Join Ross as he sits down with SEO expert Cyrus Shepard to explore why brand building has become essential in today’s search landscape. 

Cyrus shares what happened when he disavowed every inbound link on his site, why Google seems to reward authenticity over traditional SEO tactics, and how focusing on experience and trust can give you the edge in the ever‐changing SERPs.

00:00 Welcome Cyrus and brand swag

01:10 The Bold Move: Disavowing Every Inbound Link

02:00 Aftermath: Results of the Disavow Experiment

06:17 When the Disavow Tool Still Matters

08:44 Contrarian Takes & Being ‘Right’ in SEO

09:43 Why Google Wants Real People

14:21 SERP History & Competitive Analysis

20:00 Over‐Optimizing vs. Brand Building
 

• Zyppy's Disavow Experiment  
• Tom Capper on Brand Authority
• Ahref’s SERP history feature
• Cyrus on Bluesky

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