes [00:07:56] Recommendation from Google: Author URLs [00:13:23] Was there an Algorithm Update that Started Friday? Barry thinks it's possible. [00:17:44] The Legacy Structure Data Testing tool is gone

We're joined by two experts in this interview! JD Prater and Joe Martinez join us to discuss relationship-marketing, client fears and the hot, hot topic of data collection. Marketing is changing fast, and it's time we start to unpack what the heck is going on. [00:07:00] What does JD and Joe see evolving in the digital marketing space, taking in consideration the year and a half we have been through with Covid. [00:09:39] Innovation comes from constraint [00:15:08] JD's new gig at Osmos and Joe's new move to run his own shop [00:18:37] Do companies really get the new relationship-marketing strategies? [00:21:52] Client fears on a non-mainstream platform [00:23:36] When the light bulbs go off with a client and a tactic [00:23:36] Any time you can specialize…. [00:26:48] The loss of targeting - privacy laws [00:30:05] The data collection mindset for marketers [00:34:48] Last stop: Google's FLoC. What the FLoC is happening?

Erin Sparks chats with a stateside Mordy Oberstein, co-hosting from his hotel room. From Google Ads Editor, LinkedIn's new acquisition to Wordpress and Universal Search, this week's episode touches topics that affect all marketers—not just SEOs. [00:08:05] New version of Google Ads Editor brings Hotel ads and lead form extensions [00:10:36] LinkedIn expanding their creator tools and Learning platform with new acquisition [00:17:10] Wordpress is still a behemoth in market share [00:28:40] Gary Illyes expands on how Universal Search works

Erin Sparks is back at the mic with Mordy Oberstein to tackle some recent developments in SEO from Google. Today's news update covers the gamut—another unexpected algorithm update, a recommendation for redirects from Illyes and a new feature that tells end users why a page is ranking in their search results. [00:06:54] Google hits us with another spam update [00:12:16] Gary Illyes recommends keeping redirects in place for one year [00:16:20] Google is showing why pages rank to the end user

Mordy Oberstein is joined by the great Barry Schwartz this week as they analyze July's Core Update, a new GoDaddy integration for merchants, and the definition that Google added to job postings. Get your schemas ready! [00:03:43] Glenn Gabe's Rapid-fire Insights on Google's Core Update [00:13:00] New Integration from GoDaddy allows Merchants to show Inventory across Google [00:21:24] New Search Editorial Content Policies for Job Postings are coming soon

Garrett Sussman, Demand Generation Manager at iPullRank, continues his talk with Erin Sparks as they focus in on subject matter knowledge and meeting user, and client, behavioral needs. We explore the signals clients send when they're looking elsewhere, and talk about his experience with Agency Ahead. [00:04:59] Garret's experience in mining subject matter knowledge from clients to flesh out the Buyer's Journey [00:06:50] The changing user behavior and subsequent content needs [00:09:36] Leveraging an event to pivot a hard-headed client's understanding of their consumer's content needs [00:11:07] Areas to avoid for first-time clients doing the User Persona / Buyer's Journey exercise. [00:20:55] How to know when a client starts looking at other agencies [00:23:16] What Garrett learned from his 100 episode podcast run in one year.

In this week's news roundup, Erin Sparks and Mordy Oberstein talk about Clubhouse's partnership with TED, Google's Pandu Nayak's roadmap for MUM and a few important perspectives that Google's John Mueller recently shared. [00:04:10] Clubhouse partners with TED to bring more thought leadership to the platform [00:09:04] The roadmap for MUM [00:19:26] Why some sites rank for unusual keywords [00:27:13] Sometimes SEO isn't the answer

Garrett Sussman, Demand Generation Manager at iPullRank, talks to us about his experience in developing tools to help connect agencies to clients and helps us understand the factors of that success. We also discuss the pitfalls of an Agency/Client relationship and when it is best to walk away. Learning the "Love Language" of your client is always the most important aspect. Listen to Segment 1 of our 2 part interview with Garrett on the EDGE. [00:03:43] 100 podcast episodes in a year! How did Garrett stay sane through that? [00:06:00] Garrett's history - coming from teaching to the start-up culture. [00:09:14] Hiring internal SEOs. The challenges of the industry [00:11:12] The evolving nature of the target: Google. A completely different paradigm. [00:13:58] Supplementing your in-house with agency talent [00:18:24] Experience matters in the Agency/Client relationship. Broken trust is the major pitfall [00:23:14] What are the key breakdowns inside of the agency, client relationship?

On this week's roundup of News from the EDGE, Erin Sparks and Mordy Oberstein discuss Core Updates, recent opinions from Google's John Mueller and the future of SEO work. [00:05:39] Google's July Core Update is rolling out, following a flurry of prior updates throughout June [00:14:57] How long does Mueller think SEO takes for new pages? Loaded question, and "it depends" [00:22:23] Mueller doesn't foresee SEO becoming obsolete, but thinks the day-to-day executions will evolve

We went through the Bill Slawski-looking glass in this second part of our interview with the Gandalf of SEO. SEO strategy starts with knowledge of the entity you are wanting to market for as well as understanding the gaps that can be exploited. Bill provides a continued history of the entity-understanding journey Google is on, with the recent additions of BERT and Google's Multitask Unified Model (MUM) rollout. [00:03:29] Patent author sleuthing [00:05:44] Understanding BERT. It's been around longer than you think. [00:07:58] "You should know a word by the company it keeps" [00:09:49] Understanding Intent [00:10:38] 40% of our language has multiple meetings. [00:11:33] Example of Google's MUM in the Wild [00:12:39] Format of content might be an indicator of entity types [00:16:42] A Search Engine's Job: They're filling either the informational or situational needs of a searcher.

While Erin's away, Mordy Oberstein and Carolyn Lyden take the mic and cover four new developments in the Google ecosystem. We cover Fake News sites, journalist bios, FAQs in snippets and, drum roll, the Core Web Vitals algorithm update! [00:05:44] Study asserts a ton of Google's ad traffic is coming from fake news sites [00:12:14] Google wants to bridge the gap between content and writer [00:17:44] We're going to start seeing fewer FAQ drop downs in snippets [00:21:31] The Page Experience (Core Web Vitals) update is rolling out now!

We speak with one of our favorite minds in search today, Bill Slawski of Go Fish Digital. Bill studies patents the way a librarian studies books. In this interview, we muse about the direction Google is heading and discuss the next evolution of understanding entity relationships. [00:03:59] When Bill got started in patent sleuthing [00:07:27] Tracking the authors of the patents, like authors of good books [00:13:40] Tying it all together: "You shall know a word by the company it keeps" [00:19:20] Tying entities into search can be easier than SEO [00:22:57] The weight and impact of taxonomies and ontologies [00:26:36] The language models that Google is building now [00:28:36] Latent Semantic Indexing is a misnomer