The Edward Show

1113: Five websites once dominated Google search, bringing in millions and millions of clicks every month. Then their rankings collapsed.
We break down five major SEO declines from the last few years, explain what caused them, and show why one site was able to recover while the others continued to struggle.
These examples cover some of the most common SEO mistakes companies are still making today, including scaled AI content, aggressive self-promotion in top-of-funnel content, weak search intent alignment, topical overreach, poor user experience, and an overdependence on informational traffic.
You'll learn what happened to:
- AInvest
- WPBeginner
- ClickUp
- HubSpot
- HouseFresh
AInvest scaled AI-generated finance content and briefly grew from roughly 270,000 monthly Google clicks to 9.5 million. After Google's spam updates, that traffic fell to fewer than 8,000 monthly clicks.
WPBeginner went from being one of the largest WordPress resource sites to losing nearly all of its organic search visibility. Its decline shows what can happen when informational content becomes overloaded with promotion, slow introductions, thin answers, and poor user experience.
ClickUp's blog fell from approximately 1.19 million monthly organic visitors to around 28,000. Many of its pages were built around ClickUp's conversion funnel rather than the searcher's actual intent. When rankings started falling, the company added thousands of additional templated pages instead of addressing the underlying problems.
HubSpot lost millions of monthly Google clicks after publishing across too many unrelated topics. Its content ranked for searches involving career advice, quotes, emojis, technical instructions, business ideas, and other subjects far outside its core expertise. HubSpot survived because its business was not dependent on blog traffic alone.
HouseFresh is the recovery story.
After being hit by Google's helpful content update, HouseFresh fell from around 50,000 monthly clicks to approximately 1,000. Instead of abandoning the site, the team continued improving its reviews, navigation, design, brand visibility, and presence outside Google.
HouseFresh later recovered to approximately 275,000 monthly clicks, more than five times its traffic before the original decline.
You'll learn:
- Why scaled AI content can create serious long-term SEO risks
- Why search intent matters more than publishing volume
- How excessive self-promotion can weaken informational content
- Why adding more pages may make an SEO decline worse
- How topical authority affects rankings
- Why high traffic does not always lead to revenue
- How branded search, direct traffic, referrals, and other channels reduce dependence on Google
- Why product pages and commercial pages can be more resilient than broad informational content
- What HouseFresh did differently after losing nearly all of its traffic
- Which SEO practices companies should avoid moving forward
The main lessons:
- Match the searcher's intent
- Do not scale low-value AI pages
- Do not publish content simply to increase page count
- Stay within subjects where your business has real expertise
- Avoid forcing product promotion into informational articles
- Give people useful answers quickly
- Build branded search and direct traffic
- Earn backlinks that also generate referral and direct traffic
- Create useful commercial pages for searches with buying intent
- Continue improving the site when rankings decline
- Do not use Google as your only source of customers
⭐️ Google's War on Scaled AI Content: The Rise and Fall of AInvest - Ep 803 - https://youtu.be/RpgOKUO_SyI 
⭐️ Google Took WPBeginner From 2.6M Clicks to 27K - Here's Why - Ep 1082 - https://youtu.be/pUBiXeLrxf4 
⭐️ From 1.19M to 28K: ClickUp's SEO Collapse (And What It Teaches Us) - Ep 1038 - https://youtu.be/SDsxGF3KTcc 
⭐️ Writeup - HubSpot SEO collapse - https://thestacc.com/blog/hubspot-traffic-drop-analysis/ 
⭐️ Why HubSpot Lost 20M Clicks (and How They Plan to Recover) - Ep 820 - https://youtu.be/AqjXoBv-7nA 
⭐️ From 1,000 to 200,000 Clicks: The INSANE SEO Comeback of HouseFresh.com - Ep 832 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QewNJ2AgQxM 
💎 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 Biggest SEO Collapses
00:38 First Crash
02:51 Second Downfall
04:57 Third Decimation
07:13 Fourth Overreach and Destruction
10:14 Why It Survived
12:41 The Major Comeback
14:42 SEO Lessons Recap
15:22 Wrapping
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ 
#searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #seopodcast

E1112: Medium is ranking strongly in Google again, and brands are using it to publish keyword-focused content, earn fast rankings, and appear in AI-generated search results.
I explain why Medium has returned as a useful parasite SEO platform, how companies are using it alongside LinkedIn and other social platforms, and what can go wrong when the strategy becomes too promotional.
You'll learn:
- What parasite SEO means and why high-authority platforms can rank quickly
- Why Medium's organic traffic and top-three keyword rankings have increased
- How Medium articles can rank within days of publication
- Why Medium content can also appear in AI Overviews and AI search tools
- How to optimize a Medium article's page title, URL slug, H1, meta description, opening sentence, and image alt text
- Why LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and X can support similar strategies
- How brands are creating separate author profiles and consultant-style identities to promote products
- Why some companies hire employees specifically to publish Medium and social content
- How brands balance general niche content with posts targeting commercial keywords
- Why publishing frequency and cross-platform distribution matter
- How Medium articles are repeatedly shared through social accounts using keyword-focused language
- Why this strategy works better in industries where customers are less familiar with SEO tactics
- Why excessive links and one-sided recommendations can make content look promotional
- How poor content can cause searchers to return to Google and choose another result
- Why Google can reduce visibility across an entire author profile
- Why brands should not depend on one third-party platform for long-term rankings
- What past platforms such as Yahoo Answers can teach us about temporary search visibility
- Why Medium may rank well today but lose visibility after a future algorithm change
Medium currently benefits from Google's preference for useful user-generated content, but that does not make every tactic safe or sustainable. The strongest content still needs to satisfy the searcher, answer the query clearly, and avoid misleading claims or undisclosed promotion.
This episode covers what brands are doing, not what every company should copy. The more aggressive versions of this strategy can create legal, reputational, and search-related risks.
💎 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 Medium Parasite SEO Returns
00:18 What Parasite SEO Means
00:45 Medium Traffic Surge Stats
01:30 Why Medium Ranks Fast
02:53 Tim Soulo Medium Playbook
04:05 Brands Running Stealth Parasite SEO
05:16 Posting Cadence Across Platforms
07:28 Why It Works and Where
08:58 Biggest Risks and Penalties
09:57 Platforms Change Over Time
10:50 Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ 
#parasiteseo #searchengineoptimization #seo #blackhatseo

E1111: Red Bull ranks for far more than energy drink keywords.
It ranks for searches related to GTA V cheat codes, skateboarding, Formula 1, surfing, motocross, breakdancing, athletes, and many other topics across sports, gaming, and entertainment.
I break down how Red Bull built enough authority to rank across such a wide range of subjects - and why its success comes from much more than publishing SEO content.
Red Bull's search performance is closely connected to its broader marketing strategy. Its sponsorships, events, athlete partnerships, original content, and viral stunts generate backlinks, press coverage, branded searches, referral traffic, and repeated mentions across the web.
Topics covered:
- Why Red Bull ranks for GTA V cheat code keywords
- How much organic search traffic Red Bull receives
- How Red Bull's search visibility compares with Monster, Rockstar, and Celsius
- Why most of Red Bull's highest-ranking keywords are non-branded
- How Red Bull built authority across sports, gaming, and entertainment
- Why sponsorships can produce more value than a standard backlink campaign
- How events generate links, press coverage, brand mentions, and searches
- Why unlinked brand mentions may still support search visibility
- How Red Bull's viral stunts contribute to its long-term SEO performance
- Why Red Bull's SEO growth has been steadier than HubSpot's
- The difference between publishing unrelated content and building genuine topical relevance
- How experiential marketing can support SEO, AEO, and visibility in large language models
- Practical ways smaller businesses can apply the same principles
Red Bull's SEO numbers discussed in the episode include:
- Approximately 7.8 million organic clicks per month
- Rankings for approximately 1.6 million keywords
- A domain authority comparable to major publishing and software websites
- Roughly 84% of its top 10,000 keywords being non-branded
- Search visibility significantly greater than several competing energy drink brands
The main lesson is not that every company should copy Red Bull's budget or attempt a large-scale stunt.
The lesson is to invest in marketing activities that create several benefits at once.
A good sponsorship, event, partnership, interview, or original project can produce:
- Relevant backlinks
- Earned media coverage
- Branded searches
- Referral traffic
- Social media content
- Brand mentions
- Relationships within your industry
- Greater topical authority
- More reasons for people to search for and talk about your business
Ways businesses can apply this strategy:
- Sponsor events that are closely connected to your customers
- Negotiate for inclusion on event websites, newsletters, press pages, and social posts
- Sponsor creators whose audiences overlap with your target market
- Organize recurring meetups, tournaments, workshops, or challenges
- Partner with complementary businesses on shared events
- Publish dedicated pages for sponsorships, partners, athletes, creators, or organizations
- Interview industry experts, customers, and event organizers
- Turn events into videos, articles, short clips, and other useful content
- Create tools, resources, or other assets people have a reason to reference
- Test interest in stunt or campaign ideas before investing heavily in them
Red Bull did not build its search authority through SEO pages alone. It built a brand that is genuinely connected to the topics it ranks for.
That is what makes this case study useful for businesses of any size.
⭐️ HubSpot SEO collapse - https://thestacc.com/blog/hubspot-traffic-drop-analysis/ 
⭐️ The GaryVee podcast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUnV-xaH32k 
💎 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 Red Bull GTA SEO Surprise
00:40 Keyword Footprint Beyond Brand
01:23 Authority Versus Competitors
02:16 Steady Growth and Volatility
02:47 Sponsorships That Earn Links
04:14 Mentions Entities and Brand Search
05:25 HubSpot Traffic Drop Contrast
07:05 Analog Events Barbell Era
08:43 Red Bull Stunts and Examples
10:46 Action Plan for Your Brand
13:33 Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ 
#searchengineoptimization #seo #seocasestudy #digitalmarketing

E1110: Google may be preparing its biggest crackdown on scaled AI content yet.
David Quaid joins the show to explain why he believes the next major Google update could be as significant as Panda or Penguin, why automated content production is the real risk, and how legitimate websites could get caught in the fallout.
We discuss the difference between using AI to help create content and using AI to publish thousands of SEO pages automatically. David argues that Google is not simply judging whether AI content is "good" or "bad." It is looking at how the content is produced, how quickly pages are published, how templates are used, and whether the website appears to be built primarily to manipulate search results.
We cover:
- Why scaled AI content could trigger a Panda- or Penguin-level Google crackdown
- The difference between AI-assisted content and automated content production
- Why high-quality writing does not automatically make scaled content safe
- How Google can detect publishing velocity, repeated templates, URL patterns, internal linking patterns, and sudden site growth
- Why publishing 20,000 pages on a new domain is fundamentally different from adding pages gradually to an established site
- How site authority, branded searches, direct traffic, and existing search history may affect how much content a site can safely publish
- Why programmatic SEO is not always the same as scaled content abuse
- How ecommerce sites, marketplaces, service-area pages, plugins, and template-driven websites could become collateral damage
- Why some businesses are unknowingly buying risky AI SEO services
- The "Mount AI" traffic pattern where traffic rises quickly and then collapses
- Why Google Search Console traffic drops must be diagnosed carefully
- The difference between AI Overview click loss, ranking loss, authority tightening, and an actual penalty
- What "crawled, currently not indexed" and "discovered, currently not indexed" can reveal
- When machine-generated pages should be removed or noindexed
- Why blocking pages in robots.txt is not the same as noindexing them
- How WordPress plugins can accidentally create thousands of unnecessary URLs
- Why branded demand and off-site brand building can help protect a website
- How HouseFresh recovered by investing in its brand, audience, and branded searches
- Why social media profiles should be treated like valuable search assets
- Whether businesses should build more than one domain to reduce their dependence on a single website
- Why slow, deliberate SEO is more likely to compound than aggressive automation
The main takeaway is simple: using AI as a writing and research tool is not the problem. Automatically generating and publishing large numbers of pages for search engines is where the risk begins.
If your SEO strategy depends on publishing hundreds or thousands of similar pages as quickly as possible, this episode explains what to audit now, what warning signs to watch in Google Search Console, and why being conservative may protect your site from the next major update.
⭐️ David Quaid on 𝕏 - https://x.com/DavidGQuaid 
⭐️ David Quaid on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidquaid/ 
⭐️ David Quaid on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DavidQuaid 
⭐️ David Quaid's agency - https://primaryposition.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 Algorithm Update Warning
01:29 Traffic Drops Diagnosis
02:19 Authority Tightening Shift
04:12 Scaled Content Rules
06:54 AI Content Versus Scale
08:31 PAA Hack Clarified
09:58 Heuristics And Upload Velocity
14:42 Friendly Fire Risks
16:32 Doorway Pages And Templates
18:20 Black Hat Chatter Example
21:09 Indexing Issues Explained
24:12 LLM Riddle Limitations
26:14 Clickless Search Signals
28:50 Copilot To Bing Behavior
30:20 New Signals Beyond Clicks
31:33 SEO Prep And Site Audits
34:04 Search Console Diagnostics
37:23 Negative SEO And Domain Spam
39:12 HouseFresh Brand Recovery
40:39 Why Google Hit HCU
45:31 Conservative AI SEO Playbook
47:14 Slow is Smooth SEO Mindset
49:35 Multiple Domains Risk Hedge
52:45 Podcast Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ 
#searchengineoptimization #seo #aiseo #webdevelopment

E1109: Local backlinks do not have to come from guest posts, national websites, or expensive digital PR campaigns.
In this episode, Ellen Sartin and Garrett French explain how local businesses can build backlinks through community sponsorships, nonprofit partnerships, chambers of commerce, local events, schools, youth sports teams, and other organizations operating in their area.
They break down how to find sponsorship opportunities, what these placements usually cost, where the links should point, how many links a business may need, and how to make sure the sponsorship produces more than just a backlink.
We cover:
- How local businesses can find sponsorship opportunities themselves
- Why local relevance can matter more than domain authority
- How to approach nonprofits and community organizations
- What information to prepare before beginning outreach
- Why personal emails and phone calls work better than mass outreach
- How much local sponsorship links typically cost
- Why businesses should start with organizations they already support
- The difference between a sponsorship placement and a paid advertisement
- Where local backlinks should point on your website
- Why location and service pages are often stronger targets than the homepage
- How to think about anchor text without making it look forced
- Whether businesses should build links directly to their Google Business Profile
- How chambers of commerce can provide links, articles, press releases, and local visibility
- When local directories are worth joining
- How newsletters, social posts, event banners, and offline placements can generate additional exposure
- What makes a local backlink valuable
- Which sponsorship and directory links businesses should avoid
- How to measure whether local link building is improving rankings and visibility
- Why businesses should create a page highlighting the organizations they support
- How one plumbing company earned 43 local links, ranked for 86 new keywords, and improved its average position by nine spots
The main lesson is simple: the strongest local backlinks often come from being genuinely involved in the communities where your customers live.
Instead of only paying for links on unrelated websites, local businesses can sponsor real organizations, earn relevant links, reach new customers, build brand recognition, and support causes in their area.
⭐️ Ellen Sartin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-sartin-zipsprout/ 
⭐️ Garrett French on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettfrench/ 
⭐️ Contact Ellen Sartin directly - ellen@zipsprout.com and 470-250-0670
⭐️ Book a call with Ellen - https://meetings.hubspot.com/ellen-sartin-zipsprout/discovery-call-zipsprout 
⭐️ DIY Sponsorship Guide - https://zipsprout.com/diy-sponsorship-link-building-for-local-businesses-on-a-budget/ 
⭐️ Dial One Case Study - https://zipsprout.com/texas-plumbing-company-ranks-higher-with-sponsored-link-campaign/ 
⭐️ AI Visibility with Community PR - https://zipsprout.com/building-local-trust-and-ai-visibility-through-community-pr/ 
⭐️ Survey Study: How Businesses View Local Sponsorships - https://zipsprout.com/local-nonprofit-sponsorship-report-business/ 
💎 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 Local Link Building Kickoff
01:01 Meet The Guests
02:54 Community Sponsorship Strategy
06:42 Sponsor Outreach Process
08:03 Dentist Example Planning
17:07 DIY Sponsorship Links
23:14 Results And AI Visibility
25:19 Press PR And Chambers
31:30 Directories Local Relevance
33:39 Anchor Text Guidelines
36:28 Links To Google Business Profile
37:22 Testing Lessons Learned
38:47 Local Relevance Basics
39:31 Best Pages For Backlinks
41:40 URL Structure Debate
43:31 Pricing And Pilot Plans
46:09 How Many Sponsorships
47:45 Good Vs Bad Links
49:05 Newsletters And Lead Gen
54:38 Sponsorship Perks Catalog
59:45 Proving It Works
01:02:31 Community First Link Building
01:07:23 Wrap Up And Resources
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ 
#localseo #linkbuilding #localmarketing #searchengineoptimization