Interview With Euro 2012 Roadshow Jo Turnbull
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Interview With Euro 2012 Roadshow Jo Turnbull

13th July 2012

In the past month Jo Turnbull has been traveling through Europe trying to meet up with SEO’s around Europe. Jo reported on her trip right here on State of Search and on our Facebook page. She interviewed people from different countries and showed us with a lot of great pictures how “Search in Europe” looks in real life.

Jo is home now and already back home and organizing her Search London events. About time we hear from the lady herself telling us about her experiences on her trip.

Jo, you traveled Europe in the last month, which countries did you visit?

I visited 6 countries, Germany, Czech, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Italy. I visited 13 cities in 31 days which was quite a lot, but I liked learning about all the history of these places and visiting the attractions.

What made you come up with the idea?

I wanted to combine travel and SEO and also write for State of Search, but there are already a lot of UK bloggers. I also wanted to try and write about something, that had not been done before.

Around the same time I was asking Lisa Myers about potential freelance work but she needed someone to work in her office. As I was travelling I was not going to be around in Surbiton, although I mentioned I could still do SEO while I travelled. As a freelancer you need a laptop and good WiFi connection and the idea for the roadshow was born. I would interview and meet other SEOs in Europe on my 31 day tour.

How was the food in the different countries?

Italy had more pasta and pizza which was to be expected as it is where it was invented. Hungary and Czech had similar food, goulash and schnitzel, but then Austria and Germany also had schnitzel, although it is not traditional German food. Austria and Germany had a large selection of sausages such as curry wurst that you could buy from food stalls in the parks and on the streets.

What was the similarity between all the countries?

Everyone was really friendly. It was easy to navigate your way round the cities and there was always so much history to see. The walking tours I went on in Berlin and Prague and the tours I took in Budapest and Bratislava mentioned some of the same Kings and Queens, as in the past, the borders of these countries were not clearly defined.

Was there one thing which stood out for you?

The fact that the Austrian market is small so any link building is immediately effective. You can therefore see the value of SEO very quickly, it seems to have the behaviour of a PPC campaign, as soon as you start working on SEO, you immediately see results.

How different is Europe from the UK when it comes to search?

I think some countries are not as competitive as the UK search market. There are not as many search events in some of the countries I visited such as Italy. However, Germany seems to have a lot and the market is very competitive.

Do search people differ across Europe or all they all the same type of people?

They are all friendly, passionate about their work and really eager to share knowledge. They have all been fantastic and I would like to say thank you to all who took time out to meet me. In date order that I saw them:

Marcus Tober
Andre Alpar
Alessio Madeyski
Bruce Jackson
Elena Farinelli
Stefano Romeo
Lourdes Flores
Katia Baroncelli
Andrea Cardelli
Niccolo Villiger
Giuseppe Pastore

Do you think you can describe a “European Search Marketer” now?

I think before I saw myself as an international person as I moved a lot when I was younger, plus I do not have the typical British accent and people never know where I am from. I like to think of myself as an International Search Marketer. I speak French and Spanish, but I only work in English, for now. I might be writing some guest posts on a French travel blog this summer.

Has your view on the International Market and especially Europe changed?

I feel I have a wider knowledge of the International Market, but I still think there is a lot more to discover in Europe. I missed interviewing someone in Prague who left a comment on the State of Search FB page when I uploaded some photos of the city. It would have been interesting to find out more about search there.

What do you think is the future of European Search?

The future of European Search, as many have said, is great content. With great content, links will follow. I have received lots of referrals from the State of Search blog and also AKM3, (I interviewed Andre who one Partner there) since taking part in this Roadshow. I think technical SEO will become less important as the others on my Euro Roadshow have mentioned.

What is missing in European Search what we should all be working on?

There was nothing in particular that was missing. Everyone was engaging in blogger outreach, attending the search events in their countries and sometimes in the UK.

Any new roadshows planned?

Well, yes I am going to Stockholm in August (16th to 19th) and then Paris in September (6th – 9th). It would be great to do a US “roadtrip”. I would welcome the opportunity to go to SMX New York and meet SEOs in NYC as well as in D.C. I know D.C. really well as I used to live there.

It was a fantastic opportunitiy to be able to blog for State of Search, I met so many people. Thank you to Bas for introducing me to some of these people and also Gianluca for introducing me to Elena in Florence who then organised the lunch with 6 SEOs. Thank you to everyone who responded to my tweets and emails which made it possible for me to carry out the interviews.

All the interviews

Curious about who Jo spoke or did you miss some? Find them all here:

Euro2012Roadshow

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Written By
Bas van den Beld is an award winning Digital Marketing consultant, trainer and speaker. He is the founder of State of Digital and helps companies develop solid marketing strategies.
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