An Open Letter From The CEO Of Search Engine Journal

Expensive Readers, search engine optimization Execs, and Digital Entrepreneurs,

Hey, I’m Jenise. I’ve been on the SEJ helm for 15 years, with Loren Baker and Brent Csutoras at my aspect as majority homeowners and working companions.

Yesterday, I woke as much as a monumental piece of stories: search engine optimization information writer Search Engine Land was purchased by marketing tool company Semrush.

There’s an elephant within the room, so let’s begin there.

What occurs when a big search advertising trade participant buys a distinguished media outlet centered on the search advertising trade?

Will the writer’s protection stay goal and agnostic? Will its authoritative guides embody the breadth and depth of instruments and platforms and companies obtainable  – a few of that are in direct competitors with Semrush?

What occurs to Search Engine Land’s reams and reams of present content material  – articles, white papers, ebooks, movies – that consult with Semrush opponents (umm, to not point out their backlinks)?

What about credible viewpoints from revered authors that run counter to the brand new company get together traces in a roundabout way? Will these voices nonetheless be printed, amplified, quoted on SEL? Or watered down, and even silenced?

So many questions.

Neighborhood reactions, to date, have been both of a benign, congratulatory nature or else centered on issues of bias.

SEL and Semrush each have been lively in responding on social media, reiterating that:

“Our plan is to proceed to stay unbiased and unbiased. Our objective is to offer high quality information as we at all times have.”

I do imagine that these are their intentions for the present editorial workforce, for now.

I’m curious to see whether or not this independence will stand the take a look at of time, after the mud has settled and the information of this acquisition is lining our digital hen cages.

I’m fascinated by discovering out if SEL’s editorial freedom will stand the take a look at of shareholder pursuits in an NYSE-traded firm that made $305 million in income final yr. I believe we might want to wait and see.

Right here’s The place Search Engine Journal Stands

As one of many final unbiased publishers within the search engine optimization trade, SEJ stays bootstrapped and unbossed.

Nobody pulls SEJ’s strings, controls our backlinks, our protection, or our messaging.

That’s proper. SEJ is the honey badger of search engine optimization journalism: We report what we would like, after we need, how we would like.

SEJ remains to be dedicated to reporting the reality (nicely, the reality till issues change with the algorithms) about what is going on in search engine optimization and advertising.

SEJ remains to be dedicated to offering unbiased training and greatest practices for our readers.

A.ok.a. enterprise as regular right here at SEJ.

Who Is Search Engine Journal Anyhow?

Our workforce of 26 of us around the globe is made up of writers, editors, designers, technologists, the again workplace who hold issues operating easily, gross sales operations. They make me so proud, if I’ll brag just a little.

We encourage transparency, experimentation, accountability. We don’t tolerate workplace politics or poisonous habits. I wish to suppose we’re close-knit. We share, we cuss, we amuse one another with foolish memes. We’ve laughed collectively and cried collectively.

Most significantly, when the sh* hits the fan, we pull collectively. We rally. We get gritty. Again and again. I ask the workforce to attempt once more, to enhance, to continue to learn – they usually do it. And that’s when you understand you have an A-Team in your arms.

That’s your entire roster 😎. SEJ has no buyers. No company overlords. And we would like it that manner.

Our independence has been difficult at instances. It might be good to have a company Daddy Warbucks who can “darken the skies with individuals,” as one in every of my favourite consultants appreciated to say.

And so it does give me pause when a rival writer is now backed by a multi-national firm with over 1,000 staff. That’s a monumental quantity of sources, firepower, and attain.

However through the years, SEJ’s independence has ensured our workforce’s potential to offer 100% unbiased journalism and training for the search advertising neighborhood.

We do what we would like. And that is what I place confidence in: That our readers, our advertisers, our neighborhood will present what we have to be a formidable David to this new Goliath.

I welcome your feedback, suggestions, and concepts to make Search Engine Journal what the search advertising neighborhood wants it to be now. Leave me a message here, and I promise to reply.

Jenise Uehara

CEO, Search Engine Journal

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Featured Picture: Tanveer Anjum Towsif/Shutterstock