Dave Davies on SEO Evolution, Brand Building & Why Nobody Wants You to Fail [PODCAST]

“[Jim Hedger] gave me the most important piece of [speaking] advice and it is 100% true. Nobody is there to see you fail. Nobody. Everybody there wants you to do awesome… The attendees are there to learn something. Your friends want you to do great. The conference organizers want you to do a great job. Everybody in the room is there to watch you succeed. Everybody. So if you can just remember that when you’re taking the stage, it actually is reassuring.”

Dave Davies is a veteran technical SEO, conference speaker, podcast host, and contributor to various search publications.

He is also probably one of the nicest people on earth – and many people in the industry will surely agree.

Dave is passionate about keeping up with organic and paid search, as well as development stuff – basically, all things search.

“I’m not an expert at all of these things,” he says. “But I’m interested in all of them.”

Through watching everything that’s going on in the industry and seeing how the pieces fit together, he’s able to produce insightful columns and share valuable information that help enrich the search community.

In today’s edition of the Search Engine Journal Show, I had the opportunity to interview Dave Davies, an SEO pro you should get to know better.

About Dave Davies

Dave Davies is the CEO of Beanstalk Internet Marketing. He’s been working in SEO for 19 years and at Beanstalk for 15 of those years.

You can read him every month on Search Engine Journal and he also writes on his own blog on the Beanstalk website. He’s also been a contributor for Search Engine Land and Search Engine Watch.

Together with Jim Hedger, Dave hosts Webcology – a podcast that “takes a deeper look at the ecosystem of the Internet as it affects webmasters and web marketers.”

He’s also a regular speaker for Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, and other leading industry conferences

In this episode, Dave shares his experiences on starting a white hat SEO company at a time when competitors were successful in using spammy tactics, the challenges he’s had to overcome as an agency owner, conquering public-speaking jitters, and more.

Show Notes

Dave sums up what has changed today versus when he started Beanstalk Internet Marketing back in 2004. [03:04]
Starting his own company was partly triggered by “cockiness.” [06:18]
Dave and Mary, his wife and business partner, came up with the business name while they were “talking about the right thing at the right time and the right place.” [8:31]
“I love what I do so much. The idea of not doing it is just sort of not an option.” [9:55]
If he could go back in the early days of starting the company, Dave says he’d be a little more demanding and firm as a boss to his employees. [11:58]
Discover what keeps Dave passionate about his business. [14:06]
On the important habits to cultivate success and grow an SEO business. [17:38]
Learn how Dave deals with clients and peers who are less than ethical and kind. [26:59]
One of Dave’s fondest memories is working with a great client who had a wonderful approach to marketing – helping build the client’s company. [31:52]
How Webcology started at Webmaster Radio. [37:50]
On why the show’s format hasn’t changed, growing their listenership, and bringing in guests who know stuff that they don’t. [40:49]
During conferences, Dave enjoys doing mini-interviews with speakers and vendors and then creating a Webcology episode out of it. [45:28]
Some of Dave’s self-written articles that he looks back on most fondly. [50:13]
Dave talks about his first-ever speaking gig on the main stage of Search Engine Strategies San Jose in 2006. He also shares some good tips for first-time conference speakers and dealing with public-speaking jitters. [58:12]
How did Dave deal with and overcome career struggles? [1:07:45]
If the search industry didn’t exist, Dave would probably be a political advisor. [1:15:48]
The first piece of technology Dave was obsessed with? A VIC-20. [1:16:48]
For business advice, Dave credits people like Wil Reynolds who helps ground you into understanding what the real world actually is like. [1:18:53]
On “bad” SEO advice: “It doesn’t have to be an absolute every time. And I think that’s where we sort of can get misled where something seems like bad information, but it’s not bad information if you interpret it right.” [1:24:31]
Things Dave is most excited about right now. [1:35:29]
Dave shares his thoughts on AI and machine learning, their differences, and how they really impact search. [1:39:54]
How many monitors is the right amount for SEO? [1:47:58]
This is the SEO tool that Dave will build if he had unlimited resources. [1:51:22]
What’s next for Dave Davies? [1:54:56]

Links from the Episode

How to connect with Dave Davies:

Twitter | LinkedIn | Beanstalk Internet Marketing

People Mentioned

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