This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here.
Michelle Robbins lives in the greater Los Angeles, California area with her family. By now, hopefully most of you recognize her name, she took over Danny Sullivan's role at Search Engine Land some time ago and has been running the properties behind the scenes since the company was founded.
What you might not know about Michelle is that she is one of the most skilled people I know. She is a super skilled coder, who deeply understands the technical ins and outs of SEO and marketing. She also is running all of editorial at the company, because hey - she is super skilled at journalism as well. In short, Michelle is one of the most talented people I know in the space and yet, she likes to keep a low profile.
For transparency purposes, technically, Michelle is my boss at Search Engine Land.
Emily Grossman, another super skilled person, nominated Michelle. She wrote:
Michelle Robbins is one of the industry's most intelligent and forward-thinking minds, but you might not realize it because she's incredibly humble and focuses a lot of her time on promoting others. She won't boast, but if you spend just 2 minutes talking to her, you'll quickly realize just how considered and genius she is. I admire her knowledge of the whole tech landscape and specifically her in-depth technical expertise, but most of all I stand in awe of her ability to mitigate the most uncomfortable and challenging situations with people. Whether it's a man who makes assumptions about a woman's technical abilities at a conference, or an uproar about an SEO article, Michelle is the epitome of both grace and "no bullshit." I always trust Michelle to (respectfully) tell it like it is, and to be about 5 years ahead of everyone else.
Michelle Robbins Bio: SVP Content & Marketing Technology at Third Door Media; Editor in Chief for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land & MarTech Today.
I began working on the web in search marketing and technology in the mid 90s - first at a startup and then a few years later I had my own web development company where I worked with clients - building their web sites, designing and programming custom web server applications for them, and advising/implementing online marketing & SEO best practices. I joined Third Door Media at it's founding in 2006 when Danny Sullivan asked me to ditch consulting and head technology for his new startup (we'd worked together at the startup in the mid-90s). Having a front row seat to the development of search marketing as a practice and participating in the evolution of the industry has been incredible.
Favorite thing about the SEO community? My favorite thing about the SEO community is it's resilience, creativity, and ability to adapt in an ever-changing space.
One piece of advice to the SEOs out there? One piece of advice for SEOs I have would be to put more time into understanding where things are going with technology and search, versus where they are now or where they used to be.
What you want to be known for in the SEO space? What I'd most like to be known for in the SEO community is having helped others in the space - whether through knowledge sharing, mentoring younger colleagues, connecting people for career advancement, or referring clients to consultants and agencies to help them grow their businesses. I do believe 'it takes a village' and if we want the community as a whole to grow and succeed, we have to be intentional in helping one another reach our goals.
You can learn more about Michelle at Search Engine Land, on LinkedIn or on this podcast.
This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here.
