In 2004, Rand created the SEOmoz blog, which became the world’s most popular community and content resource for search marketers.
By 2007, Rand became CEO of the software company MOZ.
Rand is a keynote speaker and known for his popular blogs and regular Whiteboard Friday series, watched by tens of thousands of marketers around the world.
In 2018, Rand founded SparkToro and published, Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World.
Rand was named in BusinessWeek’s 30 Under 30, written about in Newsweek, The Next Web, the Inc 500, and hundreds of other publications.
Please welcome the SEO legend, wizard of MOZ, Rand Fishkin!
20:30 – How did you get into SEO?
Self-learning was one of the critical ingredients to Rand’s success in the SEO industry. After doing web design, Rand transitioned into SEO and co-founded the Moz blog (which is now a famous resource for all budding SEO practitioners today).
23:50 – Yahoo Party in Las Vegas?
In this section, we’ll take a closer look at the infamous Yahoo party in Las Vegas as Rand shares his experience of being there.
27:30 – Reselling Pokemon Cards! Remembering the times!
One of Rand’s hobbies back then (1997-1999) was collecting Pokemon Cards. He was once an employee from the “Wizards of the Coast game center” who were the ones responsible for making Pokemon cards before. We didn’t know that Rand was selling them on eBay & Craigslist!
32:00 – What’s a good content strategy?
For Rand, if you want a good content strategy, you have to pay attention to short-form or video content like reels from TikTok and Instagram. This is because people have short attention spans and are more attracted to short content.
32:25 – One of Rand’s quotes: “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”
One of Rand’s most significant lessons in the entrepreneurial scene is kindness. Nothing can beat kindness above all.
38:30 – SEO works manipulatively
One of the key experiences that shaped Rand’s view of SEO is learning how manipulative it works. In this section, he shares one of his experiences of working with Matt Cutts.
42:40 – One of the biggest lies from Google
As Rand went on with the discussion, he shared one of the biggest lies that Google ever told to the public, and that is that they don’t promote their properties “unfairly.” A very controversial thing to talk about.
45:25 – Google and their controversial tactics!
“Google has been using this repeatable tactic that they’ve got and then denying it!” one of the strong lines that came from Rand, as he was exposing how Google’s been denying their private promotions over the years. Rand also mentioned that in order to survive in the game as an SEO, you have to play both sides. You have to play by Google’s rules, and you also need to be unbiased.
47:10 – Things that can increase CTR!
Improving your brand’s salience and affinity with your audience is a phenomenal way to increase Click-through Rate and drive-up rankings, and get more searches to prefer you – by Rand.
50:20 – How did you develop the brand names “Lost & Founder” & “SparkTORO”?
Rand’s creativity when creating brand names comes into play as he explains how important it is to connect your name ideas to what you’re currently offering. For Rand, adding a creative touch to it is a plus!
Bonus: If you wondered where TORO from SparkTORO came from, it’s actually from a Studio Ghibli movie character named Totoro! Rand’s such a creative guy!
53:30 – How does SparkTORO work?
SparkTORO’s job is to pull data from public social networks, profiles, and websites! Rand confirmed many things that most SEOs are asking about the software.
59:00 – Rand’s best advice for budding SEO practitioners, consultants, entrepreneurs!
“Build your expertise, and get well-known for it. That will help you gain a network.” Rand explains how important it is to build your profile to gain an invaluable network in the community. Lastly, he said, “focus, and find your niche.” For Rand, focusing on finding your niche is a great way to start a brand.
Links to full videos mentioned in the show below:
I didn’t see many updates from Google this past week. Except they posted the last video of the Google Search Console training on their YouTube channel.
As SEOs, we need to show off our great work. Here are tips on how to create SEO reports by Cyrus https://youtu.be/ZaUsc1xXkPU?t=42
Joel Klettke talks about bending the rules in SEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcEgNAMW8pQ
On the topic of bending the rules. Today Building BACKLINKS is Against GOOGLE Guidelines. Can You RANK 1st on Google WITHOUT Links? Let’s listen in on Laurant and Judith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs201GBBuno
I find the info Google puts out can be really confusing. I’m not just in SEO groups but in content creator groups, and a conversation on how bad it is to get backlinks always comes up, and they tell each other not to do it.
A wise man once said. If everyone is telling you that something is a best practice or way to do things or the right result…There is tremendous value in countering that and looking at other alternative options.
So why not test things? Will Critchlow tells us how he creates test on TechBound show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DS5zq-FcEU
Speaking of testing, SEO tester Clint Butler analyzes what changed in Google’s December 2020 Core Update in one niche https://youtu.be/V-xbMJzx0TQ?t=1442
Watch the whole video on the SEO This Week for other factors he saw in different niches. Entities also played a big part in the update!
Neil Patel shows us the value of CTR in SEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=603&v=YCMm_RXeaHM&feature=youtu.be
