Who is the Rand Fishkin of black hat seo?
-
If you had to choose one person to represent the black hat community who would it be?
-
Thanks for the Responses everyone!
-
Some well known black/gray hats (note, many of these do lots of white hat stuff, too, and some have even retired fully from black hattery) include:
- Greg Boser (WebGuerrilla)
- Dave Naylor
- Todd Friesen (Oilman)
- Kris Roadruck
- Rae Hoffman
- Ralph Tegtmeier (Fantomaster)
- Bob Rains
- Neil Patel
- Eli (from BluehatSEO)
- Frank Watson (AussieWebmaster)
There's loads more, but black/gray hats often like to stay under the radar (apologies to any I've forgotten; I'm sure it's more than a few).
-
That's pretty much the story! He also goes by Mick Sawyer sometimes, though I believe his real identify is still unknown to all but a few.
Just to be fully transparent, the Newsweek reference was a big deal, but as I noted in the recent "Story of SEOmoz" post, it was a surprisingly low traffic + branding driver compared to our launch of the Beginner's Guide and the subsequent Slashdot coverage (followed by dozens of other blogs/resources). Combined w/ the Newsweek press, though, it definitely gave us a nice bump
-
There was a guy who went by the name "Earl Grey"
Rand can thank this man for getting him a break.
Earl Grey was interviewed by Neesweek as a Black Hat, when asked by the interviewer if he knew white hat SEO he could interview he gave Rands name, and SEOMoz boomed from that point.
Forgive me rand if i have not got the facts correct, but thats the routh story.
-
-
Thanks
Most are probably trying to stay under the radar so Matt doesn't get 'em.
-
Know of anyone who is currently active? (I spent 10 minutes trying to phrase that sentence in the nicest way possible)
-
The late G-Man might not be the most famous but deserves mention.
Loved and missed by all.... even tried to go under the radar of Matt Cutts.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Best Way to Promote Other Authors SEO?
Wanted to get the communities feedback on this. WDAC is designing a new section of our site. This new section is aimed at helping small businesses that want to get SEO help, but are not in a position financially/do not want to pay an agency for help. The page can be viewed here: http://www.webdesignandcompany.com/expert-seo-tips The page is called "Expert SEO Tips" and we are going to promote other authors content that focuses on high quality articles around SEO tactics, methods, tips, tricks, etc. There are a few articles listed on the page based around what we have shared in the past, but you can see that the page/section is still in its infancy and may change to a new layout/design in the near future. The section will summarize the article we are linking to , and provide a link to the authors Twitter/G+ profile, depending upon what they have setup. We have reached out to a few places in the Google+ communities asking for articles and submissions, but have had little success. Strange due to the fact that we are providing outgoing links without requesting one back...hmmm. Anyway, what do any of you think would be the best way to get people to respond? Also, does anyone see any issues with adding this type of content to our site using followed links, specifically since we are linking out to relevant articles related to our own services? Does anyone see any potential pitfalls? Does anyone have any articles they think would be a great addition or provide help to business owners? All input and insight is appreciated! Looking forward to hearing your input.
Industry News | | David-Kley1 -
Anyone know of any forums for agencies or those individuals engaged in Internet Marketing, SEO, Integrated Marketing, etc.?
Moz.com is the best forum I have been a part of. There is a local forum I really like but spend less time on (we have staff who live on it.) I am interested in a forum where everyone is agency related. Does anyone know of a good one? If not, would anyone have an interest?
Industry News | | RobertFisher1 -
Can not get the ranking needle to move even after a year with a US based SEO company
Hello community, I have spent the last 16 months spending lots of money on our USA Based SEO company and on content. For some reason. The powers who may be at Google are not giving us any love. I am beginning to become very dissapointed after all of our efforts. We did have a link penalty a year ago however that has long ago been removed. We have been doing everything our SEO company has asked us but the needle is not moving. Any ideas for us? http://tinyurl.com/n2yoeyn Thank you in advance. Chris
Industry News | | scamper0 -
What skills I need for a valuable SEO job
Hello, I want to get a valuable SEO job, something part time - 20 hours a week about, a top notch position - not an entry level $15/hour position. I'm in Boise Idaho. Will you look at my credentials and let me know what additional skills I need to get a good position?: I've been doing SEO since the mid 90s A lot of experience with on-site optimization. One to two years experience with quality content marketing and link building. I regular help write content that is fantastic and use buzzstream and Citation labs to push the content hard. Two years experience writing content that is high quality. six years doing ecommerce seo moderate facebook and twitter experience. I've helped create many facebook pages, and I have moderate experience as to how to best post and optimize on facebook. I've been doing twitter for about a year and have recently learned how to use it to push content or to gain traffic. I know just enough google plus for authorship and building out an account. Lots of experience with keyword research using keyword discovery and Google's tools. A lot of web design experience, mainly html, css, a little javascript and a little php I know my way around Adwords, and I've done about 10 large campaigns. My PCC experience is lacking I know good writing and grammar skills for writing and developing content. Graphical experience with photoshop, fireworks, Adobe Illustrator, of course also excel and word. 6 years of ecommerce customer service experience A couple years of using Open Site Explorer including competitive analysis and link building I may have left some things out. But that's most of it. What areas do I need to master more to get a great SEO job?
Industry News | | BobGW0 -
What SEO topics would you cover if teaching a College webdesign class?
Later this month I am guest teaching a class on best SEO practices for web designers at a local College. I wanted to see what topics others would include if you were doing an overview.
Industry News | | BCutrer1 -
Help! I need to hire a SEO / SEM Specialist - Am I asking for too much?!
Hey all! I'm expanding my in-house marketing team and I need to add an SEO / SEM Specialist that will strategize, execute & manage the following: Organic SEO PPC across multiple channels (Google, Bing & also social sites like Facebook) Remarketing & Display marketing Banner ads Retargeting We're a lean company that's all about doing more with less. But not being very familiar with the SEO / SEM world I'm afraid I'm asking for too much! What do you guys think? What's your experience been? If you do think that this is potentially a single position, what would be the best title for attracting talent? SEO / SEM Specialist? Digital Marketing Manager? With the research I've done - jobs / titles have been totally across the board! I'm not able to find much consistency. Thank you all for your help 🙂 It's greatly appreciated!!!!!
Industry News | | RochelleRietow0 -
Recommended marketplace for SEO
Hi Mozzers! With the shut down of the SEOMoz marketplace what are some other resources for finding people to help with SEO tasks? Craigslist seems like the best resource for this, but are there any other good ones?
Industry News | | ProjectLabs0 -
How many small businesses use SEO?
I'm looking for data (not opinions) on how many small businesses use SEO, that is, either do it in-house, hire a firm, or hire a freelancer. I've poked around on SEMPO and eConsultancy but can't find what I'm looking for.
Industry News | | jsteimle0