The Edward Show

E1022: Patrick Stox of Ahrefs breaks down what actually matters in SEO right now and what doesn't.
We cover a wide range of topics, from technical SEO and internal linking to AI content, programmatic SEO, and the growing conversation around GEO and large language models. Patrick shares practical insights from working on some of the largest websites in the world and building SEO tools used by thousands of companies.
This conversation focuses on separating signal from noise. There are a lot of tactics being pushed in SEO today that sound convincing but don't move rankings. Patrick explains where people are wasting time and what drives results.
Topics we cover:
- Why many common SEO beliefs are wrong
- Subdomains vs subfolders and why it usually doesn't matter
- The truth about redirects and how much value they pass
- Why SEO is just one part of a larger marketing system
- What "good content" actually means in practice
- When technical SEO matters and when it doesn't
- Super useful Ahrefs features and workflows
- The real role of internal linking and how most sites get it wrong
- How to think about authority beyond domain rating
- Why keyword volume can be misleading and what to look at instead
- How to approach content strategy from scratch
- What small businesses should do to show up in AI systems
- The reality of AI-generated content and when it fails
- Programmatic SEO: what works and what breaks sites
- Why scaling content too fast can backfire
- What causes rankings to drop after initial growth
- The importance of reclaiming lost links and redirects
- When to redirect vs let pages 404
- Why schema and LLM.txt are overhyped
- How SEO tools and audits can lead people in the wrong direction
- What Patrick would do if starting a site from zero
If you work in SEO, content, or growth, this will help you focus on what moves rankings and avoid spending time on things that don't.
⭐️ Patrick Stox on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickstox/
⭐️ Patrick Stox on 𝕏 - https://x.com/patrickstox
⭐️ Use Ahrefs - https://ahrefs.com/
🚀 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 Meet Patrick Stox
00:54 Unpopular SEO Takes
01:49 Redirects Pass Value
02:18 GEO Is Bigger Than SEO
03:16 Small Business GEO Playbook
06:09 Tech SEO Threshold
07:24 Hreflang Costly Mistakes
09:07 Authority And Internal Links
14:57 Competing With Giants
16:56 Word Count And Writing
19:12 IBM Topic Hub Strategy
22:31 Internal Linking Done Right
26:18 SEO Myths And LLMs
27:08 Markdown Versions Debate
31:03 Ahrefs Features And Agent A
33:37 Traffic Potential Over Volume
35:06 Future Of Publishers
39:30 Growing A Site From Zero
41:31 Local PR Links
43:11 Content Planning Workflow
44:36 Smart SEO Automation
50:45 Programmatic SEO Risks
01:01:13 Defining Content Quality
01:06:18 Testing And Iteration
01:10:39 Schema Myths Debunked
01:15:34 Biggest SEO Wins
01:19:13 Killing LLMs.txt Hype
01:22:35 Wrap Up And Where To Follow
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #ahrefs #digitalmarketing

E1021: A simple SEO strategy built around Google's "People Also Ask" questions - and how to turn them into a system for building topical authority, generating consistent traffic, and driving real conversions.
Most marketers either ignore these questions or treat them as an afterthought. This episode shows how to structure them into a scalable content framework that not only ranks, but also feeds authority into your highest-value pages.
The process is straightforward, but the leverage comes from how you connect everything together: question pages, internal links, and bottom-of-funnel landing pages.
What you'll learn:
- How to find real "People Also Ask" questions directly from Google
- Why you should start with a small set of questions instead of scaling too fast
- How to generate clean, concise answers and refine them for your brand voice
- How to structure an FAQ hub and individual question pages for SEO
- Why these pages are easier to rank than traditional content
- How to identify which pages are gaining traction and expand them
- How to use internal linking to pass authority to commercial pages
- What "satisfied clicks" are and why they matter for SEO performance
- How to turn informational traffic into leads using simple calls to action
- Why you still need backlinks to support long-term growth
- How to avoid creating an unnatural authority profile
This strategy is especially useful if you're building a newer site or trying to grow traffic in a competitive niche without relying entirely on backlinks.
If you apply it correctly, you end up with a network of pages that generate their own authority and continuously support your most important pages.
⭐️ E902 - The 5-Minute SEO Hack: Turn 'People Also Ask' Into Instant Topical Authority - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHFrWBzg9c4
⭐️ Find People Also Ask questions - https://alsoasked.com/
⭐️ Turn People Also Ask Questions Into Easy Traffic, Authority, and Sales - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/people-also-ask-seo-traffic-authority-sales/
⭐️ The SEO Colonies Strategy: Turn One Ranking Page Into Dozens - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/seo-colonies-strategy-turn-one-page-into-dozens/
🚀 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 People Also Ask Power
00:37 Collect PAA Questions
01:43 AI Answers Workflow
02:09 Build FAQ Hub Pages
03:35 Get Indexed And Rank
04:20 Funnel Authority To Money Pages
06:29 Colony Linking Strategy
07:53 Backlinks And Balance
08:53 Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #growthhacking #digitalmarketing

E1020: If you're early in your SEO career and feel like you're constantly bouncing between conflicting advice, this episode is for you.
A 22-year-old working at an agency asked a simple but important question:

"What would you do if you had to start over today?"
This episode breaks down a practical, no-theory answer.
Not a perfect plan. Not a motivational speech.

A real approach for someone working full-time, tired after work, and serious about getting better.
What we cover:
- Why most SEO advice feels inconsistent (and why it's not because SEO keeps changing)
- The core principles of SEO that have stayed the same for years
- How to filter good advice from bad without relying on opinions
- Why watching more videos isn't the same as learning
- The fastest way to build real SEO skill (not just knowledge)
- Why "selling with SEO" teaches you faster than anything else
- What to build on the side (SaaS, ecommerce, or services)
- The difference between ranking pages and generating revenue
- Which SEO career path actually leads to stability and higher income
- Why "growth" is the best path if you want to learn everything
Key ideas from the episode:
- SEO fundamentals haven't changed as much as people think
- Most confusion comes from opinions, not constant algorithm shifts
- First principles matter more than tactics
- Experience comes from doing, not consuming content
- Avoid anything that feels clearly spammy
- Focus on keywords, relevance, authority, and user satisfaction
- Real learning happens when money or outcomes are involved
If you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure what to focus on next, this episode is meant to give you direction without overcomplicating things.
Listen, take what's useful, and apply it.
That's where the progress happens.
E908 - Vibe Coding for SEO: Building Rankable Apps, Tools, and Revenue in Minutes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cn03azU0GY
🚀 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 Listener Question Setup
01:00 Wasif Email Read Through
02:41 SEO Basics Still Work
04:42 Avoid Spam And Shortcuts
05:37 Why Experts Disagree
08:16 Learn First Principles
09:51 Six Month Work Plan
12:21 Choose Growth SEO Path
14:26 Final Thoughts
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #marketing

E1019: One of the most uncomfortable truths in SEO: yes, duplicate content can still rank - and in some cases, it can even OUTRANK the original.
I walk through real experiments, what Google actually does when it finds duplicate pages, and why higher authority sites can take your content and win in the search results.
We also cover the common misconception around a "duplicate content penalty," what actually happens instead, and where the real risks come from (including DMCA and quality signals).
Most importantly, I explain what you should do about it - both to protect your own content and to build an SEO strategy that isn't vulnerable to this problem in the first place.
Topics covered:
- How Google handles duplicate content in search results
- Why higher authority pages can outrank the original source
- The difference between duplicate content and a penalty
- What the SERPs hijacking experiments revealed
- Real examples of content being copied and beating the original
- Why Google sometimes takes action after SEO experiments go viral
- The risks of copying content (including DMCA and quality issues)
- How to defend your site from content theft
- The role of canonical tags and internal linking
- Why authorship signals have changed over time
- What "bottom of funnel SEO" is and why it protects you
- How to build authority so your content is harder to outrank
If you've ever worried about someone copying your content, or wondered if duplicate content actually matters, this episode will give you a clear, practical understanding of what's going on and how to approach it.
⭐️ The experiment - https://seosherpa.com/seo-experiments/
⭐️ Does SEO Authorship Matter? - https://victorious.com/blog/google-authorship/
⭐️ How to not get penalized by legitimate duplicate content (not plagiarized)?
 - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1f1y1fd/how_to_not_get_penalised_by_legitimate_duplicate/
⭐️ Google Does Take Action Against Content Scrapers - https://dejanmarketing.com/google-against-content-scrapers/
🚀 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 Duplicate Content Risk
00:40 How Google Chooses Originals
01:37 SERPs Hijack Experiment
03:02 Defending Against Scrapers
03:24 Authorship Signals Today
05:10 Why Copying Backfires
06:02 Duplicate Penalty Myth
08:44 Dejan Update And Reality
09:59 Ethics And DMCA Risks
10:17 Protect Yourself With BOFU SEO
12:02 Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #blackhatseo #digitalmarketing

E1018: An SEO test removed FAQ schema from product listing pages - here's what happened next.
For years, FAQ schema has been treated as a best practice in SEO. It helped pages stand out in search results, increased click-through rates, and was widely adopted across marketing pages.
But after Google reduced the visibility of FAQ rich results in 2023, the question became:
Does FAQ schema still matter at all?
This episode covers a real-world test where FAQ schema was removed from e-commerce pages to measure the impact on organic traffic.
The result: no statistically significant change.
I walk through what this means, how it aligns with Google's own statements, and why this may be one of those SEO tactics that no longer moves the needle.
I also cover how this connects to AI and LLMs, including a well-known test showing that structured data may not work the way many SEOs think it does.
Topics covered:
- What FAQ schema used to do in search results
- Google's 2023 update and the removal of FAQ rich snippets
- The SEO test: removing FAQ schema from product pages
- Why the results showed no impact on organic traffic
- Google's official stance on unused structured data
- Whether FAQ schema helps rankings indirectly
- The "Duck Test" and what it reveals about LLMs and schema
- Why schema may just be treated as normal text by AI systems
- What SEOs should focus on instead (relevance and authority)
Key takeaway:
FAQ schema is no longer a reliable lever for improving SEO performance. It doesn't appear to increase traffic, and in most cases, it isn't even surfaced in search results.
Unless you're a highly authoritative site, consider removing it to simplify your workflows and QA.
If you're trying to grow organic traffic, your time is better spent on things that directly impact rankings and conversions.
⭐️ The test - How does removing FAQ markup on pages with valid schema impact SEO? - https://www.searchpilot.com/resources/case-studies/removing-valid-faq-schema
⭐️ The rise and fall of FAQ schema - and what it means for SEO today - https://searchengineland.com/faq-schema-rise-fall-seo-today-463993
⭐️ What Google says: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/08/howto-faq-changes
⭐️ Do LLMs Actually Use Schema? The Duck Test That Broke SEO - Ep 956 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nTqaG3GKLk
🚀 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 FAQ Schema Hype
00:18 The FAQ Schema Removal Test
01:26 Test Results Explained
02:09 Search Engine Land Take
03:07 LLMs and the Duck Test
04:12 So Does It Matter?
04:43 Google's Official Guidance
05:23 Final SEO Takeaways
06:09 Wrapping
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #technicalseo #searchmarketing