What’s REALLY Working In SEO [Podcast] via @sejournal, @lorenbaker

It is possible that what works in SEO now is not what you think. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not all about keywords and keyword research – though they certainly help! Today, almost everything works differently, and we’re here to find out why.

Craig Campbell, Glasgow’s top SEO expert, joined me in this episode of the SEJ Show for a candid discussion about what’s REALLY working in SEO at the moment, including a discussion around dropped domains, domain leasing, PBNs, link building, YouTube, TikTok and other media outlets that Google loves!

There are a lot of domain names that are not personally branded, and you could turn them into an excellent money website in some way. Whether it be affiliate or ecommerce, it really doesn’t matter. A website’s a website. –Craig Campbell, 29:24

I don’t even see people going to the Wayback machine recreating all your videos. Many people just slap up any old URL and brand new URLs and stuff like that. What they don’t do is do the basics properly. You need to reignite that. It’s run out of gas, essentially, the website. You need to reignite it –Craig Campbell, 31:23

If you ever feel like you have imposter syndrome and don’t know anything about SEO, go to a room where no one knows anything about SEO. They’ll all ask you questions because you will be validated immediately. –Loren Baker, 12:38

[00:00] – A little about Craig & his YouTube channel.
[04:28] – What is Craig’s core focus?
[05:55] – How many sites did Craig launch before finding two profitable ones?
[13:22] – How does it feel to be the only SEO in the room?
[17:03] – What are expired domains?
[30:59] – What NOT to do when buying dropped domains.
[37:18] – The best way to approach expired domains.
[50:39] – Is Craig noticing anything in the middle of this content update?
[55:38] – How important are Domain Authority ratings and other metrics in inbound links?
[58:04] – Does Craig ever look at Majestic?

Resources mentioned:

Craig Campbell SEO – https://www.craigcampbellseo.com/
Odys Global – Premium Aged Domains & Websites for Sale – https://odys.global/

Typically, what I would do with any website that I bought is I would repurpose it. I might not keep the exact template and look of pictures, but what I would be doing is recreating, going through any URLs that had links pointing to them, I would be recreating those URLs. I would put the content back up from the Wayback machine and keep the website as close to what it was initially just to start to rank again for some of the terms it did have. Then link equity starts to kick back in. –Craig Campbell, 22:00

I’m not just looking at the domain name. I’m looking at the number of outbound links. I’m looking at the number of keywords that rank on that website. I’m looking at the referring domains. I’m looking at a bunch of other quality checks, and I think that part is what these guys are missing. –Craig Campbell, 32:38

Take the time to invest in an idea. It can be local, global, a $500 product, or even a $20 product, and just do it right and get it out there. Who knows, you might get addicted, and you might, if you’re like Mr. Craig Campbell here, be able to flip it for 50x. Its monthly income is fantastic. –Loren Baker, 1:01:19

For more content like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/searchenginejournal

Connect with Craig Campbell:

Craig Campbell is regarded as one of Glasgow’s most experienced SEO practitioners. With his expertise spanning all aspects of SEO, he has built up an unmatched wealth of digital marketing knowledge.

He is also a businessman known as “Craig Campbell SEO.” The pandemic led him to start a YouTube channel that is now home to more than 100,000 subscribers.

Subscribe to Craig on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CraigcampbellseoUk
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/craigcampbell03

Connect with Loren Baker, Founder of Search Engine Journal:

Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker
Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker