A Look into the Life of an Agency SEO Specialist
In the fast-paced world of the digital landscape, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) stands as a pivotal cornerstone, shaping the visibility and success of businesses online. I fell in love with the industry in early 2017, when I attended my first BrightonSEO.
It’s a great career choice for someone like me, in the middle between creative skills and technical prowess. I focused languages at first in elementary school, then attended a Maths-Computing high school, then went to an Events and Exhibition Management undergrad, then started working in SEO, now I’m pursuing my first “serious” hobby by doing ceramics classes - so SEO offers the best mix for me. It’s about mixing a bit of creativity with a dash of tech-savvy and a whole lot of staying on your toes because, guess what? The rules of the game change faster than you can say "algorithm update."
Today, I'm peeling back the curtain to show you a day in my life at an SEO agency – the good, the bad, and the utterly confusing. From my personal point of view - someone with both creative and tech skills, someone with anxiety & ADHD, someone who started their professional journey in diverse and inclusive London and continuing it in not-too-open Bucharest.
Morning Routine
To be fair, nothing I do is a “routine” as the way my brain functions makes me get lost in routines or flat out forget about them. But I’m trying - and sometimes it’s all about trying, right?
My day begins with negotiating with my alarm and pressing snooze one-too-many times - this is what happens when you don’t have a commute to scare you into waking up quicker.
Then I am preparing coffee in my trusty espresso machine (shoutout to the Gaggia brand) and I really start my day with a jolt of caffeine. I remember my promise from the night before of drinking more water, so I down a glass of water that's as cold as my soul in the cold light of morning.
Breakfast could be anything from a hastily thrown together sandwich, a fancy sandwich with edible flowers sprinkled on top, some form of eggs (because variety is the spice of life), or just cereal if I’m feeling particularly uninspired.
And here's where I could say I sit in silence, pondering the mysteries of the universe - or at least the mysteries of my breakfast. But no - my head is never quiet, so why shouldn’t I add more fuel to the fire? I’m more likely to be catching up on a series or diving into my inbox for some juicy SEO newsletters. I mean, who says you can’t mix pleasure with... more pleasure, am I right? After breakfast, I light a candle – not for any mystical reason, just because I like the smell, and it somehow makes me feel like I’ve got my shit together (pardon my French).
Weekly and Daily Planning
Now, let's talk about task planning. Every Monday, me and my team meet on Google Meets to figure out what the week will look like. The two Customer Success Managers keep us two SEO Specialists and one Content Strategist on track with client deadlines.
Then, come Tuesday, it's round two but with the SEO squad. This is where we get down to the nitty-gritty – troubleshooting, brainstorming, and showing off the cool stuff we’ve stumbled upon.
Each morning, amidst the usual rush of caffeine and existential dread, I take a moment to plan my day. It’s a fine art, deciding which tasks will get my attention amidst the whirlwind of calls, Slack messages, and the occasional existential crisis. It’s a juggling act, trying to keep all the balls in the air without dropping any (or at least not the important ones).
Staying on track is not easy, but planning and planning again keeps me in the general vicinity. I do my best, armed with a to-do list that’s more aspirational than realistic, a tonne of coffee, and kind reminders from my teammates. The most important skill I’m still working on is how to say no, and not accepting all tasks that come my way without a reasonable… well, reason.
Core Monthly Tasks
There are some tasks that happen monthly - usually set up like this because of the contract details. For some clients, on-page optimisations are done with a template, especially if the site has thousands and thousands of products. But for some niches, it’s better to optimise the pages in focus by hand, in order to analyse and tweak where necessary.
Off-page strategies are happening once a month, too - I pick the best pages to target by analysing the recent fluctuations and making sure I’m aware of the campain focus, and then send these to the Outreach Team.
Content recommendations also come in monthly - category descriptions, FAQs, service landing pages, you name it.
Each of these tasks is a thread in the tapestry of SEO work, woven together to create a picture that’s larger and more intricate than the sum of its parts. It’s about keeping the momentum going, making small adjustments with big impacts, and always, always pushing forward towards the next milestone.