It is with a heavy heart that I am reporting that one of the founding pillars of the SEO industry, one of the first female SEOs in our industry, and one of the individuals who made the industry what it is today, has passed away. Jill Whalen retired from SEO over a decade ago, having won her fight to ensure that SEOs prioritize content over other factors.
Jill passed less than two weeks ago from an aggressive type of cancer. She was only 63 years old and survived a husband, children and her beautiful grandchildren. Whalen grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in sociology.
Jill started doing SEO in 1995 and always championed the "white hat" cause for her two-decade SEO career. For decades, Jill ran the High Ranking Forums and newsletter, spoke at countless conferences and industry events and helped build up this industry into a respectable and honest business. In fact, she is one of the very few SEOs who are notable enough to have her own Wikipedia page. In 2017, I wrote a short piece of how the industry honored Jill, so make sure to read that as well. The photo above is one I took of her on stage at an SMX in 2009.
I asked two people in our industry, who has worked with Jill from the early days, if I can share there posts from Facebook.
Heather Lloyd-Martin wrote in part (link might not work):
I'm gutted to learn Jill Whalen passed away.Jill and I got our start together in the SEO world over 25 years ago. She hired me as a copywriter, which eventually evolved into us writing the RankWrite Newsletter, the first newsletter to discuss content and SEO.
Jill was a pioneer.
Here's my favorite Jill story about our first speaking opportunity together. Imagine this -- the venue is the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam, a beautiful, historic building. People from all over the world packed the house. They even filmed the event and put it online — which, in 1999 (ish), was new and a huge deal.
To add to the anxiety, there was a big gong at the side of the stage. If your speech ran overtime, someone would ring the gong.
I believe this was Jill's FIRST TIME ON A STAGE. And she rocked it!
Just think about that. Jill went from being a stay-at-home mom to speaking on an international stage in front of hundreds (maybe thousands; it's all a blur now). That may be "normal" today, but back then, what Jill did was revolutionary.
Jill was a trailblazer.
Many people in the SEO industry can trace their success and lineage back to Jill and something they learned from her. She welcomed new women entering our then-male-dominated industry, encouraging them to take the stage and establish their brand. Hell, she even started her own High Rankings conference series.
Jill was a badass.
When Jill retired from the SEO industry, I was almost...jealous. She left at the height of the party, deciding SEO wasn't fun anymore, and it was time to move on. Yet again, she transformed her life by getting healthy, singing karaoke, recording words of wisdom from her kayak, and enjoying life.
The woman I knew, who popped vegetable gummy vitamins because she hated real vegetables, was doing yoga, speaking at 3P events, and had a blog called What Did You Do With Jill, reaching a new audience of folks hungry for her wisdom.
Jill was a transformation artist.
...
Hold on to your loved ones tight, my friends. And to all my early days SEO friends — if I haven't told you lately, I love you all. Thank you for being part of my life.
Rest in power, my friend.
Mike Grehan wrote in part (link might not work):
I am so saddened to hear just today that Jill Whalen has passed. She really was the first woman of SEO. She and I became big friends at the start of the industry and remained so throughout. We didn't see each other much at all after she retired. But I stayed in touch and she had a whole new thing going on living in DC and was very happy. She never told me that she was battling cancer.My thoughts are with her family. Jill was a unique voice in the SEO industry back in the day. And we always looked forward to seeing each other at the many, many conferences we spoke at together. Thanks, Jill for the huge contribution and the wonderful friendship we had.
I'm sure I have many pics of us together at conferences. This is the first one I came across. Me with Jill (left) and Scotty (right) members of the original SES Conference crew. We could always be found hanging at the bar for happy hour (and any other hour we fancied too). Wonderful times, and wonderful memories.
RIP my friend Jill.
And her daughter, Corie Stein wrote in part (click through to read the full post):
After a brief but valiant battle with an especially aggressive type of cancer, I am devastated to share that my mom Jill passed away peacefully on June 9th. Everything happened so fast, and it doesn’t feel real despite my intense involvement with her care. My mom was in the midst of living her best retired life with my dad, particularly as an “Amma” to Max, when this horrific disease struck her down a little over three months ago.When I was growing up, she was a stay at home mom. But I witnessed up close how she became an unexpected yet incredible entrepreneur. In the 90s, she was at the forefront of what evolved into Search Engine Optimization (SEO). She is rightfully recognized as a pioneer in that field, and I watched as the woman who was historically too shy to pick up the phone was invited to speak at conferences all over the world. And she did it. At one point, a few years before she retired from her wildly successful career running her company High Rankings, I got to go with her to the “Googleplex” in California. I still have the 2007 “Google Dance” t-shirt. In the days before she passed, she reflected on and was very proud of that career, as she should be.
Feels like a chaotic time to step in and share this, but I’ve been absent on here lately because, sadly, my mom @jillwhalen passed away this week after a short but hard fought battle with an especially aggressive type of cancer. To say I’m devastated would be an understatement.…
— Corie Whalen (@CorieWhalen) June 14, 2025
I was deeply saddened to hear today about the passing of @jillwhalen earlier this month. Jill was a search pioneer and an incredible human being. I always enjoyed my interactions with her.
— Casey Markee (@MediaWyse) June 22, 2025
My sincere sympathies to her daughter @CorieWhalen and the rest of her family.
Jill was such a pioneer. This is so terrible to hear.
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) June 22, 2025
Here is a video Shelly Walsh had with Jill just a couple of years ago:
Thanks for all you have done for our industry Jill - you will be so so deeply missed.
Forum discussion at Facebook.
