Confessions of an SEO®

In this week's episode I found a friend I didn't know I had on the other side of the Atlantic - Tomek Rudzki from Onely and the software they built to monitor when Google stops serving content. I think we're gonna be fast friends! Anyway, I decided the real topic was not WHAT Google did but ask at the fundamental level - is it ethical for them to do what they did to an entire brand eve...

In this episode I'm going to talk about something we need to talk about - no, not the birds and the bees - AI - artificial intelligence. And remember, this is the safe place to discuss all the scary things about SEO, Google and frankly, clients!!!! The impetus for this topic was my attendance at the Agency Fast Track 2024 Virtual conference - it ran from Thursday January 18th - 21st online. We...

Episode 2 - We made an exclusive list!! I couldn't resist talking in this episode about the honor it was given on Semrush's Top 10 SEO Podcasts at the end of 2023. https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-podcasts/ And Confessions is in some great company - Search Off the Record (Google's Search Relation Team), Best SEO Podcast (The Unknown Secrets of Internet Marketing), Search With Candour,...

Season 4!? Time flies. Episode 1 - The inaugural topic on Confessions is about the BEST thing in SEO and the WORST thing in SEO and guess what? It's the same thing. This is my take on the search industry and what I love about it and what causes me concern. I have a text number where you can suggest podcast topics - 737-225-8228 Here's the link to Olga Zarr's podcast - https://podcasts....

Its here. The final episode of 2023 - and in this episode I put a stake in the heart of 2023! LOL! Hope you enjoy it. Warning. I talk about feelings in this one. From all accounts this year was brutal for some and amazing for others. Yet, we're all in this together. At least that's what I think. The title comes from a poem from a long time ago. And yet, it applies today. Here's the lin...

This is the next to last episode in 2023! Paying it forward in SEO. I was inspired by something I read on Facebook. Yeah, FACEBOOK! Here's the link to Olga Zarr's podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/si/podcast/seo-podcast-by-seosly/id1652341332 Some tools I use and recommend: Cora Software ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/confessionscora⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ On page analysis tool - use i...

Hope the new release day is working for you. Today I contemplate what would I advise someone who wants to get into SEO today - and its not as easy a question as you might expect - A little talk about Cora - To take a look at the Cora software that I use in analysis - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/confessionscora⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Also, I talk about a conference I'm doing in January and a...

So in the interest of consistency, the day for NEW Confessions of an SEO is moving to Tuesdays. Work load for the week has gotten more involved and I think making this change will help me kick out 4 episodes a month - December is the test! Hope you enjoy. Substack: https://crawlornocrawl.substack.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For those who read these things - please click below - it's a short link to the C...

Today's episode I share a couple of stories about what I've been up to this past week - and something that developed into a "thing." The Nineveh reference is part of it. Hope you enjoy. P.S. Here's what it looks like - it's already here but this is some background https://crawlornocrawl.substack.com/p/coming-soon ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For those who read these things - please click b...

Regular listeners know that I love movies - but more than that - I love to QUOTE from movies. This one comes from a "Few Good Men" which you can likely easily find it to watch on many streaming options. This past week there was a blip and one that continues in the indexation and likely I will be the only one who will not shut up about it. I'm like that. I also take exception to the n...

I can only say that running a business, developing an indexer, testing that indexer as well as Google’s indexation system and creating all the content used in all that testing does kind of fill up the days - even the weekends. Here's the video I talked about where Jesper Nissen, developer of YACSS cloud stacking software shows how to stack parasite seo properties as backlinks. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For tho...

In this episode I went on a digital journey through the idea of WWJD - What Would John (Mueller) Do if he were to need to earn a living through the success or failure of a website. Is it possible that Google itself may not have anyone on the premise that could rank a local plumber site? Not that I'm knocking them but I wondered IF we could determine what type of domain name - what hosting and...

Note to self - I have some thoughts on launching indexation testing while a core update is supposedly running but now it's over! In today's episode I alas, went on another rant about all the pontificating without data. Not me, though! Here's a link to get Cora SEO Software on your team. Check it out. - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/confessionscora⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For those who read the...

This week is a big week for the indexation research project - TWO YEARS in the books...literally. And yes, we're in an update but for the life of me I can not understand why when I thought the year "2009" my mouth SAID the words 2029! The things that plague you when you're getting back up on the podcast horse after taking almost 2 months off of it. (Hope you missed me. I missed y...

In this episode of Confessions of an SEO, I compare and contract the SEO industry and our challenge when there is no centralized set of guidelines - guard rails for where and how far does our responsibility for our work extend. How do we know what is ethical responsibility to our clients, if we can't tell the difference between indexed and served? If our understanding of the landscape of Googl...

In this episode I am ripping the bandage off of the Helpful Content Update - what is it? what does it do? how do we cope with it when everything we're told by Google is so vague. What is it about this signal that is NOT covered in the core algorithm? How might it be measured? If you're easily offended or too vested in believing surrogates, then I recommend that you avoid this episode. Here...

We're now entering the time of Confessions Mountain edition. As I love this time of year, getting out of the Texas heat and escaping to the mountains of Northwestern Carolina and then later to The Green Mountains of Vermont - success starts to look like retirement - at least to those that don't know me other than on a surface level. If you know me, you know I work and probably won't ev...

This is the next in the series of Confessions of an SEO. After a hiatus I return with a confessions of sorts - what kind of conversation are we having with business owners? While attending the YACSS SEO Conference in Denmark not only was I in a terrific group as a speaker - there was more! We started to talk about the need for there to be more professionalism in the SEO industry. And to start, we...

Last week the discussion focused on Client Expectations and maybe how to approach the divide with grace. This week it's about MY expectations and how to literally bulldoze the issue and "don't forget the cannoli" at the same time. I share the backstory on one of my first owned SEO assets that I leased out to a plumber here in Austin. What did I learn? What did I UN-learn about th...

Returned from the SEO Spring Training 2023 conference. It was great to be away it is even better being back home. In this episode I talk about this week in the serps, some volatility, some browser vulnerabilities and a way to protect our agencies or consultancies and educate a client so well they are choosing to up their budget. This week's ⁠⁠https://www.confessionsofanseo.com/podcast/great-ex...

This week is short. I'm burning the candle at both ends - and there is no doubt that this will be obvious in my voice! What do SEOs do when you put them in a gorgeous place and leave them alone for a few days? I'll tell you. https://www.confessionsofanseo.com/podcast/the-being-and-the-doing-of-SEO-season-3-episode-15/ https://www.pandora.com/podcast/confessions-of-an-seo/the-being-and-the-...

Is it over? We might have to wait a little bit more to be certain that the update roll out and check phase is complete. And we might have clues from the indexation research. I am still amazed at how the details from server logs can inform on the machine aspect of Google. Here's a link to get Cora SEO Software on your team. Check it out. - ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/confessionscora⁠⁠⁠ For those who read...

So last week I said the update was over, and now Google says the update is over. I believe that. In this episode I talk about what I look for and at after an update. And then I turn my attention to what we as professional SEOs can to do support our clients and their businesses and its not doing something just to show we did something. Here's the updated link to the live stream. (I really need...

This week I have a few spoilers - if you don't want this update to end you will be sorely disappointed. And later today I'll be doing a LIVE STREAM Crawl or No Crawl Report with Maria Ysais - Ysais Digital Marketing - Link to the LIVE report, March 24 2023 at 1pm CST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVBTh7YfddQ And developing a new segment - IS THIS A THING? This week there are two - Bank...

This is for those that like to know the nerdy details of google updates and how we can deal with them. https://developers.google.com/search/updates/ranking If you are one of the 5 people who responds - listen to the episode to know WHERE to go to request it - and WHAT to provide. You're gonna like it! Here's a link to get Cora SEO Software on your team. Check it out. - https://bit.ly/confessionsco...