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

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 promotion ads initiative to help users see these ads when searching hotels without knowing which one they might want. Google will make them geo-sensitive for relevancy. [00:12:07] Zero-Click Google Searches Increased Sharply in 2020 During 2020 fully 64.82% of Google searches ended without any click through to a web property. Back in August 2019 that figure was more like 50%. And the 2020 figure is probably an undercount. Man, Mordy went long on this….

[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 in content marketing [00:24:36] How do you measure trust?

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, JR Oakes, Lily Ray and our host Erin Sparks as we go over the top ten finalists and reveal the winner of the first and only 404 Awards Show for our 404th episode!

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 we covered. [00:04:04] When Kevin witnessed changes in Google, now understood as user-intent[00:07:21] Using SERP features for queries to understand user intent to a better degree[00:09:51] Google's changing understanding of topics. [00:13:34] Are the days of the SEO checklist gone?[00:15:29] Committing to the scientific method. Yup, it hurts.[00:19:11] Testing methodologies for SEO[00:27:01] Weeding out toxic SEOs and SEO agencies

Mordy joins Erin to go through some of the digital news on episode 402. We have a special Twitter contest for the best 404 page for our upcoming 404 episode. It was either that or have an episode you just wouldn't be able to find, right? Get it? [00:04:51] YouTube Creators Outside the US: Tax Withholding Coming from Google? Google is going to be required to withhold taxes for non-US YouTube creators who earn money from US citizens viewing their videos. [00:09:01]Local Estimated Prices Near You Feature Being Tested by Google In an effort to help users find local pricing information for specific kinds of searching, such as a roof repair job, water heater installation, and so on. [00:16:20] Search Equity: Will Google Get On Board? It looks like Google is finally democratizing the SERP to help ensure the average business owner can compete in search rankings even lacking SEO expertise or huge resources to put into it. [00:26:25] Our Twitter Contest announcement for our next episode 404!

Kevin Indig, Director of SEO at Shopify, discusses the ROI of SEO and the concept of micro conversions. They explore the responsibilities of a Director of SEO, the challenges of predicting ROI in SEO, and the need for CEOs to be adaptable in 2021. They also discuss setting up measuring the true SEO ROI and the modern understanding of SEO.

[00:06:07] 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 search, expandable carousels, infographic-like SERPs, and richer results for local queries. [00:21:44] Why Did My Site's Rich Results Disappear? If a website suddenly loses its rich results on the Google SERP, John Mueller says it might indicate a site-wide quality issue serious enough to make Google not trust the site anymore. [00:27:42] Bonus Article; Google brings Full Coverage news to search results by Barry Schwartz

Craig Campbell visited the EDGE team to share some key understandings around Personal Blog Networks for inbound link building. He also shared his many tips for "website flipping": finding old domains, making them sparkle and building the value of the site for sale. Entrepreneurship is the name of the game here today on the EDGE. [00:02:35] Is there Black Hat & White Hat SEO anymore? [00:09:26] What are PBNs? [00:14:19] How tough is SEO now? [00:17:43] How does the process of buying websites work? [00:22:55] How tough is it to scale? [00:26:09] Where can you buy websites?

Craig Campbell, long time SEO, gives us a deep and dark look into the running of an agency and how it can affect you. There are stresses and challenges there that are not for the faint of heart. Is running a digital agency worth it in the long run, especially if it harms your health? Frank candor is the coin of the realm and Erin and Craig share some common ground on this episode. [00:08:08] How Craig got into the consultancy space [00:12:22] Employees that leave and compete with you [00:14:41] When is enough, enough? [00:21:17] What do you recommend, pivot from entrepreneur agency ownership to individual consultancy [00:27:58] Know your stuff, or you'll get laughed off the park [00:30:12] Don't Drink and SEO - a PSA