E1116: James Dooley joins the pod to explain what's working in SEO in 2026, based on years of testing across hundreds of websites, multiple industries, and highly competitive search markets.
James describes himself as a "money-hat SEO": he is less interested in labels such as white hat or black hat and more interested in testing, measuring results, managing risk, and building assets that make money over the long term.
We discuss:
- What James does during the first 30 days of a new SEO project
- Why he often builds an exact-match domain, a partial-match domain, and a branded website for the same business
- How he chooses between short-term ranking opportunities and long-term brand building
- Why bottom-of-the-funnel pages remain central to his lead-generation strategy
- How to tell whether a site needs more authority, better content, content pruning, or conversion work
- What "discovered, not indexed" and "crawled, not indexed" can reveal about a website
- Why deleting a large percentage of weak pages can sometimes increase traffic
- What the Google API leak confirmed about user signals, clicks, branded searches, and NavBoost
- Why site speed, concise content, image size, dwell time, and user behavior still matter
- Which links still move rankings in 2026, including digital PR, guest posts, citations, press releases, and PBNs
- Why James now prefers links that competitors cannot easily copy
- What still works in iGaming SEO and why James is reducing his involvement in that market
- How parasite SEO, expired domains, exact-match domains, and indexing tools fit into his current process
- Why top-of-the-funnel content is increasingly being published on Reddit, social platforms, and third-party sites
- How one strong review, testimonial, award, or case study can be repurposed across many platforms
- Why force-indexing social posts and third-party content may help those pages appear in search and AI systems
- How brands can improve their chances of being cited and linked in Google AI Overviews
- Why consensus and third-party corroboration matter for recommendations in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity
- James's "who you are, what you do, and why you're brilliant" framework
- How knowledge panels, Knowledge Graph IDs, schema, books, podcasts, IMDb, Wikidata, and entity connections work together
- The difference between using schema for rankings and using schema to clarify an entity
- How James outranked another well-known person with the same name in Google's Knowledge Graph
- Why fewer clicks from informational searches do not always mean fewer leads or sales
- How AI-assisted search can send better-informed prospects who are more likely to convert
- The SEO mistakes James has made, how he tests penalties, and why he teaches new team members to find the limits
- The one SEO action he recommends completing in the next 24 hours
- Why SEOs should test ideas instead of repeating advice they have never verified
⭐️ James Dooley's website - https://jamesdooley.com/
⭐️ James Dooley on 𝕏 - https://x.com/james_dooley
⭐️ James Dooley on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameszdooley/
⭐️ James Dooley on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jameszdooley/
⭐️ James Dooley on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/james.dooley1/
⭐️ James Dooley on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@JamesDooley
💎 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 Welcome James Dooley
00:32 From Business to SEO
01:46 Content Amplification Flywheel
05:11 First 30 Days SEO
08:07 Money Hat SEO
11:58 Google Leak Signals
15:52 iGaming Negative SEO
19:13 Pruning and Authority
21:14 Revenue Keyword Research
23:52 Multi Domain Strategy
26:26 Entity SEO Knowledge Panels
31:01 Link Tactics 2026
36:17 Schema for Entities
40:50 Search Volume vs Corroboration
42:20 Schema for Knowledge Panels
43:37 Schema Testing for Rankings
44:35 R&D Testing Mindset
46:13 Social Platforms for Long Tails
48:12 AI Overviews and Better Leads
50:15 Consensus Framework for AI
52:56 Amplify Testimonials Everywhere
56:57 Ethics of Review Manipulation
59:49 Semantic Triples Explained
01:01:35 Force Indexing Social Proof
01:04:43 Omnichannel Consistency Wins
01:08:20 Mentorship and Industry Growth
01:10:27 Nofollow and Mentions Debate
01:11:44 Unlinked Mentions Matter
01:12:36 Why SEO Is Surging
01:13:54 Bottom of Funnel Keyword Wins
01:15:01 Inside Their SEO Testing Lab
01:16:43 Image Search Traffic Plays
01:18:01 Video And Podcasting Boost
01:18:37 Podcast Syndication For LLMs
01:24:08 Monetizing Podcasts With Sponsors
01:26:49 Strategic Micro Episodes Plan
01:30:16 Three Questions
01:36:04 Who To Follow In SEO
01:40:46 Wrap Up And Where To Find
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
#searchengineoptimization #seo #blackhatseo #digitalmarketing
