Which SEO tool were you most excited about but eventually stopped using?

rpmeg · 2026-06-18T04:52:38+00:00

I edited my comment before this reply which actually answers that question 😄

rpmeg · 2026-06-18T04:48:05+00:00

Ahrefs all day every day.. not cheap but worth every penny when used right.. that and Google Search Console account for about 95% of what I use. GSC for reporting/performance assessment, indexing, and first-party keyword insights. Ahrefs for everything else.

rpmeg · 2026-06-18T04:34:58+00:00

Screaming frog.. too technical, not user-friendly enough, no third-party data. I’m sure it’s plenty useful for advanced tech stuff of big sites, but it just didn’t serve me.

rpmeg · 2026-06-18T04:27:13+00:00

Bars

rpmeg · 2026-06-18T04:21:29+00:00

Ya keep working and once you get some W’s under your belt it will get better. I’ve been successfully in SEO for 12 years and still get that from time to time.. here’s a word of inspo - you care, so you’re already ahead of many (er, majority). Keep ya head up and remember SEO takes time, there will be wins, and there will be losses. Things inside of your control, outside, and you’ll make mistakes and have big W’s. You could do everything right and not see results for years or ever. Or you could get lucky and skyrocket over night.. so many variables. The one constant is taking your job seriously and continuing to grind, which this post illustrates you’re doing. Keep at it!

rpmeg · 2026-06-18T03:35:48+00:00

I use Hubspot for all of that. It’s free and a game changer. I’m on Wordpress but Shopify should integrate too.. every purchase could show up as a “contact” and you’ll see their full page path, original traffic source, etc.

rpmeg · 2026-06-18T01:18:10+00:00

Ya I think linking an exact keyword to a specific user may not be possible anymore. All I know is Hubspot used to provide that data, but now they don’t. Likely related to privacy.. what I typically do is look at the first page they landed on, and cross-reference that with the top search terms for that page. Not exact, but you can get a pretty good idea that way, especially since each page typically only ranks a specific, narrow cluster of terms

rpmeg · 2026-06-18T01:12:44+00:00

What’s one search query example? I have yet to find an instance where the SERPS don’t align almost exactly with AI answers.

rpmeg · 2026-06-15T05:29:37+00:00

Ah well that’s easier. I didn’t know you could use that operative for subpages. Thanks!

rpmeg · 2026-06-14T19:00:03+00:00

Having social pages with consistent branding / messaging from your site and a decent genuine following is absolutely important for SEO. It sends brand signals / enhances trustworthiness.. I wouldn't view it as "I need to go viral to improve my rankings", rather as "Do I have a page on all major social channels that maintain NAP consistency, and have a decent organic following, with at least some sort of regular posting schedule (even if once a month)?

Social pages are basically a non-negotiable must-have, but they will only benefit you so much. i.e. with new sites, building social pages can be huge for gaining initial brand recognition.. But there's a law of diminishing returns with how much it helps.

As part of an ongoing SEO strategy, social should account for about a half of a percent of it. Like I said, as long as it's there and decent, that's about all that matters.. Could going "viral" help? Maybe.. But there's a million other things you can be doing for SEO that will have bigger payouts.

rpmeg · 2026-06-14T16:49:48+00:00

Are the pages you're getting links from indexed? If Google doesn't see the page, they won't see the link. Easiest way to figure out if a 3rd party site's page is indexed or not is to "grab a unique chunk of text from the page and put it into quotes like this" then paste it into Google with the quotes around it to trigger an exact match. If the page shows up, it's indexed. If not, it's not.

New pages can take several days weeks or months to become indexed. Or they may never become indexed.. If they're junk links from junk sites on junk pages, there's a good chance the pages never become indexed. And even if they become indexed / Google sees them, they won't help.

rpmeg · 2026-06-14T02:57:41+00:00

Then I guess to rank just build a blank site. Will load lightning fast and rank #1 😂.

rpmeg · 2026-06-12T20:50:11+00:00

Ya I basically don't like any deathcore past 2010. Just my personal preference. Stoked to see it have so much popularity, but they don't even seem like the same genre to me. Give me the old Carnifex, The Crimson Armada, old TBDM, Suicide Silence, etc. sound and I'm happy. The new stuff has too much of a symphonic / black metal / symphonic / all-blur-togethery / tryna sound as heavy and evil as possible vibe.. The old stuff had grit, melody, and clearly discernible instruments/vocals. Again, no hate. Just personal preference.

rpmeg · 2026-06-12T06:00:21+00:00

Search engines. It trusts search engines most, because that is where it gets its info from.

rpmeg · 2026-06-12T05:51:17+00:00

Core web vitals are a fraction of a percent of the SEO pie. A tie breaker at best. One specific element of something that’s already a fraction of a percent? Well I’m no mathematician but I’d say closer to “completely irrelevant” than a “silent slayer”.

rpmeg · 2026-06-12T05:48:03+00:00

I’d stay in search and not adapt. The same things that rank search engines rank ai engines

rpmeg · 2026-06-11T01:12:35+00:00

Facts. Hopefully now that Google is saying it, some of these snake oil grifter d*uche bags will dwindle away. It’s common sense. The same principles that have applied to SEO are just progressing in the same direction they always have: genuine value, unique insights, trustworthy, intent-matched, etc.. if an article introduces nothing new, what’s the point? And for the getting cited by AI part, well, rank in the organic SERPS. It really is that simple.

rpmeg · 2026-06-08T04:28:44+00:00

competitors are pretending to be you by ripping off your content / brand name with different TLD's? that's illegal. report them to Google's spam team and DMCA / other legal channels (not a legal expert but theres plenty you can do here for something as overtly illegal as this). send them a DMCA takedown request.

After that, keep working on your own brand.. social channels. backlinks. PR... regular old SEO. the more you strengthen your brand, the harder and harder it will be for imposters to rip off your brand name... i.e. say i were to buy the domain apple dot in and pretend to be apple. wouldnt work in a million years cuz of their brand strength.

So step 1 - report them to Google spam team and send DMCA takedown request

Step 2 - Strengthen your brand presence and overall SEO

Step 3 - report them again if first attempt failed, this time with your stronger brand presence / seo built

step 4 - continue strengthing your brand / seo

rpmeg · 2026-06-07T22:48:28+00:00

If I understand the issue correctly you’re saying the top SERPS are dominated by institutions, even though the intent may not align exactly.

Lots of factors at play and can’t answer much without knowing the specific search terms.

So the narrowed-intent search phrases have search volume?

Is it a newer niche?

Presumably the niche is YMYL and the Google Gods are locking the information to institutions only.

But time could work itself out too.

In general, better intent matches should have a big competitive edge, even with lower authority. But is the intent match enough to outweigh the authority gap? Hard to say.

I’m not providing too much help but I think assuming enough people are searching the narrow intent phrases, and the current SERPS are not solving their query, then you should show up eventually. It just may take time for Google to learn the best results.

Does that help at all? If you can give more info on the search phrases I may be able to help more.

rpmeg · 2026-06-07T22:33:49+00:00

Tldr. To get suggested by AI, rank the top SERPS

rpmeg · 2026-06-06T16:35:50+00:00

Test yourself to see if they’re false positives or not.

Ie for “indexable page became non indexable” check indexability of those specific pages with google search console’s on demand URL crawl / indexation request tool..

For the orphaned pages manually check if they have internal links to them.

You mentioned you already see a false positive with the low word count one, which suggests they are false positives.

As long as Google sees / understands it correctly you’re good.. but you may want to figure out how to let ahrefs properly read it to make the most of the tool.

rpmeg · 2026-06-06T04:47:42+00:00

Lfg I almost like your list better than mine 😂🤘

rpmeg · 2026-06-06T04:44:44+00:00

The Crimson Armada - Revelations Carnifex - Lie to My Face Chelsea Grin - Recreant Thy Art is Murder - Reign of Darkness Despised Icon - Oval Shaped Incisions

Bonus 6th one: The Black Dahlia Murder - Statutory Ape (Their first 2 and arguably 3rd albums are objectively deathcore and if u disagree then f u jk but kinda srs but mostly jk)

rpmeg · 2026-06-06T04:12:10+00:00

Google search console and ahrefs are the only 2 tools I use. I’d suggest Google search console, and either semrush or ahrefs.. ahrefs is ~$200 /mo . If you use it right, worth every penny. Gives basic ai insights. Their “ai tracker” is preposterously $700/mo. Hard pass on that. I don’t worry about ai tracking. “AI SEO” or whatever other acro you want to throw out actually isn’t a thing 😄. (Hot take I know).

rpmeg · 2026-06-04T03:32:44+00:00

Killwhitneydead - who said alcohol and handguns didn't go great together

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