Search Community Heart Broken Over Loss Of Jordan Kasteler

Jul 24, 2018 - 7:07 am 2 by
Filed Under Search News

Jordan Kasteler

Yesterday the search community got the gut wrenching news that Jordan Kasteler has passed away. Everyone was floored, shocked, saddened, and deeply upset by the news. Jordan Kasteler has been part of our industry since he was a kid, young adult. He has been a fixture at so many search conferences, so many local meet ups, so many online forums, video hangouts and so much more. But he is no longer with us today - he is in a better place.

Jordan Kasteler has given so much of his life to the search community. Besides for the countless articles he has written at Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, on his professional site, and so many niche SEM blogs. He was always someone who smiled and made his colleagues laugh. As I browse through Facebook, I see photo after photo of Jordan smiling with his friends, making his colleagues laugh through fun acts and embracing someone who needs to be listened to.

His personal feed is not just filled with SEM advice and tips but also his passion to protect animals and support animal rights. Just last week, I saw he updated his Facebook profile that he started to work freelance again. It is shocking news to me and to the community of his passing.

The community has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral expenses for the family and also to help support his family and young son Jax. Please give what you can and spread the word to give.

I asked some folks to share their thoughts of Jordan, here are some of those:

Mark Jackson from Vizion Interactive:

I am shocked. Jordan was only employed at Vizion Interactive for a short period. He was one of the brightest minds in our Industry. And, even though he quit after only 9 months (he’s very independent), we remained friends. I was close with him when he learned that he was becoming a father. His son meant everything to him. I’m at a total loss and feel absolutely sick. Our Industry was better with him in it.

Ross Dunn from StepForth:

Every time I had the good fortune to see Jordan throughout the years he was smiling, warm, and always made a point to say hi. I fondly remember meeting a glowing Jordan and his beautiful new bride in the midst of his honeymoon for drinks with some colleagues. We later connected on our shared love of animals. The SEO industry is diminished in his passing. My heart goes out to his family and his boy Jax.

Keith L. Goode from IBM:

I've spent the day reading remembrances of Jordan Kasteler, and every one sounds like mine. He was charming, friendly, warm and loving, and he was, I think more importantly, consistent in being that way to everyone he met. I've known Jordan for several years now, and I look forward to seeing him each year at Pubcon, where we generally are most likely to cross paths. He has always greeted me with a warm smile and a big hug. I'll miss that this year and every year going forward. Rest in peace, buddy.

Jim Hedger from Digital Always Media:

Knowing people like Jordan Kasteler are around makes the mayhem and craziness of life on Earth more bearable. Jordan was a good person. He was genuinely nice. He genuinely cared about other living things, all other living things. Jordan was one of the few people who understood life on a barricade as well as he understood how the Web works and I really appreciated that about him. If you had a problem he's probably one of the people who helped you solve it. He was smart and lived his convictions. If you ask anyone he'd known about him, they would always use the word "friend". If you ever ask me about Jordan I'll say the same. Jordan Kasteler was a great person to know. He was a great person. He'll be greatly missed. He was a friend.

Chris Silver Smith from Argent Media:

I crossed paths and spoke with with Jordan Kasteler so many times over the years, and we sometimes traded clients back and forth.

Jordan was always someone I respected and admired. Not only his online marketing abilities, but his dedication to social consciousness. I often communicated and shared with him about our mutual enjoyment of veganism.

He will be missed - we need more people like him in this world.

Shelly Fagin from Highly Searched:

Everyone will probably mention just how great Jordan’s smile was, it was truly infectious and will no doubt be the way I’ll remember him. He was such a fun person to be around and I have some incredibly fun conference memories with Jordan that I’ll forever cherish. Aside from all the fun, Jordan was also such a brilliant SEO contributing so much to our industry over the years. For that, I’ll forever be grateful. The Search community lost a wonderful member of our family today, Jordan you will be terribly missed.

Eric Enge from Stone Temple:

I’m just stunned by this news. Something sudden like this shakes you to the core, especially when it involves a person as caring, open and friendly as Jordan. I have nothing but positive interactions with him. My condolences to his family. He will be sorely missed!.

Like I said, the community is deeply sad by the news. In fact, we have lost many people in our industry before but I don't believe I have ever seen the industry so shaken up from a passing as much as this one. And for good reason, as I said above, he was so tight and close with so many of us. Plus, his young age and young family just makes the news so much harder.

Here are some posts on Twitter from just some of the folks in our industry, I am sure I missed many of you, the posts are so overwhelming, I couldn't find them all:

Here is the public post from Jordan's sister:

His sister set up a meal train to cook for the family for a bit and don't forget these is this GoFundMe.

Jordan - as you can see from just a sampling of the public community tweets, you will be so so deeply missed.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: November 1, 2024

Nov 1, 2024 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Update Coming Soon, Downgrading Content, AI Overviews Expands, ChatGPT Search, Volatility Continues & Unauthorized Ad Rep Changes

Nov 1, 2024 - 8:01 am
Google Updates

Halloween 2024 Google Search Ranking Update 👻

Nov 1, 2024 - 7:51 am
Other Search Engines

OpenAI Releases ChatGPT Search: Citations, Robots.txt Controls & More

Nov 1, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Maps

Google AI Answers In Google Maps: Things To Do, Review Summaries & About This Place

Nov 1, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

Google Tests Discover More Places & Explore Places Nearby

Nov 1, 2024 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Noogler Cake Pops