This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here.
Michael Kirchhoff currently lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his family. He says his two teenage children are both active in academics as well as sports and thus he is a "parent-uber-driver" carting them around to all their activities. Michael is also the Senior Director of Content at BrightEdge and is a super smart SEO. He has been doing the digital marketing thing since 1996, and has been in the SEO space since those early days.
He is constantly sharing his experience and knowledge publicly through contributing content to industry publications, on the BrightEdge blog, through social media, speaking at conferences such as SMX, Adobe Summit and many more. He is all about sharing, helping others and getting people in the space to think and focus on the important things and not get lost in the weeds of the small less important things.
Michael loves looking at the semantics and taxonomy around SEO and how those gains can be huge wins for any web site or platform. His preaching around smarter content, smarter SEO and just overall being a smarter marketer is refreshing and something the industry values.
Andrew Betts nominated Michael and wrote:
Michael is without doubt the most genuine, caring and knowledge SEO I have met in over 15 years in this industry. In a industry where the perception of peoples dedication and knowledge can be skewed by the number of posts they do or the number of followers they have it is often people like Michael who are overlooked. Many people in the industry who have met Michael come away from conversations feeling they have a friend for life, someone they can trust and someone who is always willing to help, promote and give advice. Michael knowledge of technical SEO is super impressive and having worked with him as a customer, colleague and industry friend it is hard to put into words all the things Michael does for the the SEO community. From speaking at conferences such as SMX and Adobe Summit through to writing for publications such as SEJ and many customer blogs Michael works tirelessly promoting and sharing industry thought leadership. He does all this with an infectious enthusiasm for SEO and the community that he loves so much. These types of people (the doers) are a rare breed and should be treasured.
Michael Kirchhoff Bio: I have been a Digital Strategist since 1996. My emphasis is to create websites that build audiences and revenue-specifically focusing on B2B and B2C Media and technology industries. I have an extensive range of hands on experience supporting Digital goals-everything from strategy development and managing implementation; to front end development; inbound marketing (SEO, Social Media, Content Marketing, Email, Apps, Traditional media); digital revenue; analytics; user experience and design.
Favorite thing about the SEM community? I love the innovation and collaborative nature of SEO’s. In my experience over the years, one of my favorite things has been building relationships with a number of SEO’s; discussing challenges and how they are overcoming them. Lots of great and creative thinking by some really smart people. The willingness to share and collaborate is refreshing, even in often competitive areas.
One piece of advice to the SEOs out there? Don’t forget the basics and fundamentals. Additionally, technical SEO is often overlooked- DON’T do that. Huge wins can often occur from fixing technical challenges.
Favorite things in general? I’m an exercise fanatic, so I’d say outside of time spent with my family; my favorite thing is lifting weights. Also being poolside with a nice tequila is never a bad day!
What you want to be known for in the SEO space? One of the Semantics and Taxonomy SEO pioneer (in all humility there are a lot of folks out there working in this area. It’s an area I’ve also been working on since about 2005 and am fascinated and impressed with how much can be accomplished). The importance of semantics and taxonomy for ultimate website performance, personalization and audience reach in SEO. Additionally, collaboration.
To learn more about Michael, check out the content on the BrightEdge blog, follow him on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn.
This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here.
