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

Cyrus Shepard and Erin Sparks explore why internal linking is so important to SEO, all while backing it up with studies and giving many pro tips for all of you SEOs out there. They also go in deep on AI content tools to share how-to and how not to use them, and why. They also go on a sidebar discussing the “happening in real time” implosion of Twitter and its eventual demise. In addition, the two give important must-knows about structured data and how it can impact your internal linking. Now it’s time to take your inbound link building hat off and put your internal linking hat on for this episode of the EDGE! [00:01:25] Cyrus Shepard & Erin Sparks Discuss Twitter [00:03:23] Internal Link Building  [00:05:36] The Importance of Anchor Text [00:07:18] Helpful Contextual Linking vs Menu Navigation [00:09:22] How Helpful is this Page? [00:11:20] Awareness, Consideration, Decision [00:12:04] Just Getting Started in SEO? Do this. [00:12:43] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:15:12] Named Entity Linking  [00:18:25] Bullish on Structured Data? [00:19:40] Manual Penalties for Structured Data Spam [00:22:40] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Wix [00:23:13] Automated Content Writing [00:27:25] The Artificial Intelligence is Learning [00:29:45] AI Chatbots are a Research Tool [00:31:44] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: SE Ranking [00:33:51] SEO Pro Tip [00:35:58] What Bugs/Excites You About the SEO Industry Right Now? Thanks to our sponsors! Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site   Wix https://edgeofthewebradio.com/wix SE Ranking https://edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower Take the SE Ranking Checklist Challenge! Receive a one-month Business Package subscription for completing this challenge when you go to https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking and send a screenshot of these completed steps: Create a project, add at least 5 keywords. Find 5 competitors via the Competitive Research tool and add them to “My Competitors” section. Run a website audit and show what issue you are going to fix. Do a backlink check and upload your backlinks to the Backlink Monitoring tool. Optimize one page using the Content Marketing tool. One Edge Listener Will Get A Full Year Business Package.  We’ll Announce That On Our Feb 10th Podcast! A $2,500 Value! Follow Guest https://twitter.com/CyrusShepard https://zyppy.com/about/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyrusshepard/ https://moz.com/community/q/user/cyrus-shepard Would love it if you'd give us a rating on ratethispodcast.com/edge!

17 Feb 202339min

Should AI be used for YMYL content? Does CLS have more weight in Google Core Web Vitals? Will Bing’s chatbot steal your clicks? These questions and more are explored by Erin Sparks and guest co-host Mike King on the EDGE! This week’s Barry Blast examines a traveling SEO grifter, ads arriving to Bing’s new ChatGPT SERP interface, and the concerns publishers have with search engine chat interfaces. A big thanks to our new title sponsor of the show, SE Ranking. Check out their exclusive giveaway to the EDGE audience! News from the EDGE: [00:01:30] Today’s Guest Host: Mike King [00:05:46] Should AI be Used for YMYL Content? [00:12:48] Our Title Sponsor: SE Ranking Take the SE Ranking Checklist Challenge!Receive a one-month Pro 1000 subscription for completing this challenge when you go to https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking and send a screenshot of these completed steps: Create a project, add at least 5 keywords; Find 5 competitors via the Competitive Research tool and add them to “My Competitors” section; Run a website audit and show what issue you are going to fix; Do a backlink check and upload your backlinks to the Backlink Monitoring tool; Optimize one page using the Content Marketing tool. Good luck! Deadline for the contest is February 28th. [00:14:54] Does Cls Have More Weight In Google Core Web Vitals? It Depends… [00:20:03] Will Bing’s Chatbot Steal Your Clicks? [00:26:37] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Inlinks Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable: [00:27:42] Barry Blast 1: Reddit: SEO Guy Travels Across Europe To Upload Photos Locally To Facebook – link [00:30:31] Barry Blast 2: Ads In The New Bing Chat Interface – link [00:33:57] Barry Blast 3: Big Publishers Concerned With AI Powered Search From Google & Bing – link   Thanks to our sponsors! SE Ranking https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks   Follow Us: Twitter: @ErinSparks Twitter: @iPullRank Twitter: @TheMann00 Twitter: @EDGEWebRadio   Would love it if you'd give us a rating on ratethispodcast.com/edge!   #StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

15 Feb 202337min

Cyrus Shepard is this week’s guest on episode 568 of EDGE of the Web show. He sits down with Erin Sparks to discuss the changing SERP features, visual search, and the future outlook of SEO. He is an SEO, online marketer, content publisher, speaker, and writer. Cyrus first discovered SEO in 2009, and took a wine business from 500k in sales to 2.5 million in one year. Now let’s discuss why SEOs are Google’s farmers on this episode of the EDGE! [00:00:35] Introducing Cyrus Shepard [00:02:35] Pathway to SEO  [00:06:03] Visual Search [00:08:39] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:09:25] Zero Click Perspective [00:09:57] Google’s Writing Its Own Content [00:11:28] We’re Google’s Farmers and It Wants Our Crop [00:13:50] The Omnichannel Approach [00:17:31] You Gotta Know the SERP [00:18:01] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/wix  [00:18:33] Zero Click Study from Semrush [00:21:28] Google MUM Taking Hold [00:24:07] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking [00:25:47] Any Tools Tracking SERP Features Well?   Thanks to our sponsors! Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site Wix https://edgeofthewebradio.com/wix SE Ranking https://edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower Take the SE Ranking Checklist Challenge!Receive a one-month Business Package subscription for completing this challenge when you go to https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking and send a screenshot of these completed steps: Create a project, add at least 5 keywords; Find 5 competitors via the Competitive Research tool and add them to “My Competitors” section; Run a website audit and show what issue you are going to fix; Do a backlink check and upload your backlinks to the Backlink Monitoring tool; Optimize one page using the Content Marketing tool. One Edge Listener Will Get A Full Year Business Package. We’ll Announce That On Our Feb 10th Podcast! A $2,500 Value! Follow Guest https://twitter.com/CyrusShepard https://zyppy.com/about/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyrusshepard/ https://moz.com/community/q/user/cyrus-shepard Would love it if you'd give us a rating on ratethispodcast.com/edge!

10 Feb 202330min

GA 4 is coming, and Google says it will implement it for you. Do you want to be verified on Twitter? That’ll be $1000 per month. . . maybe? Is Google going after ChatGPT? Lastly, a judge just used ChatGPT to help him write his ruling. OMG! Great articles from Search Engine Land, The Information & Vice. And, of course, Search Engine Roundtable. Erin Sparks and Mordy Oberstein tackle these trending topics and many more on the 567th edition of EDGE of the Web! News from the EDGE: [00:05:25] Make the switch to GA4, or Google will do it for you [00:11:19] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks [00:12:35] Twitter Considers Charging Brands $1000 Per Month to Stay Verified [00:20:47] Sundar Pichai confirms Google is working on AI search feature users can “engage directly with” [00:023:33] A Judge Just Used ChatGPT to Make a Court Decision [00:30:04] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor:  https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking  Take the SE Ranking Checklist Challenge!Receive a one-month Pro 1000 subscription for completing this challenge when you go to https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking and send a screenshot of these completed steps: Create a project, add at least 5 keywords; Find 5 competitors via the Competitive Research tool and add them to “My Competitors” section; Run a website audit and show what issue you are going to fix; Do a backlink check and upload your backlinks to the Backlink Monitoring tool; Optimize one page using the Content Marketing tool. One Edge Listener Will Get A Full Year Business Package. We’ll Announce That On Our Feb 10th Podcast! A $2,500 Value! Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable: [00:33:28] Barry Blast 1: Google Does Major Refresh Of The Canonicalization Help Documentation [00:35:57] Barry Blast 2: Google Local Review Filters Removed Many Legit Reviews, Google Restoring Reviews [00:39:30] Barry Blast 3: Google Testing Apprentice Bard: Google's Answer To OpenAI's ChatGPT? Thanks to our sponsors! SE Ranking https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking  Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks Follow Us: Twitter: @ErinSparks Twitter: @MordyOberstein Twitter: @TheMann00 Twitter: @EDGEWebRadio #StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

8 Feb 202347min

Mordy grabs the captain’s seat as Erin’s stuck in a trailer in the garage with COVID. Wow - listen to these guys. They just wander around the news while Erin’s away and offer up Ring Dings to everyone (by the way - call Mordy on that). Then we catch Mordy at the end imitating Ron Burgundy and James Lipton. What’s going on here? Seriously? Okay - articles from Search Engine Land, Search Engine Roundtable and Kevin Indig. Digging their own holes deeper - Jacob and Mordy give their take on the news this week! News from the EDGE: [00:04:04] Nearly Two Thousand Ranking Factors Revealed In Recent Yandex Leak [00:13:13] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks Take the SE Ranking Checklist Challenge!Receive a one-month Pro 1000 subscription for completing this challenge when you go to https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking and send a screenshot of these completed steps: Create a project, add at least 5 keywords; Find 5 competitors via the Competitive Research tool and add them to “My Competitors” section; Run a website audit and show what issue you are going to fix; Do a backlink check and upload your backlinks to the Backlink Monitoring tool; Optimize one page using the Content Marketing tool. [00:14:05] Google Is Getting Sued By The Us Government Again- Could Be A Dismantling Of The Ad Division [00:17:53] Sometimes Cannibalizing Your Own Product Can Be A Good Thing?! [00:28:02] Our Title Sponsor: SE Ranking Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable: [00:32:09] Barry Blast 1: Poll: Most SEOs Won't Recommend Using AI To Write Content - Link [00:34:39] Barry Blast 2: Poll: AI-Generated YMYL Content Trusted Less By SEOs - Link [00:40:03] Barry Blast 3: Report: Dealerships Can List Auto Inventory On Google Business Profiles - Link Thanks to our Sponsors! SE Ranking https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks Follow Us: Twitter: @ErinSparks Twitter: @MordyOberstein Twitter: @TheMann00 Twitter: @EDGEWebRadio   #StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

2 Feb 202343min

Erin Sparks and Mark Williams-Cook explore featured snippets and People Also Ask (PAA) features from Google. They dig into the benefits and how SEOs can take advantage of them. They somehow found a way to bake bread with Google, too. Mark helped spearhead the development of one of Erin’s favorite SEO/content tools, AlsoAsked.com. His software collects PAAs from Google and allows users to use the data in a variety of ways, from creating long-form content to writing higher-converting PPC ads. Come join the party and help bake bread with Google… on the EDGE! Key Segments [00:02:24] Reintroducing Mark Williams-Cook  [00:04:06] What is People Also Ask (PAA)? [00:06:54] Intent: Information or Transaction? [00:09:10] Baking Bread with Google [00:13:33] It's Okay to Answer the Same Question Twice on Two Different Pages [00:15:09] Answer the Public [00:16:40] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:17:58] Google’s Content Extrapolation  [00:19:22] Hiking a Mountain with MUM [00:21:55] Salesy Laundry PAA Gap [00:26:26] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Wix [00:27:00] A Featured Snippet Strategy for SEO  [00:29:13] The UK Government and the Clown Circus [00:30:02] AlsoAsked.com is One of our Favorite Tools [00:40:06] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: SE Ranking  [00:41:43] Mark: We’re Polarized in SEO Right Now Please Visit our Sponsors! Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site  Wix: https://edgeofthewebradio.com/wix  SE Ranking https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking Take the SE Ranking Checklist Challenge!Receive a one-month Business Package subscription for completing this challenge when you go to https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking and send a screenshot of these completed steps: Create a project, add at least 5 keywords; Find 5 competitors via the Competitive Research tool and add them to “My Competitors” section; Run a website audit and show what issue you are going to fix; Do a backlink check and upload your backlinks to the Backlink Monitoring tool; Optimize one page using the Content Marketing tool. One Edge Listener Will Get A Full Year Business Package. We’ll Announce That On Our Feb 10th Podcast! A $2,500 Value! Follow Our Guest https://www.twitter.com/thetafferboy  https://www.linkedin.com/in/markseo/  Check out >>> https://alsoasked.com

27 Jan 202346min

Mark Williams-Cook and Erin Sparks have a deep conversation about the current transition happening for SEOs – moving from keyword search volume to intent volume. They opine on zero-volume keywords, PAAs, and Knowledge Graph optimization. He shares his experiences doing SEO for nearly 20 years and delves into some of his recent experiments around PAAs, content scraping, and AI-written content. Mark says that in the future, today’s Google will be like crawling around the floor of a library looking for that one book. Intent of Search is the new paradigm… on the EDGE! Key Segments [00:02:48] Introducing Mark Williams-Cook  [00:09:21] What are Zero-Volume Keywords? [00:11:32] Intent Volume vs. Search Volume [00:12:58] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:15:12] People Also Ask and Intent Proximity [00:18:00] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: SE Ranking [00:19:41] Knowledge Graph Optimization [00:23:06] Strategies Toward Optimization of Knowledge Not Volume [00:24:01] Google says Links Won’t be as Important in the Future [00:26:33] The Helpful Content Evolution [00:27:28] Mark's Tests: Scraped vs A.I. Content [00:29:54] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Wix [00:32:28] Crawling Around the Floor Looking for a Book in the Library Please Visit our Sponsors! Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site  SE Ranking https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking Wix: https://edgeofthewebradio.com/wix  Take the SE Ranking Checklist Challenge!Receive a one-month Business Package subscription for completing this challenge when you go to https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking and send a screenshot of these completed steps: Create a project, add at least 5 keywords; Find 5 competitors via the Competitive Research tool and add them to “My Competitors” section; Run a website audit and show what issue you are going to fix; Do a backlink check and upload your backlinks to the Backlink Monitoring tool; Optimize one page using the Content Marketing tool. One Edge Listener Will Get A Full Year Business Package. We’ll Announce That On Our Feb 10th Podcast! A $2,500 Value! Would love it if you'd give us a rating on ratethispodcast.com/edge! Follow Our Guest https://www.twitter.com/thetafferboy  https://www.linkedin.com/in/markseo/  Check out >>> https://alsoasked.com

20 Jan 202336min

Brands are admitting publicly to using AI to write their content – How do you think Google responded? Erin and Mordy take a deep dive down the rabbit hole of Search Engine Land and explore ChatGPT, AI content creation and how the indentation of a link in the SERP may impact your organic traffic. The duo asks the tough questions like, “Is ChatGPT coming for your job?” This week’s Barry Blast confirms the completed rollout of Google’s Helpful Content and Link Spam updates, that linking to multiple products in a review may give the page a SERP boost, and Google admits it is challenging to write an SEO case study. A big thanks to our new title sponsor of the show, SE Ranking. Check out their exclusive giveaway to the EDGE audience! News from the EDGE: [00:05:18] Are indented search results helping or hurting your business? [00:11:52] New Title Sponsor: SE Ranking Take the SE Ranking Checklist Challenge!Receive a one-month Pro 1000 subscription for completing this challenge when you go to https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking and send a screenshot of these completed steps: Create a project, add at least 5 keywords; Find 5 competitors via the Competitive Research tool and add them to “My Competitors” section; Run a website audit and show what issue you are going to fix; Do a backlink check and upload your backlinks to the Backlink Monitoring tool; Optimize one page using the Content Marketing tool. One Edge Listener Will Get A Full Year Business Package. We’ll Announce That On Our Feb 10th Podcast! A $2,500 Value! [00:14:08] More and more brands are using AI to write their content. . . And Google responds. [00:23:11] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks [00:24:23] OpenAI likely to get a $10b investment from Microsoft [00:26:54] Will you lose your job to ChatGPT? [00:32:50] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/site Barry Blast from Search Engine Roundtable: [00:33:31] Barry Blast 1: Google’s Helpful Content and Link Spam updates are finished rolling out  [00:34:36] Barry Blast 2: According to Google, writing SEO case studies can be challenging [00:36:00] Barry Blast 3: Google says that linking to multiple sellers in product reviews might give a small ranking boost Thanks to our sponsors! SE Ranking https://edgeofthewebradio.com/seranking Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site Follow Us: Twitter: @ErinSparks Twitter: @MordyOberstein Twitter: @TheMann00 Twitter: @EDGEWebRadio #StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

18 Jan 202340min