SEO is Simple, Not Easy - Episode 102

Summary

Podcast Summary: Grumpy SEO Guy – "SEO is Simple, Not Easy" (Episode 102)

Introduction

In Episode 102 of the "Grumpy SEO Guy" podcast, released on April 2, 2025, the host delves into the fundamental principles of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), emphasizing that while SEO is grounded in simple concepts, executing these strategies effectively is anything but easy. Drawing from 14 years of experience running an SEO agency, the Grumpy SEO Guy elucidates the core elements that contribute to successful SEO and the challenges that professionals often encounter in implementing them.

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1. SEO is Simple, Not Easy

The episode kicks off with the foundational assertion that SEO is simple, but not easy. The host breaks down SEO into four essential components:

1. Avoid Penalties
2. Have Content
3. Have Relevancy
4. Have Authority

Quote:

[00:58] Grumpy SEO Guy: "SEO is simple. It is not easy."

He emphasizes that understanding these four pillars provides a clear roadmap to SEO success. However, the simplicity of these elements belies the complexity involved in their effective implementation, especially when contending with industry competition.

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2. The Four Pillars of SEO

a. Avoid Penalties

Avoiding penalties is the first and arguably the easiest aspect of SEO. Ensuring that your website adheres to search engine guidelines prevents punitive actions that can drastically reduce your site's visibility.

Quote:

[01:29] Grumpy SEO Guy: "Don't get a penalty. Listen episode two."

b. Have Content

Creating relevant and high-quality content is straightforward. The content should align with the website's primary focus, ensuring that it provides value to users.

Quote:

[01:56] Grumpy SEO Guy: "Write something easy. That's literally it."

c. Have Relevancy

Relevancy ensures that the content on your site directly pertains to your chosen topic. For instance, a website about "blue widgets" should consistently produce content related to blue widgets.

Quote:

[02:10] Grumpy SEO Guy: "If your website is about blue widgets, have your content be about blue widgets."

He further explains that relevancy is not just about content but also involves factors like anchor text and the nature of backlinks.

d. Have Authority

Authority is the most challenging pillar. It reflects the trustworthiness and strength of your website, primarily derived from backlinks from other authoritative sites.

Quote:

[02:37] Grumpy SEO Guy: "Authority is like a value of how trustworthy or how strong your website is."

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3. The Challenge of Authority

Authority is portrayed as the cornerstone of effective SEO, yet it demands significant effort to build and maintain. The host elaborates on how authority is accumulated through backlinks—links from other reputable websites that vouch for your site's credibility.

Quote:

[03:15] Grumpy SEO Guy: "The only way to get authority is from backlinks from other websites."

He underscores that not all backlinks are created equal; the quality and authority of the linking site significantly impact the value they convey.

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4. SEO is a Competitive Game

One of the critical insights shared is that SEO is a competition, not a mere checklist of tasks. The notion that performing A, B, and C will automatically secure top rankings is debunked. Instead, success in SEO hinges on outperforming competitors who are also striving to enhance their authority and relevancy.

Quote:

[04:53] Grumpy SEO Guy: "SEO is a competition, not a checklist."

This competitive landscape means that even if everyone follows the same basic SEO principles, only those who excel in areas like authority will achieve and sustain top rankings.

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5. The Cost of Quality SEO

Drawing parallels with the automotive industry, the host explains that just as building a high-performance Porsche requires substantial investment, acquiring quality backlinks demands significant resources. High-quality backlinks are not cheap because they require purchase from reputable sources or substantial effort to earn naturally.

Quote:

[14:49] Grumpy SEO Guy: "SEO is the same way. If you're buying good quality backlinks, whoever is selling them to you also paid a lot of money to be able to provide those backlinks to you."

He uses the analogy of buying a Porsche to illustrate that low-cost alternatives are often inferior:

Quote:

[16:49] Grumpy SEO Guy: "If somebody's trying to sell you a Porsche for $30, it's not a Porsche."

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6. Why Cheap SEO Doesn't Work

The episode warns against the allure of inexpensive SEO solutions, particularly the purchasing of vast quantities of low-quality backlinks. Such practices are ineffective and can potentially harm a website's ranking due to search engine penalties.

Quote:

[12:07] Grumpy SEO Guy: "If somebody is trying to sell you SEO for $10, please just save your money."

He emphasizes that quality supersedes quantity in the realm of backlinks, advocating for strategic acquisition of authoritative links over mass, low-quality link building.

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7. Implementing Effective SEO Strategies

The Grumpy SEO Guy advises listeners to focus on building authority through legitimate means rather than seeking shortcuts. He references previous episodes that delve deeper into backlink strategies and the ethics of link building, providing a comprehensive approach to acquiring valuable backlinks.

Quote:

[15:41] Grumpy SEO Guy: "If you're going to buy backlinks, listen to episodes 37 and 39 before you buy backlinks."

He reiterates that effective SEO requires ongoing effort and investment, tailored to the specific competitive landscape of each industry.

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8. Conclusion

In wrapping up, the host reiterates the simplicity of the foundational SEO principles while acknowledging the complexities involved in their execution. He reinforces that achieving high rankings is attainable through a disciplined focus on avoiding penalties, producing relevant content, maintaining strong relevancy, and, most critically, building authoritative backlinks.

Final Quote:

[19:38] Grumpy SEO Guy: "Yes, getting authority is hard. But I hope that the examples in this episode were worthwhile."

He closes by encouraging listeners to engage with the podcast community for further discussions and support, underscoring the value of the insights shared throughout the episode.

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Key Takeaways:

• SEO Fundamentals: Focus on avoiding penalties, creating quality content, ensuring relevancy, and building authority.
• Authority Building: The most challenging aspect, reliant on acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources.
• Competitive Nature: SEO success is relative to competitors' efforts; it's not a one-size-fits-all checklist.
• Investment in SEO: Quality SEO requires financial and strategic investment, akin to purchasing high-value products like Porsches.
• Avoid Shortcuts: Cheap SEO solutions, especially bulk low-quality backlinks, are ineffective and risky.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• [00:58] Grumpy SEO Guy: "SEO is simple. It is not easy."
• [02:37] Grumpy SEO Guy: "Authority is like a value of how trustworthy or how strong your website is."
• [04:53] Grumpy SEO Guy: "SEO is a competition, not a checklist."
• [14:49] Grumpy SEO Guy: "SEO is the same way. If you're buying good quality backlinks, whoever is selling them to you also paid a lot of money to be able to provide those backlinks to you."
• [16:49] Grumpy SEO Guy: "If somebody's trying to sell you a Porsche for $30, it's not a Porsche."
• [19:38] Grumpy SEO Guy: "Yes, getting authority is hard. But I hope that the examples in this episode were worthwhile."

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Final Thoughts

Episode 102 serves as a clarion call for SEO professionals and website owners to return to the basics of SEO while acknowledging the intricate challenges involved in building and maintaining authority. By demystifying the processes and emphasizing strategic investment, the Grumpy SEO Guy provides a pragmatic roadmap for achieving sustained search engine success.

Transcript

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

This is Grumpy SEO Guy. Episode 102, SEO is simple, not easy. You're listening to Grumpy SEO Guy, the SEO podcast that doesn't waste your time with nonsense that doesn't work. I'm the grumpy SEO Guy, and I'm sharing with you the strategies that have helped me successfully run my SEO agency for the last 14 years. In this podcast, I'll be sharing my knowledge and experience, discussing tips and strategies, and trying to help you cut through the confusion that permeates this industry. If you listen to this podcast, you will know more about SEO than 99% of people on the planet. Ready? Let's get started. I'm the grumpy SEO guy. Let me tell you why I'm grumpy today. I'm grumpy today because a lot of people think that SEO is supposed to be easy. SEO is simple. It is not easy. Okay, let's talk a little bit about that. But before we do that, my lawyer tells me that I have to say this right now. A quick disclaimer before we get started. Everything I say here is based on my experience and opinion from 14 years in the industry. I. I don't officially know how Google or any other search engines work. Everything I say here is hypothetical and based on my experience. This podcast does not constitute advice or services. What worked for me may or may not work for you. Okay, back to the show. SEO is very simple. Ready? I'm gonna tell you how to do it. One, avoid penalties. Two, have content. Three, have relevancy. Four, have authority. That's it. That's literally it. That was 10 seconds, and I told you how to do SEO. That's very simple.

[Listener]

Okay.

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

And most of those things are easy. One, don't get a penal. Listen episode two. And don't do the things that I tell you not to do. Easy. Number two, Content. Write something easy. That's literally it. That's easy. Number three. Relevancy. Have your content be about the topic of your site. If your website is about blue widgets, have your content be about blue widgets. If your website is about washing machines, have your content be about washing machines. Easy. Now, to be honest, content does play a role in relevancy, but so do other things, like the anchor text and your backlink. Like what the backlink says. That also contributes relevancy. Okay, but so does what your content is. So just write content about whatever your keywords are. Easy. That was easy. Okay, number four. Authority. Getting authority is kind of hard. Okay, let's be honest so let's take a minute to describe authority, okay? Authority is like a value of how trustworthy or how strong your website is, okay? And authority only comes from backlinks from other websites, okay? Whenever another website links to you, it shares with you some of its authority, okay? And if you link to another website, you share with it some of your authority, okay? That's how. That's how search engines work. Not only does that make the Internet a nice place because you can find other cool articles by finding those links and clicking on them, but that also shares authority, okay? It says, hey, this website was good enough that I wanted to link to it, okay? So the only way to get authority is from backlinks, okay? And every website has its own level of authority. And the more authority a website has, the more authority it will share with you in a backlink, okay? Yes, there are exceptions to that. Maybe if it's nofollow or one of the other attributes, but nofollow is still a guideline. It's not a rule. So you can still even get authority from nofollow links, but that doesn't even matter because it's not even what we're talking about right now. The only way to get authority, okay? Number four, the last thing you need to rank the only way to get authority is from backlinks. So I saw somebody online and they were complaining about how hard it is to get good backlinks. Yeah, that's right. It is hard to get good backlinks. Do you remember the episode where I said that SEO is basically just economics? Okay, but with websites, look, what does something have to have in order to be valuable?

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

It has to have two traits. Do you remember? One, it has to be useful, and two, it has to be scarce or rare, right? Like, hard to get.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

So backlinks are useful because they give you authority, okay? But good backlinks are kind of hard to get because think about it, if they were easy to get, everybody would have good backlinks, and then it wouldn't matter, would it? Look, so you also know I say that, that SEO is a competition. It is not a checklist. Okay, now we gotta think about this for a minute. People think that SEO is a checklist. They think if I just do A, B and C on my website, I will have all the things that I need and I will rank. But people always think it's a checklist. No, because if that was all that was necessary, everybody would do those three things or, you know, however many things, and then everybody would Rank. But everybody can't rank. Everybody can't be number one, because SEO is a competition, okay? So it can't possibly be a checklist of things that you do, and then you are at the top of the search engines. Because that doesn't make sense. If it was a checklist, everybody would do those same things, and everybody can't be at the top of the search engines. So look, and let's. Let's specify right here, okay? When I say a checklist, that means of things that you do to your website. If you remember from another episode, I said SEO is not about what you do to your website. SEO is how your website relates to every other website on the Internet, okay? A large part of SEO is not doing stuff to your own website, okay? Because you can't make a perfect website that will be in the number one position because it doesn't work that way. You need authority, and authority only comes from other websites, okay? It only comes from links from other websites, okay? So a big part of what you're going to be doing depending on your competition is getting authority, not making the perfect content, having the perfect user experience, and all the other things that people always try to say are super important, but are actually not super important. Because if there were a per. Really pay attention here. If there was a preferred way of doing those things, everybody would do them, and then it would have no value, okay? That's why getting authority is such a big factor for SEO. Of course it's hard to get good backlinks. That's why they're valuable, is because they're useful and they're hard to get, okay? Like, because they're so useful, that's what makes them hard to get. That's why there is an entire economy around buying and selling backlinks, okay? SEO is simple, but it is not easy. Here's an example. Are you a CEO of a company? I'm seriously asking this. Are you the CEO of a company and do you make $60 million a year?

[Listener]

Okay. Okay.

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Now let me ask another question. Why aren't you. Why aren't you the CEO of a company?

[Listener]

Okay.

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Why not? Why not? So somebody's gonna say, grumpy SEO guy, it's hard to become the CEO of a company. Yeah, it is. But somebody else is gonna say, but there's only one CEO of a company. But there's lots of regular employees. Yeah, that's right. And there's only one website in the number one position in the search results too. So I don't know if that example Makes any sense to you, but I hope it does. Everybody wants to be a CEO and make $60 million a year, but it's very hard, okay? Everybody wants to be number one in the search results. But wait a minute, wait a minute. It's very hard. It's simple. Just, you know, get backlinks. And if you're not sure how to get backlinks, listen to episode 49, which is called the Four Ways to Get Backlinks. I literally tell you how to get backlinks in that episode. There are four ways to do it, but basically you either gotta do it yourself or you have to buy them, okay? So I don't know. Some people have a problem with buying backlinks. We have an entire episode on that. It's episode 101, which is called SEO. The ethics of Backlinking. Anyway, but the point is, in order to get authority, you need backlinks. That is the only way to get authority, okay? That is the only way to get authority. All websites have authority, okay? And when a website links to you, it shares with you some of its authority, okay? When a website links to you, it provides authority to you, okay? The more authority that website has, okay? Or more precisely, the more authority that page has, the more authority you get in a backlink, okay? So getting authoritative backlinks from websites with high authority will help you more than getting backlinks from websites with less authority. But backlinks from websites with less authority still help you, unless, you know, there's. There might be exceptions to that, like if the website is penalized or considered spam or something like that. Whatever. But, like, when normal websites link to you, it's all gonna help you. All backlinks, with some exceptions, pass authority, okay? But what's important to understand is that that is the only way to get authority, okay? People will tell you that, oh, good. Content builds authority. No, it doesn't. Only backlinks provide authority. Well, having a good user experience provides authority. No, it doesn't. Only backlinks provide authority. Having a site that loads really fast builds authority. No, it doesn't. Only backlinks build authority. Only backlinks share authority. You cannot make your own authority. You can only get authority from other websites. That's how it works. It doesn't matter if you think that's dumb, because that's how it works, okay? I didn't make the rules. I'm just telling you how to do it, all right? Yes. The Internet would be a better place if we did not have to rely on backlinks. And good quality content ranked because it was good quality. But that is not how it works. So in the meantime, get authority or don't rank. It's up to you. Doesn't matter to me. Anyway, look, here's another example, okay? So people learn that they need authority, and they're like, I'm gonna get backlinks. And then they go out and they find these people that are selling, like, let's say. Let's say 100,000 backlinks for $10. I'm just. I'm just guys just making up numbers here. Okay, let's say a hundred thousand. Because I'm sure there are places where you can buy 100,000 backlinks for $10. Okay, now let's think about this for a second. Let's think about this.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Your competition. And I'm just using example numbers here. Your competition. For example, let's say you're in a competitive industry. They might be spending $9,000 a month. Let's say they're getting 90 backlinks, okay? So they're paying $100 per backlink per month.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

For those backlinks. So we're just. Again, these are just numbers that I'm just, like, randomly choosing right now. Okay, look, I just want to say something really quick. If you're a beginner and you're listening to this episode, don't think you're gonna need to spend $9,000 per month. Cause you're not going to probably. That's just an example of somebody in a competitive industry.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

It's very unlikely that you will have to spend that much monthly to rank for your keywords. Now, you might. There are some industries where you might need to do that, but that's going to depend on what your competitors are doing.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Your SEO is going to depend on what your competitors. SEO is. Remember, we've said in other episodes, SEO is a competition, not a checklist. So what you have to do is. So what you have to do depends on. So what you have to do is dependent on what. Upon what your competition is doing. You might need to spend $9,000 a month or more, but probably you won't need to. Okay, does that. Does that make sense? Like, this was just a little example because I wanted to. I wanted to give an example of, like, cheap SEO versus, like, you know, actual SEO, because you can find the cheap stuff anywhere. And I just want you to know that it's probably not a good idea to do it the cheap way.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

And we're going to talk later on about, like, some of the problems with the cheap stuff and why it can't be cheap to begin with. And we're also going to talk about why real SEO can be pretty expensive. So again, this is just an example using like a big number and a very small number just to kind of like talk about what some people might think. I'm saying it is probably not the case that you will need that much money, but it's not unheard of that you might be spending $9,000 a month for 90 good quality backlinks.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

$100 a month per backlink. And that's not 90 new backlinks every month. That's 20 to keep them online, you're paying $100 per backlink for the same backlink to keep it online every month.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

So hypothetically speaking, you're in a competitive industry. Your competitor is spending $9,000 a month for 90 backlinks, okay? And you buy 100,000 backlinks for $10. Okay? Do you think that's gonna do anything? Like, obviously it's not about quantity, right? Those hundred, okay, because let's even take what. Let's even take another step away from this for a second, okay? That person who is selling you 100,000 backlinks for $10, okay? They have to make money, right? So their expense for those hundred thousand backlinks is smaller than $10.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Now just think about that. Just think about that. If it is possible to build 100,000 backlinks for less than $10, do you think they're going to do anything? Do you think they're on powerful domains or powerful webpages or anything? Or do you think it's just like blog spam or something? Think, like, think. Okay, here's another way to look at it. Good SEO is expensive because it is expensive to do.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

For example, let's say there's a person who buys a domain for $1,000. Okay? Again, I'm just choosing pretend numbers here. Let's say somebody buys a domain for $1,000, okay? Do you think they're going to sell backlinks on that domain for a dollar? That would mean they have to sell 1000 backlinks just to make their money back. Do you, do you think they're going to do that? And would you even want to buy a backlink on a website that has 1,000 outbound links? Like, like, like OBL. Like, do you like. Guys think. Okay, here's another analogy.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Say you want to buy a Porsche. Like the car, okay? Porsches are Expensive? Why do you think Porsches are expensive? So I will admit that, yes, some of it. Some of it is branding, some of it is marketing. Yes, you are right. Yes. But do you think it's expensive to build the cars, to hire the engineers who envision the cars? Do you think it's expensive, like, to build a Porsche engine? Right. And the wheels and like, all the other stuff? Right. Like, do you think that's expensive? Yes, that's expensive. That's why Porsches cost a lot of money.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

SEO is the same way. If you're buying good quality backlinks, whoever is selling them to you also paid a lot of money to be able to or spent a lot of time to be able to provide those backlinks to you.

[Listener]

Okay? Okay.

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Like, if somebody has a cheap domain that's not worth anything, yeah, they could probably sell you backlinks for a dollar, but big deal, because, like, who cares, right? But if somebody has a good domain, they probably paid a lot of money for it and they're gonna want to make their money back and then make some money on top of that. That's how business works, okay? And like, it's going to cost you a lot of money. You cannot go out and get authoritative domains for $5. Like, you can't do it. So of course it's going to cost money. Because it's going to cost money. Yes. Look. Okay, so. So that's why SEO can be expensive. Okay, good. SEO is expensive. I've said this before. I'll tell you this another time right now. If it's cheap, it is definitely bad. If it's expensive, it might be bad, right? Because again, spammers can charge whatever they want, right? Just because you're paying a lot of money doesn't mean something is good. But if you're paying a little bit of money, it's definitely worthless. It's like I said in a different episode, I said, if somebody is trying to sell you a Porsche for $30, it's not a Porsche.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Like, if somebody's trying to sell you SEO for $10, please just save your money, okay? If somebody's trying to sell you a Porsche, okay, for $30, it's not a Porsche. Porsches don't cost $30, okay? So somewhere in this discussion, you're being scammed somehow. Oh, $30 Porsche. Like, no, no, it's not. No. Right. Oh, 100,000 backlinks for $10. No, no. I mean, you can buy. Look, you can buy them if you want, but a. They're not going to help you at all. And B, they might possibly hurt you because I'm sure that they are low quality enough to be categorized in a negative way by the search engines. Maybe not, but you're not going to get any benefit from it. Like you're not. Like you're not.

[Listener]

Okay.

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

We have other episodes that explain why it's about quality and not quantity. By the way, if you're going to buy backlinks, listen to episodes 37 and 39 before you buy backlinks. Episode 37 is called the Difference between Good and bad backlinks. Episode 39 is called the Difference between Good and bad backlinks. Part 2. Listen to those and then buy backlinks. Okay. Okay. Anyway, look, like SEO is simple, right? Let's go over what it is again, because it's only four things. One, don't get a penalty. Two, have content. Three, have relevancy. Four, have authority.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

And we already did this kind of. But those first three things are easy.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

They are easy. Getting authority is hard. I agree with you. Getting. Guys, I agree with you. Getting authority is hard. Well, it's not easy. I wouldn't necessarily say it's hard, but I'd say it's not easy.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

It's not easy. So that person who is ranting that, oh, fighting backlinks are so hard. Yes, it is. And that's because that's effective. Authority is probably the biggest ranking factor there is. Why? Because those other three things are easy. If something is easy, everyone's going to do it. And if everyone is doing it, it's not going to be super important. Because then the playing field would just be exactly the same. Okay, let's say. Right? No penalties.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Not. Not hard. Not hard. I mean, we'll just say it's not hard to not get a penalty, right? Okay. So it's easy. Content, easy. Relevancy, easy. Everybody's doing those. Your competition that is ranking higher than you has those three things.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

They're doing a good job, and so are you. Probably the reason you're not ranking is because you do not have enough authority, probably compared to how much authority they have. That is why getting authority is the hard part of SEO. Everything else is easy.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Everything else is like a piece of cake. Like. Anyway, look, the reason getting good backlinks is hard is because they are a very significant part of SEO.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

So I'm not. If you have come to the conclusion, okay, that getting good backlinks is hard, it means you're understanding SEO correctly.

[Listener]

Okay?

[Grumpy SEO Guy]

Because yes, it's hard. It's like, it's like if you want to be a world champion powerlifter or something, but you got to go to the gym and lift heavy weights. That's hard. But then if you do it, you become a world champion powerlifter, then you're the champion. Of course there's like other stuff, you know, but. But still look like you can't just stay at home all day and be a world champion powerlifter. It doesn't work that way. And you can't not get authority and be on the first page of the search engine results unless you have like eight easy competition, right? Like, guys, you need authority to rank. You just do. Okay? I don't know how to explain it. So yes, getting authority is not easy, okay? SEO is very simple, okay? And many of the things are actually easy. But getting authority is not really that easy. But I hope that the examples in this episode we're worthwhile. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe and if you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review. It would really help the show out. I hope this episode was helpful. If you have any questions or want to suggest a subject for a future episode, you can contact me on Reddit. My username is Grumpy SEO Guy. You can visit the Grumpy SEO Guy subreddit or you can email [e-mail] if you email me, please either whitelist my email address or check your junk folders, because I've been told that my replies are going into the junk folder and it's probably because we're talking about things like SEO and backlinks, and I think those words will classify an email as spam. And if you want to support the podcast, because it's the best source of SEO information on the planet and it's free, you can do so. [e-mail] Grumpy SEO Guy and I will talk to you later. You're listening to Grumpy SEO Guy, the SEO podcast that doesn't waste your time with nonsense that doesn't work. Join us next Wednesday for another episode.