In our new section, we will occasionally host leading people in the digital industry, and ask them to answer professional as well as personal questions. The goal of this section is to provide a stage and a place for leaders in the digital community, so that they can share their knowledge and experience with others.
Last time we hosted Anidor Hakak, click here to read the answers to his questions.
This time in the A-List section - Idan Ben Or!
How did you start your career?
At the age of 14, during one of the summer vacations, I joined a download site called LALA which opened up a new and fascinating world for me.
I managed forums and other parts of the site’s operations there until one day it was shut down due to copyright infringement activities (for those of you who remember the eMule sites).
I decided to set up a new forum site together with a partner and couldn’t understand why it had no visitors – that’s how I discovered there’s a world called SEO and a way to “convince Google” to send users to my website.
How did you take your first steps in the industry?
While self-learning, a friend connected me to Nir Shay, who was the owner of Nearme – one of the largest SEO companies back in those days. Nir gave me my first opportunity and taught me a lot of what I know (even today) about how to properly think SEO and what Google really wants from us.
What are your challenges as the CEO of the largest SEO company in Israel?
The main challenge in managing an agency is maintaining the quality of work alongside growth. An agency is a business based on manpower and professional training – very precise and meticulous training processes are required, along with an orderly work method, in order not to rely on employees’ “strokes of genius” to reach goals.
What main platforms do you recommend advertisers use?
Since we are an SEO company, we naturally recommend organic SEO. At the same time, I always suggest clients test every possible marketing channel with a small budget – we are usually surprised by the results that can be achieved on a relatively low budget if we choose the right channel.
What do you think is the next thing in digital marketing?
I don’t like to make prophecies, but I heard that in high-tech they’re working on ads in dreams 🙂
What advice would you give to someone who has just started out in the digital world?
Do everything at least once by yourself. You cannot move on to the next stage without making sure that the current stage is completely understood at the implementation level.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
From the Bible.
One of the biggest injustices done to students in Israel is a very superficial study of Bible stories – there is no other book with such inspiration in the world.
How do you stay up to date with everything new in the world and in general?
I have a fixed list of websites whose mailing lists I subscribe to and read regularly, I manage the Facebook group “The Parliament” which is currently the largest group in Israel for organic SEO, where quite a few innovations are also shared, and Twitter is also a surprisingly regular source for updates.
Did you feel at any stage of your career that you made a breakthrough?
A few years ago, when I started receiving inquiries from the most complex websites in the SEO world (highly competitive niches) and subsequently brought them results that exceeded expectations, I realized I had stepped up to the next level.
How do you summarize the year 2021?
The year 2021 (as a continuation of 2020) was a year of continuous improvement and development of workflows that ultimately made us, as service providers, better and more precise in what we do.
Do you have new tools or activities that you credit to the COVID-19 period that you might not have carried out otherwise?
The company became much more efficient – not only professionally, but also operationally.
After the COVID-19 crisis period, what should we take forward to maintain?
Don’t be afraid of change – as Rabbi Akiva said, “Kol de’avid Rachmana letav avid” (everything the Almighty does, He does for good).
A bit about the interviewee
Owner and CEO of ReGO – a company specializing in SEO for projects in highly competitive fields.
