Richard Conway, CEO, The Optimisers
Richard Conway arrived in New Zealand in 2009 with no professional network, little money, and a conviction that he could build something lasting in an industry most people barely understood. Seventeen years on, he is the founder of Pure SEO, New Zealand’s most awarded search agency, and CEO of The Optimisers, a business he has rebuilt around what he calls “Search Everywhere Optimisation.” He is also the author of How to Get to the Top of Google Search, published by Penguin Random House, and was recently inducted into the IAB New Zealand Hall of Fame after being named a finalist for Best Use of AI at the 2026 YouTube Marketing Association Awards.
His story, though, did not begin with awards. It began with a leap of faith, a run of personal setbacks, and a decision to keep going anyway. Over the course of this interview, Conway reflects candidly on the years that shaped him, the values he refused to compromise on, and where he believes the search industry is heading next.
What brought you to New Zealand, and what did those first few years of starting from scratch look like?
Richard Conway: “I came to New Zealand in my early twenties, travelling. Fell in love with the scenery, the people and the culture, and felt I wanted to live here. It took me six years to actually make the move,” Conway recalls. He has always lived by one rule: “I would rather regret doing something than regret not doing something.”
The first years, he says, were hard. “No network, no money, but plenty of optimism and drive.” He started Pure SEO in October 2009, and the timing coincided with some of the most difficult months of his life. “The first few years were difficult. There were some health issues coinciding with my key staff member handing in his notice. There were times I didn’t want to get out of bed and face the world. But I did anyway. Success and failure often emerge when we face the fear and do it anyway.A few years later our Australian CEO passed away in a freak accident. It was devastating, he left behind a wife and two kids and was a close friend”
SEO was once dismissed as a “dark art.” What convinced you it would become so central to business?
Richard Conway: “I had worked in search for a long time in the UK and saw the outcomes,” he says. His early pitch was a hard sell in a market full of easy promises. “It takes time to get results, they can’t be guaranteed,” he would tell prospective clients, while competitors promised quick rankings and fast wins. The turning point came when Google began cracking down on manipulative tactics across the industry. “My business took off when my competitors’ clients got penalised by Google for ‘black hat SEO,’ and my clients did not.” Patience, it turned out, was the strategy that survived.
Many competitors promised quick rankings and guaranteed results. Why did you choose to focus on time, trust and consistency instead?
Richard Conway: “My core value is trust, and our company runs on the ethos that we would rather do the right thing than take someone’s money,” Conway says. That principle, he explains, was instilled long before he founded Pure SEO. “I was brought up this way by my Czech mother and English father. They were not rich but would always do the right thing, even if it cost them.” It is a value he says he has tried to carry through every stage of the business, even when a faster, easier path was available.
Major algorithm updates reshaped the search landscape over the years. What did that teach you about building a sustainable business?
Richard Conway: “Stick to what you know deep down is right. It may cost you in the short term, but over time people will see you are a person of your word, and you will behave in a way that engenders trust and respect,” he says. Not every lesson came from the market itself. “An early mistake I made was believing a handshake was as good as a contract, that was until someone disappeared without paying me! Everyone signs contracts now.”
Growing Pure SEO past 60 staff and into international operations demands a different style of leadership. What were the biggest challenges you faced?
Richard Conway: Conway is candid about his own limits. “I’m the zero to one guy. I have ideas, vision and a sense of where the industry is going. Where I am not good is systems, processes, corporate structure and operations. I knew I needed to find people that loved the things I am bad at, and I needed to get out of their way.”
Scaling brought its own difficulties, particularly when the wider industry shifted underneath an already established team. “Some of the biggest challenges are when the industry evolves and you have a decent sized business, implementing institutional change is hard. The inertia, silos and people’s fear of change can stymie the very change that will give them the best future possible.” He also had to become tougher as a decision-maker. “I used to procrastinate around areas where I was emotionally invested in people. Ultimately if you don’t do what you need to do quick enough, everyone suffers and your respect as a leader declines. I have had to learn to toughen up.”
Stepping into the public eye was another hurdle entirely. “Another was personal brand and putting myself out there. Being naturally introverted I hate being the centre of attention. The first time I was asked to speak at an event I couldn’t sleep for a week before,” he admits. “Face the fear and do it anyway. Now I am fine speaking at events. Its taken me over a decade though.”
What has been your biggest lesson from failure, and how has it shaped the way you lead today?
Richard Conway: “Failure is just part of the process, I have the ability to recognise and move on pretty quickly. Being intrinsically optimistic helps,” he says. That optimism, he explains, is paired with a deliberate discipline. “I am also a big believer in controlling the controllables. We only have agency over our actions and reactions, therefore wasting energy blaming, being impacted or focussing on other peoples actions or external decisions doesn’t achieve anything. Decisions are better when taken with a clear head and not driven by emotion.”
Pure SEO has picked up recognition from Deloitte, Google, Westpac and the David Awards, and you were an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Which of those means the most to you?
Richard Conway: For Conway, the answer isn’t a trophy. “I love being able to inspire and assist the next generation. People who have started their careers with us who have gone on to be successful, entrepreneurs I’ve mentored who have become more successful than me. I’m driven by human connection and a deep desire to share what I have learned.” He adds, almost as an aside, “Not sure where that comes from though. It makes me feel good.”
You were recently inducted into the IAB New Zealand Hall of Fame. What does that recognition mean to you personally and professionally?
Richard Conway: “I brought my son Ethan to the awards when I won the Gold, Services to the Industry, that was epic,” he says. “Its great to get recognition and again it feels good.” But he is quick to put the milestone in perspective. “I’m not really driven by those things though, what makes me feel best is being trusted and seen by those close to me.”
What motivated you to write How to Get to the Top of Google Search?
Richard Conway: The idea came almost by accident. “Was in a Google conference in Sydney. Someone was talking about an e-book they did for marketing. I would rather do the opposite of most people, I like taking my own path. I thought, wouldn’t it be great to write a book,” he recalls. He pitched Penguin Random House, and they agreed. “It ties in with my desire to give back and help other entrepreneurs and young people, plus it is damn good marketing and positioning for my company!”
Search is moving toward AI search, GEO, AEO and agentic systems. How different is this era from previous shifts you’ve seen since 2009?
Richard Conway: “So different. It has reinvigorated me. What a time to be alive,” Conway says. He believes this moment plays directly to his own strengths. “This allows me to lean into my core skill of seeing trends and connecting patterns before they happen.” He has rebuilt his business entirely around what he calls Search Everywhere Optimisation, describing it as “the new SEO, targeting customers, customers, where, when and how they want to be targeted online. Platform agnostic and focussed on commercial outcomes. Exciting times!”
With AI-generated answers and recommendations becoming more influential, does traditional SEO still matter?
Richard Conway: “Traditional search still matters, however it is evolving,” he says. “Understanding your customers preferences for search behaviour, platform and ways to be communicated to are critical for this search everywhere optimisation world.” For brands, he suggests, the shift is less about abandoning SEO and more about widening the definition of what search actually means.
You are a 2026 YouTube Marketing Association Awards finalist for Best Use of AI. How are you using AI in the business, and where do you see the biggest opportunities?
Richard Conway: “We have rebuilt the business from scratch, incorporating 17 years of IP into an agentic operating system created from the ground up,” he says. He sees the platform eventually extending well beyond his own agency. “At some point I will spin out our operating system to offer other agencies in different countries, kind of like a software in a service. This is the future in my eyes. Most software providers have the idea but not the industry knowledge. We have both and the team to get us there.” Readers interested in learning more are welcome to reach him directly at richard@theoptimisers.com.
Beyond Pure SEO, you now lead The Optimisers and have expanded into publishing through Pure 360. What drove that expansion, and how do you decide which opportunities are worth pursuing?
Richard Conway: The decision was personal. “I bought NZ Business Magazine, Management and Exporter Today. NZ Business has been around since about 1936. They were in financial trouble and I didn’t want them to disappear,” he says. He points to a loss that shaped his thinking. “A good friend Jake Millar committed suicide in his 20s, he had achieved more than most people do their whole life. NZ Business is about helping, inspiring and promoting entrepreneurs.” Conway sees his role there as more of a steward than an owner. “I am cognisant that I am more of a custodian for it, it needs to retain editorial authority and provide value.”
His first move as owner was practical rather than sentimental. “The first thing I did when I bought it was stop the physical magazine, replatformed the digital and changed the model. Most of the losses were from the printing and postage.”
After 17 years in digital marketing, what do you believe the next five to ten years hold for search, digital marketing and online discovery?
Richard Conway: “Robots, agentic agents, increased resources globally,” Conway says, summarising his outlook in a few blunt words. “We are not going to browse websites, agents will browse, choose and order stuff on our behalf. The world will be unrecognisable in so many ways!” It is a future he says he finds exciting rather than unsettling, precisely because it rewards the kind of pattern recognition and early positioning he has built his career on.
If you could speak to the person who had just arrived in New Zealand in 2009, what would you tell him, and what advice do you have for the next generation of entrepreneurs?
Richard Conway: “Stay the course, don’t get too distracted by other businesses and become a bit tougher. Not everyone will have the same ethics as you and that’s okay,” he says. For those just starting out, his message is unambiguous. “There is so much opportunity. Don’t let fear hold you back, try things, pivot, accept failure as a learning experience. It’s going to be hard and lonely but it will also be liberating, fun and exciting. We lose every opportunity we don’t take.”
Conway now splits his time across Pure SEO, The Optimisers, This Side Up, Digital Popcorn and Pure 360’s stable of titles, which includes NZ Business, Management, Exporter Today and Drive Daily. Seventeen years after arriving in New Zealand with little more than optimism and a plan, he is still, by his own account, chasing the same thing that got him here in the first place: the next pattern before anyone else sees it. More on his work is available at www.theoptimisers.com.
