Search Analytics Blog

“Big Bill” Kruse of Kruse Internet Interviewed

One Response since April 4th, 2007

If you’ve been around search engine optimization (seo) for a long time, you’ll be familiar with Big Bill, from Kruse Internet in the UK.  That’s because even if you have not dealt with him directly, you’re certain to have seen his posts on the usenet.

Maintaining an active presence in the alt.internet.search-engines group is not for the faint of heart.  Sometimes hundreds of new posts appear daily, and questions range from basic to sophisticated.  Bill seems to appear in responses almost daily.  Being an “old timer” with lots of battle scars from the usenet alone, I thought he could make a valuable contribution here to this series.
Q. How long have you been working with SEO / SEM, and What got you started into the search industry?

Just over a decade. You have to keep your mind alive with something, SEO seemed like an engaging challenge.

Q. You’re well known as a frequent contributor to the Usenet (alt.internet.search-engines).  What drives you to participate in that venue?

Grim determination. It’s an open forum which means when you get abusive idiots like [name removed] in there and that Godawful scenario with [name removed] happening you can’t really do anything about it. But there are (or have been till recently) knowledgeable people like John or Els that I know I can go to for technical assistance or advice if I need it. I hang in there at least in part because I just don’t like to be driven out by idiots and also in part because I don’t know where else to go. It’s a shame to see it go downhill the way it has over recent months.

Q. Has there ever been an algorithm change at any of the engines which really pleased you, or really hurt you?

Florida caught me out because it punished sites unfairly purely on the basis that they were new. Then there was the occasion when I tanked after the third phase - I forget which update that was - but that may well have been due to my sharing a link with an associate who was, unknowingly, I gather, running an experiment on his site that may have been the cause of the problem. So both those got me either directly or through a client.

Q. If you could get Google, Yahoo!, and MSN to each answer just one question about their algorithms, what would it be?

Why the hell is such obvious spam allowed to still go on?

Q. Why analytics are important to you?

Knowledge is power. Information is power. Use it well and it gets you places.

Q. How often do you look at them?

I go through phases when I’ll look every few days. I go through phases when I ignore them for weeks.

Q. How do you suggest your clients use them?

I suggest they study them when they have the time because they will have a perspective that I won’t. If we combine the two perspectives, my SEO knowledge with their insider knowledge, together we’re stronger.

Q. What do you foresee as the biggest change coming to search over the next 24 months?

It’ll be judged more by ROI than by rankings. That’s been coming for ages.

Q. What’s one piece of advice you give all new clients as they are about to start a campaign with you?

We’re both doing this. It’s a collaboration. We do this together.

Thanks Bill!