Hello everyone! Welcome to another edition of “Meet your SEO” monday!
So, big news of the day: NASA arrived on Mars with Curiosity (the name of the rover) , and now we are all waiting for photos and more analyses. Cool uh? Now, one thing you can do that NOBODY did already is to listen to “Life on Mars?” by David Bowie to celebrate the moment. In this exactly same day but in 1945, Hiroshima is devastated by the atomic bomb called “Little Boy” , and around 70,000 people were killed. I think we should spend more money on exploring the space rather than dropping bombs, don’t you think?
Anyway, back to our Meet your SEO. Today I have the pleasure to chat with Anthony Moore , SEO manager at TrueAction Network. I discovered Anthony through the gang of SEOs based in Philadelphia.
So Anthony, are you ready to drop some SEO bombs? Rock and roll!
When did you enter the SEO world, and why ?
In 2000, I was playing in some bands and started getting into designing flyers, shirts and (horrible) websites. As the story goes, the bands didn’t work out so I went to a small design school outside of Philly. There I met a professor who was the first to realize that I kinda sucked at graphic design. As it turned out, teaching was his side job and in real life he was the VP of Marketing for a SaaS startup. He thought I would be a good fit for the team and brought me on to manage the company’s paid search accounts. The catch? I had no clue what “a Google AdWord” was. It was trial by fire. In 2007…ahem…Jeff Bezos became the primary investor in that company. He helicoptered in to speak with the team and thus began my love affair with eCommerce, internet marketing and ultimately, SEO.
A great tip about onpage optimization?
It’s been said time and again, but content on your pages is crucial. Coming from an enterprise/eCommerce SEO world, it’s almost impossible to get clients to agree to muck up their pages with filthy words. I’m not even talking about some spectacular piece of content that people will go insane over. I’m talking maybe 200-300 words on category and subcategory pages. If you can finagle that content onto a page, I promise you will have great results. Use jQuery and other “tricks” to gussy those words up. Clients like pretty things.
The most stupid thing people believe about onpage optimization?
This one is also content related (what can I say; I’m a fan of the words.) I once had a client agree to do a supporting content test on a category page. They came back to me with their “SEO copy” and it was literally one sentence. There were maybe 20 words, one of which was the brand. Needless to say, they got an F on this test. I’ve also been part of a crack team assembled to determine the ROI of a title tag.
A great tip on how you build links?
I don’t do a ton of link building, but when I do, I build relationships. I’ve been doing some blogger outreach and getting to know my contacts is a part of the process that I love. I try to build a pseudo-personal relationship so everyone is at ease. That could be something like commenting on their blog or shooting the breeze on Twitter. A tip: Give stuff away. Bloggers love to review free swag and you don’t even have to ask for a link. Shit, sometimes they want YOU to choose the anchor text. I’d shy away from that…just in case.
The most stupid thing you heard about linkbuilding?
That it’s simple. I guess there might be some styles of link building that might be deemed as “simple”, but these days, you need links that will last. Those aren’t so easy to achieve.
If you have to explain what you do at a 10 year-old kid , what are you gonna say?
The same way I tell my wife and friends: “You know that Google box? Well, I make it work.”
What do you drink when seoing?
Well, lately I’ve been into some juicing. I got this juicer at a yard sale for five bucks! I’ve been getting down on some apple/carrot/ginger juice in the mornings. Just found out this is a fad right now, so I’m on the up and up. Besides that it’s coffee, water and (cheap) beer.
What do you think about SEO community?
The SEO community is pretty awesome. What other industry gives you full access to its best and brightest? The people I have met are so down to Earth and approachable it’s scary. In that I see aspects of the SEO community that parallel the punk rock scene. I’ve been writing (thinking?) a blog post in my head for about two years to try and outline the whole thing. Part of it would be something along the lines of replacing “that band you saw in a basement that is now headlining some huge festival” with “that dude you saw at the SEO Grail that is now keynoting some huge conference.” Minus the potential rock star mentality. Sometimes.
Make yourself a question and give an answer: What has SEO added to your life?
My wife actually gave me this question. I guess the answer is passion. I’ve never really been passionate about much. I mean I’m passionate about my family and some hobbies, but as far as jobs went, I just kinda bounced around and did this and that. But once I got into marketing and SEO, I knew it was for me. It’s given me a career that I love to be a part of. I don’t mind going to work in the morning and coming home and doing it some more. And the best part…helping people achieve their goals. It’s really that simple.
Who is your biggest SEO influence?
The guys and gals that I’m close to know who they are and I won’t bore you with a who’s who of the people that do my job for me. That said there are three people that I’d like to shout out. I have the extreme good fortune of sharing desk space with Ian Howells and Bill Rowland. These two dudes have shown me so much and are about as passionate as it gets when it comes to search. Another big influencer is Bill Sebald , who got me started in the eCommerce SEO game. Bill’s been at it a long time and has forgotten more about SEO then most people will ever learn. He also has an angelic singing voice.
If you weren’t an SEO, what would you like to do?
I’d like to eat pizza. Everyday. Professionally.