We love you, Russ.
There are so many ways to remember you, endless facets to who you were and your impact on SEO. Where do I even begin?
You were the funniest guy in the room. You would gear up for a joke with that wry smile and sparkle in your eye, and we always knew what was coming. Your sense of humor was keen and clever and ever-present.
I remember being ill and jetlagged on the way to put on a mini-MozCon for a valued, strategic client — you made the 2.5-hour winter car ride pass by in a breeze with your entertaining and hilarious stories. You could make charming conversation about anything and with anyone. Listening and laughing with delight to your stories about growing up as an identical twin, current events, memories from past MozCons, and ideas about what we could build at Moz next, you transformed my tired and cranky mood into happy and creative energy. Your spirit and laughter was infectious.
You were brilliant. Our longtime friend, links API power user, and collaborator on the blog, it was only a matter of time before you became a full-fledged Mozzer. When we officially welcomed you to Moz in 2015[1], it was like coming home. From the start, you showed up eager and ready to innovate. Over the years you were relentless in your quest for better data,[2] holding tech giants and the SEO industry accountable[3]. You've left an indelible mark on Moz: our link index and keyword corpus bear witness to your passion for reliable, quality data and meaningful metrics. Keyword Explorer wouldn't be here without you. Your work on the new Domain Authority score was transformative. And your commitment to the SEO community, to