SEOblog Interview: Toronto SEO Expert Brock Murray from seoplus+

We’re excited to have interviewed Toronto SEO expert Brock Murray, from seoplus+, for the next installment of our Featured SEO Expert Series!

seoplus+ is one of SEOblog’s Top SEO companies in Toronto.

Brock Murray is the co-founder of seoplus+, a leading Canadian digital marketing agency. He has a passion for helping businesses establish, grow and maintain their online presence.

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

“The Canadian SEO market can be challenging in some ways and rewarding in others. One challenge is that there is significantly less search volume than in U.S. (generally about 1/10 of U.S. search volume), which limits your ability to drive huge numbers or make a giant impact. However there is also less competition than in the U.S. Another small challenge is that not all tools have Google Canada search results built into them, which can be a bit frustrating.”

How does your agency stand out in a crowded market with so many agencies focused on the Canadian market?

“Our agency stands out because of our people and dedication to making life better for our clients and for our team. We continue to look for opportunities to innovate and lead by exemplifying our core values: Fun, Accountability, Collaboration and Transparency (FACT). We also entered the market almost 10 years ago, which has allowed us to build partnerships and work with so many different companies and organizations over the years.”

Can you share a success story from a local marketing campaign based in Canada? 

“One successful local marketing campaign that we can share was with Mobile Klinik. It was winner of Best SEO Campaign at the 2020 Canadian Search Awards. Our efforts focused on simple but effective SEO methods to secure and maintain organic search traffic, organic keyword rankings and Google My Business visibility across all retail locations, Canada-wide. We first partnered with Mobile Klinik in 2015 and have helped them as they’ve grown from two stores to over 90 across Canada, all while they were acquired by telecom giant, Telus.”

What is the best advice you ever received in business?

“The best advice I ever received in business was to read Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Selling.

“The book taught me to win business by being the trusted expert, network myself and the business by being a thought leader and around personal branding. It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.

“This helped push me to deliver presentations at industry events, as well as attend networking events, which took a ton of energy but has paid dividends over the years.”

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

“The most important quality that makes an agency truly great makes life better for their clients and takes care of their team. They make an impact and are always looking for ways to improve and honest with themselves and their clients.”

Any predictions for the future of SEO?

“My predictions for the future of SEO have been consistent over the years. I strongly believe that user experience (UX) is at the core of SEO, and we need to continually think of ways we can help create search demand through high-quality content and digital experiences. The tactics may change over time; however, the two most important aspects of SEO continue to be content and links. There will always be new opportunities, so it’s important to be on top of the latest trends and be an early adopter to capitalize.”

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

“I would argue the opposite. The coin phrase ‘SEO is dead’ has been around since I started my SEO career in 2012. At the same time, I would meet with prospects and they usually didn’t fully understand SEO, didn’t have much experience with it and truly hadn’t carved out marketing budget for it. At this point, the industry has matured and clients now have experience with SEO. They understand the impacts SEO can have on a business, and it is no longer negotiable. And in my opinion, it is core to any business that wants to be successful long term.”

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

“The most important contributor to keeping clients happy is communication. Involving them with ongoing meetings, continually strategizing and ensuring you and the team are aligned with their chief business objectives is key. Utilizing KPIs that are agreed upon and updated on an ongoing basis is important to ensure things are moving in the right direction.”

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.