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by Edward Sturm
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- Today10 min
The Fastest Way to Get SEO Results: Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast
E1049: One of the most common SEO mistakes is trying to do too much too fast. In this episode, I break down why rushing SEO usually creates more problems than progress, especially for new websites. Publishing too many pages too early, automating workflows you do not fully understand, doing sloppy outreach, and chasing competitive keywords before building authority all create unnecessary variables that make SEO much harder than it needs to be. I explain why "slow is smooth, smooth is fast" applies directly to SEO and how moving more carefully at the beginning often leads to faster long term growth. Topics covered in this episode: - Why publishing too many pages early can dilute authority - How weak pages create negative SEO signals - Why new websites should target easier keywords first - The relationship between backlinks, authority, and rankings - How internal linking channels authority across a website - Why bad outreach can permanently hurt link building opportunities - Common mistakes people make with AI generated content - Why automation works best after you understand the underlying process - How reducing variables makes SEO easier to troubleshoot - Why taking breaks can improve search intent satisfaction and click through rates - What to cut if your website already has too many low quality pages - A simpler SEO process for new websites trying to get traction I also talk about: - Pogo sticking and why it matters - Information architecture - Keyword targeting mistakes - Scaling SEO the right way - Why many websites make SEO harder than it needs to be 💎 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 Slow Is Smooth Intro 00:56 Rushing Creates Chaos 01:43 Authority Gets Diluted 03:04 Sloppy Content Signals 04:14 Bad Outreach Backfires 06:09 Go Slow To Scale 07:05 Automation After Mastery 07:53 Action Steps Recap 09:54 Wrap The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #linkbuilding #digitalmarketing
- Yesterday12 min
How to Get Backlinks for a Brand New Website (Even With Zero Authority)
E1048: How do you get backlinks when your website is brand new and has almost no authority? We break down a real question from a founder who launched an AI tools directory and is stuck in the classic SEO chicken-and-egg problem: if no one trusts your site yet, why would anyone link to it? We talk through what matters in the early stages of link building, what makes a new site look trustworthy, and practical strategies you can use right away - even if your domain authority is close to zero. This episode covers: - Why most people cannot tell that your site is "new" (unless you make it obvious) - The biggest mistake founders make when asking for backlinks - How to build relationships before you ever ask for a link - How 15 minutes a day on social media can turn into real backlinks - Why following up with journalists is critical (and how to do it properly) - How to use AI to find journalists, develop angles, and write better pitches - What makes a website feel trustworthy enough to link to - How to create linkable assets people actually want to reference - When to use Help A Reporter Out, Source of Sources, Qwoted, and Featured - Why podcasts are an underrated backlink strategy - Why you do not need massive authority to start earning links We also discuss: - Whether you should wait for traction before doing outreach - The difference between chasing domain authority and building relevant referring domains - How to structure your site so publishers feel comfortable linking to you - Why most people fail to build ongoing relationships with journalists - How to control the language around your backlinks If you are building a startup, directory, SaaS, or content site and wondering how to earn your first 10–20 real backlinks, this episode walks through practical strategies that work in the early phase. ⭐️ The Reddit Thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/1qugpbd/how_do_you_earn_backlinks_for_a_brandnew_site/ ⭐️ The AI System to Find Relevant Journalists, Land Coverage, and Earn Ongoing High-Authority Backlinks - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/articles_ai-system-find-journalists-earn-high-authority-backlinks/ 💎 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 Backlink Ideas Kickoff 00:11 The New Site Dilemma 01:10 Look Legit, Not Spam 01:40 Relationship First Outreach 02:24 VA Social Comment Strategy 03:46 Keep Journalists Warm 04:31 Competitor Link Research 06:08 Trust Signals Checklist 07:31 Linkable Assets and Placements 08:28 HARO, Qwoted, Featured, SoS 09:01 Share Functions for Links 09:48 Getting Links Without Assets 10:10 Podcast and Directory Backlinks 10:56 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #linkbuilding #backlinks #searchengineoptimization #seo
- 2 days ago16 min
Google Says GEO Doesn't Exist… Here's What They're Not Telling You
E1047: Google just released official guidance on how to show up in generative AI search features like AI Overviews and AI Mode. And according to them? GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is just SEO. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is just SEO. There's no special LLM optimization playbook. So… are they telling the full truth? I break down Google's official post from Search Central and separate what's accurate from what's incomplete. Some of it is absolutely correct. Some of it shuts down common AI "growth hacks." And one part? It works - even though Google says it doesn't. If you care about showing up in AI search results - Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude - this episode will save you years of distraction. What we cover: - Why SEO is still the foundation of AI search - How retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) actually works in practice - What "query fan-out" means and why it ties AI visibility directly to traditional search rankings - Whether GEO and AEO are actually different from SEO - Why non-commodity content matters more than ever - The real reason most AI content farms spike and then collapse - Why LLMs.txt and "chunking for AI" are mostly unnecessary - What Google says about structured data (schema) and AI - The truth about off-site reputation and mentions - The real SEO signals that matter: relevance, authority, click-through rate, reduced pogo-sticking I also explain: - Why chasing AI shortcuts is usually harder than doing real SEO - How to think about page creation without creating thousands of low-quality variations - When JavaScript SEO becomes a problem - Why page experience still impacts AI visibility - How to approach reviews and reputation the right way The core takeaway: If you build pages that satisfy searchers, reduce bounce-backs to the SERPs, get mentions, and target high-intent queries - you will show up in AI search and get conversions. You don't need special AI markup. You don't need secret GEO frameworks. You don't need to flood the web with AI-generated pages. You need strong fundamentals. ⭐️ Google's post - Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search - https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 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 Google Lying Debate 00:55 SEO Still Matters 01:48 RAG And Query Fanout 03:19 GEO Versus SEO 03:50 Unique Noncommodity Content 06:06 Structure And Media 07:12 Avoid Scaled Content Abuse 08:35 Technical SEO Basics 09:36 AI SEO Myths 11:09 Mentions, Reviews, And Schema 14:06 Final Take 15:53 Wrap Up And Goodbye The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #generativeengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #searchengineoptimization #seo
- 3 days ago8 min
Image SEO Secrets: 241,000 Impressions from Optimizing Alt Text
E1046: Most websites ignore image SEO. They upload files named IMG_9283.jpg. They leave alt text blank. They use stock images with no context. Then they wonder why they are not getting traffic from Google Images or why their pages are underperforming. We break down a short thread from Hridoy Rehman on X where he shared results from optimizing images: - 241,000+ impressions - 7,000+ clicks - 2.9% click-through rate We walk through the exact steps discussed and how you can apply them to your own site. What you will learn: - Why image SEO still matters - How file names affect discoverability - Why compressing images improves performance and SEO - How to write alt text that helps Google understand your images - Why original images often outperform stock photos - Where to place images on a page for stronger contextual relevance - How to use your page content to generate better alt text - Why re-uploading images for specific landing pages can be strategic - How I built a personal "photos" page to influence Google Image results for my name Topics covered in detail: - Renaming images before uploading (and the naming structure I recommend) - Using dashes, subfolders, and URL slugs strategically - Converting and compressing images to WebP - Writing contextual alt text based on full page content - Using screenshots and original visuals instead of generic stock images - Structuring landing pages with images placed near relevant headings and paragraphs If you run: - A home services business - A SaaS company - An agency - An ecommerce brand - A personal brand These tactics apply to you. Image SEO is a simple, overlooked part of search engine optimization that can improve: - Relevance - Page performance - Accessibility - Image search visibility - Overall organic performance ⭐️ Hridoy Rehman post - https://x.com/hridoyreh/status/2053409879055052970 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 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 Why Image SEO Matters 00:44 Rename Image Files 01:05 Compress and Use WebP 01:39 Alt Text That Ranks 01:57 ChatGPT Alt Text Workflow 03:32 Use Original Images 04:32 Place Images Near Text 04:46 Personal Photos SEO Case Study 06:09 Quick Recap and Checklist 07:41 Final Thanks and Sign Off The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #imageseo #seo #digitalmarketing
- 4 days ago1h 24m
Managing 90 SEOs: What Actually Scales (And What Breaks)
E1045: This is what it takes to carry the responsibility of managing 90 SEOs AT THE SAME TIME. I sit down with Travis Tallent, former Managing Director of AI SEO at Brainlabs, where he led a team of 90 SEOs, CROs, digital PR specialists, and content strategists across enterprise clients like Microsoft and GitHub. We break down what scales inside a large SEO organization, what quietly breaks, and what most people get wrong about hiring, systems, and AI. This is not surface-level advice. It's what happens when you grow a team from 15 people to 90 in four and a half years and have to build the infrastructure to support it. What we cover: Leadership and scale - What leading 90 SEOs is really like day to day - The growing pains of scaling from 15 to 90 people - Why process matters more than talent at scale - How to build systems for communication across large teams - Decision rights, hierarchy, and why clarity prevents chaos - How to stop teams from getting in each other's way Hiring and onboarding - The most underrated skill in SEO hires - How to screen for real operators, not surface-level knowledge - The interview question that reveals everything - What a three-month onboarding program actually looks like - Why mock calls and repetition build communication skill - How to design onboarding that produces confident, client-ready SEOs Digital PR and link building - Why traditional outreach often fails at enterprise scale - What actually works in digital PR today - How to build data-driven linkable assets - Personalizing outreach without burning your domain reputation - Creative examples of assets that generate thousands of backlinks - Why brand investment matters more in the AI era CRO and conversion strategy - Why incremental button tests rarely move the needle - When full funnel redesigns drive major revenue gains - Common CRO mistakes that hurt SEO - How poor design damages both traffic and conversions - Why cross-functional alignment between SEO, paid, design, and CRO is critical AI, automation, and hype cycles - The real risks of migrating from .com to .ai - How executives think about AI branding decisions - Why most companies are trying to automate too early - The danger of vibe-coded sites without real strategy - What AI search actually requires to win Enterprise SEO lessons - How to fix cannibalization at scale - Why internal linking and taxonomy are often overlooked - What separates plateauing sites from compounding ones - How to push back on clients using data instead of ego - The metrics that actually matter when you lead a large SEO team This conversation is about ownership, discipline, and long-term thinking. Scaling SEO is not about adding more people. It's about building clarity into hiring, onboarding, communication, and execution. If you're running an agency, managing a marketing team, or building a SaaS company that depends on search, this episode will give you a more realistic view of what scale actually requires. ⭐️ Travis Tallent on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/travistallent/ ⭐️ Out in AI, Travis's LGBTQ+ & ally AI group: https://outinai.com/ ⭐️ Travis's company - Daynova - AI Change Management - https://daynova.ai/ 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 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 Managing 90 SEOs 01:51 Underrated SEO Skills 03:14 Communication Systems 05:31 Mock Calls Training 07:22 Scaling Team Onboarding 11:15 Fastest Way Learn SEO 13:37 First Three SEO Hires 17:23 Digital PR That Works 20:04 Creative Linkable Assets 27:55 Weird SEO Stories 30:42 Com to AI Migration Risks 36:24 Screening SEO Candidates 37:49 SEO Audit Process 41:07 GitHub Content Win 44:46 Preventing Team Mayhem 46:41 CRO Big Wins 48:24 Revamp Funnels Not Buttons 49:46 CRO Mistakes To Avoid 51:48 Design And SEO Alignment 53:28 Clarity Beats Cleverness 55:11 Measuring Team Success 56:25 Systems RACI And Tools 01:00:44 AI Scales Chaos 01:03:50 Pushing Back On Clients 01:05:36 Compounding SEO Investment 01:10:13 Overlooked SEO Tactics 01:11:57 Source SEO For
- 5 days ago10 min
Why Smart SEOs Don't Use the Same Brand Message Everywhere
E1044: Most companies use the exact same brand description everywhere online. Same wording. Same positioning. Same messaging. That is a mistake if you care about SEO. I break down why offsite messaging should evolve based on the keywords you want to rank for, the audience you are speaking to, and the search intent you are targeting. I explain how strategic changes to your marketing blurbs can help strengthen topical authority, improve rankings for bottom-of-funnel keywords, and increase click-through rate from backlinks, podcast appearances, public relations, and other offsite placements. Topics covered: - Why using the same brand message everywhere can hurt SEO growth - How offsite messaging influences rankings - The connection between blurbs, anchor context, and topical authority - How to adapt messaging around new product features and use cases - When exact-match keyword phrasing matters - Why some keywords are easy to rank for and others are not - How to think about link building beyond just getting links - Why the best backlinks also send qualified referral traffic - How audience context should change your messaging strategy - Examples of SEO-focused messaging using a fictional SaaS company - How to use blurbs to support rankings for high-intent keywords - Why partial keyword coverage can still strengthen rankings - How AI features change the way products should position themselves off-site 🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/ 💎 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 Offsite Messaging Matters 00:14 Stop Using One Blurb 00:27 SEO Informs Your Copy 01:34 Meet Fizzle Client 02:02 Targeting High-Intent Keywords 03:16 Rewrite Blurbs For Keywords 04:41 When To Include Keywords 05:44 Match The Audience 06:35 New Features Shift Messaging 07:26 Wrap Up And Next Steps 09:38 Final Outro The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #linkbuilding #publicrelations #seo
- 6 days ago12 min
Schema Doesn't Boost AI Citations (New Ahrefs Study)
E1043: Walking through a brand new study from Ahrefs that tested one of the most repeated claims in SEO: "Add schema to get cited more by AI." The data does not support that claim. Ahrefs tracked 1,885 pages that added JSON-LD schema between August 2025 and March 2026. They matched those pages against nearly 4,000 control pages and measured citation changes across: - Google AI Overviews - Google AI Mode - ChatGPT The result: adding schema did not increase AI citations in any meaningful way. Here's what the study found: - No statistically significant citation growth in Google AI Mode - No statistically significant citation growth in ChatGPT - A small 4.6% DECLINE in AI Overviews citations (real but small, and not clearly attributable to schema) - Four separate statistical tests, all pointing to the same conclusion This matters because for years, SEO advice has claimed that structured data is essential for LLM visibility. The theory sounded logical: machines need machine-readable data, so schema must help AI systems cite your content. But when you isolate the variable and control for authority, content quality, and existing citation levels, the effect disappears. We also discuss: - Why 53% of AI-cited pages have schema (and why that doesn't prove causation) - How correlation misleads SEOs - Why technically sophisticated sites tend to have both schema and strong authority signals - A related experiment showing major AI systems ignore JSON-LD during live retrieval - What actually moves the needle for AI visibility If you're: - Paying an agency for schema to improve AI citations - Offering schema implementation as an AI visibility service - Trying to future-proof your SEO strategy for LLM search This episode is worth your time. If your goal is more AI citations on pages that are already visible, the current data does not support schema as a growth lever. My advice remains simple: Focus on relevance, building authority, internal distribution of that authority, and reducing pogo-sticking. Strong content on authoritative, relevant pages is what gets retrieved and cited. ⭐️ We Tracked 1,885 Pages Adding Schema. AI Citations Barely Moved. - https://ahrefs.com/blog/schema-ai-citations/ 🚀 How to ACTUALLY get shown in LLMs - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/ai-seo-geo-aeo-get-shown-llms-2026/ 💎 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 Breaking Study Shock 00:57 Correlation vs Causation 02:03 Results No Uplift 03:27 AI Overviews Decline 04:29 Methodology Explained 06:09 Four Tests Confirm 07:05 Do LLMs Read Schema? 08:16 Why Cited Pages Use Schema 09:49 Practical Schema Advice 10:55 Focus on Real SEO 11:31 Wrap The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #generativeengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #searchengineoptimization #digitalmarketing
- 1 weeks ago51 min
22 Claude Prompts That Can Rank Any Local Business (Free Stack)
E1042: Breaking down the exact 22 Claude Cowork prompts used by a 40-person SEO agency every day to rank local businesses faster. Sarvesh Shrivastava joins the show! Three months ago, he said he could take almost any local service business to $100,000/month in 90 days using Claude. Now, after refining the system across dozens of clients, he says that was an understatement. This is a walkthrough of the real prompt stack Sarvesh's 40-person agency uses internally, including the outputs, the reasoning behind them, and how business owners can use them without hiring an SEO agency. We cover: - How to build a "huge brain" inside Claude so it stops giving generic SEO advice - The onboarding prompt that feeds Claude everything about your business, competitors, and target keywords - Google Business Profile category audits and how to identify ranking gaps - GBP attribute analysis (wheelchair access, LGBTQ-friendly, service tags, etc.) - Competitor review teardown (velocity, service mentions, response strategy) - Photo audit and posting frequency analysis - Keyword gap audits - Backlink gap analysis using Ahrefs through Claude - Identifying spam links and understanding DR tiers - On-page SEO audits that generate full implementation instructions - Title tag, meta description, and H1 fixes with impact timelines - Page structure recommendations (H1-H3 hierarchy, FAQs, subtopics) - NLP entity coverage analysis - Eight-week Google Business Profile posting plans - Service section optimization for GBP - Google Search Console export and analysis - Fact-checking outputs to reduce hallucinations - Giving Claude controlled access to WordPress and Chrome - Risks, safeguards, and how to prevent mistakes - How prompt refinement evolved over three months - The difference between Claude Cowork and Claude Code - How AI is reducing agency timelines from five months to three We also discuss: - Whether AI can replace an SEO agency - Why experience still matters when interpreting outputs - How to use Claude responsibly with access to email, files, and browser sessions - How Sarvesh uses Claude for YouTube, 𝕏, and content strategy - How he built a 280K+ Instagram account using AI-generated videos - Why eliminating repetitive work improves team performance If you run a local business, work in SEO, or want to understand how agencies are using AI behind the scenes, this is a detailed breakdown of the system. ⭐️ Sarvesh Shrivastava's Claude Cowork prompts - https://alventramarketing.com/claude-prompts/ ⭐️ Sarvesh Shrivastava on 𝕏 - https://x.com/bloggersarvesh ⭐️ Sarvesh Shrivastava on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarvesh-shrivastava-blogger/ ⭐️ Sarvesh Shrivastava on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/marketingwithsarvesh/ ⭐️ Sarvesh Shrivastava on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@bloggersarvesh ⭐️ Sarvesh Shrivastava's agency, Alventra Marketing - https://alventramarketing.com/ 🚀 My AI system for getting local news backlinks - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/articles_ai-system-find-journalists-earn-high-authority-backlinks/ 💎 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 Claude Cowork Hype Check 01:31 Prompt Stack Giveaway 03:02 Build a Business Brain 05:13 Project Setup Walkthrough 07:53 GBP Category Audit 13:48 GBP Attributes Research 18:24 Backlink Gap Analysis 24:22 On Page SEO Audit PDF 27:48 Fixing On Page SEO 28:30 WordPress Implementation Tips 31:03 Prompt Pack Overview 32:13 Competitor Reviews Breakdown 33:16 GBP Posting Plan 33:51 Services And Photos Audit 35:19 Search Console Automation 35:48 Results And Team Impact 37:03 Fact Checking AI Output 39:30 Claude Cowork Vs Code 41:16 Safety And Privacy Concerns 43:03 Personal Workflow Wins 45:13 Social Media With Claude 47:51 AI Instagram Growth Story 50:21 Final Thanks And Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https:/
About The Edward Show
Daily SEO advice, hacks, and interviews with some of the top voices in search engine optimization, as well as sit-downs with many undiscovered talents.
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