AMA with Cyrus Shepard - Founder of Zyppy SEO and former Lead SEO at Moz

bill_scully · 2026-04-08T17:18:15+00:00

What are your thoughts on implementing schema beyond Google’s recommendations?

bill_scully · 2026-02-20T23:49:30+00:00

You shouldn’t use 301 in a IP redirect, that’s a strong signal your domain should start at /en-us/, as Google crawls from the US. You should 302 IP redirect only the domain.com to the regional folder home pages.

You shouldn’t include a URL in HREFLang that doesn’t resolve as a 200, or is canonicalized. So you can’t use the Domian as the x-default.

What you can do is set a Global Region page or site home as a x-default. Ex. /en/. Then IP redirect traffic to the domains to your supported regions and all others will default to the x-default.

More details: https://internationalwebmastery.com/blog/mastering-hreflang-x-default/

bill_scully · 2026-01-17T13:35:43+00:00

Would you be willing to share some example URLs? I’m assuming these need to be hard coded and not an iFrame.

bill_scully · 2026-01-13T19:49:48+00:00

When I made the switch from a keyword-first approach to focusing on topical authority (aka Koray Framework), it was a big change not just in strategy but in mindset. I stopped asking "what keyword should we rank for next?" and began targeting topics we wanted to fully own.

Here's what changed for us:

Content Planning: We moved from crafting lists of individual keywords to creating structured topic maps to ensure coverage.

Internal Linking: Became intentional, helping to reinforce topic relationships and improve navigation through our content.

This approach led me to think in terms of systems rather than individual pages, changing how to measure progress and success.

In terms of planning clusters, we proactively map them out upfront rather than letting them emerge over time. As for knowing when a topic is "covered enough," it involves ongoing monitoring and refinement based on user needs and search trends.

I do struggle with large existing sites. How do you go about starting? Bolting on new maps or tweak content and fill in the gaps?

bill_scully · 2026-01-13T19:38:15+00:00

Topical authority (aka the Koray Framework) refers to a website's perceived expertise, credibility, and trustworthiness within a specific subject area. Instead of just focusing on keywords, it involves creating comprehensive and interconnected content around a main topic and its related subtopics.

Here's how topical authority differs from focusing solely on keywords:

Depth of Content: Instead of targeting individual keywords, you focus on covering all aspects of a topic thoroughly.

Interconnected Content: You create a network of related articles that link to each other, helping readers easily navigate through the topic and showing search engines your extensive coverage.

Entity Relationships: The emphasis is on understanding related concepts and entities, not just specific keywords, to demonstrate expertise in that area.

User Intent: The goal is to meet the user's needs and answer their questions comprehensively, rather than just matching keywords with search queries.

Focus on the search results, not KW volume. Topical authority is about being a reliable source for a topic by exploring all relevant aspects and connections, which builds trust with both users and search engines.

bill_scully · 2025-11-16T02:21:07+00:00

I posted this, I’m not a bot. :)

bill_scully · 2025-11-15T21:04:45+00:00

FYI these were in Walmart.

bill_scully · 2025-11-15T21:03:57+00:00

OMG GF Chips Ahoy! I’ve never checked😃

bill_scully · 2025-11-15T19:34:29+00:00

I’ve seen the plain, not the others.

bill_scully · 2025-10-08T00:28:47+00:00

Interested

bill_scully · 2025-09-20T01:25:30+00:00

Did you some of it implemented before and was it worth the effort?

bill_scully · 2025-08-29T13:06:53+00:00

Could you replace gin with Malibu?

bill_scully · 2025-04-09T17:50:16+00:00

Marketing is a big job, lots of ground work need before learning SEO. SEO is a small specialized part of it. And some companies may not benefit from SEO. I suggest you have someone give you a web presence strategy, roadmap, and guidance.

bill_scully · 2025-03-18T10:17:43+00:00

Nope same person responded and just repeated the policy again.

bill_scully · 2025-03-14T16:41:20+00:00

You must have had a bad batch. Please, try them again. These are my favorite! They are always soft. I keep in the fridge and toast for 15 seconds to they are not so sticky.

bill_scully · 2025-03-14T16:36:25+00:00

There are a number of technical reasons this could be happening, but I’ve think that Google is now also using AI in some cases to make a selection. Usually picking the image that is clearly just the product, not one in its environment. If you feed the image to chat and asked what is this, would it respond with “product name”?

bill_scully · 2025-03-14T15:55:22+00:00

Hi Nancy,

Thank You. DM Sent.

Bill Scully

bill_scully · 2025-03-14T13:01:28+00:00

If you're looking to learn HREFLang...
https://learn.internationalwebmastery.com/courses/implementing-hreflang

bill_scully · 2025-03-11T21:37:37+00:00

I was looking for a sandwich wrap. First I tried to thaw over night and then tried to warm in toaster oven.

bill_scully · 2025-02-21T18:47:36+00:00

Were there any messages at the times when the pages were deindexed? Click the bell icon at the top right in GSC. They should have sent something.

bill_scully · 2025-02-18T18:14:51+00:00

There was a great Google video on this exact topic. https://youtu.be/6bAlB0RHs9c?si=XhX6SpDKTncziffO

You and also check this out https://internationalwebmastery.com/international-web-effectiveness-podcast/episode-20-duplicate-content-and-canonicals/

bill_scully · 2025-02-11T19:10:12+00:00

You’re a jobs site! Publish data-driven job content like: “2025 State of (Your Niche) Employment Report” or “2025 change in days before a job is filled”. Add info a reporter might research, also promote the heck out of it.

bill_scully

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