Confessions of an SEO®

Welcome it's an update! Not that we would know it by looking at things. So the curious update and some test results. And I get to introduce you to The Dental Marketing Guy - Justin Morgan. He owns and manages a marketing analyst and Service Firm for Dentists. You can find him by searching for The Dental Marketing Guy or click the link in the description. His sponsorship is to support the SEO testi...

Today is a Special Edition of Confessions of an SEO - It's the ONE YEAR mark of the Indexation Research Project! Yes, that means we have 365 days of data - its not just anecdotal - it's documented now.  I touch on briefly the things the research has brought to light - sometimes confirming what we thought and some times showing us things we were not aware of. Here's the link to the SEO Fight C...

In this episode I vented on some of the frustrations of dealing with clients and those that enable them i.e. customer service - and took a moment to explore the line between emotion and passion. Did I do that? I guess you have to be the judge. If you're interested in Cora and getting in before the upcoming new version with it's new price on the limited time pricing - https://bit.ly/confessionscora...

I've been expecting this for a while. If you're in the SEO world or a keep track of it at least - you know the seo weather tools started whistling the weather turned quickly. I hope in this episode to offer a reasoned alternative explanation for the rough weather - it's not an update. Hope you enjoy it. Interested in supporting this work and the seo testing? Become a Confessions Supporter for $4.9...

Last week I talked about  when you're doing Client SEO, the SEO part is easy, the Client part is the hard thing. This week I talk about obsessing. We obsess about so many things.  Could we as SEOs  learn a few things beyond how to push rankings and get more clients? What about tools that can tell us lies should we know so our clients don't freak? And client, yes, you. There are thin...

Well, when you're doing Client SEO, the SEO part is easy, the Client part is the hard thing.  SO what DOES an SEO Success look like? Is there a better way to prepare clients for what they will be seeing and it's probably not page 1 on week 1. I mentioned this in last week's episode, in Season 1, Episode 2 - " Why I Dislike client SEO Work " I kind of go through what I don't like. In this one,...

Trying a new kind of episode today, it involves a client call to let them know something that could be received in multiple ways. I couldn't record the call but I did a BEFORE and an AFTER with a little Django Reinhardt in the middle. Regular listeners remember the Season 1, Episode 2 - " Why I Dislike client SEO Work "  Find out how it all turned out - did I get sacked off the project? did I...

So I thought I was going to talk about one thing, but it turns out that I was so "hot" about it that I decided to change the topic at the last minute and talk about some fun things. My happy place this week is the Mobile First Indexing Challenge and The Indexation research project.  Looking my crystal ball - I predict soon - likely before our next time together - the weather tools are going t...

Today's episode topic is one submitted by not just a listener but a Confessions Sponsor - Kyle Sabraw. Also a friend and SEO agency owner, Kyle submitted several topics and this is one - How to Know If Your SEO is Working. This went a little longer because well, I have a lot of feelings about this because most of the time you hear this from a business owner and often times it's more of a literal q...

Had a hell and a heaven of a week - it's not easy knowing what is going on in Google and trying to help others. If people don't want to get better, they need to wear a label. I talk about why we need to learn how to develop and adopt an operational definition of what it looks like when a page IS indexed that isn't determined by other peoples tools (OTP) - and that we can do for ourselves. Going to...

When I get into a test, I get INTO a test. This is no exception. I talk about the results from last and the plans moving forward. This is showing me some great information on how indexing and ranking interact between mobile and desktop. I interrupt for some news from the index and then share the first batch of submitted topics for possible summer episodes. These are the Mountain Edition 2022 shows...

I'm shooting the breeze this week - using that SEO Volatility Tool and finding more and more ways to use it and create more opportunities for pages to show up. Also, there's an interesting update on the Mobile First Indexing test - does Google really score our sites based on the mobile version of our sites? Find out in this week's episode if the first round of results was a false signal...or not....

And just like that, it's over. At least I think it is - this episode has 2 parts - the update update and then the latest on the mobile first indexing test I have running. The results are in. Listen to find out. Also, I completely spaced on mentioning where you can get the SEO Volatility Software I went on and on about. Top SEO Factors is where you can find it. Another terrific seo tool from Ted Ku...

We are one week into the latest Google Core Update and I've got some news.  Here's an example of the twitter comment roundup articles that I have my doubts about - https://www.seroundtable.com/google-may-2022-broad-core-update-seo-impact-33512.html Google may have fallen in love with a new bot - I will tell you all about it and why I've had my eye on it. Then I share some updates on the Mobil...

OK, so Google announced a new update this week. I may have seen some things behind the Google woodshed. Plus, announcing a new contest - you provide topics for upcoming Confessions of an SEO podcast. It'll be fun! If your topic is chosen, you get a mention plus a backlink. Heck, even if you just submit a relevant topic, you'll get your name put in my hat and at the end of the summer, if your name...

In this episode I wasn't sure exactly how to talk about the topic - this is also the first episode in a while where I don't mention indexation! It can happen!  This is my effort to describe what I think is a blindspot in our industry and process. When it comes to what ranks it is entirely up to Google and the algo. The problem is often our source and focus. Do we have our eyes on the real pri...

This week I pick up where last week left off on the Google certification courses that are being offered to every US business. AND it even made the news - seo news that it. https://searchengineland.com/google-bad-seo-advice-digital-marketing-certification-course-385064 Turns out. There is a lot of drama in the world of seo about what can and can not be true AND in a course about SEO taught by the p...

This week with the announcement of Google providing certified training and specifically certificates for SEO, I thought it would be fun to check into it - peek into the statements and see what was really going on. I found stuff. It's a little different than it was presented to the SEO community - but interesting, intriguing and intricate. Who knows? I may go for it and become "Serp-Certified." Her...

For this episode, the topic didn't arrive in the usual way. It literally landed in the middle of the night and brought it all together. It might seem obvious now but it wasn't. In this one, the format is me sharing three things I'm doing - first, a project that I hope will turn into a case study for how to break into the mesothelioma niche which we typically think of as impenetrable. Second, the t...

Pardon the Harry Potter reference but it does seem like we will need some magic to deal with client expectations even when we've done our level best to prepare them for the SEO journey. In this episode expect a few stories and a few outbursts of the type reminiscent of Dennis Miller.  In my opinion there is one more place to check for what could be better. Find out what I think it is in this...

Technical difficulties today!!! It's FIXED!!!! Appreciate your patience and without delay - Here's Ted Kubaitis on Confessions!!!!!! You're not going to want to miss the premiere of a new type of Confessions of an SEO. This is called a Confessions Conversation. And my first guest is Ted Kubaitis, the creator of the Cora Suite of SEO Tools, founder of SEO Tool Lab and host of "SEO...

In this episode I talk about new things in the indexation research and then I go into a philosophical discussion about discussions when our test results say one thing and Google "says" another.  Next week will be the first Confessions with a Buddy!!! Going to talk about a potential doom situations for some website holders. The story I share can be discovered on Search Engine Roundtable - http...

In this episode, I share  new insights from the index research project - and a confession on my mesothelioma project - my thoughts of Google as a machine. I’ll be frank, this may be one of those episodes where this may be better for me than it will be for you. If I'm not careful I may go into my “beam me up Scotty” riff - I got involved in a few more projects this past week - which is great....

This past week a relayed message from a consulting client saw me seeing red. And for what? I learned a lot about myself and I hope more of us really take to heart that caring about clients isn't a bad thing. But when we care JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE about ourselves and the way in how we work, it might just be a stronger position. You know it's not a Confessions episode if we don't start off talking...

What do Doc Vader and I have in common? Find out.  After last week's barn burner of an index project reveal on SEO Fight Club, had a few questions, have made a few tweaks and wonder does this project have a future?  The two plugins I mentioned -  Rank Math Plugin - https://bit.ly/rmwplugin   Simple Google Bot - https://bit.ly/googlebotvisit   SEO Fight Club with Ted Kubait...