I was asked what was the best thing about working in SEO, and it got me thinking.
In more than 25 years of being involved in the sector, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked what was the best thing about working in SEO, until recently. I actually sat back in my seat and paused for far longer than I usually would.
There are several things that sprang to mind reasonably quickly.
SEO guidance keeps changing
SEO can be difficult. No, that’s an understatement, it can be downright frustrating. There aren’t too many areas of work where you learn something, become successful at it, and then a single change in approach from one organisation can undo most of what you’ve done.
Google’s latest core update is a good example of this. It has penalised what many have learnt earned their clients results. The problem is that a lot of what they’d learned wasn’t good practice, and Google has come down hard on them.
However, that’s justified in my opinion. My issue arises when Google shift the goalposts. They’ll even shift them and the end results of your changed efforts will suggest they haven’t adjusted them at all. You might be surprised how often that happens. The key is interpreting what Google mean, as they rarely give you much more than broad statements about what they will prioritise.
You can stick to all their rules, policies, SEO guidelines and commentary, and get absolutely nowhere. In other words, SEO isn’t quite as simple as following a set of instructions.
It is challenging on your patience, your brain and your ability to communicate what needs to be done on a client website. It is a complex combination of hundreds and thousands of tiny little factors.
Hence, the challenging aspect of it can be fun at times, particularly if you like to keep your mind sharp, but it isn’t the best thing about working in SEO.
Continuous professional development
I enjoy learning new things, and you’re assured of that in SEO. I’ve told many people, including clients, that if all I knew today was what I knew 2-3 years ago that I’d be dead in the water. That is truer today than at any time in the past. I spend vast amounts of time researching, watching videos, reading documentation and experimenting with new techniques. There are days when this is fantastic to do. There are other days when it is utterly soul destroying.
It would be nice to be able to take a break from learning, at least every now and again. However, if you do that in this sector then you’re signing your own death warrant. I don’t find it the most rewarding thing about SEO. It’s nice to try something new and find that it works, but it isn’t the icing on the cake.
Delivering good SEO news to clients
The best thing about working in SEO is telling your client that you’ve delivered on one of their key targets. It is even better if they’re delighted to hear it. You might find that a strange thing to say, but I’ve given clients excellent news in the past and they react in such a dead-pan way that you’d think I’d just kidnapped their children and asked for £1m to release them. You get used to that with some clients. At the end of the day, all you’ve done is your job, so perhaps it is understandable that they don’t all jump up and down with joy.
The strange offshoot of the above is that, once you’ve told them, you’re faced with the prospect of keeping them where you’ve got them. Your initial feeling of euphoria can be swiftly overtaken by one of “Oh, will it change tomorrow?“.
That said, most clients are very happy to be given the good news. Perhaps it is the same when a decorator shows a customer their newly painted living room and they say “That’s lovely, thank you!“.
The sense of satisfaction in knowing I’ve delivered on a goal is all it takes to make working in SEO feel incredibly rewarding.
SEO delivering business growth
You get to watch businesses grow. I’ve even been told I have “single handedly transformed the business“. That was a nice feeling (I recall feeling 10ft tall), and I knew it was true. It had taken a huge amount of work, probably far more than the client had paid for. The business was flying, and my work was a huge part of that, driving it into new areas, new audiences and bringing in millions of pounds worth of additional revenue.
I emailed a progress report to the business owners each month. Every time I did it gave me an incredibly warm sense of satisfaction. I was communicating good news, as the work had been far more successful than even I could have imagined. I don’t think there is anything to beat that feeling in SEO.
Meeting new people
One of the other answers that came to mind, and probably comes a close second, is the people I come into contact with. I have traveled extensively and been privileged to talk to some wonderful people, learning from each of them.
That said, there are thousands of vocations where people come into contact with others. Whether they build the same type of long-term and close relationship that you often do in SEO is another thing.
You’ll never ‘click’ with everyone, but the length of relationships in SEO can mean that you develop a close understanding of a person. I’ve dealt with some clients for well over a decade.
Success can lead to people moving on
There can be a downside to success and the impact it has on people. This isn’t in the way you might think. I’m referring to companies that enjoy growth to the point that owners exit the business – they sell the company. That has happened with several clients over the years. Some have stayed on for a while for a handover period, whereas others have left immediately. Seeing them go is never easy, but I can be nothing but pleased for them.
I recall a time when one client sold their business to a very large organisation. The new owners informed me that their internal teams would take care of SEO from thereon. It surprised me given how successful the SEO had been (the client site was ranking higher than the new owners!), but it was their decision and you’ve got to accept it.
I will admit I was disappointed when, 6-7 months later, I noticed that a competitor company was ranking higher. All that hard work and success was being undone. Perhaps they had a change of direction and new targets, I’ll never know. It wasn’t necessarily the fault of their internal team.
Learning about new products
I love the fact that I learn about new sectors and products. The number of times I have seen quite remarkable products is something I couldn’t keep track of. Seeing things I never knew existed is part of that. It never ceases to amaze me how many products are out there that I had no idea there was a market for!
The people I work for teach you new things every day. It might be a business tip you pick up, or something about a personality trait you’ve got to handle. The lessons are non-stop, but again you get that in many jobs.
Loving a challenge is another factor. I need to be on top of my game to work in SEO, at least to be very effective in it. I don’t buy into any theory that suggests anyone can “do their own SEO“. That is nonsense. Yes, you could perform elements of it, but it’s akin to suggesting that I could be an electrician if I wired a plug.
Liking a challenge keeps me willing, and enthusiastic, and there is a form of addiction in that. The more difficult tasks are often the most rewarding.
SEO report writing
Interestingly, the question also got me thinking about the worst things about working in SEO. That is far easier for me to answer quickly. I don’t like putting all the data I gather into reports. The reason for that is very easy to explain – it is very time consuming because nobody has ever come up with a system that adequately makes report writing swift. System exist, they’re just tediously inflexible.
Different clients, and different end goals, need completely different styles of report. It drives me up the wall. I can’t help but think that the time it takes to compile the reports would be better spent improving their SEO, but the metrics of a project are important and clients need to be able to act on data I give them, so it isn’t something that can be avoided.
I volunteered the above loathing of report writing to the person that asked the question. I’m not entirely sure they grasped the variance in reporting styles. If they decide to pursue a career in SEO, I hope they find a system has been developed to do the job for them in a more efficient way.
Telling clients they need new content
Another aspect of SEO that was never going to be on my list of things to consider as a favourite is telling clients that they need to put more effort into their website.
There are occasions when a client thinks that you can work magic with SEO and no additional content. You can get so far with it, especially when you’re begin working on a new project, but you’ll run out eventually.
Some clients find this a significant challenge. Many cite a lack of time or resources, but you have to be direct and honest with them about the implications. It isn’t something I enjoy doing, but there is a duty to make them aware.
SEO delivering success
In summary, it’s hard to beat the feeling of delivering good news. The success a client gets from SEO that delivers results is a by-product of that news, but it doesn’t always follow.
Delivering visitors is one thing, but they’ve got to be interested in the client offering. If they’re not, no amount of SEO or CRO will convert them into a revenue generating stream.
This was once demonstrated with an ecommerce client that was attempting to sell products that could be bought on a large number of competitor sites. They said that their brand had added-value, but the customer wasn’t seeing that. Their products were up to 30% more than elsewhere, but averaged approximately 15-20% more.
The site was bringing in visitors. They had good visibility and the customer journey on the website took them to the products. They simply weren’t converting into sales and extensive CRO work through UX/UI tweaks made very little difference. I recall speaking to the business owner on one occasion and he said that they weren’t in the business of discounting, and that their brand name and reputation was sufficient to support the higher prices. Alas, the customer disagreed.
They were shifting boxes. The product in them was the same as offered by hundreds of other sites, including Amazon in some cases. The relationship ended when they decided that online selling wasn’t for them and they went to focus on their traditional and physical retail stores.
Ironically, one of the reasons they’d opted to launch online was because customers were going into stores to try products and then going online to buy them from competitors – because they were cheaper.
I believe the phrase is “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink.“
What about you?
What is the best thing about your job? I’d love to hear what other people enjoy most!
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