From SEO TikTok to $18M Agencies: How Creators Actually Scale
The Edward Show
E945: I’m joined by Matt Diamante and Jake Tlapek for a long-form, unfiltered conversation about what actually happens after you win on social media. All three of us came up through SEO content on TikTok and Instagram. This episode isn’t about going viral - it’s about turning attention into durable businesses, building teams, and deciding what you want to scale next. We cover the real mechanics of growing agencies, removing yourself from delivery, using content as leverage, and how AI and social search are changing SEO in practice - not theory. What we talk about in this episode: - How...
info_outline
Is E-commerce SEO Dead? Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol & the Future of Search
The Edward Show
E944: Google has introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), a system that allows merchants to send product data directly to Google so users can discover and buy products inside search, AI Mode, and Gemini - without ever visiting a website. In this episode, we break down what UCP actually is, how agentic commerce works, and what this shift means for e-commerce SEO, CRO, brand authority, and margins. Joining the discussion are Harpreet Singh, Gagan Ghotra, and David Quaid, three experienced SEOs with deep backgrounds in e-commerce, SaaS, B2B, and technical SEO. Together, we unpack...
info_outline
How to Get High-Quality Backlinks From Podcast Appearances
The Edward Show
E943: How to get high-quality backlinks from podcast appearances and why podcast guesting is one of the most effective and overlooked SEO strategies available right now. This is based on real experience. In 2022, I went on 30 podcasts in three months before I had an audience, social media presence, or this podcast. Those appearances helped me build backlinks, branded searches, topical authority, and ultimately led to everything I’m doing now. This episode covers why podcast backlinks work, how they affect SEO directly and indirectly, and exactly how to get booked on podcasts consistently....
info_outline
An $80 Press Release Ranked #1 on Google (And Tricked AI)
The Edward Show
E942: A real case study showing how an $80 press release from Matt Diamante (Hey Tony Agency) ranked #1 on Google for a non-branded keyword and influenced Google’s AI Overview. This isn’t theory. This actually happened. I walk through exactly how a single press release, distributed through AB Newswire, showed up at the top of Google search results, was cited by a publication, and continued to influence AI search results weeks later - even after the original press release was no longer publicly accessible. This episode explains why press releases still matter, how they influence search...
info_outline
Google Is Breaking SEO: Permanent Manual Actions, AI Search & the Rise of Black Hat
The Edward Show
E941: Edward is joined by Charles Floate and David Quaid for a deep, technical conversation about what is actually happening in search right now - and why many long-held SEO assumptions no longer hold. We discuss a growing pattern of manual actions that appear to be permanent, rejected reconsideration requests even after large-scale cleanups, and why some businesses may never fully recover organic traffic from Google. From enterprise sites to small publishers, the rules are shifting fast. The conversation moves into AI search, ChatGPT visibility, Reddit’s dominance in the SERPs, and how...
info_outline
Google Penalties Are Becoming Permanent (And That Changes Everything)
The Edward Show
E940: Google penalties are no longer feeling like temporary setbacks. More and more site owners are fixing everything they’re told to fix, submitting reconsideration requests, and still getting rejected. In this episode, I break down why Google manual actions appear to be becoming semi-permanent, what multiple SEO practitioners are seeing in real data, and why Google may no longer be asking “did you fix it?” - but instead “should we ever trust you again?” We cover what’s changing, what’s being reported by people deep in the weeds, and what this means if you’re using aggressive...
info_outline
How to Build Backlinks for a Brand New Website (From Zero Authority)
The Edward Show
E939: If you’ve just launched a website and have no backlinks, this episode walks through how to build links the right way - without shortcuts, spam, or jumping into strategies that don’t work for new sites. This episode is based on a real thread from Charles Floate’s r/linkbuilding subreddit, where someone asked how to build high-quality backlinks for a brand-new beauty blog with no existing authority. I break down the best answers, add real-world context, and explain what actually matters when you’re starting from scratch. We cover why most people make link building harder than it...
info_outline
YouTube Just Overtook Reddit in AI Search (Here’s How to Win Citations)
The Edward Show
E938: I break down new data showing that YouTube has officially overtaken Reddit as the most cited social platform in AI search, including large language models like ChatGPT. We’ll cover what this shift means for SEO, brand visibility, and how to actually get your content cited by AI using YouTube. What changed in AI search - YouTube is now cited more frequently than Reddit in AI-generated answers - Transcripts and descriptions make YouTube content easy for LLMs to read - AI systems increasingly rely on YouTube for explanations, reviews, and comparisons Why YouTube now beats Reddit for AI...
info_outline
Claude Cowork Is a Literal Cheat Code for SEO (Here’s How Agencies See It)
The Edward Show
E937: Watch on YouTube: A deep, practical look at how Claude Cowork is changing the way SEO work is actually executed. This is not a theoretical discussion about AI. The focus is on real workflows: how Claude Cowork performs hands-on SEO tasks that normally require hours of manual effort, and how agencies can realistically use it today. The conversation walks through live examples of Claude Cowork performing local SEO audits, Google Business Profile analysis, competitor research, and on-page SEO evaluations by directly interacting with the browser and SEO tools. Sarvesh Shrivastava joins the...
info_outline
How to Build Local Backlinks That Actually Increase Local Rankings
The Edward Show
E936: Local SEO lives or dies by local authority - and one of the biggest drivers of that authority is local backlinks. I break down exactly how to build high-quality local backlinks that help search engines see your business as an authority in a specific city or region. This applies whether you’re starting a local business, competing in a crowded market, or expanding into new locations. I cover practical strategies that send real referral traffic, strengthen local topical authority, and support long-term ranking improvements - not theory. What you’ll learn: - Why local backlinks matter...
info_outlineE918: David Quaid returns to the show to break down one of the most misunderstood topics in SEO: XML sitemaps.
Every day, people are told that if their pages are “crawled but not indexed,” the fix is simple - submit a sitemap. This episode explains why that advice is usually wrong, what XML sitemaps actually do, and why authority is the real factor behind indexing and rankings.
This conversation reframes SEO as a system, not a checklist. Instead of treating Google like it follows instructions, we look at how crawling, indexing, PageRank decay, and authority actually work in practice.
Topics covered:
- What XML sitemaps do and what they don’t do
- Why “crawled but not indexed” is almost never a sitemap issue
- How Google crawlers really work (and why they aren’t “spiders”)
- The difference between crawling, indexing, and ranking
- Why pages without authority don’t get indexed
- How internal links actually transfer authority
- PageRank decay and why most links don’t matter
- Why manual URL submission is usually the wrong approach
- Client-side rendering, JavaScript, and how Googlebot handles them
- Why content quality is not the reason most pages aren’t indexed
- How large sites (Amazon, eBay, news sites) still have low index rates
- Why backlinks only matter if the linking page has traffic
- Common mistakes SEOs make with sitemaps, crawl optimization, and indexing tools
- When HTML sitemaps make more sense than XML sitemaps
- How authority shapes indexing for programmatic SEO and large sites
Who this episode is for:
- SEOs struggling with pages that won’t get indexed
- Founders and developers working on small or mid-sized sites
- Anyone relying on XML sitemaps as an indexing strategy
- People who want to understand how Google actually evaluates pages
Key takeaway:
If Google can crawl your page but won’t index it, the problem is not technical. It’s authority. XML sitemaps don’t create authority, don’t force indexing, and don’t fix underlying SEO issues.
SEO works as a system. If you try to treat it like a checklist, it will break.
⭐️ David Quaid on 𝕏 - https://x.com/DavidGQuaid
⭐️ David Quaid on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/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 Introduction to Sitemaps and SEO
00:35 Debunking Common Sitemap Myths
01:23 Understanding Google Crawlers
03:02 Client-Side vs Server-Side Rendering
03:26 Authority and Relevance in SEO
03:36 Challenges with JavaScript and SEO
05:01 The Role of Authority in Indexing
10:50 Practical Tips for Improving Indexing
12:56 The Importance of Context in Links
15:14 Managing Sitemaps for Small Sites
16:04 Handling Noindex Pages
16:53 Crawling and Indexing Challenges
17:24 Manual Submit Requests and Google Bots
19:55 The Role of Sitemaps
21:23 Backlinks and Authority
23:40 Programmatic SEO Insights
23:52 Common Mistakes in Programmatic SEO
24:04 SEO for Large Websites
25:44 SEO Strategies for New Sites
30:42 SEO Fun and Future Topics
31:04 Conclusion and Next Episode Teaser
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #xmlsitemap #googlesearchconsole #webdevelopment