This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here.
Thom Craver lives with his family in Saratoga Springs, New York but since he works at CBS Interactive, he also maintains an apartment in NYC where he stays most of the work week. Thom has been doing the web thing since 1997 and has worked as some of the more well-known agencies in our industry like TopRank, Internet Marketing Ninjas, Acronym, and others and now he is doing the in-house thing at CBS.
Thom has contributed content in the SEM space to many industry publications, has produced podcast, he is a speaker at my industry conferences and is super active on social media sharing new tips and advice. He is deeply involved in both deep SEO and analytics, which gives him a more holistic view at the overall mission.
You've probably seen some of what he has written or shared over the years and may even recognize his face. Thom is an overall good guy that deeply cares for his colleagues and industry peers, while always looking to make people better at their SEM ventures.
Simon Heseltine nominated Thom and wrote:
In House SEOs are the Rodney Dangerfield of SEO, in that they don't get much respect. Thom has done a fantastic job at CBS News, growing their traffic in a post-Election year. He's always out there ready and willing to answer questions on News SEO or Analytics, and is all around a great guy.
Thom Craver Bio: Thom Craver is a Senior SEO Analyst for CBS Interactive, managing all CBS News properties, including 60 Minutes, Face the Nation and the 24-hour streaming news network, CBSN. A seasoned web developer since 1993, Thom is a technical SEO and digital analytics veteran whose career has taken him through roles in system administration and coding to marketing and measurement. Few have the full 360-degree view of how modern day digital marketing comes together.
In 1997, Thom started his first Web consultancy, New York Web Works, and never looked back. His career has included time at several renowned digital marketing agencies and hundreds of consultancy clients both large and small in nearly every vertical. In addition to speaking and leading workshops at multiple industry conference series, Thom is also a veteran of the TEDx stage. He has ghostwritten over a dozen technical instructional training manuals and written for several prominent SEO industry blogs. He has taught digital business and social analytics courses at Quinnipiac University, Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology and SUNY community colleges.
Favorite thing about the SEM community? My favorite thing about the SEO community is how giving it is. From day one in this industry, you feel welcomed. Via conferences, mentoring or just occasional free advice, everyone's willing to help each other out, especially when an algorithm change confounds us all. When someone in the community goes through a hardship, the SEO community springs to life in such caring and unselfish ways. I feel fortunate to have been a part of it for so many years.
One piece of advice to the SEOs out there? Don't be afraid to jump into a conversation. Be it in-person, in a forum or even writing your own blogs. Just because you might think "someone's already said that," doesn't mean you can't share your experience and be a part of the conversation. We all get better by learning from each other's perspectives and will often see a unique nuance we otherwise might have missed.
Favorite things in general? While I'll never wear it as well as Mikkel, I love orange. My orange clothing attire is limited, but my phone and laptop cases are both orange. It was also the primary color in the logo and branding for the DJ business I owned.
Most people in the industry know me for my passion for Halloween. Shunning traditional graveyard scenes, I've created animatronic-like displays over the years that have included a 18-foot U.F.O., 12-foot pirate ship, and life-sized storefront facades from the Harry Potter village of Hogsmeade. I walk around the scenes in costume with a wireless microphone, using it to give voice to my animatronic creations and "talk" to the kids and parents as they come for candy. And of course, each year, we theme the candy to match the decor.
We sit down as a family every year and brainstorm ideas, often for weeks on end. Sometimes we start on November 1st as soon as halloween is over. I have a house in Saratoga Springs, NY, but maintain an apartment in New York City where I stay most of the week. This past year was my first living in the city and had little time to prep any Halloween displays. So my son took his turn and did a bang-up solo job, setting the scene with fog, props and sound all on his own. This passion has always been about the kids (including the kid in me), and I couldn't be more proud to have made such an impact on my son that he took it upon himself to make sure the tradition was carried on.
What you want to be known for in the SEO space? I've tried to offer as much help and guidance to people as possible. My background is technical and I've always tried to simplify the technical coding or server-level concepts in meaningful, actionable pieces, understandable by all. I've also tried to do the same thing with analytics and helping people understanding what happens when people get to their website. I guess if I'm known for anything, it's for helping bring clarity to complex terms. I've been doing this with my online analytics courses at LearnWithThom.com, which I plan on expanding in 2018.
To learn more about Thom, check out his Learn With Thom site, connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter.
This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here.
