SEO for small business with Rand Fishkin (video)

Kate Volman May 4, 2016

Q&A with the ‘Wizard of Moz’

Most small business owners say they know they need to do SEO, but in the same breathe admit they aren’t sure exactly what that means. Of course we want our businesses to show up on page one of Google and get more traffic to our websites, but is search engine optimization the answer? And is it something business owners can do on their own or do we need to hire an SEO expert? All great questions. And who better to answer them than the SEO expert himself, Rand Fishkin.

Rand’s official title is “Wizard of Moz,” which you have to admit is pretty awesome. He’s the founder and former CEO of Moz, board member at presentation software startup Haiku Deck, co-author of books on the subject of SEO, and co-founder of Inbound.org.

Rand started the SEOmoz blog way back in 2004 before blogging was a common practice. With persistence and dedication, over the next decade his blog became the world’s most popular community and content resource for marketers. Because of its success, in 2007 Rand became CEO of SEOmoz, Inc. (now called Moz after a rebrand in 2013), the software company he co-founded with his mom.

During six years as CEO Rand grew Moz from seven to 134 employees, increased revenues from $800K to more than $29 million, and grew traffic from 1 million to 30 million annual visitors.

Wow. I was psyched to meet him at a conference in 2013 where I saw his knowledge in action on stage. But you don’t have to see Rand in person to benefit from his incredible knowledge base and presentation skills — just check out his popular Whiteboard Friday videos. You also can find Rand on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, and Slideshare.

Rand Fishkin shares SEO tips for SMBs

“I think with months to a year or two of investment, [SEO] is a practice anyone can learn. … This is understandable stuff. There’s no mystery here; there are no secrets; it’s just a matter of finding the resources you need and putting them into practice.” ~ Rand Fishkin

During my engaging interview with Rand he shared:

A simple explanation of SEO.
What questions business owners should ask when hiring an agency to do SEO.
What kind of content business owners should be creating and sharing online (Tip: blogging isn’t always the answer).
Affordable apps that will help you rank higher in the search engines.

… and lots more.

We also talked about Moz’s The Beginners Guide to SEO, a free resource you should definitely take the time to check out if you would like a better understanding of SEO and online marketing. I had a great time chatting with Rand. I hope you enjoy the interview and are able to walk away with a few tips to help your business be more successful.

I would love to hear your thoughts about our conversation, so please Tweet me and share what you liked about the interview. Happy Marketing.

Image by: Rand Fishkin