Good-Bye to the “Queen of SEO”
Jill Whalen was considered by many in the industry as the “Queen of SEO.” Her knowledge and enthusiasm drove many to her newsletter and uncountable conference appearances.
Jill was always considered the voice of reason in our industry, while other SEO experts focused on gaming the system and trickery, Jill consistently insisted that more time should be spent developing websites that focused on sating the user experience. If this was accomplished surely the search engines would follow, and she was absolutely correct in her convictions.
Recently, she has decided to move on from SEO, if her own words “Google put their money where their mouth was with their Panda and Penguin updates. At last the only real way to do SEO was what I had been espousing all along. And it’s a beautiful thing! Today’s SEO blogs and conferences are bursting with SEO consultants talking about how, when you create amazing websites and content for your users, the search engines will follow.” According to Jill the industry no longer requires a voice of reason, which why she is leaving the industry to find other opportunities.
I have always appreciated her candor, you can tell she cares about her profession and her clients. I know whatever professional career she decides on pursuing, she will be a success. I wish her the best of luck and thank her for her tremendous insight.
Ultimately, Google wants us to develop better websites that add value to the internet. It’s been obviously from the beginning that Google does not want people manipulating their search results. The more people focus on developing content that is worth sharing the better off we will all be. SEO is not dead, but evolving for the better. You can read her full blog post below.