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Legal SEO with Jessie Stricchiola

By Site Strategics
July 25, 2016

A Legal SEO Expert

We had the pleasure of hosting legal SEO expert Jesse Stricchiola on a recent #edgetalk.  Stricchiola is the founder of Alchemist Media, a San Francisco- based search and digital marketing company. What’s unique about Alchemist is they adjust to the individual needs of their clients and only take on projects that are in their wheelhouse.

Stricchiola, is one of a few experts inside of legal SEO. Because of her deep knowledge, she is often selected to testify and represent cases involving SEO. You could say she’s one of the SEO pioneers as she can remember the day Danny Sullivan coined the term “SEO.”

In addition, she co-authored “The Art of SEO,” which is a “comprehensive roadmap for you to plan and execute your SEO strategy.” It’s the go-to book for SEO and currently in its 3rd edition.

Throughout our discussion, Stricchiola shared poignant experiences that helped shape her career as well as how she sees the industry developing.

A Growing Need

One of the first things that we asked Stricchiola was whether or not there was a need for certification inside of legal SEO? Her answer was yes, however, she added that pretty much every component inside of SEO has “evolved.” She cited the technology platforms and how that information is processed and delivered is constantly changing.

As we’re all aware, digital marketing and SEO continue to expand and change, often times much faster than technology can keep up with and vice versa.  So while there is a growing need for experienced experts, it’s still a relatively unexplored area inside of university curriculum.

Stricchiola goes on to explain that there is no real white hat or black hats anymore. In the end, everything is very gray because it is ok until Google says that it isn’t. For example, a common practice one day can be something that gets your site immediately blacklisted the next.

A Legislative Shield (Or Lack Thereof)

During our interview, we also touched on whether or not there was an ability to protect a website from malice. According to Stricchiola, “There are not any specific federal laws or state laws that I know of that are related to SEO or SEO attacks at all.”

Per Stricchiola, it’s going to take “quite a few more years before we see any specific legislation,” and yet she does see a need for it with the rise of Google BOTS and the fraud that results from them. She sees that as the spark that will ignite legislative change.

In the coming years there may be more legislation to protect websites, but as it stands now the concept is far too new for any legislative protection to be put into place.

And yet there are measures that can be taken to protect yourself where the government has yet to go. Per Stricchiola, you must protect yourself with contacts in place that safeguard you. By informing clients of what they can expect with the use of contracts, you’re protecting each other from a legal standpoint.

This is an area of SEO that is often times overlooked so being able to talk with an expert like Stricchiola was a treat. To listen to the entire episode, visit here.