Get to know Seth Bridges, Co-Founder & Head of Product, Rival IQ

My name is Seth Bridges, co-founder and head of product at Rival IQ. Rival IQ is social media and SEO analytics software that allows you to benchmark your marketing performance against competitors and the market. We’re located in downtown Seattle, WA.

SEO has changed drastically over the last ten years. The evolution of search is the perfect example of an attempt to make the internet a better, more relevant source of information. However, each and every step in that improvement has resulted in consequences for digital marketers and SEOs. With each passing year, SEO has become more and more about improving the experience of the end user — better UX, better speed, better performance on the devices we all use most (mobile).
Ten years ago SEO’s were still keyword stuffing, buying links, and duplicating content. Today, there are so many off-page factors that matter, and that focus on quality levels the playing field for high-quality and relevant content to be more successful.
Specifically, the advent of good NLP (natural language processing) and big data has transformed SEO strategy to require a core focus on intent and quality. There aren’t really shortcuts anymore. You have to put in the research and the work to produce quality content and get results. You have to test. Maybe some of these things were also true ten years ago, but they are even more important today.

I was introduced to digital marketing working in online retail, particularly focused on AdWords. Of course, no one channel stands alone. That experience was key in my early days of working to build Rival IQ.

Our mantra is, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Digital marketers have been focusing more on measuring the impact and ROI of social media for their businesses. Rival IQ’s powerful competitive and comparative analytics allow you to benchmark your social metrics against businesses that matter to you. We help digital marketers develop better content, smarter social strategies, and improve their SEO to maximize the return on their efforts and become digital leaders in their industry.

In 2017, we need to continue focusing on hunting and attacking long-tail keyword opportunities that are winnable. The reality is that no matter how many changes you make, many of you just won’t rank for the most popular keywords. Most of us don’t have the budget for the ads either, so focus on relevant long-tailed keywords that have ranking feasibility.

If you want to take up a career path in digital marketing, you should be prepared to invest in a mentality of ongoing personal education about the space. The digital world changes every week, and staying up-to-date is paramount. Of course, you have to have solid marketing fundamentals as well.