What The Hell Happened to Cointelegraph.com?
case study

What The Hell Happened to Cointelegraph.com?

•
3 Min
By: Sean Markey
Get The .Com Or Die Trying (Literally)
domains

Get The .Com Or Die Trying (Literally)

•
2 Min
By: Sean Markey
five big takeaways from the December 2025 Google core algorithm update
search

five big takeaways from the December 2025 Google core algorithm update

•
4 Min
By: Sean Markey

Latest

stop obsessing over SEO metrics that don't matter

•
4 Min
stop obsessing over SEO metrics that don't matter

Case Study: How We're Making Our Newsletter Rank Everywhere

•
5 Min
Case Study: How We're Making Our Newsletter Rank Everywhere

what to do when the domain you acquired won't even rank for branded queries

•
8 Min
what to do when the domain you acquired won't even rank for branded queries

Build A Forever Brand With ChatGPT

•
8 Min
Build A Forever Brand With ChatGPT

Google Ends Support For num=100 in SERPs

•
3 Min
Google Ends Support For num=100 in SERPs

Ahrefs Acquires Detailed.com, Acquihires Glen Allsopp

•
3 Min
Ahrefs Acquires Detailed.com, Acquihires Glen Allsopp
Signaling Theory: a lesson in branding from Q.ai
domains

Signaling Theory: a lesson in branding from Q.ai

Why a premium domain is a critical asset for a stealth startup

•
3 Min
By: Sean Markey

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domains

Read all in domains
Signaling Theory: a lesson in branding from Q.ai
domains

Signaling Theory: a lesson in branding from Q.ai

Why a premium domain is a critical asset for a stealth startup

•
3 Min
By: Sean Markey
Get The .Com Or Die Trying (Literally)
domains

Get The .Com Or Die Trying (Literally)

A terrifying example of a brand's story being overwritten and how the founder's second startup increased organic traffic after upgrading to a .com.

•
2 Min
By: Sean Markey
the future of aged domains in a post-LLM world
domains newsletter

the future of aged domains in a post-LLM world

What's Next For Aged Domains In Our Recursive AI Hellscape? I want to talk about something I'm just getting into, how I got there, and what I'm doing... I think you're gonna find it interesting. The quick summary of this is: can

•
7 Min
By: Sean Markey
domains

The Story of FlattenTheCurve.com

How I Took a Hand-Registered Domain to a Million Page Views in Seven Days In early March 2020 I hand-registered a domain name and built a one-page website that saw over a million page views in just seven days. This is the story of how powerful the right domain can

•
9 Min
By: Sean Markey

editors desk

Read all in editors desk
stop obsessing over SEO metrics that don't matter
editors desk

stop obsessing over SEO metrics that don't matter

Hello, it's me: human version of old man yells at cloud here to talk about SEO metrics. I've been seeing more and more people on social media/in my private SEO group talking about how their DR (domain rating) is increasing or can someone please tell

•
4 Min
By: Sean Markey
Ahrefs Acquires Detailed.com, Acquihires Glen Allsopp
editors desk

Ahrefs Acquires Detailed.com, Acquihires Glen Allsopp

Ahrefs is a late entry to SEO's Game of Acquisitions, but their deal with longtime industry favorite Glen Allsopp (aka Viperchill) shows that they are not playing around. Glen announced the acquisition at the end of last week via X: I've been friendly with Glen ever

•
3 Min
By: Sean Markey

guide

Read all in guide
guide

The Top 15 Best SEO Newsletters to Subscribe to in 2026

Updated May 2026 This list, in addition to my own newsletter, contains all the newsletters I, myself, personally read in addition to all the newsletters that Google's stupid algo expects to see on my list that I may not read, but this is my sacrifice to the algo

•
9 Min
By: Sean Markey
guide newsletter

this pdf tool has some of the best SEO i've ever seen in my LIFE

There's a lot to this, so I'm gonna put the most impressive shit up front to capture your attention like a siren as you sail between these cliffs SO I CAN DRAG YOUR ASS INTO THE WATER* AND DROWN YOU** * this amazing post ** educate you about

•
27 Min
By: Sean Markey
guide

How To Build A Brand: Part I

It's not news that Google('s algorithm) hates you and your middle-man affiliate site. The question is: what are you doing about it? I wrote in a recent newsletter (which you should subscribe to, if you haven't already) about the big push to elevate sites

•
8 Min
By: Sean Markey

newsletter

Read all in newsletter
the future of aged domains in a post-LLM world
domains newsletter

the future of aged domains in a post-LLM world

What's Next For Aged Domains In Our Recursive AI Hellscape? I want to talk about something I'm just getting into, how I got there, and what I'm doing... I think you're gonna find it interesting. The quick summary of this is: can

•
7 Min
By: Sean Markey
case study newsletter

canva's content ranks for EVERYTHING

I've been wanting to write about this topic for a while. Canva is a DR 92 site that crrrrrrushes it on content. One of the best I've seen. This post is going to be about looking at their success and trying to pick it apart, to

•
5 Min
By: Sean Markey
guide newsletter

this pdf tool has some of the best SEO i've ever seen in my LIFE

There's a lot to this, so I'm gonna put the most impressive shit up front to capture your attention like a siren as you sail between these cliffs SO I CAN DRAG YOUR ASS INTO THE WATER* AND DROWN YOU** * this amazing post ** educate you about

•
27 Min
By: Sean Markey

case study

Read all in case study
What The Hell Happened to Cointelegraph.com?
case study

What The Hell Happened to Cointelegraph.com?

One of crypto's early, big news sites, Cointelegraph.com saw its traffic drop from 5m down to basically zero... but why? I've got the answers:

•
3 Min
By: Sean Markey
Case Study: How We're Making Our Newsletter Rank Everywhere
case study

Case Study: How We're Making Our Newsletter Rank Everywhere

The Goal: To have our Rank Theory newsletter pop up when people search some version of "what are the best SEO newsletters" in LLMs like ChatGPT/Perplexity, as well as appear in Google's AI Overview + organic search for versions of "best SEO newsletter." The

•
5 Min
By: Sean Markey
what to do when the domain you acquired won't even rank for branded queries
case study

what to do when the domain you acquired won't even rank for branded queries

Last week I saw a write up on Search Engine Roundtable linking to a Reddit post about, well, I'll just do a block quote: I launched a brand-new website on a new domain, everything looks solid: Here’s the strange part: the site refuses to appear in SERPs

•
8 Min
By: Sean Markey
case study newsletter

canva's content ranks for EVERYTHING

I've been wanting to write about this topic for a while. Canva is a DR 92 site that crrrrrrushes it on content. One of the best I've seen. This post is going to be about looking at their success and trying to pick it apart, to

•
5 Min
By: Sean Markey

subscribe to the Rank Theory newsletter

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