Seasoned fractional SEO/GEO strategist/consultant, husband, father, sailor, speaker & Ambassador for @Waikay_X | Available for *interesting* projects 🇬🇧🇺🇸
Virginia Beach, VA
Joined August 2008
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"Context is King"
Can you leverage "Anchor Context" for SEO?
Google tells us to place in relevant context, but most folks don't realize how Google can use those signals to evaluate links and ultimately rank webpages.
A patent by Anna Patterson and Paul Haahr (two titans of Google search), "Ranking based on reference contexts" explains how Google can utilize RARE words before and after the anchor text to determine context
Google can then use this context as a *distinct* ranking factor
Google’s API leak documents attributes that measure this exact thing: fullLeftContext, fullRightContext, and context2 — defined as “a hash of terms near the anchor.”
Patterson and Haahr explain that Google can rank pages “based on the number of different contexts associated with the links”
More diverse + relevant contexts = good.
On the other hand, if a lot of "contexts" look suspiciously similar, Google could label the links as spam
Importantly, Google talks about finding the "rare" words around the anchor text - words found with greater frequency than the rest of the page.
Most people—and link-building platforms—focus on anchor text and stop there. But context can be important!
Grant Simmons retweeted
Can you leverage "Anchor Context" for SEO?
Google tells us to place in relevant context, but most folks don't realize how Google can use those signals to evaluate links and ultimately rank webpages.
A patent by Anna Patterson and Paul Haahr (two titans of Google search), "Ranking based on reference contexts" explains how Google can utilize RARE words before and after the anchor text to determine context
Google can then use this context as a *distinct* ranking factor
Google’s API leak documents attributes that measure this exact thing: fullLeftContext, fullRightContext, and context2 — defined as “a hash of terms near the anchor.”
Patterson and Haahr explain that Google can rank pages “based on the number of different contexts associated with the links”
More diverse + relevant contexts = good.
On the other hand, if a lot of "contexts" look suspiciously similar, Google could label the links as spam
Importantly, Google talks about finding the "rare" words around the anchor text - words found with greater frequency than the rest of the page.
Most people—and link-building platforms—focus on anchor text and stop there. But context can be important!
Grant Simmons retweeted
Think of Google as the world’s biggest library. If your website is the equivalent of books scattered across the floor, search engines will struggle to understand what matters.
@simmonet explains why site architecture and internal linking are essential for making content easier to understand and discover. 👇
Grant Simmons retweeted
🚨 Happening tonight!
A moderated peer group meeting to discuss challenging situations
Join fellow Braver Angels members in a small group setting to discuss challenging situations you've encountered. Share your experiences, reflect together, and strengthen your Braver Angels skills through peer learning.The event is carefully and kindly moderated. This is a space for personal reflection and supportive connection—not for giving advice to others.
“Based on my tweets as [my handle] and the attached photo can you please create a vintage 1960’s movie poster of me?”
Think it did pretty good, captured my ‘esprit de vie’ nicely, though I did have to upload a picture of me as well to actually get it to look anything like me.
Grant Simmons retweeted
What happens when you strip away all the marketing speak from a page?
@simmonet says the answer should still be obvious: who you are, what you do, what your product does, and what problem you solve.
For LLMs, clarity matters. 👇
Grant Simmons retweeted
Grant Simmons @simmonet built a tool that pulls the queries Google maps to a page from GSC & flags d ones that don't fit. His rule: page shd exist for a reason, to satisfy a specific intent. If a page drifts, it ranks for everything & wins nothing. Thoughts?
Grant Simmons retweeted
Internal linking is one of the few SEO levers you have complete control over.
@simmonet joins @gfiorelli1 to explain why contextual, relevant links can reinforce expertise, authority, and important pages - and why not all internal links are created equal.
Tune in ⬇️
Last year, an agency prospect wanted to create a visibility methodology they could own.
That prospect never became a client (even after some valuable conversations and deep dives 🤷🏻♂️), but I started thinking about what that kind of methodology would look like.
Something relatively simple... something rooted in great SEO, and something that ties into what I've been presenting and speaking about for the past 10+ years (and something that will work across surfaces and future methods of search/retrieval)
Enter *The MAPS Method*, a simple framework, process, and methodology to earn visibility in AI, SEO, and whatever machines use to retrieve content from the web (yes... it's web-focused even though the web as we know it may not exist in 2030 😎)
themapsmethod.com
Although search is moving hyper fast right now... I'm still of the mindset that knowing who you are (defining meaning) and the audiences you're trying to connect to is still "search marketing"... and as search marketers, we'll continue to be relevant until we decide otherwise (or lose the plot trying to find shortcuts over solutions that help our users - whether they're bots or breathers 😁 )
With thanks and hat tips to @DuaneForrester @aleyda @Hobo_Web @dejanseo who inspired and provided clarity through their various talks, research, and posts.
Cheers 🍺
#TheMachineLayer -> #TheMeaningLayer
#SEO #GEO #AIO #AISearch #Visibility #AI
Grant Simmons retweeted
Google updates creating helpful, reliable, people-first content with new main content section and how search quality raters review it
seroundtable.com/google-help…
Grant Simmons retweeted
SEO agencies risk becoming commodities when they sell the same services in the same way.
@simmonet argues for a strategy-first approach, measurable ROI, and a genuinely differentiated niche.
Listen now 👇
Brilliant. Chills.
Grant Simmons retweeted
Harvard kids singing Radiohead’s “Creep.”
This could have gone very wrong.
Then the lead singer opens his mouth.
The Harvard Veritones have won at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella — the real-world competition that inspired Pitch Perfect.
Turn the sound on for this one.
Going to test this… anything that can save some time and cobbling together tools / APIs / MCPs… but
Not seen anything “trained reasoning” that replaces “reasoning based on real-world experience”… yet
perplexity.ai/gen/computer/S…
#SEO
Grant Simmons retweeted
Disambiguation is not branding. It's identity hygiene.
Getting some incredible insights from @simmonet on what it actually takes to build a memorable brand versus just clearing up confusion.
Happening in Track 2! #BrightonSEO
ps - really cool t-shirt, Grant!
Grant Simmons retweeted
@simmonet has gone “full Homer” at @brightonseo !
Brands don’t lose to competitors in AI answers… they lose to confusion.
