When it comes to SEO, Nick Stamoulis is a tried and true resource for me. His blog, Brick Marketing, is a consistent source of easy to understand and simple to implement tips for SEO.
That’s why I was so excited when Nick agreed to do a 5 Questions interview with me. First, a little bit about Nick…
Nick Stamoulis has worked with hundreds of companies small, large and every size in between since 1998.
Through his vast SEO experience Nick Stamoulis has successfully increased the online visibility and sales of clients in all industries.
Nick Stamoulis started Brick Marketing as a part time SEO consulting business in 2005, which has evolved over the years to a full service SEO and website marketing company, one of the top SEO firms in the United States.
Let’s get started…
Question One – Has SEO Gotten Better or Worse?
You’ve been in SEO since 98 – about a 1,000 years in web years. I remember those days. Have some decent meta tags and you were set. Do you think the changes over the years to the search engines have helped or hurt businesses?
I feel old, but not 1,000 web years old! LOL 🙂
I think all of the changes and progress that the search engines have made over the years has helped user experience and has been good for businesses. Every time the Google webmaster guidelines changes as a result of a major update, there are businesses that feel the pain.
Most of them know that they have participated in grey or black hat SEO strategies, but still deny having done anything wrong.
But the vast majority of companies only strengthen their social media, content marketing, email marketing and overall inbound marketing presence to stay white hat, but more importantly evolve their marketing.
Question Two – What’s the Key to Successful SEO?
SEO to so many seems like an impossible moving target. To me, I’m just not so certain it’s all that complicated. That’s why I love your blog, you guys really get down to the things that matter. What’s the one piece of advice you would give to a marketing manager who is simply overwhelmed with SEO?
Take a deep breath and take it one task/step at a time.
You are correct, SEO is a moving target that never truly ends, so view it that way. And the second piece of advice I can give is diversify! Never solely depend on your organic visitors as the only and main source of website visitors.
Question Three – How Much Control Do You Have with SEO?
With SEO and online marketing, a business seems to be at the mercy of the engines. That said, I know there is plenty you can do to garner be rankings. But, how much control do you really have? How do you temper expectations when dealing with such a moving target?
Just like in life, there are things that you can control and things that you can not. We can’t control what the search engines do, how they determine the search engine results or what things they will change.
As long as you have that mind site from the beginning of your SEO program, you will set yourself up for long term success. Also, it is ALWAYS important to be realistic with your expectations.
We tell our full service SEO clients at Brick Marketing all of the time, that every website has a lifecycle. If your website is newly registered and launched online, how can you expect to immediately compete online? You can’t or shouldn’t.
As long as you are realistic and are in the SEO game for the long haul, the results should be there if all aspects (onsite SEO, link building/earning, content marketing, social media, etc) are done properly.
Question Four – Does Design Matter Still Matter?
At Wood Street, we feel strongly that design and development are both important pieces of the SEO puzzle. Do you agree?
Absolutely! Creating the best possible user experience that leads into your company brand is essential.
It is beyond SEO, it is good marketing!
Question Five – How Important is Content to SEO Success?
Content is king. Sure, everyone says this. Then, you hear context is king. I tend to buy into the latter. How much does content play into what you do at Brick Marketing? Is it content for content’s sake or deeper than that?
Content is is much deeper than being just King.
I require that the management members of the Brick Marketing team write in the Brick Marketing blog each week as part of their job. Each has a different perspective, knowledge and background and can offer useful information to the readers of our company blog and email newsletter.
Content is so important to our company that EVERY member of our team that we hire has to have a degree in writing, journalism or English along with their Marketing background.
Because everything we do today from an SEO perspective (onsite optimization, blogging, content development, social media, even PPC, etc) requires a great command of the English language.
Bonus – Greek Marketers
I’m a quarter Greek. Do you think Greeks are inherently better at marketing? And, if so, does that mean I’m only a 1/4 of the marketer you are???
Hahaha! Very funny! I have never heard that Greeks are better at Marketing…but I like it! 🙂