This interview is with Soubhik Chakrabarti, CEO at Canada Hustle.

Soubhik Chakrabarti, CEO, Canada Hustle

Soubhik, welcome to TechBullion! Could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and your journey to becoming an SEO expert?

Thank you for this opportunity. I'm the founder of Icy Media, a prominent digital marketing agency in Vancouver, British Columbia. I offer customized SEO solutions for every business. I started my career ten years ago as a freelance SEO writer while working as a development manager in a real-estate organization. After handling various clients, I established my digital marketing agency, where I offer data-driven and insightful content using the best SEO practices. Currently, I’m contributing as a Digital Marketing and Business Management Instructor at Excel Career College in Surrey, BC.

What initially sparked your interest in SEO, and what were some of the key milestones in your career that led you to where you are today?

I'm passionate about writing and love to educate people about valuable services and products that can bring change to their lives by making informed decisions. For this, I looked for a platform where I could improve my reach without limiting myself to a single website or publication. In this quest, I found SEO-based content writing to be a suitable method to reach a wider audience. Unlike traditional writing platforms, SEO-powered content writing offered me vast exposure in the search engine landscape, where I could share my expertise.

I can recall the time when I became a full-time SEO content writer after quitting my job in the real estate industry. It was a well-planned decision, as I'd earned various certifications from reputable educational platforms like SEMrush and HubSpot, and started handling clients from different business houses. I see this switch as the first milestone of my career. Later, I started offering SEO solutions through freelance platforms such as Upwork, where I assisted many clients in developing successful content strategies. Their support established me as one of the most in-demand SEO experts in the content marketing landscape. Finally, I founded my digital marketing agency. These milestones in my career led me from a part-time SEO writer to a distinguished SEO expert.

Can you share an instance where a client's SEO expectations differed significantly from reality, and how did you navigate that situation while still delivering value?

I can recall an incident when a client didn’t want any link-building efforts and refused to invest in outreach activities for their website. They had a misconception that content alone is enough and they don’t require ongoing link-building efforts, as it is a waste of time and money. To navigate that situation, I backed up my claim by showing them the importance of link-building campaigns to get quality backlinks. I presented relevant data that show that pages with more referring domains have a higher chance of ranking on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). I convinced my client that link-building plays a pivotal role in improving their website’s Domain Authority (DA), brand visibility, credibility, trustworthiness, and faster indexing. I even showed them how quality link-building strategies can help them leave their competitors behind. With these facts and figures, we finally agreed to carry out SEO outreach efforts to get quality backlinks.

You mentioned the importance of user-focused URLs in a previous answer. What are some common mistakes you see websites make with their URL structure, and how can these be improved for both users and search engines?

Some common mistakes websites make with their URL structure are long and complex structures, non-alphanumeric character use, “stop words” inclusion, dynamic parameters, and mismatched URLs with page titles. Websites can start with writing concise, descriptive URLs to avoid challenges for search engines trying to index your website and make it convenient for users to understand where they lead. Second, avoid non-alphanumeric characters like $, &, £, or %, as they affect readability and indexing. Instead, use hyphens, numbers, and all 26 Latin letters. Third, "stop words" such as or, and, or the unnecessarily lengthen your website's URL. Since the ideal URL length typically ranges from 50 to 60 characters, using these unnecessary words also affects URL readability and indexing. Fourth, websites that use dynamic URLs instead of static ones make it complex for readers and search engine crawlers to comprehend. They should focus on writing simple, static URLs that provide clear indications of the page content. Finally, SEO experts agree that page titles that match the website URL help users and search engines understand the page's relevance. With these modifications, websites can improve their performance and acceptance for both users and search engines.

In your experience, what's the most effective way to balance keyword optimization with creating engaging and informative content that resonates with human readers?

I work on three aspects to balance keyword optimization while creating engaging and informative content to resonate with human readers:

• Natural Keyword Integration: In my view, natural keyword integration is an art that requires strategic keyword placement. This process allows content writers to craft content that resonates with the underlying demand of readers. To make your content readable and enjoyable, avoid keyword stuffing and use synonymous phrases to continue human conversation.

• In-depth Keyword Research: I use tools like SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool to identify relevant long-tail keywords that evoke specific user intent. It also allows you to analyze search volume and target your competitors' keywords.

• Audience-centric Content Creation: Lastly, I focus on creating content for my audience. With comprehensive research, you can understand the users' demographics, preferences, and pain points, and craft your content strategy accordingly.

With these strategies, you can balance keyword optimization with engaging and informative content that resonates with human readers.

You've emphasized the significance of semantically related keywords. Can you provide a specific example of how you identified and utilized such keywords for a particular project, and what were the outcomes?

As semantically related keywords enhance your content's relevance and chance of better ranking in search engines, I choose them wisely while writing content. For this, I have a two-fold strategy. First, I use keyword research tools to find semantically related keywords, and second, I conduct organic research.

Keyword research tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush offer a semantic keyword search. Specifically, SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool provides a list of both commonly occurring terms and secondary keywords that allow the content to rank more prominently for relevant queries. Also, I try to add internal links between related pages of my website by using descriptive text. This helps both search engines and users understand the semantic relationships.

Organic research involves understanding user intent and competitors' keywords to gain a competitive edge in search results. It helps me comprehend the mindset of the user searching for any product or service, and understand their intent, whether informational, navigational, or transactional.

With this strategy, I helped my client's e-commerce platform attract new customers and gain transactions by improving the ROI by 15%.

Looking back at your experience, what's the most valuable lesson you've learned about SEO that you wish you knew when you were first starting out?

From my over a decade of experience, I learned that backlink-building is an integral part of an SEO strategy. Earlier, I only worked on creating engaging content that suited the user intent and search engines. Later, I found out that a great profile of backlinks improves your website's authority, especially after every Google core update. I've witnessed around eleven Google core updates and discovered the importance of authoritativeness, and for this, your backlink profile helps you stand out in the crowded market.

The SEO landscape is constantly evolving. How do you stay updated with the latest trends and algorithm changes, and how do you adapt your strategies accordingly?

Staying in the loop with current trends in SEO is necessary, and so I have resolved to make learning a habit. While I do follow the likes of Moz, Search Engine Journal, and the Google Search Central Blog, I also participate in industry groups and webinars. A case in point is when the core update from Google was first announced. Instead of merely following the news, I straight away began testing the loading speed and interactivity of my clients' sites using Google PageSpeed Insights. This helped me deploy some critical ad changes well in advance, preceding the actual announcement of the new changes. The one real turning point was about the travel website that I was working on. However, after the page experience update, the visitors' clicks to our website plummeted, and the site at that given period performed worse in the ranks. Instead of going into a panic, I chose to remain calm and resolve the problem using the analytic tool Google Analytics. It appeared that the mobile version of the site had severe usability issues that were not apparent for the desktop version. We rolled out a new mobile design, reduced image load times, and restructured the site, and in three months, traffic not only came back but increased by 25%. It was at this point that I felt that staying ever-agile was a must. I do not simply follow trends; rather, I try things out, conduct experiments, and change swiftly. There is nothing static about the world of SEO, and you have to be aggressive—sitting still and watching developments is a sure way to get left behind.

What advice would you give to aspiring SEO professionals or businesses looking to improve their online visibility in today's competitive digital environment?

Follow industry leaders, attend webinars and workshops, and transform your profile into a credible voice.