Get to know… Shawn!

*Note from Heather: When I interviewed Shawn as part of our hiring process, I asked him what kind of things he likes to do outside of work.  His answer: “Well, I really like to party.”  That hasn’t actually turned out to be the case, so I asked him some more questions (below).  He appears to have answered truthfully this time. 

What is your role at Vovia?

I specialize in search engine optimization. I have the pleasure of working closely with the Best Looking Man in the World. 

What are some of the most common misconceptions people/organizations have about SEO?

A lot of people think SEO is simply a cookie-cutter process. While SEO used to be more “robotic” in the nature of its tasks, it’s evolved into something that must be tailored to each organization’s needs.

Another misconception is that we’re just a bunch of computer geeks. We’re not.

…..*right?*

What are the biggest mistakes people make when trying to do SEO themselves?

One of the major mistakes would be buying those shady “link packages”. Anyone who has dabbled in SEO knows what I’m talking about.

They’re mostly associated with a Geo-cities looking website that screams something like “GET 2,000 LINKS FOR ONLY $99!!!!!”

SEO, to the chagrin of busy entrepreneurs, is not a simple push button solution. Links aren’t the only thing that matters, and the sheer number of them won’t get you anywhere if they’re coming from bad link neighborhoods.

What’s your luxury item on survivor?

Definitely the Greyman Warrior Knife. The ultimate survival tool.

What superpower would you pick?

This one’s tough – but I’d say the ability to teleport.  I mean, have you seen the movie Jumper? 

If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?

I’d definitely travel back to the time where dinosaurs were thriving. It would be amazing to see how different the world was back then.