Barry Schwartz on Covering SEO News, Productivity & How to Grow a Business [PODCAST]

“I personally always joke around on some level that emotions get in the way of running an effective business or doing something that you need to do. If you could take out the emotion, things would be a lot smoother and easier… Not having that emotional factor does help a lot, especially when writing about stuff in our industry.”

Barry Schwartz has been consistently pumping out 5 to 10 articles per day on search since 2004.

There are days when he isn’t in the mood to write, but he does it anyway. “Who cares if I’m in the mood for it or not? I just do what I’m supposed to do.”

Barry is very much into consistency, routine, and efficiency – qualities which he says work together well in terms of doing something for a really, really long time.

After nearly 16 years of covering search and over 50,000 stories published, Barry shows no signs of slowing down. And that’s good news for the community.

In today’s edition of The Search Engine Journal Show, I talk to Barry Schwartz – an SEO pro you definitely need to know better.

About Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, which is a New York-based web services firm.

He’s been covering the search industry for more than 15 years both as the founder of Search Engine Roundtable and he’s been the news editor for Search Engine Land since the site launched.

In the past, he was also news editor for Search Engine Watch, and he’s also been a moderator at several search marketing forums.

You can regularly see him speaking, moderating, and live blogging like a fiend at the SMX Conference series, as well as many other marketing and technology events.

In 2018, Barry was named the U.S. Search Personality of the Year at the U.S. Search Awards. And in 2019, he was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award by Search Engine Land.

Listen to this episode and get inspired by Barry’s exceptional work ethic, no nonsense approach to covering SEO news, genuine dedication to our community, and more.

Show Notes

• What can people expect when they visit Search Engine Roundtable and what is his goal for the site? [1:21]
• Barry has been consistently pumping out 5 to 10 articles per day on search for over 15 years. Here’s how he does it. [3:12]
• How Barry came up with the name Search Engine Roundtable. [4:09]
• There are days when Barry isn’t in the mood to write, but he does it anyway. [5:31]
• On his approach to writing: “I personally cannot stand listening or reading something that could have been said in a shorter period of time…” [7:11]
• Where the idea for his Honor an SEO/SEM series came from. [9:33]
• Barry has been doing his weekly video news recap series for 12 years. [12:41]
• On starting his new vlog series where he interviews top SEO and SEM professionals. [15:05]
• Is there a story that stands out from all the other 50,000+ stories Barry has written? [17:34]
• This is how he manages his time and stays productive with all the stuff he’s doing. [20:21]
• What got him interested in SEO in the early days and how that eventually transitioned into writing about SEO. [22:19]
• The name RustyBrick came to be in 1994 when Barry and his twin brother, Ronnie, were 14 years old. “I’m sitting in a high school class, my brother made up the name, just two words put together.” [24:18]
• His company RustyBrick grew organically – driven by client referrals. [25:49]
• Barry’s advice for people who want to start their own business. [27:02]
• Culture is very important for Barry when hiring employees. “I’ve not hired people because I thought there’d be a problem in terms of company culture,” he said. [29:59]
• When pitching to speak at SMX and other conferences, it’s also important to reach out to those coordinating and moderating the sessions. [31:09]
• Winning the U.S. Search Personality award in 2018 was meaningful and humbling for Barry. “There are people who actually like and respect what you do and that award showed that on some level.” [33:12]
• In June 2019, Barry and fellow SEL contributor Greg Sterling were given the Outstanding Community Service Awards. [35:37]
• Barry’s recommended resources for people who want to learn about SEO or digital marketing. [37:15]
• On dealing with and overcoming professional struggles. [39:33]
• How did he react to Danny Sullivan, his former colleague, leaving Search Engine Land and Third Door Media to join Google in 2017? [43:26]
• Barry says working with Danny Sullivan is one of the bigger highlights in his professional career. [48:14]
• The piece of SEO advice that stuck out for him over the years? “Our responsibility is to our searchers. If we don’t satisfy their queries, we’re not going to be around tomorrow.” – Amit Singhal, former VP of Google Search [50:02]
• This is the worst piece of SEO advice that Barry has ever heard. [51:55]
• If he could go back in time and give his younger self some advice, what would it be? [53:52]
• The key to having a long and successful career in SEO. [56:11]
• Here’s what Barry is looking forward to in SEO right now. [57:38]
• On the funniest SEO consultancy call he’s ever had and staying away from writing about politics. [59:39]
• What does a typical day look like for Barry? [1:01:59]
• The most egregious black hat tactic he sees people do nowadays. [1:03:08]
• Barry shares his insights on the top search trends that could impact SEO professionals and what we can do about them. [1:04:12]
• Fun fact: Though he stopped actively playing several years ago, Barry loved playing basketball. [1:05:56]
• What’s next for Barry Schwartz? [1:07:54]

Links from the Episode

How to connect with Barry Schwartz:

Twitter | YouTube |RustyBrick | Search Engine Roundtable

• Barry Schwartz on Search Engine Land
• Honor an SEO/SEM (Search Engine Roundtable)
• How Has Matt Cutts Helped You?
• Search Video Recaps (Search Engine Roundtable)
• Vlogs (Search Engine Roundtable)
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide (Google)
• The Beginner’s Guide to SEO (Moz)
• The Periodic Table of SEO Factors (Search Engine Land)
• Congratulations, Barry Schwartz, Search Personality of the Year (Search Engine Land)

People Mentioned

• Danny Sullivan
• Dave Davies
• Jesse McDonald
• Matt Cutts
• Mike Grehan
• Greg Sterling
• Amit Singhal
• John Mueller
• Colin McDermott
• Tony Wright
• Brian Harnish
• Rand Fishkin
• Loren Baker
• Roger Montti
• Ginny Marvin

To listen to this Search Engine Show: Better Know an SEO Pro Podcast with Barry Schwartz:

• Listen to the full episode at the top of this post
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• Listen on Stitcher, Overcast, or Pocket Casts

Visit our podcast archive to listen to other Search Engine Journal Show podcasts!

Image Credits

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita