SEO Is Not That Hard

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Forget neat rows of facts—your brand lives inside AI as a point on a vast map of meaning. We unpack how large language models like ChatGPT convert words into vectors, arrange them in a multi‑dimensional latent space, and “reason” by navigating probabilistic paths rather than retrieving certified entries from a knowledge graph. That shift explains both the astonishing creativity of LLMs and the stubborn problem of hallucinations, and it reveals why your content choices directly influence how machines see you.

We start by separating Google’s Knowledge Graph—built on labelled, verifiable relationships—from the statistical engine that powers LLMs. From there, we walk through tokens, embeddings, and the geometry of meaning: why “king” sits near “queen,” how “bank” splits by context, and how directions in vector space encode relationships like gender or capital cities. Then we explore probabilistic reasoning and chain‑of‑thought prompting, showing how stepwise guidance can reduce errors by constraining the model’s path through its internal map.

The practical payoff is clear: you can shape your brand’s coordinates. Consistent naming, precise definitions, structured internal linking, authoritative citations, and schema markup help AIs place you in the right neighbourhood of concepts. Pillar pages and topical clusters reinforce the connections that matter, while concise fact sheets and retrieval‑ready content give models the anchors they need to avoid plausible-but-wrong continuations. Think of every page as another vector pull toward accuracy; over time, your credibility becomes the shortest path the model can take.

If this helped you see how AI really “thinks” about your brand, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review. Got a question you want answered on air? Send a voice message via the link in the show notes and tell us where you want your brand’s coordinates to land.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

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"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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The search results page is no longer a tidy list of links—it’s a dynamic canvas where knowledge panels, rich snippets, featured snippets, and AI Overviews signal who Google trusts. We dig into how entities underpin every one of these features and why your real goal isn’t just ranking higher, but earning eligibility across the SERP. By treating features as an external readout of the knowledge graph, you can diagnose gaps in authority, spot competitor advantages, and plan content that aligns with real user questions.

We start with the crown jewel: knowledge panels. Think of them as a public machine-readable profile that assembles verified facts about your brand from trusted sources. Then we move to rich snippets you can influence directly with schema.org—reviews, products, FAQs, recipes—explaining how precise markup, consistent content, and policy compliance boost visibility and click-through. At the top of the page, we break down featured snippets versus AI Overviews, and share practical tactics to win both: concise answers, question-led headings, credible citations, and entity-rich context that helps Google—and generative systems—see your pages as canonical.

Next, we show how to read a SERP like a strategist. Inventory the features, not the positions. Capture the top People Also Ask questions, open branches to surface deeper intent, and group them into content clusters that build topical authority. Analyse which sites power AI Overviews and which competitors own panels and rich results; their structure exposes what Google rewards. We wrap with a clear action plan: audit your entity data for consistency, enhance key pages with accurate schema, craft answer-first content around priority questions, and use ongoing SERP reviews to keep your roadmap fresh as search evolves.

If this helped you see the SERP in a new way, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review. Have a question you want answered on-air? Send a voice note via the link in the show notes and tell us which SERP feature you’re aiming to win next.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Most brands still try to “tell” Google who they are. We show how Google actually decides: by stitching together a ledger of facts from your site, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, news articles, and structured data—then trusting only what aligns. This is the Knowledge Graph at work, and it’s quietly steering whether you earn a knowledge panel, sitelinks, and richer visibility across search.

We break down the four streams feeding the graph—public web pages, licensed datasets, human‑edited knowledge bases like Wikidata, and direct owner signals via schema.org—and explain how each contributes to a confidence score for your entity. If your about page says Jane Doe is CEO but LinkedIn shows John Smith, the score drops and your brand becomes ambiguous. If your website, LinkedIn, reputable press, and Wikidata all agree, trust rises and your facts become “truth” in search.

From there, we get specific about what you can control. Use schema.org to describe your organisation, people, products, and identifiers in clear, machine‑readable terms. Link out with sameAs to authoritative profiles so Google can triangulate identity. Audit your knowledge panel as a live diagnostic: check logos, dates, roles, and categories, and chase down any mismatch to the original source. Treat digital PR and reputation management as part of technical SEO—because today they are.

By the end, you’ll have a practical checklist for entity hygiene that helps you earn and keep a clean knowledge panel, avoid costly confusion, and unlock higher‑trust features across the results page. If this helped clarify how entities power modern SEO, subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a quick review with one takeaway you’ll act on next.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Keywords don’t tell the whole story—entities do. We take you inside the three-step process machines use to read your content like a detective at a crime scene: highlighting potential entities, using context to resolve ambiguity, and linking each mention to a unique identifier in a global knowledge base. By the end, you’ll see why “Jordan” only makes sense when surrounded by the right clues—and how to present those clues so search engines and AIs make the right call every time.

We start with named entity recognition, the digital highlighter that picks out people, organisations, products, places, and dates across unstructured text. Then we move to entity disambiguation, where context—co-occurring teams, locations, or concepts—guides the system to the correct meaning. Finally, we close with entity linking, the moment a string becomes a node with a library card in Wikipedia or Wikidata. That linkage is the bridge into Google’s Knowledge Graph, powering features like knowledge panels and richer, more confident results.

Along the way, we dig into why Wikipedia and Wikidata matter far beyond vanity. Accurate, well-sourced entries create a feedback loop that improves how machines understand your brand, your founders, and your products. If you don’t meet notability yet, don’t force it; build authority elsewhere with consistent profiles, structured data, and content that names and connects related entities. We also share a simple action: search for your brand, founder, and main product on Wikipedia and Wikidata and assess accuracy. Want more like this? Follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a review so we can help more teams make sense of entity-first SEO.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Most of us were trained to think in keywords—count them, match them, stuff them. But Google no longer sees the web as a bag of words; it reads the world as a network of entities, relationships, and intent. We unpack the “things, not strings” shift and explore how Hummingbird, BERT, and advances in NLP turned SEO from phrase-matching into meaning-making. Along the way, we show how entity clarity powers knowledge panels, fuels AI answers, and builds the kind of topical authority that lasts.

I walk through a simple, practical framework for modelling your site as a connected set of real-world things. You’ll hear how to define your core entities—organisation, products or services, key people, and foundational concepts—then map attributes and relationships that make sense to both users and machines. Using a speciality coffee example, we contrast the old “pour over coffee” keyword page with an entity-rich cluster that links devices like Hario V60 and Chemex, technique steps like the bloom, and tools like a gooseneck kettle, all tied together with clear internal links and consistent naming.

If you’re ready to move beyond brittle tactics and build durable visibility, this is your starting point. By curating accurate data, writing with context, and connecting the dots across your niche, you help search engines understand your corner of the world—and you earn trust the right way. Subscribe for the upcoming mini‑season on entities, share this with a teammate who still counts keywords, and leave a quick review to tell me which entity you plan to own next.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Tired of churning out endless blog posts that barely move the needle? There's a powerful alternative that smart brands are using to generate leads, backlinks, and unmatched brand authority.

In this eye-opening episode, I dive deep into "engineering as marketing" – the strategy of creating free, useful tools that attract and convert your ideal customers. Unlike standard content marketing, this approach leverages your development resources to build something truly valuable that competitors can't easily replicate. I break down exactly how industry leaders like HubSpot and Ahrefs have used this strategy to build massive audiences and convert casual visitors into paying customers.

You'll discover why these tools work so effectively as link magnets, how they target people at the perfect stage of awareness, and the specific qualities that make them irresistible to users. I share my firsthand experience implementing this strategy with KeywordsPeopleUse.com, explaining how our free tool option has generated substantial traction and conversions.

The beauty of this approach is its staying power – once you've created and promoted your tool, it continues working for you with minimal maintenance, unlike content that quickly becomes outdated. Whether you're an established brand looking to differentiate yourself or a startup seeking traction, this episode provides actionable insights for implementing engineering as marketing in your business. Start thinking about what tool you could build today that would transform your marketing results tomorrow.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Ever wondered why some websites rank well but fail to convert visitors? The missing piece is likely search intent—understanding not just what people search for, but why they're searching in the first place.

Search intent is the compass that guides effective SEO and content strategy. In this classic episode from the SEO Is Not That Hard archive, I break down the four critical types of intent that drive all searches: informational (seeking knowledge), commercial (researching options), transactional (ready to buy), and navigational (finding a specific website). Using the practical example of someone looking after a new lawn, I walk through how a person's search journey evolves from broad questions to specific product searches.

The magic happens when you align your content strategy with user intent. Most websites make the mistake of focusing exclusively on one type of intent—ecommerce sites obsess over transactional content while blogs concentrate on informational pieces. But the most successful sites create content for every stage of the user journey. I share actionable strategies for expanding your content funnel, whether you're an affiliate site looking to monetize your informational content or an ecommerce store trying to capture users earlier in their decision process.

Google itself provides the best clues about intent. By analyzing search results, featured snippets, and SERP features, you can decode what Google has determined to be the primary intent behind any keyword. This insight allows you to create content that precisely matches what users (and Google) expect to see.

Ready to transform your approach to content and SEO? Subscribe now and download my free guide to 101 quick SEO tips mentioned in the show notes. Your competitors are likely missing huge opportunities by ignoring search intent—don't make the same mistake.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Success stories in digital business rarely follow a straight line, and the 18-year journey of Broadband.co.uk perfectly illustrates the rollercoaster ride of building a sustainable online business. What began almost accidentally in 2004, when the term "broadband" suddenly became associated with home internet service, evolved into one of the UK's leading comparison websites before culminating in a successful exit in 2021.

The early days reflect the experimental nature of the mid-2000s internet landscape. When a web agency called Broadband Communications found themselves receiving inquiries about broadband installation because of their domain name, they spotted an opportunity. Rather than just selling the valuable domain, they pioneered one of the UK's first comparison sites, partnering with broadband providers through affiliate marketing. After initially struggling with unprofitable PPC campaigns, the founders bought out their partners and pivoted to focus exclusively on organic traffic growth.

The most dramatic chapter came in 2012 when Google's Penguin update devastated their rankings overnight, sending them from position #1 for "broadband" to somewhere around position 900. This catastrophic 99% loss of Google traffic could have ended the business entirely. Instead, with help from SEO expert Carl Hendy, they completely rebuilt their approach to content and link building. Despite industry claims that you "can't compete without buying links," they committed to entirely natural link acquisition – and proved the naysayers wrong by not only recovering but growing their traffic five-fold in the following years.

This journey contains valuable lessons about the dangers of SEO shortcuts, the importance of diversification, and the power of sustainable growth strategies. By 2016, they had expanded into additional affiliate sites using the same formula of excellent content and user experience, reducing their vulnerability to future algorithm changes. When the opportunity for exit arrived in 2021, they sold to a company already operating in the space who recognized the sustainable value they'd built.

What SEO challenges are you facing in your business? Have you found the balance between quick wins and long-term sustainability? Share your experiences or reach out with questions – I'd love to hear your story.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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The deceptively simple concept of Time to Value might be the most overlooked factor in your SEO strategy. In this eye-opening episode, I break down why the speed at which users experience the core benefit of your website directly impacts your search rankings.

Time to Value (TTV) is that magical moment when a visitor says, "Ah, I get it!" – the instant they realize your site delivers exactly what they needed. Whether it's finding the perfect product, getting a crucial answer, or completing a task, how quickly this happens determines whether they'll stay, bounce, or become loyal visitors. And Google is watching these behaviors closely.

We explore the two distinct types of TTV – Basic Value (the quickest path to main benefits) and Exceed Value (discovering those delightful secondary features) – and why prioritizing that initial value delivery is critical in today's short-attention-span world. You'll learn practical design strategies to reduce your site's TTV, from simplifying onboarding to creating intuitive navigation, clear CTAs, and lightning-fast page speeds.

The beauty of optimizing for Time to Value is that it naturally aligns with Google's core mission: serving the best results to users. When visitors quickly find value on your site, it reduces bounce rates, increases engagement time, boosts conversions, and builds brand loyalty – all signals that tell Google your site deserves higher rankings. Ready to transform your approach to website design? Listen now and discover why being helpful, fast, and clear might be all the SEO strategy you really need.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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A major shift has occurred in how Google Search Console reports your website's performance data, and it all stems from a quiet technical change few noticed. Google has removed the "num=100" parameter from search results—a seemingly minor adjustment with far-reaching consequences for SEO professionals and website owners alike.

This parameter allowed SEO tools to view 100 search results on a single page, gathering vast amounts of ranking data efficiently. Its removal has thrown rank tracking companies into disarray, forcing them to make ten times more requests to collect the same data, dramatically increasing their operational costs and processing times. For these specialized tools, the choice now becomes whether to scale up infrastructure, reduce the scope of tracking, or pass costs on to clients.

The most noticeable impact for website owners appears in Google Search Console reports. If you've logged in recently and noticed your impressions dropping while your average position improved, this parameter change explains why. Those deep-page impressions (positions 50-100) were largely generated by bots using the num=100 parameter, not real users. Without these bot impressions, your data now more accurately reflects actual human behavior. Sites with fewer page-one rankings are seeing the most dramatic changes, with impression drops of up to 70-80% in some cases, while sites with strong first-page presence experience less disruption.

This cleaner data ultimately pushes us to focus on what truly matters—getting high rankings in positions where users actually engage. While your actual traffic and real rankings remain unchanged, the visibility into lower-ranking terms that might represent opportunities has diminished. Understanding this shift helps interpret your performance metrics correctly and make better-informed SEO decisions going forward. Want to discover how to identify the most valuable keyword opportunities despite these changes? Try our specialized tools designed to cut through the noise and focus on what drives real traffic.

SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com

Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo

You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tips

To get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me now

See Edd's personal site at edddawson.com

Ask me a question and get on the show Click here to record a question

Find Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & Twitter

Find KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use

"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/