Why I No Longer Blog for SEOmoz

There seems to be a growing misperception in the industry that I must have parted with Rand Fishkin on bad terms or something in 2006 after blogging for SEOmoz for almost a year. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and after seeing yet one more petty comment on the Web today that reinforces this misperception I decided it’s at least time to rebut the nonsense with the facts.

In October 2006 I took the position of Director of Search Strategies with Visible Technologies. As part of my employment offer they asked me to sign an intellectual property rights agreement. In that agreement I listed every intellectual work I could think of that I had published in any form with respect to search engine optimization. The rights to those works remain mine as much as they were before I took the job.

However, anything I have written pertaining to search engine optimization while employed by Visible Technologies belongs to Visible Technologies (as far as such rights can be recognized and exercised). As a published author who has completed work-for-hire, byline, and other publishing contracts I very well understood what I was getting into. I can always write about SEO (if I want to) if/when I part ways with Visible Technologies.

This blog is Visible Technologies’ blog. The executive team could, at their whim, for any reason without explanation or justification to me, shut it down or replace me as the author. All the posts can be edited by the company, deleted by the company, republished by the company, etc. The content belongs to Visible Technologies, Inc., not to Michael Martinez.

I’m cool with that.

When I took the job I explained my relationship with SEOmoz. It was decided that it would be in the company’s best interests if I devoted my interests and energy toward developing Visible Technologies’ public SEO profile. It was a natural competitive decision that eliminated a potential conflict of interest for me.

Since leaving SEOmoz I’ve been asked to write for other blogs and have regretfully had to turn down those offers. Again, this is a business decision made by Visible Technologies and it’s part of my employment contract that the company decides where, when, and how I will be used as a public asset. I’m good with that.

On a few occasions I’ve disagreed with Rand Fishkin’s point of view as expressed on SEOmoz. I’ve explained why I disagree with Rand (and I’ve disagreed with quite a few other people). Rand being the popular guy that he is, he’s got a few fans out on the Net who don’t like me. They take umbrage whenever I challenge Rand’s opinion on search engine optimization.

I have a lot of respect for what Rand and his team at SEOmoz have accomplished. Rand is a relative newcomer to SEO compared to me, but there was a period of several years where I stayed out of the limelight. I got the impression that Rand really had no idea of who I was when I first contacted him. He had seen me in a few forums, I think, and we had exchanged some comments in those forums. But I don’t run with the conference circuit SEOs and only the old-timers really knew who I was when I started participating on SEOmoz.

I loved writing for SEOmoz. It was fun to be able to contribute to the growth of what I considered to be a new generation SEO blog. I didn’t mind the occasional disagreement over technical stuff. I’ve been disagreeing with many people over technical stuff for years. Ironically, many of the points I advocated in years past are now considered to be standard SEO practice — not because I introduced them, but because other people really did agree with many of the ideas I helped to promote. Those ideas came from many sources, and sadly I no longer see those great minds of early SEO actively participating in the online SEO discussions (except for a very small number).

I don’t know why the other outside bloggers stopped contributing. I really enjoyed reading their articles. EGOL, G-Man, and others helped Rand build a great resource. To the best of my knowledge, there was no Great Exodus Conspiracy. No one at SEOmoz said or did anything to upset me to cause me to leave.

I have recently referred to some bad blood between me and a former Mozzer. Please don’t let that color your vision of my relationship with Rand and his team. I’m not in tight with them and it was never my intention to wiggle my way into Rand’s inner circle. I just respected what he was trying to do and thought it would be cool to support him. It also seemed like Rand was on the road to a new brand of marketing that — at the time — I felt would take the SEO world by storm.

I think I was right to believe Rand was one of several people who launched a new era of online marketing. Of course there have been abuses along the way and I’ve criticized the abusers of social media, but the company I work for has made a huge investment in social media marketing and research and, quite frankly, I have a lot of respect for the power of social media.

But, being the sometimes contrarian people see me as, I would rather challenge some of the petrified views that permeate the SEO industry, or call into question practices which I strongly feel cannot be scientifically validated (at least they haven’t been validated yet), than just roll out an endless list of “Great Post by so-and-so” articles.

That’s not me.

Rand used to defend my participation on SEOmoz by pointing out that my articles drew links and comment. People came to know SEOmoz because of me, just as they came to know SEOmoz because of EGOL and other outside contributors. It was a magical moment in time and Rand is a great marketer who recognized the value of diversity.

He has gone on to expand the diversity that SEOmoz offers to the community and I see that expansion as a solid success. But you won’t find me posting on YOUmoz simply because I’m not at liberty to do that.

There is no feud between me and Rand, so far as I am concerned. We’ve had disagreements in the past and we’ll probably have disagreements in the future.

But you know what? I’d rather disagree with Rand Fishkin publicly over and over again than respond to the really childish sniping that goes on in this industry. Thank you to those of you who have asked people to stop attacking me, but much though I appreciate that support, I doubt it will help much. Some personalities just wallow in hostility.

I don’t associate those hostile people with Rand, and I hope that if they continue to insinuate there is some sort of feud between me and him that you’ll believe me over their smear campaigns. I really, really did not leave SEOmoz under bad circumstances. It was a business decision, nothing more.

I don’t comment at SEOmoz very often for lack of time more than anything else, although when I do comment I’m usually being so brief and terse because of time constraints that I inevitably rub someone the wrong way. I’ll continue to read SEOmoz on a daily basis and I’ll continue to comment on an occasional basis, especially when Rand shares something new and asks for feedback. He doesn’t have to agree with anything I say to get me to comment when I feel like commenting.

As community managers the Mozzers are a little young but they are finding their way down the same path many others have taken. Through the years I’ve noticed that not everyone who walks that path of community management ends up in the same place. You have to take your steps where you feet lead you.