"Today's thought leaders were influenced by him," Mark Knowles said about The History of SEO advisory board's criteria when looking for a major SEO influencer and leader. The clear choice was Internet marketing veteran Bruce Clay, known to some as a founding father of SEO and others as the CEO.
SIMI VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Bruce Clay, fondly known to the search marketing industry as a founding father of SEO, received the Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence in Vision, Execution and Market Influence in the Practice of Search Marketing. As founder and president of Bruce Clay, Inc., a global Internet marketing agency founded in 1996, he accepted the honor earlier this month at the annual digital marketing conference Bend WebCAM in Bend, Oregon http://www.bendwebcam.com/.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131030/PH07166)
Bruce Clay SEO milestones
1996 – Started his Internet marketing agency, Bruce Clay, Inc. out of his house
1998 – Welcomed Google to the search party
1999 – Spoke at the very first Search Engine Strategies
2000 – Moved the company out of his house and started first SEO training courses
2001 – Developed the first SEO Code of Ethics
2002 – Introduced siloing, a website architecture hierarchy
2004 – Published first company blog and SEO Newsletter
2007 – Opened offices in South Africa, Australia and the UK
2008 – Makes the Inc 5000 list of fastest growing company in the U.S.
2009 – Opened an office in India and became the official SEO training course for several national and international Internet marketing conferences
2010 – Released SEOToolSet version 5; trained more than 1000 people in SEO methodology
2011 – Opened an office in Brazil
2012 – Listed in Inc 5000 for the sixth year in a row
If you ask Bruce Clay, SEO is not a job, it's a way of life. Before the World Wide Web, you could find Clay at the intersection of computer science, networking and operating systems, implementing the first touchscreen networks into the restaurant industry. Today he travels the world training C-suite executives and search marketing professionals on SEO best practices.
Mark Knowles, chair of the History of SEO advisory board that selected Clay, revealed that selecting Clay was an "easy decision," calling him a "legendary pioneer." The advisory board looks for someone who has impacted the SEO industry from the start, Knowles said, noting Clay contributed significantly to the SEO industry's growth and development.
"Today's thought leaders were influenced by him," Knowles said.
Clay called this award a "major event in the history of Bruce Clay, Inc." and said, "It is an honor to receive any award for service to the industry. I have always tried to contribute — through the website, training, event speaking, and frequent free advice. Being available, approachable and involved is clearly appreciated by colleagues, and it is really nice that my efforts have been broadly appreciated. I am truly excited to join the few that have already received this prestigious award."
Past recipients of this award include Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land editor-in-chief, and John Audette, SVP of Internet marketing company Rimm-Kaufman Group.
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