SEO Rant Podcast

International SEO is just ccTLDs and hreflang, right? Nope. Webcertain's Gemma Houghton joins the SEO Rant Podcast to share the deeper side of international SEO:

* Why international SEO is its own art and science

* When you should begin with international SEO efforts

* The role of culture in international SEO

Listen as Gemma and host Mordy Oberstein dive into the holistic nature of international SEO.

Data is great. Every SEO should use data. But data that is not contextualized can be worthless at best and extremely misleading at worst. Semrush's Diana Richardson joins the SEO Rant Podcast to talk about the need for contextualized SEO data:

* Why SEO data needs to be qualified

* The need to see the larger picture when analyzing data

* SEO tools can't think for you

It's easy to make data the be all end all and final word on everything. This is particularly true in SEO where there is simply an abundance of data. However, for the data to actually be helpful in meeting the end goal of SEO (to grow sites through organic traffic) it has to be qualified.

Semrush's Diana Richardson and Mordy Oberstein discuss how to use SEO data the right way!

Everyone has their own SEO origins story. In this episode, Munene Kelvin shares how he got started in SEO.

* How he went from psychology student to content writer to SEO professional

* Where community fits into your journey as a new SEO

* His experience learning SEO from some of the industry's top experts

We all have our unique path to SEO. Munene Kelvin shares his unique "SEO story" that saw him move from pursuing a degree in psychology to being a content writer to ultimately joining Chima Mmege's FCDC where he learned SEO from Aleyda Solis.

Sharing these SEOs stories is meaningful. We've all fallen into this "peculiar" career path that the "outside world" often doesn't understand. In a way, it's quite validating to hear someone's story about how they stumbled upon SEO and what that's meant for them both personally and professionally.

Listen as Munene Kelvin joins host Mordy Oberstein to share his experience starting a career in SEO.

What if a keyword research tool says there is no search volume for a keyword, should you target it anyway? Ebere Jonathan joins the SEO Rant Podcast to talk about zero search volume keywords:

* When you should or should not target zero search volume keywords

* Why zero search volume keywords should be part of your larger content strategy

* Why zero search volume keywords can be important for newer sites

Very often, yes your SEO strategy should include a focus on zero search volume keywords. Zero search volume keywords are a great way for a newer site to start creating site identity, topical relevance, and authority so that you can eventually rank for more competitive keywords.

Listen as Ebere Jonathan and Mordy Oberstein explain the value of using zero search volume keywords.

Looking to jump into the wide world of digital marketing? Sodiq Ajala suggests you do so by first building your own website:

* Gaining perspective by building your own site

* Building your own site for the sake of personal branding

* Why having a personal website is great for experimenting

You should build your own website about yourself. While it might sound obvious, many many of us don't do it. But the truth is, for people trying to enter the SEO and digital marketing space having your own site that you built with your own two hands is extremely helpful.

Why? Listen as Sadiq Ajala and Mordy Oberstein discuss!

Keyword research is one of those cliched and monolithic topics in SEO. That's why Deborah Oyewole joins the SEO Rant to share what new SEOs should know about keyword research:

* Why keyword research starts with understanding the brand you're working with

* Why asking the right questions is key to doing keyword research

* When new SEOs should and shouldn't rely on SEO tools for keyword

research

Listen as Deborah and host Mordy Oberstein talk about the right mindset to have about keyword research especially if you are new to SEO!

PPC and SEO can co-exist, but not always. Samuel Lavoie joins the SEO Rant Podcast to share his thoughts on when looking at SEO from a PPC perspective can be detrimental to organic growth:

* Why we should separate SEO from PPC more than some might think

* Why SEOs need to be informed of PPC campaigns

* Why you should not have the same people doing SEO and PPC

Have you ever run a branded search query and found the very brand you're looking for is running Search Ads for their own name? It's very common. It's also very common that the actual organic result that the user is looking for doesn't appear above the fold (thanks to more Search Ads).

Why does this matter?

Because instead of getting what would have been free traffic, all things being equal, the user clicks on your ad. So the same user that would have come organically now just cost you a bit of money. In all likelihood, the user would have bypassed the ads from your competitors. After all, they were searching for your brand by name.

Listen as Samuel Lavoie and host Mordy Oberstein dive into the conflicts between SEO and PPC!

How do you manage SEO projects effectively? Montse Cano joins the SEO Rant Podcast to share her best tips and overall outlook on staying organized when managing an SEO campaign:

* Why SEOs need to learn how to be organized

* What it means to run an organized SEO project

* The importance of setting expectations & how being organized plays into that

Managing SEO projects is never easy, but it can be especially hard when you're managing multiple projects with multiple clients who are all using multiple platforms to run their projects. To make matters worse, and as Montse points out, there are so many moving parts that you are trying to exert some semblance of control over. It's moments like this that being well-organized is a powerful ally to your ability to do good SEO.

Listen as Montse Cano and Mordy Oberstein talk the ins and outs of properly managing an SEO project from an organizational point of view.

Ronin Bennett-Vonderostensacken joins the SEO Rant Podcast to discuss what creating content that is driven by purpose looks like and how that plays into SEO:

* How to decide on what content to write

* Why having real experts write content is a huge advantage

* How to keep your content focus

At the risk of stating the obvious, you should not create content just for the sake of creating content. You want to create content that is beloved by your audience. That should be the goal when writing.

That's all a little easier said than done. Listen as Ronin Bennett-Vonderostensacken and Mordy Oberstein dive into creating content that has purpose behind it.

The great Azeem Digital joins the SEO Rant Podcast to share the problem that is a lack of diversity among SEO conference speakers:

* What a lack of speaker diversity means for the industry

* The ethics behind speaker diversity

* The affordability of SEO conferences and its role in diverse attendance

Too often, the speaker lineup for an SEO conference consists of the same people (who trend towards being male and caucasian) who may or may not really be relevant to the current SEO conversation.

This not only prevents new ideas from being shared (i.e., diversity of thought) but can make what is already an uphill battle for many SEO speakers of color that much more difficult. As Azeem points out, securing a more diverse speaker lineup is not as hard as perhaps some conference organizers think. There are various groups and organizations within the SEO community that would make securing a more diverse lineup quite efficient.

Listen as Azeem Digital and Mordy Oberstein discuss the state of SEO conferences and what the future has in store for them should they not evolve.