Ranking factors are framed through experience, trust, and niche focus.
Ben Steele and Lauren Baker use this Search Engine Journal Show conversation to revisit ranking factors, what shifted in 2023, and how that should shape planning in 2024.

Search Engine Journal
365 episodes listed below
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Welcome to The Search Engine Journal Show! This is the official podcast of Search Engine Journal. We talk all things SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and digital marketing with the top industry experts and authorities. Your host will be Loren Baker.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Search Engine Journal Show makes search marketing legible through detailed interviews, informed panels, and close attention to operational decisions.
Search Engine Journal Show turns search marketing into a practical conversation about decisions, tradeoffs, and the systems behind online visibility.
Mushroom tea takes five or six scrolls to reach organic results; your SEO anxiety has company.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Ranking factors are framed through experience, trust, and niche focus.
Ben Steele and Lauren Baker use this Search Engine Journal Show conversation to revisit ranking factors, what shifted in 2023, and how that should shape planning in 2024.
SEO audits work best as an ongoing process, not a one-off report.
The segment treats SEO audits as part of the job, not a one-off cleanup, and it gives follow-through the same weight as the findings. Pat Reinhardt keeps the advice practical: protect developer bandwidth, limit asks to the fixes that matter most, and stay useful during code…
A practical look at Google's momentous May and what it means for search.
The episode follows Google through a busy May, but it stays most interesting when it stops chasing the news cycle and asks what responsibility actually looks like in search and AI.
A useful look at turning SEO know-how into leverage, not just billable hours.
Loren Baker steers this episode away from SEO tricks and into the business side of consulting, with Roland Frazier making a plain case for using expert time to build equity and better returns.
Smaller events, private follow-up groups, and a practical case for staying connected after the session.
Search Engine Journal brings together Loren Baker, Jim Christian of digitalmarketers.org and DMO Advanced, and Stephanie Solheim of Mastermind Mansion for a discussion about the continuing value of smaller SEO events and masterminds.
A newsroom conversation about signal, sourcing, and the cost of repeating noise.
The SEJ Show treats information overload as a newsroom problem, not just another feed nuisance. Amanda Zantel-Weiner keeps the discussion moving, while Matt Southern and Roger Monti work through how stories spread, how attribution gets stretched, and why readers are better off…
Social data is treated as an input to SEO, PR, and link building.
Lauren Baker and Rory Hope look at how social data can shape SEO planning, with audience segments, influencers, and shared content feeding decisions across creative, PR, link building, and digital PR.
A practical reset on what semantic HTML can and cannot do for search.
Martin Splitt draws a clear line between semantic HTML and semantic data, keeping the focus on what each layer actually does. Loren Baker keeps the Q&A moving, which helps the conversation stay grounded in practical use: how markup supports understanding, and where site…

Simon Owens interviews founders about the revenue mechanics behind their media businesses.

Colin and Samir break down creator-economy news, from OpenAI's TBPN deal to AI podcasts.

AI-era marketing tactics from operators testing what works next.

Mark DeGrasse interviews agency and marketing operators on the frameworks behind their case studies.

Cory Cotten-Potter interviews B2B sales and marketing founders on AI's reshaping of pipeline generation.

Kristina Halvorson interviews content strategists about how the work actually gets done.
Will Critchlow is back from Brighton SEO San Diego, and Lauren Baker turns the catch-up into the question SEO teams keep running into: how do you protect budget when everyone is being asked to do more with less?
Loren Baker interviews Purna Virji about creating high-impact content in a changing digital landscape, covering strategies like backward design, intentional content planning, and leveraging LinkedIn for promotion.
Ben Steele discusses the 2023 Google ranking factors, including updates to EEAT, the confusion around page experience signals, and the impact of click data from the antitrust trial.
Patrick Reinhart from Conductor discusses the shift from periodic SEO audits to an always-on strategy, highlighting real-time monitoring to prevent costly errors.
Google's Alejandro Borja, Director of Product Management for Ad Safety, discusses the importance of ad safety in funding content creation and maintaining a safe digital ecosystem.
Amanda Zantal Wiener hosts Matt Southern and Roger Montti to discuss Google's recent AI announcements, including SGE, and their implications for SEO, legislation, and ethics.
Loren Baker interviews Ryan Kutscher, founder of Circus Maximus Branding, about using the Ikigai system to develop compelling brand storytelling.
Navah Hopkins discusses conversion optimization for PPC, covering landing page experience, technical and creative components, and strategies for visual ads and Performance Max.
Loren Baker interviews Roland Frazier about moving beyond hourly SEO consulting to secure equity in client businesses.
Loren Baker hosts Jim Christian and Stephanie Solheim to discuss the value of smaller SEO events and masterminds, highlighting benefits like intimate networking, exclusive insights, and experiential activities.
Microsoft's Bing search veteran Fabrice Canal reveals how the company has rapidly integrated OpenAI technology into search through their Prometheus model, creating a chat experience that cites sources and drives traffic to websites.
Loren Baker interviews Lucas Long about privacy-centric marketing, covering the three core pillars, first-party data strategies, and compliance challenges for global brands.
Amanda Zantel-Weiner hosts SEJ writers Matt Southern and Roger Monti to discuss managing information overload in digital marketing.
Loren Baker interviews Daniel Alvarado, CEO of White Shark Media and AdClicks, about social media advertising trends, including TikTok's potential search ads, AI-generated content, and multi-touch attribution.
Loren Baker interviews Rory Hope, head of content SEO at HubSpot, about integrating social data into SEO strategies.
In this special webinar, Google's Martin Splitt joins Loren Baker to discuss semantic HTML, its importance for SEO and accessibility, and answers audience questions on topics like header tags, structured data, and Google Search Console.
Two veteran SEO bloggers with nearly 20 years of experience discuss the evolution of search marketing journalism and the current AI revolution in search.
Loren Baker interviews John Gentry, CEO of OpenX, about the evolution of digital advertising from paid search to programmatic and CTV.
Loren Baker interviews Ann Smart about effective link building and blogging strategies for 2023, covering the ongoing importance of links, ethical tactics like academic outreach and broken link building, and the role of content and podcasts in SEO.
Loren Baker interviews Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO of Neva, about AI in search, comparing ChatGPT's limitations with Neva's real-time, cited AI answers.
Loren Baker interviews Nancy Marzouk, CEO of MediaWalla, about identity measurement and its role in digital marketing.
Loren Baker interviews Alex Collmer, CEO of VidMob, about creative intelligence in online advertising.
Loren Baker interviews Karina Barriga from FIFA about her journey from journalism to sports marketing.
Loren Baker interviews Marcus Tober about SEMrush's study on zero-click searches, revealing that 25.6% of Google searches result in no clicks.
Loren Baker interviews Ben Steele about the State of SEO study, revealing key findings like Australia's high salaries and metric mismatches.
Dr.
Lauren Baker interviews Craig Campbell, a Glasgow-based SEO practitioner with 20 years in the industry and more than 800 YouTube videos.
Lauren Baker interviews Ethan Giffen, founder and CEO of Groove Commerce, about ecommerce SEO, platform migrations, site performance, and Google-related search practices.
Loren Baker interviews Ryan Lee, founder and CEO of Nautical Commerce, about marketplace commerce, holiday shopping strategy, and third-party seller growth.