Here is part two of my interview with Eric Enge (@stonetemple) where we get into more SEO focused topics. As a reminder, in part one we covered how he founded Stone Temple, what led to the acquisition of Stone Temple Consulting by Perficient Digital, how it is for him to work with his wife and a talk about his contributions to the SEO community.
In part two we got into the question of testing what works with real client data and research versus what search reps say, like Googlers. He said, going beyond that, what might work for client A, won’t necessarily work with client B. So while one technique might work for four different clients, it might not work for the fifth client and it might conflict with someone Google says.
He does believe Google employees sometimes deliberately position something they are saying to the SEO community to create a reaction that they find desirable, like the mobilegeddon situation. SEO is much more complex than the old days, so thinking about SEO as it worked in the old days is not a good way to think. Some Googlers say SEOs over complicate things when it isn’t that complicated. Stop focusing on the algorithm but focus on what the end goal is instead. So if the end goal is for Google to serve the best search results, what should SEOs focus on doing? Publish great content, promote it very well and care a lot about user experience. How do I satisfy the maximum number of users on my site; think about the breath and depth of your content.
We touched on Google's transparency for a little bit. Then we moved over to advice on how SEO agencies best should handle turbulent times in SEO. He said educating our clients and your strategy and SEO isn't is a short term game. There will be ups and downs, but keep your clients focused on the long game. Similar to financial advice your financial advisor may give you.
I had a wonderful time talking with Eric, and I hope you enjoyed the interview.
Here is the video:
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