Thank you to my sponsor and awesome web host, LiquidWeb for sponsoring this episode. I wish I could tell you that SEO was something I got excited about. For me, it's one of those necessary evils. Over the years I've gotten better at it (although I'm still not a fan of keyword research... also a necessary evil, but all worth the time and effort) and can see the results of my efforts. All of that was before I connected with Phil Singleton, one of the authors of SEO for Growth. Phil got me to think of SEO in a whole new way. Mainly because he believes that SEO isn't simply the tactics that have been used. It's the bigger picture. SEO for Growth incorporates content marketing and social media (and we all know how I feel about content, don't we?). I could have talked to Phil for hours... not only is he a great guest with a ton of energy, he's like this massive wealth of knowledge. You're definitely going to want to take notes or at least download the transcripts (you can grab them at the end of the post, I've got an opt-in for you to get them). Questions I Asked Phil First, you’ve had a pretty fascinating career that led to your SEO path. Can you share that journey with the listeners? Since we can’t cover the entire book in an hour (and want people to buy the book anyways), there are a few things I picked out that I thought would be most helpful for my audience. A little basic question, but can you explain inbound marketing? You talk about why 99% of websites fail. Are there a couple common things you see a lot of people doing? Can you help me get over my hatred of keyword research? Are there a couple tips or best practices you can share about link building? I know I personally don’t have a solid strategy for this because I’m not exactly sure where to start. How does social media tie in with SEO? I’m a huge fan of creating, producing content. I still see so many people struggle with this. Any advice?   What You're Going to Learn How working overseas and learning Mandarin led Phil towards entrepreneurship and owning his own agency Why Phil thinks podcasting is one of the most over-looked opportunities for SEO Phil's opinion on guest posting (hint: it's not dead and is still a great way to build quality links) Why web designers have a huge opportunity right now How to leverage relationships and influencers for SEO and traffic How they used influencers to amplify the book marketing How social media works with SEO (despite what Google says or doesn't say) Get SEO for Growth  Where to Connect with Phil Website | Facebook | Twitter Links from this episode SEO for Growth website Chief Marketing Officers at Work - Josh Steimle Anne Handley