Show notes
E1125: A page can target an easy keyword, match the search intent, and still fail to stay indexed or rank. I explain why republishing that page under a new URL may give Google a reason to evaluate it again using the topical authority your website has built since the page was first published. I experienced this with a page I originally published in March 2023. The keyword was easy, the page was properly optimized, and few competing websites were directly targeting the query. However, my website did not have enough topical authority when the page was first published. The page briefly reached the number-one position about a year and a half later, but it eventually disappeared from the index again. In March 2025, I republished the same content under a slightly different URL and redirected the old URL to the new one. Less than a month later, the page was ranking number one for its target keyword. It has remained in that position since. The content did not need to be rewritten. The main change was the URL. In this episode, you'll learn: - Why a page may fail to rank even when it targets a low-competition keyword - How your website's topical authority can affect a page when it is first published - Why an older page may continue to underperform after your site becomes more authoritative - How publishing the page under a new URL can lead to a new evaluation - Why the old URL should be redirected to the new URL - How to determine whether a keyword is genuinely being targeted by competing websites - Why keyword tracking is necessary for finding pages that should be performing better - How organic clicks and relevant backlinks can strengthen your authority within a topic - When this method may be worth testing on one of your own pages The basic process discussed in the episode is: - Find a page targeting a keyword that should be attainable - Confirm that the keyword appears in your title and URL - Check whether competing pages are directly targeting the same keyword - Confirm that the page has consistently failed to stay indexed or rank - Create a new URL by making a small, relevant change to the slug - Publish the existing content under the new URL - Add a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new URL - Track the target keyword to see whether the new page begins ranking This is not about changing URLs across your entire website. It is a specific test for pages that appear to be properly optimized but were originally published before the website had enough relevance or authority in the topic. The episode also includes an excerpt from a previous conversation with David Quade explaining why Google treats each URL as a separate page and why a new slug can give the content a new start. ⭐️ The Magic Pill of SEO: Topical Authority - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/magic-pill-seo-topical-authority/ ⭐️ 10-Minute SEO Hack That Took My Page from Invisible to #1 on Google - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/10-minute-seo-hack-that-took-my-page-from-invisible-to-1-on-google/ ⭐️ Ep 846 - The SEO Playbook That Actually Works: PageRank, Topical Authority & Real Results - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eK5-TpaiPw 💎 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 Indexing Problem Setup 00:44 Republish With New URL 01:44 Topical Authority Explained 02:36 Case Study Timeline 03:36 David Quaid Google Canon 05:17 New Slug Fresh Start 05:34 Track Keywords And Republish 06:17 Wrap Up The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/ #searchengineoptimization #seo #technicalseo #digitalmarketing