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

Soubhik Chakrabarti, CEO, Canada Hustle

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

I’m the founder of Icy Media, a premium digital marketing agency in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I have over a decade of experience in SEO, e-commerce, digital marketing, and social media management. Currently, I’m contributing as a Digital Marketing and Business Management Instructor at Excel Career College in Surrey, BC. I started my career as an SEO-optimized content writer and gained first-hand experience. Gradually, I began working on clients’ projects and provided them with services based on their specific needs and objectives. Later, I founded my digital marketing agency and served SEO solutions to a large client base.

What piqued your interest in SEO initially, and how did those early experiences shape your approach to SEO today?

When writers transition into the world of SEO-optimized writing, they understand the power of search engines that allow them to make their voices heard. Search engines offer a broad platform where audiences find you through their interests, and you don’t need to stick to a single publication or platform for recognition. This exclusive feature of SEO piqued my interest in this field. My experiences have taught me to learn from my mistakes and develop a growth and continuous learning mindset. I’ve seen how the SEO landscape evolved over a decade. I have witnessed around eleven Google Algorithm Updates and seen how we need to adapt to the changes to survive in the competition of Search Engine Ranking Pages (SERPs). Although basic search engine features like crawling and authoritativeness have remained the same over the years, new techniques for rankings, such as technological advancements, marketing needs, consumer behavior, and competition keep you innovative in crafting SEO-optimized content for the audience as well as the search engines.

You mentioned previously using headings, subheadings, and bullet points to enhance readability for both audiences and search engines. Can you elaborate on other ways you structure content to achieve this balance?

1. Keep your language simple and concise to maintain the pace and rhythm that interests your audience and allows search engines to process it conveniently.

2. Use short and crisp sentences, avoiding complicated terms. Maintain a consistent tone and avoid a passive voice as much as possible.

3. Leave some space between paragraphs, as it creates breathing room for your content.

4. Provide clear transitions to make your content flow smoothly and engage your audience.

5. You can use tools to test your content’s readability levels.

You’ve emphasized the importance of understanding your audience for effective SEO. What are some practical tips for SEO beginners to gain a deeper understanding of their target audience?

SEO beginners can start by collecting demographic data and creating detailed personas to understand their target audience’s needs, pain points, and behaviors. For this, using social media monitoring tools like Sprout Social is effective in learning about the conversations surrounding relevant keywords. Second, they need to use keyword research tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to analyze search volume and competition level for each keyword. Third, they can use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools to gather qualitative data about existing customers, as they act as the blueprint for designing a successful SEO strategy. Finally, ask for feedback from your client about your efforts. Constructive feedback helps you learn from your mistakes and craft better content.

You’ve discussed the significance of semantically related keywords. How do you recommend SEO professionals go about researching and selecting these keywords without veering off-topic?

From my experience, the simplest way to research and select semantically related keywords without going off-topic is by using keyword research tools. Before this, identify the core topic of your content and the key points. For instance, before including semantically related keywords, I set a clear picture of my subject and the user intent. Then, I go to SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool and find related terms and phrases that convey similar meanings. The tool also assists me in analyzing search volume and managing competition levels. Additionally, I categorize semantically related keywords according to the topic and include short-tail and long-tail keywords to reach a wider audience.

You highlighted ‘broken link building’ as an effective backlink strategy. Could you walk us through your process for identifying suitable broken link opportunities?

To identify suitable broken-link opportunities, I start by identifying keywords related to my niche to target relevant websites. Then, I use SEMrush to discover links that are now dead on my competitor’s page. I also check the Domain Authority (DA) of the target page to replace it with my proposed link. You should always target pages with a higher DA than yours. Then, I craft a personalized email to inform the particular site that I want to replace that broken link with a relevant one. It comes under the SEO outreach process that requires further communication to get the job done.

Beyond broken link building, what other backlink acquisition strategies have you found particularly successful, especially post the recent Google updates you mentioned?

After the recent Google updates, two backlink acquisition strategies have always helped me. The first is creating link-worthy content, and the other is guest posting. I always emphasize creating content based on Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust) framework. It covers crafting well-researched and authoritative content with visually appealing materials like videos and infographics. For instance, on our Icy Health website, I always ask healthcare professionals to review our articles as medically reviewed articles improve the content’s authority. It also generates a sense of trust among our audience. Another effective strategy is guest posting to build my expertise and brand value across various platforms and improve my credibility.

Measuring SEO success goes beyond rankings. You’ve discussed CTR, bounce rate, and backlinks. What advice would you give to someone struggling to improve their site’s CTR?

For anyone struggling to improve their site’s CTR, I’d suggest including visuals in your content. Second, use long-tail keywords to allow Google to scan your content to match its intent. Third, use structured data, as it improves your CTR. Fourth, optimize meta descriptions that help your page rank higher on search engine result pages (SERPs). Finally, adding schema markup helps search engine crawlers offer suitable information to the users, which improves CTR.