Portrait of Ilija Stoev

About me

Founder of Kryston, helping cybersecurity service firms get found in search results and in AI answers.

Day to day that's SEO and AI search work: technical visibility, service pages buyers can actually find, and content that gets a firm described accurately when someone asks an AI assistant about it. This site is separate: less client case study, more the thinking underneath it.

How I got here

I started in web development, taking whatever projects came my way. More of those projects turned into marketing work, and by 2022 marketing had become my career. Of every kind of client I've worked with since, IT and security companies have been the most demanding and the most rewarding.

For several years my focus was LinkedIn: ghostwriting and profile management for IT and security professionals trying to win clients. Platform changes eventually made that work less effective, changes made in LinkedIn's interest rather than theirs. That's the thing I keep carrying forward: when your visibility lives on someone else's platform, someone else decides who sees it. Kryston exists to build visibility firms actually own.

Why cybersecurity

Security has been a long-running interest of mine. I experimented with Kali Linux as a teenager, though hands-on security work was never where my strengths lay. A recent move to Linux, mostly for privacy reasons, brought that interest back into focus. I'm not a security practitioner, and I don't pretend to be. My job is helping the people who are get found, understood, and trusted by the buyers who need them.

Role
Founder, Kryston
Focus
SEO and AI search visibility for cybersecurity service firms
In marketing since
2022
Before that
Web development

Education

B.A., Digital BusinessIU International University of Applied SciencesData protection, IT security fundamentals, requirements engineering, statistics, digital business models, agile project management.
Finance and Financial Management ServicesFaculty of Economics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in SkopjeEconomics, quantitative methods, financial accounting, statistics, commercial law.

Certifications

SEO SpecializationUniversity of California, DavisOn-page and off-page optimization, keyword research, competitive and gap analysis, search-focused audits.
Content Strategy for Professionals SpecializationNorthwestern University, Medill SchoolContent strategy built on credibility and transparency: engagement, governance, measurement.
Digital Marketing and E-commerce Professional CertificateGoogleThe full acquisition and conversion funnel: attraction, email, analytics, retention.
Digital Marketing Analyst Professional CertificateUnileverCustomer understanding, persona development, journey mapping, honest campaign measurement.
Digital Marketing NanodegreeUdacitySeven graded projects: SEO audits, campaign evaluation, A/B-tested email programs.
Digital Marketing Strategy and Planning SpecializationDigital Marketing InstituteStrategy formulation, channel planning, how digital leadership gets executed.
Project Management Professional CertificateGoogleInitiation, planning, execution, stakeholder management, agile/scrum delivery.
Full bio and credential detail on Kryston