E1181: I break down six SEO habits that marketers and site owners use to grow traffic without chasing a new tactic every week.
These came from a popular SEO Growth subreddit thread where people shared the habits that made the biggest difference for them. I go through the best responses, explain why they work, and show you how to take each one further.
In this episode:
- Export Google Search Console data every month and study what Google tells you. Look at which queries generate impressions, where your pages rank, which pages get clicks, and where the gaps are.
- Separate keywords into covered and uncovered opportunities. Covered keywords tell you which existing pages deserve updates. Uncovered keywords tell you what new pages to create. This also reduces unnecessary overlap between pages targeting similar searches.
- Refresh old content instead of constantly publishing new pages. Update outdated information, tighten search intent above the fold, remove fluff, improve what comes next, and add relevant queries your page already ranks for.
- Build backlinks every single week. Consistent link acquisition compounds. Journalist outreach, partnerships, link outreach, and other repeatable methods beat doing one huge link-building push every six months.
- Use Google Search Console to find queries you rank for but never intentionally targeted. If a page sits on page two for a relevant search, add a section or paragraph that directly addresses that query. Google already sees the page as relevant. Give it a stronger reason to rank higher.
- Study search results constantly. When you search Google, look at why certain pages rank above others. When you use ChatGPT or Claude, study which sources they cite and why. Over time, patterns become obvious.
I also cover:
- Why informational content keeps losing clicks even when impressions stay strong
- How to spot pages that need an update
- Why broken links and fading pages deserve regular attention
- Why giving companies free SEO recommendations sometimes turns into paid work
- How partnerships create recurring backlink opportunities
- Why learning directly from SERPs beats blindly trusting tool scores
⭐️ The Reddit Thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/seogrowth/comments/1wh0yvq/whats_one_seo_habit_that_has_made_the_biggest/
⭐️ Ep 787 - The #1 SEO Hack: Why Content Refreshes Beat New Content - https://youtu.be/UKvGmqzIxg4
⭐️ Ep 1104 - The 1-Hour SEO Update That Makes Your Best Pages Rank for More Keywords - https://youtu.be/GmsAuotHGso
⭐️ Ep 1160 - How To Get Free Backlinks in 2026 (Methods That Actually Work) - https://youtu.be/U-5VL9o9RGQ
⭐️ Ep 1173 - The Internal Linking Trick That Uses Topical Authority You Already Have - https://youtu.be/2dPc80Z_DZk
⭐️ AI SEO/GEO/AEO: How to Get Shown in LLMs in 2026 - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/ai-seo-geo-aeo-get-shown-llms-2026/
💎 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 Biggest SEO Habit
00:16 Monthly GSC Review
01:14 Covered vs Uncovered Keywords
01:45 Content Refresh Checklist
03:22 Weekly Backlink Outreach
04:40 Query Tweaks to Rank
05:27 Learn From Other Sites
07:37 Consistency and Internal Links
08:21 Partnership Link Exchanges
09:08 Wrap Up
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #digitalmarketing #performancemarketing