Hello readers, Here is an Interview of Saptarshi Roy Choudhury from SEO Kolkata:
MrDoubts: Tell us something about your blog:
Saptarshi: I started my blog way back in October 2006. I used to read a lot of SEO blogs and participate in many forums but I felt that there is still some lack in providing the absolute basics of SEO to unsuspecting individuals – I planned to serve that purpose with this blog, however, in course of time, I must admit, that I couldn’t stick to that and written many articles which would actually be of interest to people who are already initiated to the concept of SEO and Internet marketing. Also, another reason for starting my blog was because I wanted to keep my articles together and organised in one place. Given the kind of person I am, I have lost loads of my good articles and research work before, so I thought putting them all on my blog would actually keep them in one place. Today this blog has got some real good articles on various aspects of SEO and Internet marketing.
MrDoubts: How long have you been blogging?
Saptarshi: Since October 2006.
MrDoubts: How do you make your blog different?
Saptarshi: Well, this was my prime concern while starting the blog. I found most blogs actually syndicate news and articles rather than writing something of their own. Definitely; that is the easy thing to do. But I decided to make my blog original and educative. I wanted my readers to feel that they actually had some take away from each of my articles. I have been following this throughout. In some of my recent posts you might find news type articles, which, I really don’t prefer to add but add them to keep my blog active as I don’t get much time to write good post regularly. Though I still try to put in good educative blog posts as often as I can.
MrDoubts: Any special occasion, story or achievement that you would like to share?
Saptarshi: We were discussing my blog, and to speak of special occasion or events… I must say this blog has given me a lot of recognitions. I remember visiting the SearchCamp 2007 in Chennai. I arrived there at the second day and was overwhelmed to see a large section of the crowd recognise me by my blog and they are regular readers. Also, in my present job, at the pre-recruitment stage when my boss (then interviewer) called to speak to me he was not really sure of my skills in the field of paid search. However, after reading one of my articles on Quality Score, he didn’t think twice to offer me the job. Also, it was nice when one of my posts was picked up and reposted at SearchEngineLand.com
MrDoubts: What are some of the common mistakes people make with their blogs (your pick)?
Saptarshi: Umm there are many and am guilty of some of them too. Here are some pointers…
- Having their blogs as a sub-domain of their blog platform rather than having their own domain names.
- Not making regular posts.
- Not mentioning proper credits when a post is copied from some place. It can severely tarnish your credibility. Same thing applies for images and design elements.
- Not providing a proper About Us statement or page. When people read you, they would definitely like to know who you are and what is your credibility.
- Not providing easy options to subscribe to your blog.
- Cluttering your blog with Adsense and other ads. I don’t mean ads should not be there but they should not be intrusive for the user experience.
- Grammatically poor English. Can seriously affect your credibility and is often looked at as a disturbing experience by the native English speakers.
MrDoubts: What makes a successful blogger?
Saptarshi:
- Make Regular posts
- Make posts that adds value for your readers
- Connect with your readers. Reply to comments.
- Learn the basics of SEO and Internet marketing and apply them on your blog.
MrDoubts: What tools to you use to market your blog?
Saptarshi: Well, I am not a big fan of tools. I would say some basic tools that are often used for other Internet marketing ventures would be good enough.. If I am to list a few, I would say,
- Technorati (http://www.technorati.com/ ) – not really a tool but use this platform effectively to get exposure for your blog
- Use Google Trends and other research tools to figure out which are the most discussed topics and searched keyword in your niche. Make posts based on them. Keyword tools commonly used are Overture ( inventory.overture.com ), WordTracker ( wordtracker.com), Google Keywords tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal )
- Use this Social Bookmark tool created by Lee Odden – http://www.toprankblog.com/tools/social-bookmarks/
- An analytics tool is a must if you are serious about marketing. Google Analytics does the job pretty well. If you want to track the feed reader stats take help of FeedBurner (http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home ).
MrDoubts: What keeps you motivated to blog?
Saptarshi: My readers. I get at least 3-4 emails from my readers every month with various questions besides a few emails every month with offers for SEO consultation. Particularly, I feel greatly inspired when I get mails from newbies asking questions and clarifications – their urge to learn and the thought that I am able to help someone with the blog and am adding some value to the SEO society keeps me motivated.
MrDoubts: Do you earn from blogging?
Saptarshi: To be honest the direct income is not really worthy to mention. A trickling income from Adsense and a few more from one or two paid reviews; However, I do get a lot of consulting offers through my blog. In fact I have landed up one of my biggest Internet business consulting project with one of the leading real estate companies in USA through this blog after their MD read my blog and initiated a discussion with me.
MrDoubts: How many friends have you earned as a blogger?
Saptarshi: Definitely a good number, includes, fellow bloggers, general readers, entrepreneurs and various other people.
MrDoubts: What do you think of the Indian SEO Industry?
Saptarshi: Its growing very fast but unfortunately the growth is mostly caused by the mushrooming “SEO experts” across the country who hardly know anything about SEO. Indian SEO industry has some real good knowledgeable SEO, but this is often overshadowed by the snake oil sellers and people from other countries find it difficult to trust us with their projects. However, this problem is not just in India, SEO being an unorganised industry is full of such people and as it has always happened, empty vessels make the most of sound – so people often try to judge the standard of SEOs in a country by those newbies who tout themselves as “SEO experts”. Its good to see that people are taking increasing interest in SEO in India and it is well on its way to become a distinguished profession by itself, however, my only request to people would be to educate themselves and continue updating themselves with the required knowledge and let others decide their status in the industry rather than claiming themselves to be experts.
MrDoubts: What do you do when you’re not blogging?
Saptarshi: I hardly get time to blog these days as most of my time is consumed by my day job and my consulting projects. However, I prefer to listen to music or read good books whenever I get a little time for leisure.
MrDoubts: Please recommend some posts from your blog:
Saptarshi:
Filed under: Blogger Interview | Tagged: Blogger Interview
