An exclusive interview with PageTraffic CEO Navneet Kaushal: How to Run a Successful Digital Marketing Company
In an exclusive interview, PageTraffic CEO Navneet Kaushal shares his decade of experience in running a successful digital marketing company, rare insights and thoughts about the industry's future.
What distinguishes PageTraffic from the other companies in the industry, and what keeps you ahead of the competition? What are PageTraffic's major achievements through the years?
The major differentiating factor is the quality of our service. Most of our clients started their business with us and are still with us, many years later. We build their sites, provide comprehensive marketing and handle all the conversion and analytics part too. We do all it takes to make a business successful.
Apart from the service, we are also known for incredible support and for being a true partner in business. Having over a decade of experience, PageTraffic has been ranked amongst top SEO companies in Asia by Red Herring and ranks among the best in the world by PromotionWorld. We have maintained A+ ratings on Better Business Bureau for the last 4 years, which is one of the most stringent quality standards in the U.S. We are well represented at the conferences, conduct regular SEO workshops and training sessions for large corporations and drive insights through education. Our blog PageTraffic Buzz is considered as one of the top resources in the industry, with more than 4,000 subscribers.
PageTraffic celebrated its 10th anniversary in June. Within ten years PageTraffic has become one of Asia's leading SEO agencies. What are PageTraffic's best achievements through the years? What are you most proud of?
The most proud moments have come when we have delivered success to the most unexpected and tough campaigns. We always try to under promise and over deliver. But it is so rewarding every time we deliver out of the turn rankings or when we help a new business lift off.
Client retention has been one of our biggest achievements. Ten years down the line, we still have many of the clients that we started with. No achievement can be bigger than that.
What are your plans and ambitions for PageTraffic? How do you see it evolving over the next five years?
PageTraffic has been consistently ranked in the top for SEO, PPC, Social media and link building etc. In the coming years, we are looking forward to consolidating our expertise and offering comprehensive digital marketing solutions to your clients. I see us evolving in terms of gaining new domain expertise and expanding into other associated areas. The challenge will be to carry over the same quality standards that we have established in SEO.
Which one of the services you offer is most popular among your customers and why?
We started as a SEO company and it still continues to be our highest selling service. To be more specific, our Full Time Consultant solution brings in a bulk of the revenue. It is a hot favorite among e-businesses and outsourcing companies.
What does PageTraffic do to retain its existing customer base and how would you recommend the company to potential clients?
Our expertise has been the hallmark and our quality of service has been unwavering. We spend more time per account than any other SEO company and it shows in our client interactions. Our clients are aware of the efforts that we put in, so retention has not been a problem for us. In fact, the more time we spend on a campaign, the better we know and so are the results that we deliver. I will recommend that clients should look at the process, expertise, thought leadership, references and history of a company before making a decision.
How do you estimate the development of the SEO industry during the past few years and what are your expectations for the future? What will be PageTraffic's role and contribution in it?
Even during the recession, SEO industry was growing at a healthy clip. In developed countries e-business has become a way of life now and no one expects the heady rate of growth to continue forever. These markets will consolidate and continue to grow at a steady pace. The bulk of the action has shifted to developing countries, where the period of growth is still ahead. We see ourselves growing more in the U.S. and Indian market.
How many employees do you have now and what is your employment strategy?
We have a little more than eighty employees now. We have the same outlook towards our employees as we have toward our clients – it’s better to retain than to acquire. Given that we have unique processes and very high quality standards, we prefer to hire fresh talent and train them extensively. Taking the long term view, we have made great efforts to bring about better work life balance in our employee’s lives by offering employee benefits and perks besides the gross salary.
How do you feel about being placed at the top position of PromotionWorld's Best SEO companies for 2011?
It was gratifying to be listed at such a prestigious forum. I have been following the rankings for a long time and finally to be here is truly unbelievable.
How did your life change after you founded PageTraffic?
There is a lot more responsibility now, towards clients, employees and the brand value that we have created. I am more of an online person now. So if I am not online or haven't checked my mail for a whole day, I feel something missing! I am more techie then I ever was. I love to use the latest gadgets and devices and sharing my knowledge with people.
How do you spend your free time? What are your hobbies?
I followed my biggest hobby when I founded PageTraffic. I still spend most of my free time online reading blogs, talking to people, answering questions. When you are living your passion, there is no better way to spend your free time. When I am not working, I am travelling, trying exotic foods and playing games on my iPad and Xbox.
How do you think Yahoo! Search, now being powered by Bing, is affecting web searching? How do you see it affecting PageTraffic.?
It has narrowed the competition and made the task of SEO companies easier and tougher at the same time. Easier, because now it’s just two sets of algorithms, and tougher because rankings across both are so very essential now for the client.
If you can summarize the 3 most important rules for search engine optimization, what will be they?
- Build user-friendly sites. If it is not good for the user, it is not good for the search engines
- Content should always be unique and user friendly
- Links should be natural and organic
What advice would you give to a small business that is putting up its first site?
In the beginning, it’s important to break down your targets and have a clear road map of where your money is going to come from. We advise our clients to invest small amounts, target local or long tail keywords in the beginning and slowly scale up.
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