Backlinks: When to Worry and When to Disavow

E846: David Quaid shares the SEO playbook that delivers consistent results. With more than 26 years of experience leading digital growth, David has helped companies scale to hundreds of millions in revenue through search-driven strategy and technical SEO execution.

In this episode, he explains what works in SEO today - from how PageRank still shapes Google's algorithm to how topical authority, site structure, and internal linking determine visibility. The discussion focuses on building long-term performance through fundamentals, not churn and burn shortcuts.

We cover: - How PageRank still influences modern Google rankings - Building topical authority with clear, structured content - Why "Crawled Not Indexed" occurs and how to address it - The role of internal links and content clusters in SEO - How to align EEAT with real content quality - Practical steps to improve indexing and site visibility

David breaks down how Google interprets authority, what signals matter, and how to create pages that earn and keep rankings. This episode is for marketers, founders, and SEO professionals who want clarity on what drives organic growth in 2025/26 - without the noise or myths that dominate the industry.

If you want to understand how Google evaluates sites, how PageRank and topical authority still work together, and how to structure content that ranks, this conversation is worth your time.

⭐️ David Quaid on 𝕏 - https://x.com/DavidGQuaid ⭐️ David Quaid on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/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 Introduction 00:36 David Quaid Career Highlights and Achievements 02:10 SEO Philosophy and Approach 02:53 Understanding PageRank and Topical Authority 04:32 SEO Playbooks and Strategies 14:29 Republishing Content for Better Rankings 24:40 FAQs and Topical Authority 41:08 Understanding Google's Thin Content Policy 42:05 The Importance of Glossaries in SEO 43:40 AI-Generated Content and SEO 45:09 Google's Click-Through Rate Testing 45:47 Debunking SEO Myths: Bounce Rates and Dwell Times 48:57 The Role of Pogo Sticking in SEO 51:49 Negative SEO and Click-Through Manipulation 01:09:17 Building Topical Authority and Effective Link Building 01:18:02 Introduction to SEO Strategies 01:18:22 Top SEOs and Digital Marketers to Follow 01:19:44 Actionable SEO Hacks and Link Building 01:20:29 Creative SEO Partnerships and Case Studies 01:22:10 The Importance of PageRank and SEO Fundamentals 01:25:21 Challenges and Successes in SEO 01:35:37 SEO Best Practices and Common Mistakes 01:51:45 Concluding Thoughts and Farewell

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#searchengineoptimization #growthmarketing #pagerank #technicalseo