This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here.
Purna Virji is a name you probably all know already - she is literally at ever digital marketing conference. In fact, sometimes people will be live blogging her presentation at a San Francisco conference and at the exact same time, someone else would be live blogging her presentation at a conference in London. How she does it, I don't know - but she is literally everywhere, all the time. And she is preaching on search and some of the coolest topics on search - including voice search and smart assistants.
Purna, I guess while on flights from one conference to the next, is writing content for industry publications like Search Engine Land, Moz and many many others. She is always on social media, Twitter, Facebook and others, sharing her knowledge and helping anyone she can.
Her nature is to give, help and make people smile. She is always super friendly, super nice and super gracious with her time. I don't know if there is a nicer and friendlier person in our industry.
She was nominated by two people, so far.
Nitin Manchanda wrote:
Purna one of the well known faces on this planet when it comes to voice search. She has been sharing her knowledge through conferences for quite some time now. Despite of being a rockstar in this wonderful world of SEOs, she's very humble and for sure one of the nicest person I've ever met :)
Carlos Castro wrote:
I nominate Purna because of her expertise in chatbots and the helpful information she shares through conferences and blog posts about using chatbots for voice search.Nowadays, voice search is an SEO trend and Purna helps SEOs to learn how to implement a chatbot on your website that will help you optimize for voice search.
Purna Virji Bio: Named by PPC Hero in 2016 as the #1 most influential PPC Expert in the world, Purna specializes in digital marketing, AI, and the future of search. With over fifteen years in the business, she is a regular keynote speaker at conferences across the globe such as AdWeek, The Next Web Conference and INBOUND. Purna is also a columnist for Search Engine Land and Moz.
An award-winning former journalist, Purna was the CEO of Purview Marketing prior to joining the Bing Ads team. In her spare time, she’s an avid traveler, aspiring top chef and amateur knitter. Say hello @purnavirji
Favorite thing about the SEM community? I love the fact that it feels like one big, caring family. The sheer kindness and generosity (with help and knowledge) that this industry displays to one another is something I've never experienced outside the search world. For me, it all comes down to the people, and I feel search people are the very best kind of people there are.
One piece of advice to the SEMs out there? At different events, I bump into so many people who say they would love to one day go out and speak, but aren't sure if they should or could. I want to strongly encourage anyone who has ever had the slightest desire to go speak, to go ahead and pitch. Throw your hat in the ring, no matter how scary it may feel. Remember that you always have value to add, and the more diverse voices and points of view we have, the better our industry is for it. If you're looking for advice or encouragement, hit me up anytime via Twitter or LinkedIn, and I'm happy to help.
Favorite things in general? Love the color green, for food it's a tie between Indian food and Greek food (we cook both often at home!), and I love to travel, especially to historical places. I think one of the most wonderful places I have visited Piran, in Slovenia.
What you want to be known for in the SEM space? Adding value and helping people see potential in areas that they may not be thinking about, whether it was voice search in 2016, visual search in 2017, or this year where I show potential with AI and chatbots. I'd love to go and research the next opportunities, and help people wade into unchartered territory.
To learn more about Purna, connect with her on LinkedIn, follow her on Twitter and check out her Slideshare.
This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here.
