Panda, Penguin and the 2012 wipeout

E891: One of the wildest SEO journeys you'll ever hear. Tryggvi Rafn went from running a portfolio of sites that were absolutely crushing it… to waking up one morning and seeing every single one wiped out by Google. From there, he rebuilt, reinvented, and eventually scaled 1,000+ profitable sites across multiple industries.

We break down the real truths about SEO that no one talks about - what actually moves revenue, why most AI SEO is doomed, how link building really works going into 2026, and the exact strategies he uses with his e-commerce clients today.

If you care about SEO, AI content, link building, or building real online businesses, this is a must-listen.

You'll hear: - The morning Google wiped out his entire income - Panda, Penguin, and how those updates mirror what's happening right now - Why AI spam and auto-posting will get sites clapped - Buyer-intent SEO vs. topical authority nonsense - The truth about scaling pages (and how many you can publish at once) - The link building shortcuts that kill sites - Parasite SEO, Reddit domination, and modern tiered linking - Why most agencies drive traffic that never converts - How to build an e-commerce SEO system that prints revenue for years - The future of SEO with AI - what's real and what's hype

If you run an e-commerce brand or do SEO, don't miss this one.

⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on 𝕏 - https://x.com/ecomtryggvi ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tryggvi-rafn/ ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Ecomtryggvi ⭐️ Tryggvi Rafn's agency - https://www.nordicamarketing.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 The 2012 SEO Apocalypse: Losing Everything Overnight 00:37 Early SEO Tactics: Niche Sites and Keyword Stuffing 03:04 The Rise and Fall of Spun Content and Link Networks 04:37 The Impact of Google's Panda and Penguin Updates 09:07 The Shift to Quality Content and User Engagement 10:53 Modern SEO Challenges: AI Content and Link Building 14:25 Building Effective SEO Strategies for E-commerce 18:37 The Importance of Context and Brand Story in SEO 28:09 Common SEO Mistakes and How to Avoid Them 32:01 Scaling SEO with Domain Authority 32:24 Programmatic SEO: Launch Strategies 33:42 Content Velocity and Quality 35:14 Effective Keyword Clustering 39:24 Natural vs. Unnatural SEO Practices 41:59 Link Building: Do's and Don'ts 49:51 The Future of AI in SEO and Marketing 01:02:18 Concluding Thoughts and Future Plans

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

#searchengineoptimization #generativeengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #digitalmarketing