Interview with Jill Whalen of HighRankings.com Chapter. 10  Interview with Search Engine Optimization Expert, Jill Whalen of High Rankings. From the book Best Website: Simple Steps to Successful Websites.  (Jan. 1st 2008)   Jill Whalen, CEO of High Rankings is one of the most knowledgeable experts on search engine optimization in the world. I chose to interview her because of her extensive knowledge and clear understanding of this complex subject. Jill’s website consistently ranks on the first page with the industry’s most competitive keywords for more than a decade. Please read this valuable, exclusive interview with BestWebsite®. 1. Congratulations on HighRankings.com being the number one Search Engine Optimization site. What factors would you say had the greatest impact on your current success? Thanks! The factors that had the greatest impact on my success and that of High Rankings, would be my overall love of SEO, and my dedication to the Search Marketing industry in general. I live, breathe, eat and sleep SEO, and I believe this comes out in everything that I do, whether it be in the free High Rankings Advisor newsletter, the High Rankings Forum or in the work we do for our clients. Being authentic, open and honest about everything we do, and our mission of making the Internet a better place for all, seems to resonate with people. 2. What do you love most about SEO? There’s so much to love, that it’s hard to choose. But I guess it would be the whole puzzle aspect of it. Each site presents its own set of challenges and problems to figure out. Once you do figure it out, it’s a great feeling. And it’s even better when you see that your fixes actually worked! Because SEO is not an exact science, you never quite know if your fixes will work. Everything you do is based on experience and gut instinct. Thankfully, our fixes do indeed work nearly every time! 3. What pending changes in the SEO industry concern you the most? Most of the changes in the SEO industry lately, are actually good things, so I don’t have too many concerns. If I had to choose, however, I’d say that the rebirth of some new SEO software is slightly concerning. Anyone who’s done SEO for a few years knows that no software can do what needs to be done to fix a site so that it’s the best it can be for search engines and people. That said, some SEO tools do have good features that can speed up the SEO consultant’s job. My concern is more in relation to those tool companies that market their products as an alternative to hiring an SEO company. 4. Is hiring SEO services a good idea for everyone? If you have more money than time, then yes. But SEO isn’t rocket science, so if you have more time than money, you can certainly learn the basics and do it yourself. In fact, everything you need to know about doing SEO yourself is available for free at the High Rankings website! 5. What advice would you want website owners to consider or implement on their sites prior to seeking out SEO services? The less they do first, the better because they may very likely do it wrong! We unfortunately see so many websites that design or redesign their websites and THEN hire an SEO agency. Since so much of SEO is in making sure the site has the appropriate navigation, this often has to be completely redone. All website owners contemplating a new website should also be consulting with an SEO at the same time. 6. What keyword tools do you use? At High Rankings we generally use KeywordDiscovery these days. However, Wordtracker is also still good, as is Google’s own keyword tools. 7. What is your selection criteria or process for choosing keywords? We choose the keyword phrases that are the most relevant to the page at hand, as well as the most likely to get searched upon at the search engines. 8. Can you give us your top 5 strategies for improving SEO rankings for a new website? * Keyword Research to ensure that you optimize for keyword phrases people are actually searching on at the search engines. * Deciding what top-level and sub-level pages the website needs to have designed, based on the keyword research. * Creating compelling Title tags that use the keyword phrases, while also appealing to a searcher who might find the listing in the search results pages at the engine. (Title tag info is what shows up as the clickable link to your site in the search results pages.) * Having professionally written copy that utilizes the keyword phrases the page is optimized for, while also maintaining an emotional connection to the reader. * Getting the word out about the website to other people, companies and websites who might be interested in what you’re offering. 9. Would you recommend the same strategies for an existing online business struggling to maintain or grow traffic? Yes, the SEO process is basically the same, except it will take a lot longer for a brand new website to see results, and more publicity will be needed to get the word out. 10. What other factors might an existing website need to consider? Existing websites may want to review their current link profile to see if the best anchor text (the words in the clickable part of a link) is being used. If at all possible, it’s helpful to have a keyword phrase as part of the anchor text. This can’t always be changed, but it’s possible that contacting some of the linking site owners, a deal can be made to have them changed. 11. What are some of the mistakes you've made in running your website? The main mistake I’ve made with my website is not reviewing the copy on my services pages often enough so that they don’t get out of date. It’s funny how 2 or 3 years can sneak up on you, and service offerings can change a lot during that time period. 12. Are there revenue streams you wish you’d explored earlier? Not that I can think of. Our major revenue stream is our services. We’ve made some additional money via affiliate links in the High Rankings Advisor newsletter for products that we recommend and use ourselves, plus our High Rankings Seminars were an additional stream. But, all in all, I’m happy with the various revenue streams we’ve explored through the years. 13. Where do you see yourself and your business one year from now? Pretty much right where it is now! 2007 was a year of expansion for me. I no longer work at home by myself. I have an office, plus 2 additional employees. By the end of 2008, I may hire at least 1 other employee, perhaps even 2 if necessary. 14. Five years from now? That is more difficult to say, because SEO changes frequently. The plan is to continue to grow High Rankings and hire a few new employees each year, so in 5 years, it would be realistic to assume we might have 10-12 employees. 15. What steps do you feel will help grow your business? We’ve been taking lots of steps already this year. High Rankings is in the process of getting a new look, complete with new logo and branding. The website is being completely redesigned and should be launched before the end of the year. My hope is that the new branding will showcase High Rankings as the brand and less Jill Whalen as the brand. I’ll of course continue to be a major part of the organization, but training others to do the day-to-day client work will be a big key in the growth process. I’ll be speaking at more events, doing more in-house training, and more article writing for offline and online publications. The goal is to become a thought-leader for the search marketing industry. 16. How do you balance your home and work life? Can a successful business woman really “have it all?” I can’t say that balance is my strong suit! As I mentioned, I live and breathe SEO, so I generally don’t separate my work from my home life. I do go into the office every day now, so that does help to separate them somewhat. The good thing is that my kids are older and only my son is still at home. He’s 14 and doesn’t need any supervision, so if he’s home alone a lot when I’m away, it’s not that big of a deal. My husband is also a great help. He makes sure we get out by ourselves a few nights a week, so that I get away from my computer once in awhile! http://www.HighRankings.com Interview conducted by Amber Massey, Vice President BestWebsite, LLC                 Table of Contents Ch. 1  The BestWebsite® Essential 9tm Ch. 2  What Type of Website to Start Ch. 3  Before You Start Designing Your Website Ch. 4  How to Design a Successful Website       Buy the Bestselling Best Website Book on Amazon