Search Engine Land Founding Editor Danny Sullivan is a widely cited authority on search enginee optimization and search marketing. He's spent nearly two decades studying how search engines work and keeping marketers, webmasters, and everyday users informed, savvy, effective, and ethical.
Danny has been quoted in dozens of media outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, and The New Yorker. We know you'll learn a lot by following Danny's work, checking out how he discovers and consumes content online, and better yet, by attending his presentation at INBOUND 2014.
What is your #1 source for staying on top of your world?Techmeme.com. It’s my essential reading for what’s going on with the tech world. Beyond that, Mediagazer.com, for what’s happening in the media space. And, I shouldn’t overlook our Marketing Day and SearchCap newsletters at Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. I’m fortunate in that I get a preview of these early in the day, as part of our regular coverage process — they develop out of what’s shared among our staff and in particular by our news editor, Barry Schwartz. Twitter is always going for me as well, as a discovery resource, both on desktop and mobile.
When and what do you read online?
A typical day involves me constantly reading things that I’m discovering from the sources above, from when I get up until I end work for the day. And then some!
What is your favorite place on the web?
Not being on the web. Sadly, since I work all day on the web, it’s generally not fun for me to spend time on it later. Though I do enjoy just going through my Twitter or Facebook feed and seeing what people are sharing about their interests and their lives..
Which people or feeds or blogs do you follow?
- Techmeme for tech news.
- Mediagazer and Twitter for media news.
Who is someone undiscovered that we should be reading?
I want to give you a great answer here, but I don’t have one. It’s one of those things that might come to me over time — when I think, “oh, that’s been great stuff.” .
What is your biggest pet peeve about content?
It often doesn’t live up to the promise of a headline. I want depth; I want critical thinking.
What is the most memorable piece of content of all time?
I always liked that old Coke commercial where the guy throws the kid his jersey, after the kid gives him his Coke.
How would you rank your favorite social apps?
That’s my personal usage. If I were speaking about what people should care about in terms of potential audience, it would be much different — Pinterest, for example, would be much higher.
If content types were stocks, which ones would you buy, which would you sell, and which would you hold?
BUY: infographics, newsletters, slide decks, video, ebooks/white papers, blog posts, books
HOLD: podcasts
SELL: none
What haven't we asked you that you'd like to talk about?
You didn't ask how or on what devices I prefer, but here they are, in order of how I like to read:
My Kindle Paperwhite, because there’s nothing to distract me but the book I’m reading.
My iPad, because it’s easy to be focused on the content with it.
My phone, because it’s easy to grab quickly and keep up.
My laptop, where is where I do most of my reading, though it’s the least pleasurable of the options.
Don't miss Danny Sullivan, Martha Stewart, Simon Sinek and a whole roster of incredible speakers coming to Boston September 15-18 for INBOUND 2014.
Originally published Aug 25, 2014 4:00:00 PM, updated January 18 2023