Leeds SEO

Following on from the awesome SEO.BIO of Lisa Ditlefsen last week, we have another good-lookin’ SEO (a guy this time) to reveal all, especially for you.

Rishi is a top guy who you’ll definitely meet if you get down to a LondonSEO meet-up. He knows a lot about SEO for small businesses and loves his Jack Daniels.

Give us a brief history of your life in SEO.

I used to work as an offline exec for a Private Hospital Group in London. Mostly working on their events and PR side of things. It was an intermediate position for me because I didn’t really know what to do in the long term. I kind of got stuck in a rut and ended up being there for 4 years, when they started working on their website, and asked me to take over.

One thing led to another and I started reading up on SEO and trying stuff out. I went off and bought a range of domains to try and play with and kept experimenting. In the meanwhile I stumbled across a range of online communities and blogs that helped me learn more – SEOmoz, WolfHowl, Open Source Designs etc etc.

The rest as they say, was history…

What areas of SEO do you find yourself getting most involved in (e.g. link building, on-site optimisation, social media, etc)?

Personally I HATE link building with a vengeance. I am really bad at it to be honest – I know the theories, I know the ideas, but I really just don’t like doing it. Which is why I got myself more into the strategy end of the business. I make sense of what the business needs to achieve versus what’s possible from a search engine point of view, with the given budgets.

I advise many small businesses on what they can do themselves, and where they need help. Often the bog wins for small businesses is onsite SEO, Local SEO and capturing the RIGHT niche in Social Media. So that keeps me away from link building.

On the other hand I do work with a couple of large UK travel brands – there my work is mostly and purely strategy, both for SEO and PPC – making sure that sites are targeting the right keyword sets, and managing the relationship with the agencies. Very often businesses need to have an in-between person to decode the SEO recommendations from an agency, while at the same time act as a conduit to communicate the brand proposition to the agency. I am that person

The great thing about being there is that you can easily highlight your achievements:

You have contributed loads on SEOmoz (with some great articles on SEO for small businesses). How has SEOmoz helped you?

SEOmoz is where I learnt about the thought processes behind search. I fashioned a range of relationships on there – infact I can safely say most of my UK SEO contacts and relationships came from SEOmoz as a starting point. I am a great believer in relationships – and I think these help me succeed. So I value moz for providing that forum which I didn’t find elsewhere.

My articles and contributions were just an act of giving back to that community. Its unfortunate that I don’t spend as much time on there as before, but twitter has given me a platform to expand that relationship to other individuals. We all know that there are people who don’t like what moz does – but these guys have opinions and skills and thoughts that differ greatly – and in order to learn SEO, you have to absorb all sides of the equation. To be honest, I get tired of some of the politics that go on in the industry, and there are very rare occasions I take sides.

Your avatar has a tendency to confuse people over your gender. Can you share any amusing stories/messages you have received as a result?

Well apart from the post that Mystery_guest (Rand’s other half) did, I do often get the blow scenarios in my moz mailbox (and more often on twitter):

You have set up an affiliate site for designer watches. How is it working out for you and what have you learnt from it?

Designer Watches for me was an interesting area. Couple of years back my two watches got stolen from home, a Rado and a Gucci I loved. Last year I got the insurance money back – and had been on a quest to buy some watches. Part of my research led me to start thinking about gaps in the market – while at the same time I was ready to venture in to affiliate marketing, so how better to combine the two?

I am using the site to run a series of experiments, and while its still early days, couple of things really do stand out. The chart below shows clicks vs earnings:

Now interestingly, clicks are an incorrect measure because of the software I am using to autopost – every post is considered a click by ebays analytics. But notice how every blue spike is followed by a yellow spike?

This is QDF in play. Every time I shoot out a series of posts (which are just essentially product listings) the Google index temporarily gives them an artificial rankings boost for long tails. Now this is perfect, because my site doesn’t have a great hierarchy nor is it easy to find what you want – I am banking purely on targeted long tail, which is usually closer to the buying cycle hence converts much better. For a while I ranked pretty high for “Rolex Brochure 2009” and as a result sold about 10 off them off eBay. Funny thing though, you can get them free from their stores…

If you were on Heroes, what would your special power be?

To be honest, Peter’s power of absorbing other people’s power (BEFORE he lost the ability to hold on to only one) would be my ideal scenario…

What is the number one tip you would give to someone learning about SEO?

Read, read, read and then experiment. There are no two ways about it. What works for my site may not always work for you. Form your own opinions based on solid experience.

Do you think you love Brent Payne just a little too much (I’m referring to the whole #missingSEO incident)?

Lol. That was a very funny situation to be honest. Like I mentioned earlier, I value relationships, and Brent is someone I met and befriended via SEOmoz. However he was down in London for the first time, his iPhone bricked, and he was on his own. I had arranged to meet him, but somehow he didn’t get my message and buggered off.

So I turn up as his hotel, he is nowhere to be found, leave him my iPhone at the reception and go home. In the morning I call the hotel and they say he hasn’t returned all night, and hasn’t been to his room, nor has he picked up the phone. And he was due to present in an hour…so of course I got worried. And I would do the same for any of you who I have a relationship with ?.

Funny how it turns out that Brent and I have had parallel lives, and we are more alike than we thought, although he can’t handle his drink…

Coffee or tea? (There are no other drinks)

Coffee! I get through about 10 cups a day…

If you could do anything other than SEO as a career, what would it be?

I have actually had many, many different jobs – I have been a DJ for years, been on student radio, run a bowling alley, a restaurant, done PR, marketing, and actually am an Economist by training. But what I would really love to do is what Arthur C. Clarke did – move to a beautiful country and write science fiction. I may do one day…

Like many SEOs you are on Twitter. Has it changed the way you interact with the SEO community?

Absolutely! As I alluded before, twitter has moved my conversations from many forums and blogs. Its an almost instant gratification – real time, with the option of delaying responses – so I would say it has greatly enhanced my relationships with other SEOs. Plus unlike forums and blogs, it’s a free for all, so people can join in the conversations, which really enriches any discussion you are having.

Thanks Rishi for a great insight into the world of the JD-licking girl man. If you aren’t already, you can follow rishil on Twitter.