Day in the life of
SEO Content Specialist – Cody Cullen
I’m the SEO Content Specialist at Grove Brands, a branding agency.
My Typical Day
For me, a typical day starts with a small briefing with other employees at our company. We discuss potential leads and our general plans and goals for the day and week. Depending on which client needs work, I start my day by identifying a few potential keywords I’d like their website to rank for using a third party application. I find competitors who also rank for the same keywords, and look to see the quality of content they provide in order to rank for said keyword. The main tool I use for keyword research is Ahrefs. It helps provide us with detailed information on backlink profiles, any technical issues with our client’s sites, and insight into competitor’s websites.
Keyword research with Ahrefs
With combined research about a main keyword, competitors, sub-keywords, frequently asked questions, and competing content, I start creating content. The goal is to create the most informative and best written piece of content related to the given keyword. Sometimes this involves creating graphics to accompany the piece, usually made in collaboration with one of our graphic designers.
We have a few social media clients that I’m also responsible for, and as web design finishes up on a site, I’m also in charge of technical SEO and website copywriting. To help with our content strategy for clients, I utilize various backlink strategies to help clients rank for keywords. Many clients have brand new websites or have very few backlinks, so securing just a few provides a huge boost to their website’s traffic.
Website audit with Ahrefs
Pros
The great benefit to my job is the nature of the work itself. Students that enjoy research and finding information would enjoy this type of work. When you research competition, it feels like you’re doing detective work to determine the strength of their content, and whether or not they’re following best practices laid out by search engines.
You also continually learn about different strategies to try out, and since search engines continuously update, you have to adapt when best practices change. You also get to do a little bit of design when it comes to the layout or copy on a website. Getting to collaborate with others is a fun part of the job for me, but some people prefer to work by themselves.
Cons
The downside, (or potentially, another positive depending on the student) is the amount of writing involved. You need to love writing about literally anything. The clientele varies from waxing studios to coffee shops to video production, and you have to write about it all!
Sometimes, writing copy and content for similar types of clients gets repetitive. You have to be able to creatively say the same thing but in different ways. Due to the nature of the work, you don’t see immediate results from your work. There have been times that I’ve written content for a client, and know that it’s great, yet it doesn’t rank the way I want it to on search engines. Then, three or four months later, it starts to appear! You need to be confident and patient with your ability, but be able to prove your results to clients.
Advice to students looking to get into SEO
There are tons of resources for students to take advantage of to learn the basics of SEO. Many third party software, such as Ahrefs, regularly upload videos and case studies talking about strategies, how to use their software, and general best practices.
As far as school goes, many employers look for a digital marketing degree or experience. A basic understanding of HTML, CSS, and Javascript is a big plus too! A lot of schools offer programs that should help them get a head start. If students are interested but not sure about SEO, they can always try a free trial of SEO software to get familiarized. Those students who want to go the extra mile can even create a basic website inexpensively, then use free resources and strategies to try and get that website to rank for keywords they’ve identified. That would be a great portfolio piece to show off to potential employers.
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SEM Strategists
employ search marketing tactics to increase visibility and engagement with content, products, or services in Internet-enabled devices or interfaces. Examine search query behaviors on general or specialty search engines or other Internet-based content. Analyze research, data, or technology to understand user intent and measure outcomes for ongoing optimization.
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