Andrew Cock-Starkey (aka Andrew Optimisey) started to hold small conferences at a local college to help inform some of the local businesses of the best standards for digital marketing and search engine optimization. But that small college was Cambridge and you would not believe who came to speak there. Free pizza and beer didn’t hold a candle to the top-level thought leaders sharing their craft. This is our SEO community and Andrew...

Host Erin Sparks talks to Pedro Dias, Ex-Google and now Head of SEO at Reach PLC, about critical thinking in SEO, his experiences working at Google, and more.

[00:04:18] What Pedro experienced at Google during the first large algorithm changes

[00:20:00] The path of critical SEO thinking compared to how Google is understanding quality.

[00:23:40] What do beginning SEO professionals need to know to start the critical thinking journe...

Host Erin Sparks talks to Pedro Dias, Ex-Google and now Head of SEO at Reach PLC, about how Google views information, what companies should consider holding back and the philosophical challenges of controlling the world’s information.

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[00:05:37] Pedro was in the thick of the first Panda algorithm rollouts with Google in 2011

[00:07:14] Pedro’s take on Google dominance

[00:13:39] Businesses need to do something Google cannot

[00:2...

The SEO News to pay attention to this week includes Google’s ability to deal with long-form questions, the postponement of the Core Web Vitals update, and if FLoC will be blocked by default on nearly half of all websites when it rolls out. 

[00:03:19]

Google Has Problems With Long-Form Question Answering

A new research paper finds that Google still has issues answering nuanced questions that require complex elaboration.

[00:12:...

The face of tech has changed and the pie is getting bigger. We talk about Google’s FLOC and how the scene changes as privacy becomes paramount. Carolyn Lyden, Director of Search Content at Search Engine Land and SMX, also unpacks elitism, the backlash women in tech can face, how you can help, and how the narrative can be reframed to reflect inclusion.

[00:04:13] What is FLoC?

[00:12:48] Does Google get to decide that they're ...

On this week’s episode, we unpack two new updates from Google on their algorithm and Search Console, explore more info on Core Web Vitals and attempt to play nice about that antitrust lawsuit Google’s wrapped up in. 

[00:03:05] Google Announced Product Reviews Algorithm Update

We suspect this update is aimed at all those affiliate links that websites are including in their reviews these days. 

[00:08:00] Google Launches Two Imp...

Ahead of SMX Create (April 13) we have the answer to what narratives are going to be top-of-mind in the SEO community post-pandemic. Carolyn Lyden, Director of Search Content at Search Engine Land and SMX, is on-the-record for dedicating herself towards raising up women and BIPOC business leaders. If a story affects marketers, Search Engine Land is going to tell you about it.

We grabbed the top headlines of the week and complained about a couple of google overreaches, in your host’s humble opinion.  Here what Erin and Mordy took on:

[00:03:24] Company Knowledge Panels Showing Competitors on Google

You can imagine some choice words might be said when a business looks at its Google knowledge panel(s) to see “alternatives” included who are competitors. 

[00:09:23] Expanded FAQs for Google Page Experience...

Ashley Segura, Co-Founder and Operations VP of TopHatSocial, explains how to navigate the challenges of repurposing content in your omnichannel digital strategy. She recommends auditing your content quarterly, explains what you should be looking for and how to use the insights for your next content plan. And if you haven’t started using SlideShare yet, don’t start now.

[00:03:43] What is content reuse in content marketing

[00:04:...

Mordy joins Erin to go through some of the digital news on episode 406. 

[00:03:18] Will the SEMrush IPO Make a Splash?

SEMrush went public last week with an IPO, including a total valuation approaching $2 billion. This is the first major IPO of a company that is laser-focused on SEO, not just digital marketing in general.

[00:06:06] Hotel Property Promotion Ads Now Available Globally

Google has launched its hotel property promotio...

[00:06:13] How content consumption has changed in the last few years.

[00:08:15] This virtual atmosphere is going to be permanent, to a scale.

[00:09:36] Beginning content marketing research and building a repeatable model

[00:12:09] Look at the data first 

[00:13:57] Watch what your competitors are doing

[00:17:36] Does our content marketing get skewed with topics that are trending too much?

[00:21:51] Establishing business goals ...

We had a fantastic time with our 404-page contest, where we had our listeners submit their favorite three 404, Page Cannot Be Found pages from across the ‘net. We had over 90 submissions and found a huge spectrum of functional and entertaining pages to engage audiences that land on a missing page. Our contest winner will get a fantastic podcasting kit that we hand picked for the event. Join our judges Mordy Oberstein, Jason Barnard...

Kevin Indig, SEO Director of Shopify, in his second part of our interview, covers the scientific methodology and mindset necessary for SEO improvements as Google evolves. We discussed in detail the opportunities to test with reversion control and baseline factors to clearly produce SEO results to the C-suite execs. SEOs need to be watching business results, not ranks.  Check out this interview and tell us your thoughts about what w...

Kevin Indig, Director of SEO at Shopify, shares some truly radical concepts towards how SEOs and business stakeholders should understand the ROI of SEO.  Moving away from linear models and departing from transaction-based success goals leads us to understand behavioral modeling.  Micro Conversions map our trail of understanding of how valuable SEO really is now and into the future. 

[00:04:27] Kevin Indig’s history

[00:07:24] Wha...

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Will Google Pass the Cost of Digital Ad Taxes to US Advertisers?
Maryland is the first state to pass a tax on digital advertising. In countries such as the UK, Austria, and Turkey, Google has passed those costs to advertisers. Will it do the same in the US?
[00:14:48]
Search Results are Being Upgraded at Microsoft Bing
The five key Bing features being updated include intuitive highlighting of content, integrated visual s...