The Edward Show

E1174: Google has told employees not to discuss how clicks are used in Search outside of a need-to-know basis.
That comes directly from an internal Google presentation from around the end of 2018 that surfaced during discovery in Google's antitrust trial.
The presentation gives a rare look at how Google talks internally about Search, SEOs, leaks, ranking information, clicks, and the risks of explaining too much about how the algorithm works.
I break down the most important slides and what they mean for SEOs.
I cover:
- Google's warning to employees to "be careful in discussing Search"
- Why Google says information about how Search works should remain on a need-to-know basis
- The internal line: "Everything we leak will be used against us by SEOs"
- Google's warning not to discuss the use of clicks in Search except with people who understand not to discuss the topic externally
- Why this matters when compared with Google's historical public statements about click-through rate and dwell time
- Rand Fishkin's old CTR experiments where hundreds of searchers clicking a result were followed by major ranking movements
- Gary Illyes' statement that theories around dwell time and click-through rate were "generally made-up crap"
- Why Google has strong incentives to avoid publicly explaining ranking systems that SEOs would immediately test and manipulate
- How John Mueller and Danny Sullivan get information about Google Search
- Danny Sullivan's explanation that Search representatives talk directly with the engineers building Google's systems
- Why that still does not mean every detail of Google's ranking systems gets shared publicly
- Google's internal list of Search quality factors, including relevance, page quality, popularity, freshness, localization, language, centrality, topical diversity, personalization, spam authority, privacy, and more
- Google's basic Search control flow: crawling, indexing, query interpretation, candidate retrieval, scoring, and final adjustments
- How query interpretation includes things like synonyms, spelling, intent interpretation, and query expansion
- Why Google deliberately makes parts of Search difficult to reverse engineer
- Google's rank-modifying spammer patent and the idea of introducing ranking behavior designed to prevent spammers from understanding the system
The larger takeaway is not that SEO is unknowable.
SEOs have spent decades testing ranking factors, comparing results, running experiments, and sharing what works.
That gives us a strong practical understanding of Search even when Google does not explain every ranking signal publicly.
The fundamentals remain straightforward:
- Make the page highly relevant to the target query
- Put the target keyword in important locations such as the title, URL, H1, and beginning of the first sentence
- Satisfy search intent immediately
- Build real backlinks from indexed pages
- Earn links people actually click
- Build foundational business profiles and citations
- Stay active on social media
- Drive branded searches
- Test what works and pay attention to real ranking results
⭐️ The internal Google presentation - https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-09/416694.pdf 
⭐️ Rand Fishkin's experiments - https://seosherpa.com/seo-experiments/ 
⭐️ Gary Illyes's comment - https://www.reddit.com/r/TechSEO/comments/ao3fmk/comment/efxzljs/?context=8&depth=9 
⭐️ Danny Sullivan's comment - https://www.seroundtable.com/communication-engineers-google-ranking-systems-37376.html 
⭐️ Google's API Leak - https://sparktoro.com/blog/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should-see-them/ 
⭐️ Ep 974 - Google's New AI Patent Could Replace Your Website - https://youtu.be/0kTEYwiRBbg 
💎 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 Presentation Leaked
00:51 Why Search Secrecy Matters
01:57 Sensitive Topics and PR Risk
03:17 Clicks and CTR Controversy
05:34 Google Reps Info Source
06:52 SEO Community vs Black Box
08:05 How Search Actually Works
10:01 Simple Pareto SEO Playbook
12:18 Episode Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  
#searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #generativeengineoptimization

E1173: Internal linking is one of the fastest SEO improvements you can make, and this episode breaks down a simple method for using topical authority you already have to rank new pages and push existing pages higher.
The method starts with a Google search:
[your website] "keyword you want to rank for"
Google will show you which pages on your site it already sees as relevant to that keyword.
From there, you take the most relevant text on those indexed pages and internally link it to the page you actually want ranking.
I cover:
- How to find pages Google already associates with your target keyword
- How to use those pages to pass relevance and authority to your target page
- How to decide whether an existing page actually satisfies search intent
- When to use exact-match anchor text and when to use variations
- Why natural anchor text matters for both users and Google
- How to use section anchor links when the relevant content sits farther down a page
- Why optimizing an entire page around a keyword is stronger than optimizing one section
- When you should create a completely new page instead
- The three questions to answer before writing new SEO content
- Where to place your target keyword on a new page
- Why the page title, URL slug, H1, and opening sentence matter
- How to satisfy search intent immediately above the fold
- Why internal links from pages already getting search traffic carry more value
- Why internal links that people actually click matter even more
- How too many internal links make content look spammy and reduce clicks on the links that matter
- Why relevant anchor text gives Google stronger context about the destination page
- How this method pushes authority from existing indexed content toward new SEO pages
- Why I mainly use this strategy with top-of-funnel informational content
- Why I keep bottom-of-funnel SEO pages much more minimal
- How excessive internal linking on conversion pages distracts people from your calls to action
- How to use hub pages to build relevance for bottom-of-funnel keywords before the individual pages even exist
- Why hub pages sometimes start ranking for keywords before you publish the page that satisfies the search
The core idea is simple:
Google already tells you which pages on your site it associates with a keyword.
Use those pages.
Find the relevant text, internally link it to the page you want ranking, and concentrate that existing topical authority instead of starting from zero.
And if you do not already have a page that properly satisfies search intent, create one, optimize it around the keyword, give the searcher what they want immediately, and then turn the relevant content on your existing pages into internal links pointing to it.
I also explain why I treat bottom-of-funnel pages differently. Those pages exist to convert. If someone lands on a page ready to buy, book, call, sign up, or become a lead, I do not want to distract them with unnecessary internal links.
⭐️ The written version of this episode: https://edwardsturm.com/articles/topical-authority-rank-faster/ 
⭐️ Ep 1163 - The $50,000 Internal Linking Experiment: Links That Get Clicked Carry More Weight - https://youtu.be/biy8ILxTzqc 
💎 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 Internal Linking Quick Win
00:20 Find Indexed Keyword Pages
00:56 Link to Intent Winners
01:49 Real World Anchor Examples
02:44 Avoid Exact Match Spam
03:07 Use Anchor Link Sections
04:29 Why This Works in Google
06:06 Create a New Target Page
07:53 Top vs Bottom Funnel Links
08:26 Hub Pages for Relevance
11:33 Wrap Up and Goodbye
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  
#seotips #searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing

E1172: Mike Martin ranks #1 in Google Maps for "business coaching" from 53 miles away from his Google Business Profile.
In this episode, Mike breaks down the Google Business Profile strategy he uses across his own businesses, clients, and agencies. The core is what he calls the GBP Loop: profile completeness, pictures, posts, and praise, multiplied by consistency.
Mike started in SEO after teaching himself to become a locksmith and building one of the largest independently owned locksmith companies in the UK. He used mass page websites, local lead generation, expired domains, and single-niche PBNs before shifting his focus almost entirely to Google Business Profiles.
We go step by step through what he does now to expand Google Maps visibility.
We cover:
- How Mike ranks #1 for "business coaching" from 53 miles away
- The GBP Loop: profile completeness, pictures, posts, praise, and consistency
- Why Mike says consistency beats constantly chasing new local SEO tactics
- How to make your Google Business Profile mirror your website
- Why your business name, hours, categories, location, prices, and other details need to match
- How incorrect citations around the web interfere with Google's understanding of a business
- What Mike does during the first month of Google Business Profile optimization
- Why he prefers a steady stream of reviews instead of getting hundreds at once
- Why review responses matter and how his system uses AI while requiring human approval
- What types of photos and videos local businesses should upload
- Why Mike prefers real business photos over fully AI-generated images
- What businesses should publish as Google Business Profile posts
- Why Mike treats a Google Business Profile more like an active social profile than a static listing
- How quickly he has taken profiles from weak visibility to #1 across larger geographic areas
- When schema, CIDs, and service area pages enter his local SEO process
- Why unique business data is more valuable than pumping out hundreds of generic AI articles
- The individual practitioner profile opportunity for lawyers, doctors, dentists, insurance brokers, real estate professionals, and other public-facing professionals
- How agencies use practitioner profiles to create additional recurring revenue from existing clients
- Why a lawyer or doctor could build a Google Business Profile and review history tied specifically to themselves
- The difference between a service area business, storefront business, and hybrid business
- How Mike structures Google Business Profiles for businesses serving multiple cities
- Why showing an address incorrectly creates verification and suspension problems
- How people outside your company use "Suggest an edit" to propose changes to your phone number, hours, location, and other GBP information
- Why businesses need to monitor the email attached to their Google Business Profile
- Mike's old-school local lead generation system that grew his locksmith operation
- How his "fastest finger first" phone system rewarded salespeople for answering and converting calls
- Why Mike moved away from black-hat lead generation when working with Google Business Profiles owned by real businesses
Mike's main argument is simple: most businesses already have enough tactics. What they lack is consistent execution of the fundamentals.
Profile completeness. Pictures. Posts. Praise. Then repeat.
⭐️ 20% of Mike Martin's platform - GBPly - https://gbply.net/edward 
⭐️ Mike Martin's personal site - https://mikemartin.uk 
⭐️ Mike Martin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemartinuk/ 
💎 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 SEO Kickoff
00:37 Mike's Locksmith Origin
01:31 From Lead Gen to GBP
03:14 Fast Map Pack Wins
04:05 The GBP Loop Framework
07:37 Reviews and Consistency
10:40 Schema Boost Tactics
13:07 Step One Completeness
15:36 Fixing Citations Impact
20:28 Website Content vs Data
24:04 Practitioner Profiles Goldmine
28:45 Media Strategy and AI Images
36:10 Posts That Convert
38:20 Old School PBN Tactics
39:39 From Locksmithing to SaaS
40:35 Reviews That Rank Fast
41:19 Drip Review Requests
45:03 Avoiding Spam and Bad Reviews
46:09 Playing It Safe With Google
48:52 Leaving Black Hat Behind
51:27 Phone Answering Signals
53:23 Fastest Finger Lead Gen
57:24 Multi Town Service Areas
01:01:22 The GBP Loop and Book
01:03:59 Protecting Against Edits
01:08:49 Where to Find Mike
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  
#localseo #googlebusinessprofileoptimization #searchengineoptimization #seo

E1171: Query augmentation: how Google connects searches with related queries and why one page can end up ranking for hundreds or thousands of keywords that never even appear on the page.
James Dooley returns to the show, bringing the goods.
We get into the difference between lexical matching and query semantics, how Google interprets search intent, and why trusted sites with strong user and brand signals start ranking across much broader keyword buckets.
James explains why a page targeting one keyword can eventually rank for entirely different phrases when Google decides those searches share the same intent.
We cover:
- What query augmentation is and how it relates to query fan-out
- How synthetic queries expand a search into related terms
- Why a page can rank for keywords that are nowhere in the content
- The difference between dictionary semantics and query semantics
- Why "cheap" and "best" can mean the same thing in one industry and completely different things in another
- How branded search, social traffic, backlinks, user behavior, and site trust expand the queries a page ranks for
- Why smaller sites need tighter relevance while trusted sites get more freedom
- How to use Google Search Console to find queries Google already associates with a page
- A simple Claude workflow for turning existing GSC rankings into new H2s and sections
- How People Also Ask questions reveal additional topics worth targeting
- James' Google Images trick for finding entities connected to a question through modifier chips
- How query augmentation produces more impressions, clicks, leads, and sales
- How James uses self-optimizing pages to identify low-CTR queries and rewrite sections
- Why the text Google pulls into a search result matters for CTR
- How to decide whether a query deserves its own page or belongs as an H2
- Why SERP overlap is one of the clearest ways to make that decision
- Why 200 words is not automatically thin content
- Why satisfying search intent matters more than hitting an arbitrary word count
- Why James wants pages as short as possible and as long as necessary
- How changing only the H2 hierarchy moved pages into different query buckets
- How Claude-built websites often become too wordy
- How James uses AI agents focused on semantics, sales copy, compliance, information gain, and concision
- Why he uses multiple LLMs instead of relying on a single model
- How LinkGap ranked for related backlink terms despite having almost no written content
- How James says Koray's Audio To Text expanded into huge numbers of related searches as traffic, links, and usage grew
- What the ongoing "King of AEO" competition is revealing about Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Grok, YouTube, and Google Images
- How James is seeing press release effects fade after roughly four to six weeks
- How LinkedIn posts are still competing with exact-match domains, guest posts, press releases, and other SEO tactics
The central idea is simple: rank for the initial query, satisfy the searcher, build trust, study the additional queries Google starts showing your page for, and then expand the page around the terms Google already associates with it.
⭐️ James Dooley's website - https://jamesdooley.com/ 
⭐️ James Dooley on 𝕏 - https://x.com/james_dooley 
⭐️ James Dooley on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameszdooley/ 
⭐️ James Dooley on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jameszdooley/ 
⭐️ James Dooley on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/james.dooley1/ 
⭐️ James Dooley on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@JamesDooley 
💎 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 Query Augmentation
00:30 Synthetic Queries Explained
03:02 Intent and Behavioral Signals
03:47 Cheap vs Best Semantics
08:03 PPC Match Types Analogy
11:09 When Smaller Sites Win
14:24 Expanding Buckets with GSC
18:15 Entity Chips in Images
20:18 Turning Rankings into Revenue
22:04 CTR Optimization with AI
27:23 People Also Ask Link Strategy
29:08 Case Studies LinkGap and AudioToText
34:00 SEO Compounding Wins
34:40 Link Gap Lead Magnet
35:04 H2 vs New Page
37:43 Testing the 50 50 Call
39:04 Thin Content Myth
40:44 Claude Sites Done Right
45:11 Concise SOP Mindset
47:06 Query Augmentation Mistakes
49:28 Self Healing SEO Tweaks
50:40 AI Harness Model Debates
53:21 King of AEO Showdown
56:39 Press Releases and Social
01:01:23 Wrap Up and Thanks
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  
#searchengineoptimization #seotips #seo #digitalmarketing

E1169: How are SEOs doing keyword research in 2026?
I break down a viral thread from the SEO subreddit where SEOs shared their real processes, tools, shortcuts, and ways of deciding which keywords deserve attention.
Some of the advice is strong. Some of it misses the point.
The biggest mistake is treating keyword research like a spreadsheet exercise instead of looking at search intent, business value, and what is really ranking in Google.
In this episode:
- Why I ignore keyword difficulty scores from SEO tools
- Why looking at the actual Google SERP gives you better information than staring at a difficulty metric
- How to spot keywords competitors rank for but have not targeted properly
- Why a supposedly "high-difficulty" keyword sometimes ranks with very little work
- How to tell whether competitors have optimized a page for a keyword
- Why page titles, URL slugs, H1s, and the beginning of the first sentence matter when evaluating competition
- How to use competitor keyword research to build your initial keyword list
- Why search intent matters more than raw search volume
- How to identify high-intent searches that lead to customers, users, calls, and warm leads
- The type of keyword I value most: the searcher knows what they want but has not decided which brand will provide it
- How to use AI to group large keyword lists by topic and intent
- Why you should not ask an LLM to estimate keyword difficulty without giving it live search data
- How Google Search Console reveals keywords your site already has a chance of ranking higher for
- Why keywords sitting around positions 5-20 often deserve attention before completely new topics
- How to map keyword groups to individual pages
- When an existing page deserves optimization versus when you need to create a new page
- Why different searches require different page types, including product pages, service pages, landing pages, and blog posts
- How Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, ChatGPT, Semrush, and AlsoAsked fit into keyword research
- Why informational "how to" and "what is" keywords often have far less business value than bottom-of-funnel searches
- The four questions I start with when researching keywords: 1- Who are my competitors? 2- What are they ranking for but not targeting properly? 3- Which of those keywords will make me money? 4- Which SERPs are under-targeted?
I also explain why I prioritize keywords that directly connect SEO traffic to revenue instead of publishing huge amounts of top-of-funnel content just because a keyword tool shows search volume.
⭐️ Reddit: How Do You Choose Keywords for SEO? - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1wbmgx0/how_do_you_choose_keywords_for_seo/ 
⭐️ Ep 1104 - The 1-Hour SEO Update That Makes Your Best Pages Rank for More Keywords - https://youtu.be/GmsAuotHGso 
💎 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 Viral Keyword Question
02:04 Keyword Filtering
04:07 Intent and SERP Checks
05:19 Competitors and Priorities
08:27 Search Console Quick Wins
09:21 Free Tools and AlsoAsked
10:42 Keyword Grouping and Mapping
11:42 Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/  
#keywordresearch #searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing