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

We are continuing with OlgaTober with the second of three episodes covering our interview with Olga Zarzeczna, one of the top SEO Audit specialists, today. We continued going through the list of top SEO mistakes made by sites that Olga has found over her years of performing audits. Erin and Olga match their notes on some of the most critical, flagrant fouls in the SEO space. We also cover some more controversial “gray hat” issues regarding structured data. But seriously, copying a competitor's structured data? That actually happened? Check it out today on the EDGE! Key Points: [00:03:09] SEO Mistake: Targeting the Same Keywords on All Pages [00:04:46] SEO Mistake: +500K Excluded Pages in GSC [00:06:03] SEO Mistake: Chinese Characters in Search Results [00:06:46] SEO Mistake: Host Issues in the Crawl Stats Report in GSC [00:09:29] SEO Mistake: Pages or Resources that Should Not be Indexed by Google are Indexed [00:10:57] SEO Mistake: No Headings at All [00:12:25] SEO Mistake: Sitemap with HTTP links only [00:13:13] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:13:59] SEO Mistake: Website is Available and Indexable in Two Instances (Staging and Production) [00:16:09] SEO Mistake: Competitor’s Data in Schema [00:16:56] SEO Mistake: All bots Disallowed in Robots.txt [00:18:00] SEO Mistake: SameAs Pointing to Wikipedia [00:21:55] SEO Mistake: Using AI-generated Photos of “Authors” [00:23:50] SEO Mistake: ALT Text Stuffed with Multiple Keywords [00:25:28] SEO Mistake: Three different SEO plugins / Five Different Caching Plugins [00:26:54] SEO Mistake: Lack of Any Contextual Linking Between Blog Posts [00:28:17] SEO Mistake: Important Resources Blocked in Robots.txt Thanks to our sponsors! Site Strategics https://www.sitestrategics.com  Follow Guest https://twitter.com/olgazarzeczna  https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgazarzeczna/  https://www.youtube.com/c/SEOSLY  Olga’s 99+ SEO Mistakes! https://seosly.com/blog/seo-mistakes/

19 Okt 202231min

Andrew Optimisey jumps in to join Erin on the news this week! Andrew shares some of the great speakers from BrightonSEO, which makes us all sizably jealous here in the midwest! We take on articles from Digital Trends, Search Engine Land, and Search Engine Journal. And, of course, the Barry Blast (sounds like a soda, right) from Search Engine Roundtable. Key Segments: [00:06:52] YouTube is adding taggable usernames for everyone! [00:10:07] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:11:05] Google Ad Manager and AdSense will soon support first-party cookies for publishers [00:19:44] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower  [00:20:38] What does Google think about the rise in the use of AI-generated images? Barry Blast (should it be grape?): [00:28:25] Blast 1: Google Tag Adds Tap Coverage Summary, Ads, Analytics & CMS Integration Link [00:30:46] Blast 2: Google Review Guidelines Updated To Disallow Discouraging Negative Or Selectively Solicit Positive Reviews - Link [00:34:17] Blast 3: Google Ads To Update UK Financial Services Policy Update To Crack Down On Fraud - Link [00:38:03] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks Thanks to our sponsors! Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks Page One Power https://edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower  #StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

13 Okt 202241min

Olga Zarzeczna joins the EDGE again to provide some fantastic insight into over a hundred SEO audits she has done. We have some of the top issues that she has seen, and you have it all here in the podcast. Well, not all of them - please check out her full article in the link below. We tackle some of the most important things to get right in this OglaTober episode. Yes, we have 3 episodes with Olga this month of October - might as well name it after her. Dig in deep on the Best SEO Audit Mistakes….today on the EDGE! [00:06:08] SEO Mistake: Low-Value Anchor Text  [00:07:23] SEO Mistake: Homepage Content Invisible to Google [00:09:25] SEO Mistake: Random/unrelated Text in Headings [00:11:08] SEO Mistake: Corrupt And/Or Overly Complicated Structure Of Headings [00:12:25] SEO Mistake: Canonical Links Pointing To Non-Indexable Pages [00:14:23] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower [00:15:18] SEO Mistake: Menu Links Pointing To Staging URLs [00:16:20] SEO Mistake: Horrendous Speed Scores [00:18:02] SEO Mistake: No Text on the Homepage [00:19:04] SEO Mistake: Lorem Ipsum Content on the Live Site [00:20:42] SEO Mistake: Links that Do Not Look Like Links [00:22:29] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:23:06] SEO Mistake: Non-indexable URLs in the XML sitemap [00:24:53] SEO Mistake: The Highly Complex Structure Of The Website [00:27:22] SEO Mistake: No Blog Section [00:28:06] SEO Mistake: No Custom 404 Page Thanks to our sponsors! Page One Power https://edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower Site Strategics https://www.sitestrategics.com  Follow Guest https://twitter.com/olgazarzeczna  https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgazarzeczna/  https://www.youtube.com/c/SEOSLY  Olga’s 99+ SEO Mistakes! https://seosly.com/blog/seo-mistakes/

12 Okt 202232min

There were so many things from the Google Search On event! All the things! And we didn’t cover nearly enough of them from Barry’s article. But Mordy and Erin did dig into plenty of items from Search Engine Land and Search Engine Roundtable this week.   We also realized that we’re getting really old! GetOffMySERP.com   [00:08:15] Form interactions can be measured in GA4 [00:11:26] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:12:50] Brands suspending their Twitter campaigns after finding their ads alongside questionable accounts [00:17:07] Which of these advanced Google search operators did you already know about? [00:24:31] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks   [00:25:41] Fast Track 1: Google Testing Things To Know On Right Search Panel [00:28:15] Fast Track 2: Google Really Wants You To Avoid Changing URLs Just For SEO Reasons [00:31:39] Fast Track 3: All The Google Announcements From Search On 2022 Thanks to our sponsors!   Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks   News Articles This Week: https://searchengineland.com/ga4-now-has-an-enhanced-measurement-option-for-form-interactions-388424 https://searchengineland.com/30-brands-suspend-their-twitter-marketing-campaigns-after-finding-their-ads-next-to-child-pornography-accounts-388359 https://searchengineland.com/advanced-google-search-operators-388355 https://www.seroundtable.com/google-testing-things-to-know-on-right-panel-34169.html https://www.seroundtable.com/google-url-change-seo-34163.html https://www.seroundtable.com/search-on-2022-34164.html   #StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

6 Okt 202243min

Tyler Bain, project manager with Page One Power, joins Erin to create of drinking game with the use of analogies in project management! No, of course not, that would not be responsible of us (see below if you want to play with your team)! Erin and Tyler dig into the usage of “it depends” when working with SEO clients. There’s a lot behind that phrase, and it has a stigma as well. Listen in as we tackle goal communications with clients and the responsibility of project managers to help educate their clients. There are a lot of things depending on SEO success, and it’s our job at the agency level to guide our client's understanding as well as their success! This special episode of the EDGE is where we connect with one of our sponsor’s leadership members. Be sure the check out Page One Power over at edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower. [00:03:04] Tyler Bain: Project Manager at Page One Power [00:06:23] You Have to be Hungry for Knowledge in the SEO Industry [00:07:32] "It Depends": The Bane of Communication in the SEO Industry [00:13:03] “It Depends” Can Actually be used to Build a Partnership with the Client [00:15:35] Communicating and Understanding Goals [00:17:10] Project Goals are Performance Goals As Well [00:20:15] "It Depends" Can Be a Deal Killer [00:23:44] Losing Your Traffic Isn't Necessarily a Bad Thing...It Depends [00:24:51] Your Agency SEO Data Should Be Part of the Conversation [00:32:45] A Level of Trust in Sailing: Best Practices of the Crew Count the Analogy Drinking Game! Did we get them all??? Let us know at @EDGEWebRadio The cherry on Top Plates Spinning Giant Crank Improv Toilet Seat Cover Secret Sauce Magic Wand Pie in the Sky Out on a Limb Live Sports Game White-knuckling  Shelves of the Candy Store Workout Sailing a Ship, Trusting the Crew Painting a Picture Voiceovers to the Voice of the Client Bandoliers

5 Okt 202249min

Mike Blumenthal’s second segment on the EDGE takes us into the realm of the value of image optimization for Local Search. It’s a huge conversion factor for businesses that can be easy wins. Check out the incredible tool, AirCam.ai - a service that gives a breakdown of all of the images your business needs for local visibility. Mike gives us his take on the most recent Google updates and how they may affect local visibility. He also unequivocally lays down his opinion about AI machine learning evaluating human content: Google’s not being accountable for the businesses that are relying on local visibility for revenue. [00:04:35] The HCU: Content Written For People By People Evaluated By AI [00:06:40] The Machine is Getting It Wrong [00:08:40] Is Helpful Content Update Unfair to SMB’s Without Budget? [00:12:37] Will the Updates Affect the Knowledge Graph? [00:14:09] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:15:11] Why are Images So Valuable to Local Search? [00:29:14] Mike’s Pro Tip for Local Optimization: Aimcam.ai Thanks to our sponsors! Site Strategics https://www.sitestrategics.com Follow Mike! https://www.twitter.com/mblumenthal  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mblumenthal/  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQb7CMIgNQz38U6RVcE8rug  Connect: mblumenthal@nearmedia.co

27 Sep 202235min

Dug into Search Engine Land, Tech Crunch and yes, Bloomberg (the first one on deck) this week. Of course, we couldn’t cover the bloody 5th Product Review Update from Google, as we recorded on Monday. Wow - updates are coming inside of weeks now. Can’t really grab ahold of that unless we go to a daily news show! (Please stop the updates, Google, please!) Had great fun, as usual, with Mordy and Jacob. Check out the links and let us know how we’re doing at RateThisPodcast.com/Edge! [00:03:12] Negative reviews can not be changed through incentives to customers [00:06:19] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:07:08] Discord-like Messaging coming to Facebook [00:09:02] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks [00:09:55] Google and Alphabet antitrust suit regarding ad technology will NOT be thrown out… [00:14:15] Fast Track 1: Google Drops Article Too Short & Word Count Section From The Search Console Content Errors [00:16:26] Fast Track 2:Google Promotes Google Lens In Mobile Search [00:18:34] Fast Track 3: Google Tests Two People Also Ask Results In One Question Thanks to our sponsors! Site Strategics https://edgeofthewebradio.com/site Inlinks https://edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks #StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

21 Sep 202224min

Mike Blumenthal, “Professor Maps” of the Local SEO community, catches up with the EDGE after some time to lay out the volatility he’s seen in local search. Mike’s been focused on the Google Business Profile forums and has seen some pretty striking and concerning developments. Witnessing around 200 review take-downs and close to 2,000 business profile suspensions per month, Mike’s a bit concerned to say the least. Where is Google’s accountability and transparency in responding to these issues? There’s no mechanism to challenge the decision on the review take-downs.  The value of Local Search positioning and consumer interaction is unquestionable. But one question does present itself: who’s property is this, yours or Google’s? [00:05:59] So Many Changes in Local SEO - The Last Few Years [00:08:20] Local SEO Volatility: A Recent Timeline [00:09:47] Google Sees Their Future as Local [00:12:16] How Valuable is Google Local Search? Sometimes 95% of Leads [00:14:07] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower [00:17:11] The Consumer is Trained on Google Reflection of your Brand [00:18:09] Hunting in GBP Forums with a Specific Focus [00:21:39] There’s No Support from Google, Once They Nuke a Review [00:22:51] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Site Strategics [00:24:34] Are We Just Going to Just Publish to Google in the Future? [00:25:49] Is This Our Property or Google’s? [00:28:28] Business Suspensions Complaints are 10X  Thanks to our sponsors! Page One Power https://edgeofthewebradio.com/pageonepower  Site Strategics https://www.sitestrategics.com Follow Mike! https://www.twitter.com/mblumenthal  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mblumenthal/  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQb7CMIgNQz38U6RVcE8rug

20 Sep 202233min