SEOblog Interview: California SEO Expert Matt Bentley from CanIRank

We’re excited to have talked to California SEO expert Matt Bentley from CanIRank for the next installment of our Featured SEO Expert Series! CanIRank is one of SEOblog’s Top SEO agencies in San Diego.

Matt Bentley is an entrepreneur, data scientist and rock climber with 15 years of experience building internet startup companies. He’s the founder of SEO and content marketing software, CanIRank.com, and intelligent marketing assistant, GrowthAI.com.

What would you say is unique and/or challenging about the California SEO industry?

“Californian businesses really value innovation and there are a ton of impressive startup companies popping up here on a regular basis. Clients here tend to be technically sophisticated and want to be on the cutting edge of data-driven SEO techniques.”

How does your agency stand out in a crowded market like California?

“Since we have our own machine learning-powered software and ranking factor data analyzed for almost a million websites, we’re able to speak their language, and convince even the savviest client that our techniques are rooted in hard data and understanding of how search engine algorithms work, rather than the sort of “SEO guru” personality cult that drives agency credibility in other areas.”

Can you share a success story from a local SEO campaign centered around the California area?

“In the local SF startup community, I met and started advising a small team of smart Stanford engineers working to disrupt the $8.5 trillion construction industry with an app called Fieldwire. As they grew they went from using our software on a DIY plan to hiring our team to help with optimization and link building, to having their own content marketing team that we supported and advised. We helped them land links and press coverage on sites like Entrepreneur, GlassDoor, ENR, and dozens of industry media sites. During our collaboration they went from nowhere to top 3 on nearly all of their target keywords, increasing traffic 853% and helping them raise $33.5 million in Series C funding!”

What is the best advice you ever received in business?

“Under-promise and over-deliver. I believe every SEO agency should have this pinned on their wall.”

What do you think is the most important quality that makes an agency truly great?

“There are two types of agencies: those who simply repeat to clients what they’re reading on other SEO blogs, and those who are actually doing the experiments and analysis that generates new learning which eventually makes it way out to the larger SEO community. If you’re working with an agency in the latter group, you’re able to exploit new opportunities and techniques before they become saturated or over-done.”

Any predictions for the future of SEO?

“The performance gap between those who understand how modern search algorithms work and those who do not will become wider. Which ultimately, is probably a good thing.”

What is your reaction when you hear that “SEO is dying”?

“If you think that, you’re probably doing SEO wrong. The type of white hat organic SEO we practice is really just good old fashioned marketing (with a more technical mindset).”

What do you think is the most important contributor to keeping clients happy?

“Take the time to fully understand their most important objectives, and help them achieve them! Results + trust are the main two components of happy clients.”

Interested in being considered as an SEOblog “Featured SEO Expert”? Reach out to our team at [email protected]! We’d love to hear from you and give you a high-traffic platform to share your SEO agency’s story and insights.