Why I love SEO
I discovered SEO about 3 and a half years ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Every time a friend of mine asks me “so what do you do exactly…?”, I get super excited because I’m able to tell them what I do and how I do it and I try to explain so they understand. The last time I did this properly was during the Christmas holidays, when I talked for a full 50 minutes about SEO to one of my friends, when I was rudely interrupted by other friends arriving at our table.
I covered how I got into SEO before on this blog, but I never really thought about why I love it so much and I’d never change my job for anything in the world.
My path to SEO was a long one, going through a (failed) Accounting degree, a dabble in the music industry (still my love!), a boring English and German Language and Literature degree (which I’ve never added to a CV), an Events and Exhibitions media degree (which I’ve used to get a job in Digital Marketing). Shoutout to my then and now boss (I dabbled in another job in the middle) for showing me SEO and getting me hooked by sending me to my first BrightonSEO. And now I love it, and I wouldn’t change my career for anything.
You’re always learning
The most exciting job I’ve had was in the music industry, when I was helping organise and promote rock concerts back in my hometown. What I loved most about that job was that it was unpredictable, fast-paced, always changing, always evolving. And that’s why I love SEO - it’s always changing, you always have to tweak, learn, study, analyse, rinse, and repeat.
The SEO community is amazing
The SEO community is the best community I am a part of. I discovered the brilliant Women in Tech SEO group last year, lead by the amazing Areej AbuAli. This group of great and supportive SEO ladies have made me realise that I know SEO, that I shouldn’t doubt myself, and that we’re all always learning and we’re all in it together.
It’s a great way to get into a more technical field
I’ve always loved the more technical parts of things - I loved Maths in school, I was always interested in Physics and Astronomy, I’ve always loved computers, and I’ve generally loved “conventionally” nerdy things growing up. However, I never realised what I wanted to do in life for a long time - hence the first degree I tried to get - and subsequently dropped out of - was in Accounting & Finance.
It’s more about proof than personal opinion
I love that SEO work starts with your gut, with what you personally think and know, but ultimately it all boils down to analysing data. SEO is all about testing and trying and failing and succeeding - just like in science. And I love this. You start with a premise that you either confirm by testing, or you reach a different conclusion which you still learn from.
It’s not a job, it’s a passion
I’ve had 5 days off in a row - this includes the Easter bank holiday weekend + an extra day off work. And the thing that brought me the most joy in this lockdown was talking about SEO, being on SEO Twitter, starting the Blue Array SEO Manager Course, and finding new, useful Chrome extensions.
I’d never change this career for anything and I hope we’ll be able to work in SEO for as long as we can!