The Edward Show

E962: Keyword stuffing in Google Business Profile names is one of the most common - and frustrating - competitive tactics in local search. Claudia Tomina, founder of ReputationArm and a Google Product Expert, joins the show to answer a listener question about what business owners can realistically do when a competitor continues using a spammy business name despite edits, reports, and forum escalation. A listener named Arthur shares his experience dealing with a competitor that repeatedly reverts suggested edits, sees little movement through forum discussions, and appears to gain an advantage from a keyword-stuffed listing. Claudia explains what is actually allowed within Google's guidelines, why these situations are often more difficult to resolve than expected, and when it makes sense to stop fighting the listing and focus on strengthening your own positioning. The discussion also expands into broader Google Business Profile spam tactics, review strategy mistakes, suspension risks, and practical ways to build stronger long-term ranking signals without relying on short-term tactics. Topics covered: - When keyword stuffing is technically allowed due to DBAs and legal business names - Why suggested edits often get reverted and what signals Google looks at - The real effectiveness of the redress form and why escalation in the forum matters - Data from thousands of spam reports and what outcomes are most common - How repeated spam reporting can reduce trust in your own profile - The reality of fighting a single competitor versus a larger brand or franchise network - Common Google Business Profile spam issues business owners misunderstand - Suspension risks tied to false "business does not exist" reports - What documentation helps recover suspended listings faster - The driving directions ranking tactic and why it can hurt long term performance - How review velocity changes can negatively impact rankings - The importance of aligning services, menu items, categories, and reviews - A real example showing how a menu keyword change impacted rankings immediately - Frequent optimization mistakes including incorrect categories and inactive profile management - Why business name and category are still the strongest starting points - Review generation mistakes that trigger filtering or temporary blocks - Risks associated with QR code review campaigns and on-premise review spikes - How Google evaluates engagement before allowing reviews to stick - Practical ways to earn meaningful reviews without creating unnatural patterns Claudia also explains how local rankings are increasingly query-based, why top-layer profile signals matter more than review keywords alone, and how business owners should think about reputation management as part of their overall local search strategy. If you have a question you want answered on a future episode, reach out and it may be featured in an upcoming discussion. ⭐️ Claudia Tomina on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-tomina/ ⭐️ Claudia Tomina on 𝕏 - https://x.com/ClaudiaTomina ⭐️ ReputationArm - https://reputationarm.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 Countering Spammy Google Business Profile Tactics 00:10 Claudia Tomina's Background 00:51 Keyword-Stuffed Business Names That Keep Reverting 01:54 DBAs & Why Google Could Allow Spam 03:07 Redress Form vs Forum Escalation + Success Stats 04:58 When to Stop Fighting 07:24 Common GBP Spam Trends 11:51 Reputation Signals That Rank 15:43 Frequent GBP Mistakes + Quick Wins 17:12 Review Strategy 20:40 Getting More Meaningful Reviews 21:56 Wrap-Up The Edward Show. The #1 search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #localseo #googlebusinessprofile #searchengineoptimization #localmarketing

E961: I sit down with Mark Williams-Cook to break down what actually drives rankings today and what most of the industry gets wrong. We talk about real SEO experiments, insights from Google leaks and exploit data, how large language models affect search, and why brand signals, links, and user behavior matter more than most tactical checklists. Mark shares lessons from more than two decades in SEO, including agency work, affiliate sites, SaaS tools, and running ongoing experiments to test assumptions that are often repeated without evidence. This conversation covers both practical strategy and deeper search engine behavior, including how Google evaluates site quality, how ranking layers work, and why many commonly recommended tasks deliver little impact. Topics covered: - The difference between fast SEO tactics and long-term brand-driven SEO - Why link acquisition still moves rankings and how digital PR creates compounding authority - The concept of site quality score and how branded searches influence eligibility for SERP features - What Google exploit data revealed about ranking stages, query classification, and post-ranking adjustments - Why many SEO activities waste time, including excessive focus on meta descriptions and low-impact technical tasks - The role of user signals and how engagement data influences long-term visibility - AI content realities, including when generative AI helps and when it damages trust and performance - Programmatic SEO - what works, what fails, and how originality affects sustainability - Practical digital PR examples that generated large authority gains and traffic growth - How to approach SEO experiments without falling into confirmation bias - The relationship between backlinks, brand awareness, and search performance in the AI search era - Niche selection, competitive SERPs, and where opportunities still exist today - How Mark uses AI operationally for migrations, content workflows, and reactive PR monitoring - People Also Ask data and how it can be used to map search intent and improve topical coverage We also discuss SEO misconceptions around schema, LLM optimization, click-through rate manipulation, indexing behavior, and how Google's language differs from how SEOs interpret ranking factors. If you care about building durable search visibility rather than chasing short-lived tactics, this episode provides a grounded look at how search actually behaves in practice. And if you enjoyed this, consider subscribing and sharing it with someone working in SEO or growth. ⭐️ Mark Williams-Cook on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/markseo/ ⭐️ Mark Williams-Cook's agency - https://withcandour.co.uk/ ⭐️ AlsoAsked - https://alsoasked.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 Mark Williams-Cook's SEO Origin Story 04:16 Why Mark Runs SEO Experiments 08:21 LLMs, Common Crawl & LLMs.txt 12:32 Meta Descriptions, Enterprise SEO & What Moves the Needle 15:55 Links, PageRank & the Google Exploit 21:03 Site Quality Score Explained 24:22 Link Building That Scales 28:24 First 90/180 Days SEO Plan 37:29 Underrated SEO Signals 46:40 Programmatic SEO Done Right 51:39 How Mark Uses AI in SEO 57:04 AI Content, Accuracy & the 'AI Ick' 01:03:16 Picking Easy vs Hard Niches 01:11:29 Inside the Google Exploit 01:21:34 UX Signals & Core Web Vitals 01:24:57 More Crazy SEO Experiments 01:32:43 AlsoAsked Demo 01:39:00 Wrap-Up The Edward Show. The #1 search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ Edward Sturm on Grokipedia - https://grokipedia.com/page/Edward_Sturm #searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #searchmarketing

Brett Farmiloe, founder of Featured and operator of Help A Reporter Out, demos an AI tool that maps press releases to the right journalists. He shows how the feature searches HARO’s 33,000+ reporter directory, matches by angle and past articles, and surfaces targeted pitch recommendations. The conversation focuses on timing, quality over volume, AI filters journalists use, and practical pitching workflows.

E959: When traffic dips or stalls, should you refresh old content or publish something new? The answer isn't simple - and the SEO community is divided. I walk through real discussions, controversial takes, and practical examples from my own sites, including a case where republishing nearly identical content led to a number one ranking in under two weeks. We cover: - How to use Google Search Console to find keywords already ranking in positions 3-20 - Why optimizing existing content can drive faster gains than publishing new posts - The argument that "freshness" is often misunderstood in SEO - How topical authority affects pages that never ranked - When republishing under a new URL makes sense - Why internal linking structure matters more than total page count - How authority flows through a site - What pogo-sticking is and how it impacts rankings - How to reduce pogo-sticking by satisfying search intent faster - How to improve headings and keyword placement - How to add missing sections based on ranking data - How to improve click-through rate from the SERP - How to strengthen internal links to priority pages - How to improve readability and page experience I also share: - A real example of improving a competitive page over time until it ranked number one - A framework for deciding when to refresh versus when to create new content - How to think about ranking durability over years instead of short-term spikes If you've been publishing consistently but not seeing growth - or if you're unsure whether to update old posts or build new content - this episode gives you a structured way to decide based on data, authority, and search intent. ⭐️ Content refresh vs new content? - https://www.reddit.com/r/bigseo/comments/1qov6gy/content_refresh_vs_new_content/ ⭐️ Please STOP publishing new blog posts. - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO_Digital_Marketing/comments/1i38rcm/please_stop_publishing_new_blog_posts/ ⭐️ Content Refreshes in SEO: How to Double Your Traffic Fast - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/content-refreshes-seo-double-traffic-fast/ ⭐️ Edward Sturm on Grokipedia - https://grokipedia.com/page/Edward_Sturm 💎 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 Refresh vs New Content 00:32 Publish Consistently + Audit Underperformers 00:58 Quick Wins via Search Console 02:34 Query Deserves Freshness 04:01 Republish with a New Slug 05:46 Low-Authority Site Playbook 07:31 Is There a Ranking Ceiling? 09:05 Pogo-Sticking & CTR 10:33 Content Refresh Checklist 11:35 My Rule of Thumb 12:12 Wrap-Up The Edward Show. The #1 search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #contentrefresh #blogseo #seo

Four practical backlink tactics are broken down into bite-sized steps. An often-forgotten image link building trick using stock sites and reverse image search is highlighted. Profile and authority-based links are explored, including a paid dofollow profile option and a topical authority route via journalist quote platforms. A wiki-style reference method with indexing tips is also covered.

David Quaid, an SEO and digital marketing strategist focused on search and AI, returns to break down Bing's AI Performance report and grounding queries. He explains how LLMs generate grounding query fan-outs and why surprising citation spikes happen. Short, tactical talk on spotting grounding-language, when to build new pages, and using this data as a fresh keyword layer for AI visibility.

Charles Floate, an SEO practitioner known for experimentation and controversial 'black hat' perspectives, joins to debate schema and entity signals. The conversation covers Mark Williams-Cook's fake schema test, why LLMs often treat schema as plain HTML text, when sameAs and schema still help traditional search, and practical tactics for reinforcing entities and trust.

Harpreet Singh, SEO consultant and founder of HarpsDigital and SEO Espresso, explains why the “more content” approach is collapsing. He breaks down why high-volume listicles and low-effort AI posts are losing traffic. Conversation covers Shopify’s traffic drop despite massive page growth, signs that AI writing is detectable, when “best” pages still work, and long-term risks of uncontrolled scaling.

A deep dive into a sudden Google ranking shakeup and why informational, top-of-funnel sites are taking the biggest hits. Listens to community reports and real webmaster recoveries to show the patterns. Practical tactics for shifting from traffic-first SEO to conversion-focused keyword plays. Tips on finding overlooked purchase-intent opportunities and building products or affiliate strategies to reduce algorithm risk.

A breakdown of a common SEO title problem that wrecks conversions. How to use a Keyword | Benefit | Brand structure to attract clicks and get Google to keep your titles. Why mismatch between title promises and page copy drives bounces. A quick wins case where adding TL;DR summaries lifted conversions by 33%. Tips for placing benefits above the fold and matching copy to search intent.