Expensive Readers, search engine optimization Execs, and Digital Entrepreneurs,
Hiya, I’m Jenise. I’ve been on the SEJ helm for 15 years, with Loren Baker and Brent Csutoras at my facet as majority house owners and working companions.
Yesterday, I woke as much as a monumental piece of stories: search engine optimization information writer Search Engine Land was bought by advertising and marketing instrument firm Semrush.
There’s an elephant within the room, so let’s begin there.
What occurs when a big search advertising and marketing trade participant buys a outstanding media outlet centered on the search advertising and marketing trade?
Will the writer’s protection stay goal and agnostic? Will its authoritative guides embrace the breadth and depth of instruments and platforms and companies out there – a few of that are in direct competitors with Semrush?
What occurs to Search Engine Land’s reams and reams of current content material – articles, white papers, ebooks, movies – that confer with Semrush rivals (umm, to not point out their backlinks)?
What about credible viewpoints from revered authors that run counter to the brand new company occasion strains not directly? Will these voices nonetheless be revealed, amplified, quoted on SEL? Or watered down, and even silenced?
So many questions.
Group reactions, thus far, have been both of a benign, congratulatory nature or else centered on issues of bias.
Screenshot from LinkedIn, October 2024
Screenshot from X (Twitter), October 2024
Screenshot from LinkedIn, October 2024
Screenshot from X (Twitter), October 2024
Screenshot from X (Twitter), October 2024SEL and Semrush each have been lively in responding on social media, reiterating that:
“Our plan is to proceed to stay unbiased and unbiased. Our purpose is to offer high quality data as we at all times have.”
I do consider that these are their intentions for the prevailing 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 fowl cages.
I’m focused on 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 12 months. 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 wish, once we need, how we wish.
SEJ continues to be dedicated to reporting the reality (properly, the reality till issues change with the algorithms) about what is going on in search engine optimization and advertising and marketing.
SEJ continues to be dedicated to offering unbiased schooling and finest practices for our readers.
A.ok.a. enterprise as common right here at SEJ.
Who Is Search Engine Journal Anyhow?
Our workforce of 26 people all over the world is made up of writers, editors, designers, technologists, the again workplace who maintain issues working 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 conduct. I prefer to assume we’re close-knit. We share, we cuss, we amuse one another with foolish memes. Now we have laughed collectively and cried collectively.
Most significantly, when the sh* hits the fan, we pull collectively. We rally. We get gritty. Time and again. I ask the workforce to strive once more, to enhance, to continue to learn – and so they do it. And that’s when you recognize you will have an A-Staff in your arms.
That’s the complete roster 😎. SEJ has no traders. No company overlords. And we wish it that manner.
Our independence has been difficult at occasions. It might be good to have a company Daddy Warbucks who can “darken the skies with folks,” as certainly one 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 assets, firepower, and attain.
However over time, SEJ’s independence has ensured our workforce’s means to offer 100% unbiased journalism and schooling for the search advertising and marketing group.
We do what we wish. And that is what I place confidence in: That our readers, our advertisers, our group will present what we should be a formidable David to this new Goliath.
I welcome your feedback, suggestions, and concepts to make Search Engine Journal what the search advertising and marketing group wants it to be now. Depart me a message right here, and I promise to answer.
Jenise Uehara
CEO, Search Engine Journal
Featured Picture: Tanveer Anjum Towsif/Shutterstock
