Jill Whalen

Jill Whalen is a search engine optimization (SEO) consultant, speaker and writer. Whalen is CEO of High Rankings, and co-founder of Search Engine Marketing New England (SEMNE). She is a regular speaker at Search Engine Strategies Conferences. High Rankings includes a top-rated SEO discussion forum. [cite web|publisher=about.com|title=Top Ten Web Site Optimization Forums|url=http://websearch.about.com/od/seoblogsmessageboards/tp/seoforum.htm|accessdate=2007-09-11]

The client register for High Rankings "has hit around 400 and includes companies such as J.J. Keller & Associates Inc., a Wisconsin firm that offers ways to monitor compliance with government safety regulations, and DogWatch Inc., of Natick, which sells and installs invisible fences for pets," according to the Boston Globe. [Boston Globe: "Finding keys to the Web," Sept. 23, 2007 [http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/09/23/finding_keys_to_the_web?mode=PF] ]

Whalen has been quoted as an authority by major publications including the Wall Street Journal, [cite web|title=Playing the Search-Engine Game|publisher=wsj.com|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10551923093794900.html|accessdate=2007-09-11|date=June 16, 2007] and Inc. (magazine), [cite web|publisher=inc.com|title=When Sales Hit a Wall| url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/20040801/askinc.html|accessdate=2007-09-11|date=August 2004] . She has also written search engine optimization articles for business websites including ClickZ [cite web|url=http://www.clickz.com/838271|title=Writing and Ranking for the Search Engines|accessdate=2007-09-11|publisher=clickz.com] and Search Engine Land [cite web|title=Duplicate Content Penalty Myth|url=http://searchengineland.com/070315-100022.php|publisher=searchengineland.com|accessdate=2007-09-11] .

Career

Whalen was a stay-at-home mother with three children when she started an online parenting chat room. When the chat room became so popular that the members, who lived across the nation, wanted a website to house their forums, Whalen "began by examining listings that came up when entering a phrase such as "parenting chat," and then made sure those words were incorporated into her page. From there, she learned how to program and began experimenting." [Boston Globe: "Finding keys to the Web," Sept. 23, 2007 [http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/09/23/finding_keys_to_the_web?mode=PF] ]

Personal

Whalen grew up in Framingham, MA and attended UMass Amherst, graduating with a degree in sociology. [Boston Globe: "Finding keys to the Web," Sept. 23, 2007 [http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/09/23/finding_keys_to_the_web?mode=PF] ] She lives in Ashland, MA with her husband and three children.

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