Today, we are here with one more interesting interview of a Digital Marketing Expert who has helped many with his expertise. We are talking about the Co-founder of Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics, QuickSprout & Hello Bar, “Neil Patel“.
Neil Patel is also a columnist for Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Hubspot etc and also listed among the top influencers by The Wall Street Journal. (Last time we had an interview with Branding Expert & Keynote Speaker Dorie Clark. Read it here.)
To know more about Neil Patel, please read the conversation below:
Varun: Who is Neil Patel, apart from a successful Marketing Expert?
Neil: I am just a regular guy who came from humble beginnings. I had a childhood like any other kid. I enjoy traveling, watching sports and hanging with friends. My passion and true joy in life is helping other people.
Varun: Can you mention the name of a person who inspired you and guided you in this successful journey?
Neil: My mother was always my inspiration. She was the first entrepreneur I encountered. She ran a baby sitting company from our home and I learned the hustle and drive required to become successful from her. To this day she still has that entrepreneurial mindset.
Varun: What made you enter in the SEO industry?
Neil: I was introduced to it very early on. I was part of the first wave of search engine marketers and everything intrigued me. Most people at the time didn’t know the intricacies of search marketing — so I was naturally drawn to it. I also didn’t have money when I started out as an entrepreneur… SEO gave me the opportunity to gain traffic without paying for it.
Varun: You are involved in Quick Sprout, Crazy Egg, Kiss Metrics and Hello Bar. How you manage all of these? And on which you devote more time.
Neil: I am pretty good at time management and I have a great team that helps me out. I devote my time to blogging at neilpatel.com and quicksprout.com — where I help people learn about marketing and run webinars often.
Varun: What’s your thought on the role of “Content Marketing” in Digital world and how SEO’s can use content marketing in the best possible way?
Neil: Content Marketing and SEO are so intertwined that they are almost one and the same. Google values content that is relevant and contextual so there is a whole strategy that must be employed if one wants optimal results. The best thing to do is to find a topic you are passionate and knowledgeable in and
create valuable content that is search friendly.
Varun: Google uses a machine-learning artificial intelligence system called “RankBrain” to help sort through its search results. How this algorithm affecting SEO and what are the different ways a webmaster can use to make their website RankBrain friendly.
Neil: You just have to provide context and value at the end of the day. Google is a sophisticated algorithm that can sense spam and push it down in search rankings. At the end of the day write for your audience and not for search rankings and you will be just fine. Focus on going above and beyond.
Varun: Search Engines always guide us focus on user Intent instead of keywords and back-links. How can webmasters identify and understand user’s intent more specifically? Any specific strategy or tool you would like to recommend?
Neil: I love surveying people through Survey Monkey. Find out what people want and focus on delivering on it. It’s that simple…
Varun: What are the most important parameters an SEO optimized landing page should contain? If you can please outline the most important element of an SEO perfect landing page.
Neil: I will just list off some key elements:
1. Have a simple Design
2. Have a clear Call to Action
3. Have a clear Message
4. Provide Context
5. Try not to be too salesy
6. Make sure the images on the page are High Quality
7. Optimize for speed.
8. Have a compelling headline
9. Make sure your landing page text flows into a story
Varun: Can you suggest some of your favorites SEO tools to our readers which you use personally?
Neil: I honestly am an old school so I stick to the basics. Google Analytics, Web Master Tools, Ahrefs & SEMRush are some of my staples. I try to focus on tools that give me the basics — because the rest of the analysis I can do on my own.
Varun: What are your suggestions to increase the popularity of a brand?
Neil: Talk about it constantly. Incorporate it into your on-page copy and do some cross-channel promotion. And if you can hire a PR firm, it helps a lot in the long run.
Varun: Any successful strategy you would like to share with our readers!
Neil:Honestly, I encourage everyone to just checkout my webinar on neilpatel.com . That’s the best advice I could give anyone. I always provide timely advice that you can’t get anywhere else. I just speak my mind 🙂
Varun: What is the future of SEO if we consider from 2025 perspective?
Neil:Everything will be personalized. Results will be based on what search engines think you want based on social data and in most cases there won’t be results page, instead, you will just be given what you are looking for.
Varun: How to feel motivated even after receiving a failure in life or business?
Neil: Just pick yourself up and now that your failure was a learning experience and nothing more. It can guide you to reach higher levels. Thanks for having me 🙂
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We really thank Neil Patel for sparing some time from his busy schedule for this short interview session.
We hope you all will like this interview and the tips shared by Neil Patel will surely help you in taking your business to a new level.
Please share your thoughts about this interview in the comment section.
Stay tuned with us for more informative interviews.
You can also read the interesting interviews of other influencers of the digital marketing world here.