“There’s no such thing as a dofollow link.” 🔍
At SMXL in Milan, I talked with veteran SEO Bill Slawski of SEO by the Sea, known for breaking down Google patents, about what really affects rankings. 🎙️
📊 In this episode, we unpacked:
- 💸 SEO or PPC?
- 🧠 The truth about LSI keywords
- 🥈 When ranking #2 beats #1
- 🗺️ The walking tour that finally ranked
- 🔄 Nofollow, KPIs and quiet updates
🎥 Watch the full episode:
💸 SEO or PPC?
Should small businesses focus on SEO or PPC? Do a cost-benefit analysis. PPC costs might force you to raise prices to cover them, while an effective SEO strategy may cost less month to month. 💸
Does the TLD matter for rankings? Google says no, and Bill tends to believe them, except that it may help when targeting a specific language. For a TLD test you can run yourself, read Mike Long’s interview. 🔗
🧠 The Truth About LSI Keywords
Bill doesn’t think LSI keywords ever affected SEO. LSI was invented in 1989 to index small, static databases. The example in its patent was a collection of eight books, and it would need re-running every time the content changed, which can’t work for the web. 🧠
What tools sell as “LSI keywords” are really co-occurring words that predict a topic, as in Google’s phrase-based indexing patents and research on semantic topic modeling. They help pages rank semantically, but they’re not LSI. For more on semantic SEO, read Koray Gübür’s interview. 🔗
🥈 When Ranking #2 Beats #1
His favorite keyword research “tool” is Google’s results: look at the intent behind the top pages. He uses Ahrefs most, mainly for site audits. 🥈
As an in-house SEO for a Delaware business incorporation company, he found they did better ranking #2 behind the official Delaware government site. It was informational only and referenced them, so visitors arrived at Bill’s site ready to buy. For another SEO veteran, read Cyrus Shepard’s interview. 🔗
🗺️ The Walking Tour That Finally Ranked
For Baltimore’s visitor center site, they wanted to rank for “Baltimore black history”. Repeating the phrase on a page got them stuck around positions 110-155. 🗺️
So they wrote about real places: famous people, colleges and churches, a walking tour including the nine-foot Billie Holiday statue and townhouses Frederick Douglass bought. People shared and referenced it, and within a couple of years it ranked for the phrase and for long-tail searches about those people. For more on content that earns links, read Alexandra Tachalova’s interview. 🔗
🔄 Nofollow, KPIs and Quiet Updates
Nofollow was created to fight blog comment spam. He once used a dofollow plugin to reward commenters, but gave up after a flood of spam. For KPIs, agree on goals with each client. A mid-size jeweler wanted awareness, so they sent a 1.2-carat diamond to the Hydraulic Press Channel. The video named the client and got 10 million views. 🔄
Google ships around two updates a day, most of them unnamed. Splitting “datacenter” into “data center” sitewide matched about 1,400 monthly searches instead of 800. Misused structured data can cost you rich results: he found an agency claiming 50 reviews in schema with only three on the page. He planned to visit his great-grandmother’s hometown, about an hour from Milan, after the show. For a keyword tool view, read the Surfer SEO founder interview. 🔗
📝 Key Takeaways From the Bill Slawski Interview
- 💸 Compare SEO and PPC on cost and benefit
- 🧠 “LSI keywords” are really co-occurring terms
- 🎯 Study search intent in the top results
- 🗺️ Create content people want to share
- ⚠️ Don’t fake review schema
❓ FAQs About Bill Slawski
Who is Bill Slawski?
A veteran SEO known for SEO by the Sea, where he analyzed Google patents and algorithm changes.
Do LSI keywords help SEO?
Bill said LSI never affected SEO. Tools selling LSI keywords really offer co-occurring terms.
Do dofollow links exist?
No. There’s only nofollow, created to reduce blog comment spam. Links without it are just normal links.
🎙️ More Inside A Hustler’s Brain Interviews You’ll Love
- Kyle Roof SEO Strategies, AI Tests & How To Rank #1 in Google 🚀
- Interview with Koray Tuğberk on AI and Programmatic SEO Secrets 🤖🎙️
- Matthew Woodward Live Interview At AWA Asia Bangkok About SEO
- Google’s AI Mode Changed SEO Forever : My Chat With Jes Scholz
Have you ever tried “LSI keywords”? Tell me in the comments. 💬
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Jitendra Vaswani is a well-known expert in SEO and AI-driven digital marketing. He has spoken at international events and founded Digiexe, a digital marketing agency, and AffiliateBooster, WordPress plugin designed specifically for affiliate marketers. With over 10 years of experience, Jitendra has helped many businesses succeed online. His bestselling book, Inside A Hustler’s Brain: In Pursuit of Financial Freedom, with over 20,000 copies sold globally, underscores his influence and commitment to empowering digital marketers.
Excellent interview! I didn’t even know some of the terms they used such as TLP (Top Level Domains) & LSO Keywords.
This was super technical SEO stuff that I will take away and apply on my Website Design Service.
Hey thanks I appreciate you like this interview 🙂
Nice interview! Top Level Domains is a nice strategy. I will integrate that with my strategy of RSOS which I use for off page seo. I am happy to explain and share my process too. If anybody has any questions shoot me a message too.
Magnificent meeting! I didn’t know a portion of the terms they utilized, for example, TLP (Top Level Domains) and Seo Keywords.
Nice interview!
This was super technical SEO stuff, I will apply this on my website.
Great interview, knowledge was really passed, love the post. thanks
Wonderful interview, This conversation should improve seo knowledge. Thanks
I just wonder, the seo tactics keep changing with google algorithm. If you can write what are the major changes so far google algorithm have done in listing the website in rankings, that will be helpful.
I just watch complete interview and it was so informative that I can use into my work area. so many terms i even never heard off. thanks for sharing it.
just watch the complete interview, it’s so informative.
Thank you Jitendra, I liked the question about the biggest mistake in Baltimore with the walking tour example. I listened careful to the nofollow link part of the video as it’s been a hot topic of late once again. (I could relate to those spammy comments!)
What a great interview! You both spoke so well. It is full of tips and terms and some I hadn’t heard of before in the SEO world and I’ve read a lot over the years on SEO.
Great Information. Thanks for sharing
Great interview!
It is a pity that a little short, but I learned many interesting things and I will try to put them on my site 🙂
loved it the entire interview. the only question now I have, how I’m gonna implement learnings in my job.
Thanks a lot for the epic post! Great content as usual!
Being an SEO beginner, it becomes difficult to generate some great results for your company. I usually surf a lot in search of some great technical content related to SEO. This was awesome information that will be really helpful for me. And hope so this works for me. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you a lot for giving greatful article. Keep doing it
Superb meeting, This discussion ought to improve website design enhancement information. Much appreciated
Thanks For sharing valuable information about SEO Expert On Google Ranking Factors
. sir can you come up with Content Marketing Strategy video.
Nice Interview, got to learn a lot of things on SEO from both the expert, great job keep the good work going.
Great Interview, learned many new things after watching the video. More such interviews will help the community understand the right way. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the fantastic interview. I learned a lot!
Incredible Interview learned numerous new things subsequent to viewing the video. All the more such meetings will enable the network to comprehend the correct way. A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing.
Incredible Interview learned numerous new things subsequent to viewing the video. All the more such meetings will enable the network to comprehend the correct way. A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing.
Wonderful interview, This conversation should improve seo knowledge. Thanks
just an amazing interview. I simply surprise, the SEO techniques keep dynamic with the google algorithmic program. If you’ll be able to write what ar the main changes up to now google algorithmic programs have tried listing the website in rankings, which may be useful.
Great Interview, learned many new things after watching the video. More such interviews will help the community understand the right way. Thanks for sharing.
nice interview of Bill Slawski of SEO information
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