Deepak Shukla is a man of many talents. When he’s not doing SEO work, he’s rapping, producing music at his recording studio, holding TEDx talks, or running marathons. His many travels have also led to him joining marathons and ultramarathons in at least two continents. Not only that, but his Quora also has 22 million views; his YouTube channel has 250,000+ views; his Udemy courses have 15,000+ students and 100+ reviews; he has 20+ Skillshare courses with 250+ followers; and he already has 15,000 LinkedIn connections.
Now, though, Deepak Shukla is running his SEO agency called Pearl Lemon. He has guided the agency toward tremendous success, as Pearl Lemon has now outranked bigger competitors that enjoy more funding.
At Pearl Lemon, Deepak Shukla and his team are also committed to remote work. With employees working from America, Asia, and Europe, their clients can rest assured that someone will be working on their SEO campaign, seven days a week, no matter the hour. This flexibility also makes outsourcing your SEO needs to Pearl Lemon is always a good idea.
Deepak Shukla and his Pearl Lemon team have already ranked several pages on page 1 of Google, they’ve also sent over a million emails. They have created a lot of viral content, and connected with companies like Go Daddy, Uber, and Nike, among others. Collectively, the team shares over 25 years of experience in SEO. They’ve also been certified by Google Adwords & Analytics and Hubspot.
Also, Deepak Shukla and his team have been featured in SEMrush, Inc., and The Huffington Post. They also won an AI award for “The Most Innovative SEO Agency” in 2018.
Check out more interviews with thought leaders here. If you’re thinking of hiring Deepak Shukla, here’s a video that explains why you should.
Jerome Knyszewski: What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Deepak Shukla: Pearl Lemon stands out as a multiple award winning FULLY digital SEO agency based out of London. Our team is global, spanning from the UK, to the US, to India and throughout Europe. We are a highly diverse team and extremely skilled. That is what makes a stand out the most.
Jerome Knyszewski: Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Deepak Shukla: Take care of yourself. It may sound basic but it is true. Have time each day set aside to have to just yourself. Read, walk, relax. If you are over stressed and overworked, you will burn out. Know your limit, but take care of yourself to be able to continue that.
Jerome Knyszewski: None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Deepak Shukla: I am most grateful towards my family and my partner. They have stuck by me and supported my endeavors through the ups and downs of having a start up and aiming at creating an outstanding business.
Jerome Knyszewski: Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. The title of this series is “How to take your company from good to great”. Let’s start with defining our terms. How would you define a “good” company, what does that look like? How would you define a “great” company, what does that look like?
Deepak Shukla: A good company makes profit and follows its mission. A good company is honest and sells genuine products and services. A great company gives back and supports their team and employees. A great company is always striving to improve and provide the best possible solution to the problems its prospects have. A great company makes and impact and difference.
Jerome Knyszewski: As you know, “conversion” means to convert a visit into a sale. In your experience what are the best strategies a business should use to increase conversion rates?
Deepak Shukla: Targeted ads can be one approach to take, this helps ensure that your ideal client is being approached. Another investment is in SEO and link building, this allows for your target keywords to be the most fitting to search queries that involve your products. Another fix is to be sure that you have strong CTAs on your site, these give the push your customers need to book a call or make a sale as they strike up a need sensation and give a little extra push.
Jerome Knyszewski: Of course, the main way to increase conversion rates is to create a trusted and beloved brand. Can you share a few ways that a business can earn a reputation as a trusted and beloved brand?
Deepak Shukla: One way is that you can run flawless social media pages and engage with customers. Another point is to be transparent, people want to be able to trust you and by having a brand that shows their cards and practice what they preach are both large ways to accomplish this.
Jerome Knyszewski: Great customer service and great customer experience are essential to build a beloved brand and essential to be successful in general. In your experience what are a few of the most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience?
Deepak Shukla: A few important things to note include ensuring that from a website perspective, all links and menus work properly. Having a site that does not work right is a major repellent. If you have an ecommerce site, you need to be sure that your checkout functions smoothly and is secure. In the service industry, your contact form needs to be able to submit properly as well. Other wow factors include giving the customer a personalised experience and journey, make them feel special and unique.
Jerome Knyszewski: What are your thoughts about how a company should be engaged on Social Media? For example, the advisory firm EisnerAmper conducted 6 yearly surveys of United States corporate boards, and directors reported that one of their most pressing concerns was reputational risk as a result of social media. Do you share this concern? We’d love to hear your thoughts about this.
Deepak Shukla: Yes and no. Social media is definitely a “necessary evil” in modern society. You must have an online social presence to make a lasting and continual impact. The importance of reputation comes with having preventative measures in place. These are things like making sure posts and comments are approved by a board before publishing. This helps ensure grammar, brand voice and more items are followed. Maintaining your brand’s reputation and having a solid foundation in the public eye is critical.
Jerome Knyszewski: What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Deepak Shukla: The most common mistakes are probably a combination of items. 1) not having a well built plan and doing enough research on the desired niche prior to getting started. 2) they don’t continue learning, they stop and become stagnant. 3) they don’t plan the right amount of funding into their project. All of this can be avoided by bringing in coaches and researching further into ways to learn and expand knowledge. Planning needs to begin far in advance, launching a successful business doesn’t just happen on a whim or overnight. It is important to have a plan and the funds to support yourself through the startup phase.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Deepak Shukla: You can find my personal website here: https://deepakshukla.com/. It’s the best place for getting to know more about my journey and what I’m up to at the moment. I’ve also got a YouTube channel, a LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter (@deepakpshukla1) and Instagram page where you can hit me up!
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
