Search with Candour

Candour
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Every Monday, Jack Chambers-Ward has in-depth conversations with SEO experts from around the world. Covering topics from attribution in GA4 to networking tips for introverts and everything in between. Search With Candour is the perfect way to kickstart your working week! https://withcandour.co.uk/podcast

  1. 4 days ago

    Buying Links vs Digital PR: Risks, Costs, and What Actually Works (with Vince Nero from BuzzStream)

    Host: Jack Chambers-Ward (he/him) Vince Nero, BuzzStream’s Director of Content Marketing, joins Search with Candour to discuss whether paying for digital PR is the same as buying links. Vince shares research on link marketplaces, noting many sites have zero organic traffic and only a tiny fraction qualify as high-quality. With some top-tier paid placements averaging thousands of dollars per link, often rivalling or exceeding monthly digital PR retainers. Vince and Jack also discuss relevancy vs authority, referral traffic and business impact, the growing value of brand mentions for AI visibility, and how creating owned, original assets and proprietary data can drive long-term coverage. Follow Vince BuzzstreamBuzzstream podcastFollow Vince on LinkedInVince’s previous episodeVince's recommendations: Actionable tip: Create unique content for digital PR pitches and host that content on your website.Recommended tool: XofuSomething fun: Mina the Hollower and Widow's BayChapters 00:00 Highlight reel 01:12 Introduction 04:47 Welcome Vince Nero 05:38 Digital PR vs link buying 08:48 Link marketplaces data 12:47 Quality metrics relevancy 17:13 Google risks penalties 21:45 Cost value comparison 32:02 Digital PR long-term wins 36:07 The importance of owned assets 44:00 AI mentions new value 46:51 Linked vs unlinked mentions 48:25 When links don’t matter 49:46 Big brand campaign metrics 50:45 AI as a status signal 52:55 Non-AI agency debate 54:15 Trusting Google guidance 55:17 Search relations vs Google Corp 01:01:00 guidelines vs case studies 01:03:01 Recommendations: Actionable tip 01:04:24 Recommendations: Tool/software 01:05:37 Recommendations: Something fun 01:15:28 Where to find Vince 01:16:28 Episode wrap up and next guests

    1hr 18min

  2. 15 Jun

    AI for Human SEO + “Maybe It Isn’t JavaScript” (Crystal Carter & Martin Splitt) | SearchNorwich highlights

    Host Jack Chambers Ward shares a special episode of Search With Candour highlighting two talks from SearchNorwich 18 ahead of the first SearchNorwichXL conference on 24 September 2026. 🎟️SearchNorwichXL tickets: https://searchnorwich.org/ In the first talk, Crystal Carter (Wix) discusses using AI tools for “actual intelligence” in SEO by emphasizing human experience, real examples, and opinion, noting forum visibility (e.g., Reddit) and practical ways to add EEAT-style signals, primary-source content, and social proof while using tools like transcribers, image enhancers, and NotebookLM. In the second talk, Martin Splitt (Google) presents “Maybe it isn’t JavaScript,” explaining that many indexing issues blamed on JavaScript are actually caused by blocked resources (e.g., robots.txt blocking APIs), caching/CDN behavior, or incorrect status codes in SPAs, and recommends using Search Console and rendered HTML to diagnose problems. 00:00 Introduction 00:26 Search Nor Excel Preview 01:05 SearchNorwich 18 highlights 01:49 Crystal Carter Intro 04:59 AI Reality In SEO 07:41 Why Humans Still Win 09:54 Experience Signals Matter 15:17 Real Examples And Proof 17:39 Opinions Drive Clicks 20:51 AI Tools For Humans 23:39 NotebookLM Workflow 25:32 Wix Built In AI Tools 27:40 Crystal Wrap Up 28:58 Why JavaScript Gets Blamed 30:55 Use Search Console Rendered HTML 33:04 Missing Content Cats Case Study 35:32 Robots TXT Blocking The API 37:52 Google Rendering Bug Noindex JS 41:24 Phantom Noindex From CDN Cache 47:10 SPA Error Pages Returning 200 50:57 Fixing SPA 404s Properly 51:54 Summary Tools And Q&A 54:42 Wrap up

    56 min

  3. 8 Jun

    May 2026 SEO News Recap: Google I/O, AI Traffic in GA4 & the May 2026 Core Update

    Jack Chambers-Ward hosts a solo episode to recap the biggest SEO news from May 2026, including Google IO, AI traffic reporting in GA4 and the May 2026 core update. Links to news stories https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/explore-web-generative-ai-search/https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7458539598885867520/https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guidehttps://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9164320?hl=en#05132026https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/search-io-2026/https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/shopping/google-shopping-cart/https://status.search.google.com/incidents/wdAXJk6LRRihEjpzEeWEhttps://www.sistrix.com/blog/may-2026-core-update-visibility-analysis-and-data-updates/Time stamps 00:00 Intro 03:11 Subscriptions and Trusted News 10:25 Reddit in Google Business Profiles 14:12 Google’s guide for AI search optimisation 29:07 GA4 AI Assistant Tracking 33:08 Google I/O recap 33:57 Search Box Reimagined 37:42 Agentic search and UI 40:28 Personal Intelligence 42:57 Google’s Universal Cart 45:17 May 2026 core update 46:58 Wrap up

    48 min

  4. 1 Jun

    Does Answering People Also Ask Questions Improve Rankings? (SEO Study w/ Chris Green)

    Chris Green joins Search with Candour to share his study on whether answering Google’s “People Also Ask” (PAA) questions correlates with higher organic rankings. 📖 Read the study in full: https://alsoasked.com/insights/paa-ranking-correlation Key takeaways 📈Across the top 5 positions, pages that fully answer more PAA questions tend to rank higher. 📊Commercial and transactional queries show the strongest correlations; navigational and informational queries are weaker. 📉Beyond page 1, the correlation drops sharply and can even reverse in lower page 2 positions—likely due to small sample sizes and SERP variability. Answering PAA questions alone isn’t enough to rank well; technical quality, external signals, and user experience still matter. ✅Covering a wide range of related questions can make content semantically richer, which may support ranking potential. Follow Chris Green 🔗Website - https://www.chris-green.net/ 🔗LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgreenseo/ 00:00 Do PAA Boost Rankings 01:21 Show Intro and Context 03:12 Meet Chris Green 04:48 Why PAA Matters Now 06:14 Originality and Value Proxy 12:28 Study Setup and Intent Buckets 16:02 SERP Sampling Top 20 17:48 Scraping Content at Scale 19:28 How Deep to Pull PAA 21:01 Crawl Errors and Bot Blocks 23:38 Cleaning Scrape Data 24:00 Scraping Ethics and Bots 26:09 Study Setup and Scoring 27:29 Key Findings and Correlations 32:48 Why Intent Was Messy 36:43 Full vs Partial Answers 39:37 Client Action Plan 44:57 Beyond PAA Question Mining 47:23 Where to Follow Chris 48:12 Episode Wrap and Teaser

    49 min

  5. 25 May

    HiveMCR 2026 Recap - SEO talks, AI Search panel, live comedy and more

    Jack Chambers-Ward gives a recap of his experience at HiveMCR 2026 including all of the talks, panels and events over the two-day event hosted by Charlie Whitworth. The event included live music, stand up comedy and talks from Jono Alderson, Dawn Anderson, Alex Moss, Sophie Brannon and many more. Sponsored by Trendos - the AI search visibility tool. With Trendos, you can see who’s buying ads in your AI search results. Trendos now tracks ChatGPT sponsored placements and is the first tool to reveal which competitors are paying to appear in the AI answers your customers see every day.  Use code CANDOUR to get a 5% discount on any paid plan.  Try Trendos.com ChatGPT AdRadar now Chapters 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:19 - Trendos ad 00:05:08 - Thursday at HiveMCR 00:05:52 - Nikki Halliwell’s talk 00:06:35 - Jess Atkinson’s talk 00:07:09 - Manchester SEO All-stars panel 00:08:10 - Token Honey 00:09:21 - Friday at HiveMCR 00:09:41 - Alex Moss’s talk 00:11:05 - Sophie Brannon’s talk 00:12:20 - Dawn Anderson’s talk 00:13:49 - Jono Alderson’s talk 00:16:19 - AI Search panel - Ben McKay, Nick Handley, Itamar Blauer and Gus Pelogia 00:17:21 - Itamar Blauer’s talk 00:18:22 - Areej AbuAli’s talk 00:20:16 - Brand and digital PR panel - Lisa Paasche, Harry Clarkson-Bennett, Jono Alderson, Shannon McGuirk and Ashley Liddell 00:21:20 - Gus Pelogia’s talk 00:22:22 - Ashley Liddell’s talk 00:23:40 - Gianluca Fiorelli’s talk 00:24:19 - Steve Paine’s talk 00:25:14 - Wrap up panel - Charlie Whitworth, Dawn Anderson, Luke Cope and Ned Poulter 00:27:02 - Live comedy by Katie Lingo 00:27:40 - Live comedy by Rich Wilson 00:29:06 - Live comedy by Jeff Innocent 00:29:49 - Wrap up and outro

    31 min

  6. 18 May

    Conversation with Adam Gent | How Google's index actually works and why indexing matters

    Adam Gent returns to Search with Candour to discuss how Google’s indexing works and why large websites should monitor it closely. Adam explains that statuses like “URL unknown to Google” can mean Google has deprioritised and effectively forgotten pages, and that Search Console may misreport or fail to alert when pages are actively de-indexed. He describes a “130-day rule” for indexing, where low page quality can affect the status of existing pages. They also cover index bloat on large websites, the importance of long-term indexing, and practical steps like segmenting sitemaps by site sectioning or seasonality. Follow Adam Indexing Insight Follow Adam on LinkedIn Follow Adam on Bluesky Adam at SearchNorwichXL Chapters 00:00 Highlight reel of Adam Gent 01:40 Introduction 04:57 Why index monitoring matters 08:11 Search Console blind spots 10:29 URL unknown to Google 13:13 Why Adam built Indexing Insight 14:04 The 130-day rule for indexing 15:28 What page quality means 21:36 Site sections and patterns 29:37 Index bloat on big sites 32:20 Cleaning up for AI visibility 33:51 Indexing ratios that matter 36:44 Is indexing getting harder 37:33 Short-term vs long-term indexing 40:50 Demand-led recovery 44:29 Indexing misconceptions explained 48:39 Sitemaps for seasonality 52:11 Reducing Search Console noise 55:44 Recommendations 01:03:15 Wrap up

    1hr 5min

  7. 11 May

    SEO News Recap (April–May 2026): Google AI Mode in SERPs, How to Build Agent-Friendly Websites & Gemini in Chrome

    Jack Chambers-Ward delivers an SEO news recap covering key stories from April 2026 into early May. He highlights Google testing AI Mode directly in the “All” tab, AI Mode’s agentic restaurant bookings, AI Mode side-by-side browsing in Chrome desktop (US), and Google’s Audio Overviews appearing on SERPs beyond Search Labs. He also discusses Google’s official guidance on building agent-friendly websites—how agents use screenshots, raw HTML, and the accessibility tree—and notes Gemini in Chrome rolling out worldwide, potentially boosting Gemini adoption. Google tests AI Mode in the main search tab - https://brodieclark.com/notes/#apr-2026  Google Search Console impressions error - https://xcancel.com/brodieseo/status/2040311550406472112  Agentic restaurant bookings - https://xcancel.com/Google/status/2042626811083853857  AI Mode can open in side-by-side view - https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/ai-mode-chrome/  Google tests Audio Overviews - https://www.seroundtable.com/google-testing-audio-overviews-wild-41207.html  How to build agent-friendly websites - https://web.dev/articles/ai-agent-site-ux  Gemini in Chrome - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nataliawitczyk_yes-gemini-integrated-in-chrome-is-now-rolling-activity-7456789716202508288-He8k/ Get your tickets for SearchNorwichXL: https://searchnorwich.org/  Time stamps 00:00 Intro 01:22 AI Mode hits main search tab 05:38 Search Console impressions bug 07:35 AI restaurant booking agents 11:09 AI Mode adds split-screen mode in Chrome 18:47 Audio Overviews on SERPs 21:51 How to build agent-friendly websites 30:15 Gemini in Chrome goes global 38:28 Wrap up

    41 min

  8. 4 May

    The Efficiency Paradox: Why AI Isn’t Actually Making Your Life Easier (Live at Ironworks Studios in Brighton)

    In this eighth live collaboration between SEO Mindset and Search with Candour, the hosts discuss the “efficiency paradox” and why AI can increase overwhelm rather than make life easier. Jack Chambers-Ward, Sarah McDowell and Tazmin Suleman debate the pressure to use AI, environmental and job concerns, hallucinations and misuse for legal/medical advice, de-skilling, declining human interaction, and the value of friction and curiosity. Audience Q&A covers practical uses (timestamps, concise messages, event planning), handling forced AI adoption with boundaries, and a discussion of physical books and focus. Sponsors Sponsored by SISTRIX Sponsored by Majestic Follow The SEO Mindset Podcast https://theseomindset.co.uk/  Follow Search with Candour Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8c8k5Yy8FltVNsIsP1iUCSXDfE5cq2pM Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4AILSpWLI74daOhECb8Hm0 Chapters 00:00 Live Show Kickoff 01:23 Meet the hosts 02:48 Sponsors and SISTRIX Data 07:33 Majestic Books and Q&A 09:35 Efficiency Paradox Setup 11:00 AI Overwhelm and Pressure 17:48 Expectations vs Reality 21:52 Hallucinations and Misuse 26:00 Deskilling and Bad Bread 31:14 Maps Memory and Connection 37:34 Productivity as Self Worth 37:55 Rest As Productivity 38:35 Efficiency Versus Quality 40:50 AI Replacing Coworkers 42:36 Friction Builds Skills 47:56 Embrace Failure And Process 50:13 Life Beyond Work 55:46 Audience Q And A Uses 01:01:07 Forced AI And Boundaries 01:11:50 Profit Motives And Reliance 01:16:02 Books Comeback And Focus 01:22:57 Wrap Up And Thanks

    1hr 24min
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4.8
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Every Monday, Jack Chambers-Ward has in-depth conversations with SEO experts from around the world. Covering topics from attribution in GA4 to networking tips for introverts and everything in between. Search With Candour is the perfect way to kickstart your working week! https://withcandour.co.uk/podcast

Information

  • Creator
    Candour
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    366
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Candour
  • Show Website
    Search with Candour

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