Optimize Episode 036: Cyrus Shepard on Becoming a Google Quality Rater, Evaluating UX Data, and Internal Linking Strategies

Join Nate Matherson as he sits down with Cyrus Shepard for the thirty-sixth episode of the Optimize podcast. Cyrus works as an SEO and online marketer. As an early and long-time employee of Moz, he built his reputation by studying Google’s algorithm, researching and publishing scientific SEO studies, helping brands and businesses improve online visibility, and continually teaching new SEO best practices to others. Today, he runs Zyppy, an SEO software company that makes expert techniques available to everyone. In our episode today, Nate and Cyrus dive into Google’s Antitrust lawsuit and the hidden insights our audience should consider to improve their SEO and content marketing efforts. Listen to Cyrus speak on how user engagement data drives a house of cards (Google’s algorithm). During the episode, Cyrus and Nate discuss the process of becoming a Google Quality Rater and why mobile optimization is critical. As a bonus for our listeners, Cyrus shares his results from applying what he’s learned to his site and his optimization priority for 2024. In this week’s deep dive, Cyrus and Nate visit one of our more popular topics: internal linking strategies. Cyrus references his research and gives our audience critical insights into the results of what’s working and how to craft the perfect internal links strategy to succeed in 2024. Rounding out the episode, Cyrus covers ranking factors, domain authority, user interaction signals, and his predictions for 2024, including the upcoming surge in AI-generated content. Closing the episode is our popular lightning round of questions!

Feb 7, 2024

Learn More About Cyrus Shepard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyrusshepard/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CyrusShepard 

Website: https://zyppy.com/ 

Important Links

Internal Link Study: https://zyppy.com/seo/internal-links/seo-study/ 

Selective Link Priority Study: https://zyppy.com/seo/internal-links/selective-link-priority/

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