Interview with Donna Fontenot of SEO-Scoop

Donna Fontenot, also known as DazzlinDonna is the author of the popular blog at SEO-Scoop, and enjoys working on her own websites. Being one of the most known women in the industry, we invited Donna for an interview.

Hey Donna, and thanks for taking the time out to answer our questions. We won’t waste more of your time so we will get right into it!

How did you first get into SEO?

I come from a web development background, specifically ColdFusion programming. Back in the ‘90’s (you’ll have to forgive me, but I don’t remember exactly what year), I ran a team of developers who specialized in creating websites for a newspaper chain. We did have an SEO team at the time, but this was back when SEO basically meant adding keywords to metatags and as a developer, I thought it was child’s play that I didn’t need to even think about. Years later, after being laid off from a job, I decided to sell ColdFusion applications via the web, and work from home. After a few months of being unable to pay my bills, I realized that I would need to rank well in the search engines if I had any hope of selling my apps. Thus began my research into the “new” SEO which involved a bit more than meta tags by that time. It was like a puzzle and a game, and I was intrigued. Eventually that intrigue sucked me in, and I’ve been an SEO ever since.

Not to be sexist, but apart from yourself there are very few prominent Female SEO’s, why do you think that is?

There are actually quite a few prominent female SEOs, and I am by far not the most prominent. Nevertheless, anything tech-related is generally still run by the old boys network (or young boys, in many cases). Women are increasingly gaining prominence in all tech-related fields, but change doesn’t happen overnight. I’m not the type to stand on a soapbox and demand change. I just do what I do best, and I don’t tend to let gender have any say in the matter. My work, in whatever tech field I was engaged in at the time, always spoke for itself. I believe that’s all it really takes for a woman to be recognized in traditional male-oriented industries. Do a damn good job, and everyone will notice.

Taken from your blog at SEO-Scoop, you rarely do SEO services for the ‘general public’. If a well branded company came along and offered a job, what would your reaction be?

The bigger the company, the less interested I’d be. I’m sure the money offered would be substantial, but I’m not all about the money. I’d much rather help someone who was laid off from a job and is attempting to pay his or her bills via a little site on the Internet (sound familiar?). Not everyone is capable of making a living this way, but on the rare occasion that I take on a paying client, it’s usually someone struggling to do so.

If there was one ‘mistake’ that you have seen people make when optimising their websites and that you would advise against, what would it be?

Amazingly enough, most people simply don’t do the very basics, such as using their keyword phrase in the Title. Actually, many haven’t even done any keyword research to begin with, but even those who have guessed at the right keyword phrases, aren’t actually optimizing for them at all.

With SEO having changed so much, even in the last year, wheres the next place you think the industry is heading?

The answer most SEOs would give to that question is generally social media and personalization. But naturally, I like to be different. I think we may be headed “back to the future” in the sense that content will become the driving force once again. Eventually, algorithms will evolve to the point that they will be better able to understand content. Call it A.I. if you will. We, as humans, can look at content and just “know” whether or not it is good and relevant. Algorithms will eventually progress to that point as well, and will be much less link-dependent. And, hey, even if I’m wrong, it never hurts to have great content.

While blogging at SEO-Scoop you have made quite a name for yourself, what was the intention of the blog?

When I started SEO Scoop, I was a moderator at a popular forum (SEO Chat). I realized that I was answering the same questions over and over again and thought to myself, hey, why not just answer those questions once on a blog? I can then just point people to the relevant answer. That actually didn’t work out. Instead, I got wrapped up in blogging and it just expanded into more than a FAQ type place, and more into what it is today. What is it today? I guess it’s a place for me to share the things I know, question the things I don’t, and just generally ramble on about the search industry.

Favourite Search Engine?

Yahoo.

Which blogs / websites do you regularly read and which would you recommend our readers follow?

My list is huge. Every one of them gives a slightly different take on the industry, so each is important in its own way. For the best general overview, I’d recommend Danny Sullivan’s new Search Engine Land. But if someone wants to really get in the trenches and get various viewpoints, then the best thing to do is look at my blogroll on SEO Scoop. That blogroll doesn’t cover every blog I read, but it’s a great start for anyone needing a good list.

Will Search Engine’s base their future algorithms on links, content or abandon both in favour of some other method for scoring sites via human review or even algos based on artificial intelligence. In your opinion?

I pretty much answered this one already. At some point, algos won’t need to depend upon popularity metrics, but that may be some time away. In the meantime, popularity metrics will be increasingly used, but will go beyond the links of today. Popularity will be measured in many different ways, and all of these will have an effect upon rankings.

Do you see yourself attending any conferences in the future, and if so which ones?

I will probably attend at least one conference per year. When I moved out to the country, I began the process of “semi-retirement”, so I don’t want to spend too much time on business travel. I’d much rather increase my travel for pleasure. Still, I love the conferences, and don’t want to completely distance myself from them. PubCon is my most likely choice. It has the right atmosphere that fits my comfort level.

Finally, how likely do you think it is that Matt Cutts will agree to do our next interview?

On a scale of 1-10, I’d give that a 1. But who knows? It’s always worth a shot.
Thanks for your time Donna, we wish you the best of luck with SEO-Scoop and your personal SEO projects.