The search marketing community today is remembering Alan Bleiweiss, a veteran SEO consultant known for his detailed forensic site audits, sharp wit, and tireless mentorship.
Bleiweiss passed away Aug. 22, but news of his death was only revealed publicly last night.
As I’ve written before about Bleiweiss, he was known for being selfless, friendly, insightful, caring, positive, helpful, and a true advocate for the industry.
Bleiweiss had been active in digital marketing since the mid-1990s, carving out a unique specialty in what he called “forensic site audits.” Since 2002, he built a reputation for digging into the smallest details to uncover technical and strategic issues that could impact how sites performed in Google’s search results.
Over the course of his career, he performed more than 60 audits a year for medium and enterprise-level companies, with notable clients including NBC Universal, Disney, Petco, and the ACLU.
Mentor and advocate
Beyond his client work, Bleiweiss was a prominent and generous voice in the SEO community. He regularly offered guidance on social media and industry forums, often challenging misinformation and calling for higher standards in SEO advice.
Here’s what Susan Wenograd said in 2017, when she nominated him for recognition in Search Engine Roundtable.
“Alan has been a tireless mentor and friend to me. He has helped me talk through dealing with stressful situations, and given me loads of encouragement and confidence to pitch, speak, and write as much as possible. All of his advice has been instrumental in my career,”
Kelsey Jones, another industry peer, said:
“Alan has always been friendly, insightful, positive, and helpful. I regularly look to him for his insight and I know he doesn’t hesitate to help others in the industry. I know he cares a lot about this industry and does his best to promote and educate others.”
A voice for truth in SEO
Bleiweiss was known for his no-nonsense approach to advice. He often warned peers about the dangers of oversimplifying SEO.
“Understand that your very short answer is RARELY valid in SEO as a stand-alone answer,” Bleiweiss said in 2017. “SEO is complex, scale factors matter, multiple algorithms matter, individual niche markets and keyword topical hubs matter, and so much more.”
His philosophy centered on responsibility: only give advice when you have the experience and context to do so, and be clear about the limitations of your perspective.
Life and legacy
Bleiweiss most most recently an SEO consultant at Alan Bleiweiss Consulting. He did SEO and web development for 30 years.
He was also formerly the Director of Search Services at Click2Rank, Senior Project Manager of Development and SEO at WebSight Design Inc., and Director of Web Development for ANT Internet Computer / Associates.
Bleiweiss also contributed many articles during his career and spoke at numerous conferences, including SMX Advanced.
When asked what he wanted to be known for in the SEO space, Bleiweiss simply said he hoped to be remembered as “that guy” – leaving us to interpret what that meant.
I had the chance to interview Alan in 2020, when I was at SEJ. You can listen to that nearly 90-minute interview in Sustainable SEO, Forensic Audits, Top Tools & More with Alan Bleiweiss.
Industry reactions
Wenograd first shared the news of Bleiweiss’ passing away via Facebook:
It breaks my heart to post this, but my dear friend Alan Bleiweiss passed away on August 22nd.
After many years of heart problems he had treated and fought hard to overcome, his body finally had enough. I’m grateful he passed peacefully – he deserved to, for all the peace and comfort he gave others when they needed it.
Alan was one of my closest friends, and a light in my life. It’s been surreal to grieve over a person who would normally be the first one I’d call when something like this happens.
His family has asked me to be the designated point person for handling financial contributions, and I’m honored to help.
I will be setting up a GoFundMe this week I will post here. All funds and donations should be routed there only.
Alan’s will also requested donations be made to Make-A-Wish – any unused funds for his end-of-life arrangements from the GoFundMe will be donated there by his family, in his name.
Dr. Pete Meyers wrote on LinkedIn:
“He was passionate (occasionally to a fault), knowledgeable, but the thing I’ll remember most is that he was generous without hesitation. He dropped everything to be with Dana and Ed during her last days, and he cared deeply about bringing the community together in any way he could, even when he barely had the energy to keep his own practice running. Our industry’s reputation can take a beating sometimes, but it holds a deep thread of generosity, and Alan will be sorely missed.”
Victoria Shepherd wrote on LinkedIn:
“So sorry to hear about the passing of Alan Bleiweiss. He was another great mentor and teacher, and I’ll always fondly remember the time he let me video record him doing an audit while Lisa Buyer and I carefully watched.
Alan was also behind the legendary Pubcon Epic Dinners, an event that brought countless laughs, smiles, and unforgettable moments to the SEO community.
He will be deeply missed. Sending love to everyone grieving his loss.”
Barry Adams wrote on LinkedIn:
If you’re in SEO and regularly perform in-depth SEO audits (and I don’t mean tool-generated reports, but actual data-gathering and analysis yourself), you probably owe a debt of gratitude to Alan.His approach to SEO auditing and his sharing of knowledge and insights made the whole SEO industry better.Back in 2016 when I met Alan for the first time at Pubcon, he very generously offered to share his SEO audit approach and template with me. That helped me elevate my own SEO auditing to higher levels.Aside from being a superb SEO who helped push the industry forward, he was also a very vocal social media user who fought hard for causes he believed in. That got him banned more than once, but I couldn’t help but admire his outspokenness and passion.I’m gonna miss him.