It is a wild job market right now, and if you’re applying for a PPC role, you’re probably feeling the pressure to stand out in interviews that are increasingly demanding and often unclear in their expectations.
Whether you’re interviewing for a specialist, manager, or hybrid media role, one thing is certain: You need to be ready to demonstrate platform expertise, strategic thinking, and the ability to connect performance with business outcomes.
One reader put it this way:
“I’m preparing for a performance marketing job, specifically in PPC, and I want to focus on Google and Meta ads. Have you any advice that would help me with interview preparation for these roles?”
This question is particularly timely because it doesn’t just ask about one platform. It is looking for dual fluency in Google and Meta, which represent paid search and paid social. That nuance matters.
Stopping there, however, is a mistake. Savvy employers will appreciate an applicant who can speak to Microsoft Ads, TikTok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, and emerging platforms, even if those channels are not in scope right now. That breadth of perspective signals that you’re not just a button-pusher; you’re a strategist.
Below is a breakdown of the three core areas most interviewers will evaluate: Paid Search, Paid Social, and General Marketing and Culture Fit.
Modern paid search, especially within Google, demands more than keyword-level tactics. You need to understand how campaigns serve business objectives.
Expect strategy questions like, “X business has Y budget and Z goals – what kind of campaign would you run and why?” Strong candidates will be able to discuss budgeting frameworks, auction mechanics, audience segmentation, and creative message mapping.
You will likely be asked about reporting. Expect to reference tools like Looker Studio, Google Analytics 4, Power BI, Adobe, or Triple Whale. Even speaking confidently about one tool while showing awareness of others can be impressive.
Mention tools like Microsoft Clarity when discussing conversion rate optimization. Behavioral analytics insights reinforce that you understand the full user journey and do not treat campaigns as isolated events.
One frequently asked question involves account structure. You might be asked, “Why would you structure a campaign/account this way?” Never cite “best practices” or default methods as your rationale. Interviewers want reasoning rooted in context, goals, and a test-and-learn approach.
Stay current on innovations. Be ready to speak about features such as Performance Max, audience expansion tools, or any other platform updates that impact strategy. Share why you find them valuable and how you would explain their relevance to a client.
To stand out even further, draw comparisons between Google and Microsoft Ads, or highlight how Reddit and Amazon are bringing new energy to the paid search space.
Paid Social Interview Prep (Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Etc.)
Paid social requires creative fluency, audience empathy, and an understanding of privacy constraints. These platforms are less about exact keyword intent and more about relevance, scale, and emotional resonance.
Prepare to talk about platform-specific ad types and creative strategies. Discuss how you would use Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, and how your tactics might differ on TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, or Reddit.
Understand how platforms organize their campaign hierarchies. For instance, Meta emphasizes the ad set level for budgeting and targeting, whereas Google does not. Create a reference sheet for yourself so you can confidently speak to the differences during interviews.
Expect questions around creative production and reporting. Interviewers may ask, “What would you do if the client is picky about creative but refuses to supply any?” or “How would you prove that your campaign delivered results if the client questions the attribution?” These are behavioral and strategic tests rolled into one.
Be prepared to explain your approach to budgeting. Paid social often involves very large or very small budgets, and employers want to hear how you allocate funds based on audience size, objective, and creative lifecycle.
Show an understanding of creative testing frameworks, including how you develop variations of hooks, visuals, or calls to action across placements and formats.
General Marketing And Culture Fit
Some parts of the interview will focus less on tactics and more on how you think and collaborate. These are just as important to prepare for.
Be ready to answer questions like, “Tell me about a campaign that worked – and one that didn’t.” Use those stories to demonstrate analytical thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and your ability to learn from both success and failure.
You will also likely get questions about how you communicate performance. You might be asked how you handle underperformance and how you keep stakeholders aligned and informed during those periods.
Come prepared with thoughtful questions of your own. Ask, “What’s behind hiring for this role?” This can give insight into whether the role is tied to growth, turnover, or team restructuring. It also helps you gauge whether expectations are realistic.
Another useful question is, “What does success look like in this role?” This will tell you whether the role is tied to long-term strategic goals or short-term revenue. Follow that up with, “How will I be measured in the first six months versus the next two years?” This demonstrates that you are serious about growth and longevity.
Culture questions are also important. Asking, “Do people tend to hang out or do their own thing?” invites a conversation about the team dynamic, without feeling overly formal or forced.
Preparation Support
You do not need to prepare alone. Use AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini to help you simulate interviews, organize your thoughts, or analyze job descriptions. Ask the AI to role-play as an interviewer and challenge you with platform-specific or scenario-based questions.
Use those tools to map out which metrics, frameworks, and features align with each platform. You want your prep to feel structured so you can walk into the interview with clarity and confidence.
Ultimately, interviews are not just an audition. They are a dialogue. Prepare thoroughly, think critically, and lead with the mindset of a strategist. That is how you stand out in a sea of applicants, and that is how you set yourself up for success.
If you have a PPC question you want answered in a future edition of Ask the PPC, send it in. Whether you’re prepping for interviews, troubleshooting performance issues, or pitching channel expansion, we are here to help.
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Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
You’ve probably seen the headlines like: “AI will kill SEO,” “AI will replace marketing roles,” or the latest panic: “Is your digital marketing job safe?”
Well, maybe not those exact headlines, but you get the idea, and I’m sure you have seen something similar.
Let’s clear something up: AI is not making SEO irrelevant. It’s making certain tasks obsolete. And yes, some jobs built entirely around those tasks are at risk.
A recent Microsoft study analyzed over 200,000 Bing Copilot interactions to measure task overlap between human job functions and AI-generated outputs. Their findings are eye-opening:
Translators and Interpreters: 98% overlap with AI tasks.
Writers and Authors: 88% overlap.
Public Relations Specialists: 79% overlap.
SEO as a field wasn’t directly named in the study, but many roles common within SEO map tightly to these job categories.
If you write, edit, report, research, or publish content as part of your daily work, this isn’t a hypothetical shift. It’s already happening.
AI isn’t replacing SEO. It’s changing what “search engine optimization” means, and where and how value is measured.
In traditional SEO, the focus was clear:
Rank high.
Earn the click.
Optimize the page for humans and crawlers.
That still matters. But, in AI-powered search systems, the sequence is different:
Content is chunked behind the scenes, paragraphs, lists, and answers are sliced and stored in vector form.
Prompts trigger retrieval, the LLM pulls relevant chunks, often based on embeddings, not just keywords. (So, concepts and relationships, not keywords per se.)
Only a few chunks make it into the answer. Everything else is invisible, no matter how high it once ranked.
This new paradigm shifts the rules of engagement. Instead of asking, “Where do I rank?” the better question is, “Was my content even retrieved?” That makes this a binary system, not a sliding scale.
In this new world of retrieval, the direct answer to the question, “Where do I rank?” could be “ChatGPT,” “Perplexity,” “Claude,” or “CoPilot,” instead of a numbered position.
In some ways, this isn’t as big a shift as some folks would have you believe. After all, as the old joke asks, “Where do you hide a dead body?” To which the correct answer is “…on Page 2 of Google’s results!”
Morbid humor aside, the implication is no one goes there, so there’s no value, and while that sentiment actually drops a lot of the real, nuanced details that actual click through rate data shows us (like the top of page 2 results actually has better CTRs than the bottom of page 1 typically), it does serve up a meta point: If you’re not in the first few results on a traditional SERP, the drop off of CTRs is precipitous.
So, it could be argued that with most “answers” today in generative AI systems being comprised of a very limited set of references, that today’s AI-based systems offer a new display path for consumers, but ultimately, those consumers will only be interacting with the same number of results they historically engaged with.
I mean, if we only ever really clicked on the top 3 results (generalizing here), and the rest were surplus to needs, then cutting an AI-sourced answer down to some words with only 1, 2 or 3 cited results amounts to a similar situation in terms of raw numbers of choice for consumers … 1, 2 or 3 clickable options.
Regardless, it does mark a shift in terms of work items and workflows, and here’s how that shift shows up across some core SEO tasks. Obviously, there could be many more, but these examples help set the stage:
Keyword research becomes embedding relevance and semantic overlap. It’s not about the exact phrase match in a gen AI result. It’s about aligning your language with the concepts AI understands. It’s about the concept of query fan-out (not new, by the way, but very important now).
Meta tag and title optimization become chunked headers and contextual anchor phrases. AI looks for cues inside content to determine chunk focus.
Backlink building becomes trust signal embedding and source transparency. Instead of counting links, AI asks: Does this source feel credible and citable?
Traffic analytics becomes retrieval testing and AI response monitoring. The question isn’t just how many visits you got, it’s whether your content shows up at all in AI-generated responses.
What this means for teams:
Your title tag isn’t just a headline; it’s a semantic hook for AI retrieval.
Content format matters more: bullets, tables, lists, and schema win because they’re easier to cite.
You need to test with prompts to see if your content is actually getting surfaced.
None of this invalidates traditional SEO. But, the visibility layer is moving. If you’re not optimizing for retrieval, you’re missing the first filter, and ranking doesn’t matter if you’re never in the response set.
The SEO Job Risk Spectrum
Microsoft’s study didn’t target SEO directly, but it mapped 20+ job types by their overlap with current AI tasks. I used those official categories to extrapolate risk within SEO job functions.
Image Credit: Duane Forrester
High Risk – Immediate Change Needed
SEO Content Writers
Mapped to: Writers & Authors (88% task overlap in the study: 88% of these tasks an AI can do today).
Why: These roles often involve creating repeatable, factual content, precisely the kind of output AI handles well today (to a degree, anyway). Think meta descriptions, product overviews, and FAQ pages.
The writing isn’t disappearing, but humans aren’t always required for first drafts anymore. Final drafts, yes, but first? No. And I’m not debating how factual the content is that an AI produces.
We all know the pitfalls, but I’ll say this: If your boss is telling you your job is going away, and your argument is “but AIs hallucinate,” think about whether that’s going to change the outcome of that meeting.
Link Builders/Outreach Specialists
Mapped to: Public Relations Specialists (79% overlap).
Why: Cold outreach and templated link negotiation can now be automated.
AI can scan for unlinked mentions, generate outreach messages, and monitor link placement outcomes, cutting into the core responsibilities of these roles.
Moderate Risk – Upskill To Stay Relevant
SEO Analysts
Mapped to: Market Research Analysts (~65% overlap).
Why: Data gathering and trend reporting are susceptible to automation. But, analysts who move into interpreting retrieval patterns, building AI visibility reports, or designing retrieval experiments can thrive.
Admittedly, SEO is a bit more specialized, but bottom or top of this stack, the risk remains moderate. This one, however, is heavily dependent on your actual job tasks.
Technical SEOs
Mapped to: Web Developers (not perfect, but as close as the study got).
Why: Less overlap with generative AI, but still pressured to evolve. Embedding hygiene, chunk structuring, and schema precision are now foundational.
The most valuable technical SEOs are becoming AI optimization architects. Not leaving their traditional work behind, but adopting new workflows.
Content Strategists/Editors
Mapped to: Editors & Technical Writers.
Why: Editing for humans and tone alone is out. Editing for retrievability is in. Strategists now must prioritize chunking, citation density, and clarity of topic anchors, not just user readability.
Or, at least, now consider that LLM bots are de facto users as well.
Lower Risk – Expanded Value And Influence
SEO Managers/Leads
Mapped to: Marketing Managers.
Why: Managers who understand both traditional and AI SEO have more leverage than ever. They’re responsible for team alignment, training decisions, and tool adoption.
This is a growth role, if guided by data, not gut instinct. Testing is life here.
CMOs/Strategy Executives
Mapped to: Marketing Executives.
Why: Strategic thinking isn’t automatable. AI can suggest, but it can’t set priorities across brand, trust, and investment.
Executives who understand how AI affects visibility will steer their companies more effectively, especially in content-heavy verticals.
Tactical Response By Role Type
Every job category on the risk curve deserves practical action.
Now, let’s look at how people in SEO roles can pivot, strengthen, or evolve, based on clear, verifiable capabilities.
High-Risk Roles: SEO Content Writers, Editors, Link Builders
Shift from traditional copywriting to creating structured, retrieval-friendly content.
Focus on chunk-based writing: short Q&A blocks, bullet-based explanations, and schema-rich snippets.
Learn AI prompt testing: Use platforms like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to query key topics and see if your content is surfaced without requiring a click.
Use gen AI visibility tools verified to support AI search tracking:
Profound tracks your brand’s appearance in AI search results across platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Overviews. You can see where you’re cited and which topics AI engines associate with you.
SERPRecon offers AI-powered content outlines and helps reverse-engineer AI overview logic to show what keywords and phrasing matter most. So, use a tool like this, then take the output as the basis for your query fan-out work.
Collaborate with data teams on embedding accuracy and chunk performance.
Moderate-Risk Roles: SEO Analysts, Technical SEOs, Content Strategists
Expand traditional ranking reports with retrievability diagnostics:
Use prompt simulations that probe content retrieval in real-time across AI engines.
Audit embedding and semantic alignment at the paragraph or chunk level.
Employ tools like those mentioned to analyze AI Overviews and generate content improvement outlines.
Monitor AI visibility gaps through new dashboards:
Track citation share versus competitors.
Identify topic clusters where your domain is cited less.
Understand structured data and schema:
Use markup to clearly define entities, relationships, and context for AI systems.
Prioritize formats like FAQPage, HowTo, and Product schema, where applicable. These are easier for LLMs and AI Overviews to cite.
Align semantic clarity within chunks to schema-defined roles (e.g., question/answer pairs, step lists) to improve retrievability and surface relevance.
Join or lead internal “AI-SEO Workshops”:
Teach teams how to test content visibility in ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google Overviews.
Share experiments in prompt engineering, chunk format outcomes, and schema effectiveness.
Lower-Risk Roles: SEO Managers, Digital Leads, CMOs
Sponsor retraining initiatives for semantic and vector-led SEO practices.
Revise hiring briefs and job descriptions to include skills like embedding knowledge, prompt testing, schema fluency, and chunk analysis.
Implement AI-visibility dashboards using dedicated tools:
Benchmark brand presence across search engines and generative platforms.
Use insights to guide future content and authority decisions.
Keep traditional SEO strong alongside AI tactics:
Technical optimization, speed, quality of content, etc., still matter.
Hybrid success requires both sides working in sync.
Set internal AI literacy standards:
Offer training on retrieval engineering, LLM behavior, and chunk visibility.
Ensure everyone understands AI’s core behaviors, what it cites, and what it ignores.
Reframing The Opportunity
This isn’t a “get out now” scenario for these jobs. It’s a “rebuild your toolkit” moment.
High overlap doesn’t mean you’re obsolete. It means the old version of your job won’t hold value without adaptation. And what gets automated away often wasn’t the best part of the job anyway.
AI isn’t replacing SEO, it’s distilling it. What’s left is:
Strategy that aligns with machine logic and user needs.
Content structure that supports fast retrieval, not just ranking.
Authority based on more, deeper, sometimes implied, trust signals, not just age or backlinks. Like E-E-A-T++.
Think of it this way: AI strips away the boilerplate. What’s left is your real contribution. Your judgment. Your design. Your clarity.
New opportunity lanes are forming right now:
Writers who evolve into retrievability engineers.
Editors who become semantic format strategists.
Technical SEOs who own chunk structuring and indexing hygiene.
Analysts who specialize in AI visibility benchmarking.
These aren’t job titles (yet), but the work is happening. If you’re in a role that touches content, structure, trust, or performance, now is the time to sharpen your relevance, not to fear automation.
Final Word
The fundamentals still matter. Technical SEO, content quality, and UX don’t go away; they evolve alongside AI.
No, SEO isn’t dying, it’s becoming more strategic, more semantic, more valuable. AI-driven retrievability is already redefining visibility. Are you ready to adapt?
In this week’s Ask An SEO, a marketing manager asks which SEO skills are most valuable to look for in candidates today, especially with AI in the mix:
“I’m a marketing manager who’s been tasked with hiring our first in-house SEO specialist.
With AI tools becoming more prevalent, what skills should I prioritize when interviewing candidates in 2025? Are traditional SEO skills still as valuable, or should I focus more on candidates who can work alongside AI tools?”
This is a great question, and one I imagine a lot of hiring managers in the marketing industry are asking themselves.
For years, we’ve been looking for SEO professionals with skills that will help our websites thrive in Google, Bing, and Yandex. But, what skill set is needed for the emerging markets of ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and Claude?
And what about keyword research, content creation, and technical audits? Are they still useful activities for SEO professionals to carry out manually when there are so many AI tools purporting to be able to do this for you now?
What Traditional SEO Skills Are Still Needed
We often think of skills within traditional SEO fitting roughly into three categories: technical, content, and authority-building. Are these still needed in the era of large language model (LLM) platforms and tools?
If the bots can’t access the pages you want to have ranked, can’t read the content on them, or find the page to be unfriendly for users, you will struggle in the traditional search engine results pages (SERPs).
Technical SEO skills will continue to be important to online visibility in the new era of organic discovery.
An excellent SEO will be someone who can utilize AI tooling to automate and speed up the checks they are already performing. The really valuable technical SEO skills will still be analyzing, prioritizing, and communicating the issues when they are discovered.
Good technical SEOs have been looking at ways to automate their processes using Python and Structured Query Language (SQL) for a while now.
AI is enabling them to do this quicker, and for those who are newer to those languages, to automate their processes more easily.
Hire SEO specialists who are excited to use AI tools to enhance their work, not replace it entirely.
You will still need SEO pros to be creative in problem-solving and working within the confines of your organization’s technology, resources, and capabilities.
AI-written content has been a hot topic for a couple of years now. Can AI replace human writers? Should you hire with content creation and marketing skills in mind, or can you leave that purely to AI now?
I would suggest that any SEO hire you make needs to understand how to craft engaging copy that clearly defines the brand and meets the needs of users at each stage of the buying journey.
This hasn’t changed much from when SEO pros brief writers and graphic designers in content creation. We still need SEO specialists to understand how to request engaging content, whether that be through AI or human creators.
The ability to define what will be engaging content through research (whether keywords or prompts) and how users engage with it (whether on the brand site or within the LLM’s answer) is still critical.
Previously, there was an evolution in SEO from regarding authority building as getting backlinks by whatever means necessary, to acquiring links through engaging and relevant content.
For optimization in LLMs, the desire is more to cement a brand’s positioning and sentiment through mentions on other authoritative websites.
The skill set needed to acquire authoritative links through digital PR will not be that different from what’s needed to acquire mentions.
In fact, good digital PRs have recognized for a while now that brand mentions are valuable in their own right.
There is a need to understand the publisher who is being targeted, what they write about, when best to contact them, and how. This could well be automated to a good degree by AI.
However, the really excellent PRs build up relationships with their contacts, so they are front-of-mind when a story is breaking. This is something AI will struggle to replace.
When hiring for the digital PR side of SEO, look at their relationship-building skills in particular.
AI has (thankfully!) taken much of the pressure off SEO professionals to be efficient mathematicians, proficient in Excel formulae, or, at least, having a good percentage calculator tool bookmarked.
Summarizing increases and decreases in key performance indicators (KPIs) is something AI can handle. It can highlight correlations between metrics and identify likely causes. AI can also summarize this all into a compelling report.
But, it still needs a human to determine if its recommendations are valid and a viable course of action.
A good SEO will be someone who can utilize the AI tools to draw conclusions and highlight issues, while retaining strategic oversight.
Strategy
That leads on to strategic skills. Good SEO pros will be able to utilize AI tooling for processes while drawing on their own deep contextual understanding and common-sense reasoning.
Hire SEO professionals who are adept at considering the moral and ethical implications of marketing and who can adapt to novel situations.
AI tooling will not be able to build trust with senior stakeholders. It will not be able to inspire and influence them. It definitely will not be able to manage egos and emotions like a good SEO has to.
Skills That Help In Emerging Markets
Beyond the skills that we’ve long been looking to hire for in SEO, it’s important to find people who are able to thrive in a burgeoning environment.
Great SEO pros have been cultivating these skills throughout their careers. Bad SEO professionals have scraped by on second-hand knowledge and following templated procedures.
Experimental Approach
Make sure they have the ability to experiment and apply their learnings.
We’re entering a new phase of SEO where what worked before might not work again. There are no experts in GEO yet; we’re all having to learn as we go along.
Make sure your candidates are willing to learn from trial and error.
Understanding Of How To Work With Uncertainty
The days of following an audit template are both long-gone and a way off. We can’t just apply what we know from SEO directly to GEO.
We need to learn what works in those new platforms. That means good SEO pros are going to have to be comfortable with the uncertainty in their industry again.
Seasoned SEO professionals will remember back to this during their formative years in the industry, but newer SEO specialists will need to break free of the “this is what works for SEO” mentality and be OK with adapting on the fly more.
Ability To Problem Solve And Investigate
This means they will really need to be keen problem-solvers. SEO, at its root, has always been about problem-solving.
With the suite of AI tooling growing, the temptation to delegate critical thinking to a machine will be great.
However, SEO pros will still need to be able to take a step back, consider all the context and angles, and work toward a solution given the resources and constraints they face.
This means that they cannot rely solely on AI to help them.
You need someone who can work alongside AI tools as well as having traditional SEO skills.
The experience and qualities of a seasoned SEO professional will still be extremely useful in the emerging world of LLMs and AI tooling.
It would be a risk to your organic performance if you hire solely based on whether the candidate can utilize AI tools well.
However, you do want to make sure the SEO pro is using all of the advantages that AI can bring. They need to be able to adapt to new technology and processes.
How To Interview For SEO Skills That Complement AI Solutions
The curiosity about new technology. The desire to experiment and adapt. Having an open mind to change. These are all attributes of good SEO professionals that are more important now than ever before.
When considering whether an SEO professional is a likely good fit for your role, find out their approach to new situations.
See how they have adapted in the past to changes in SEO that needed a change of tactics.
Ask them how they have diagnosed and responded to algorithm updates, or expanded their skill sets to include social media search engines.
Summary
In essence, the need for traditional SEO skills is not diminishing. However, great SEO professionals will be those who can adapt their skill set to work in GEO, as well as make the best use of new AI tooling available to them.
Alongside that, problem-solving, experimentation, and a keen strategic approach are what to look for in your next SEO hire.
More Resources:
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
It’s also vital for accelerating productivity, boosting employee retention, and cultivating a positive company culture.
When done right, it leads to more engaged and profitable staff in the long run.
Solid and thorough inductions also help new employees understand the company culture, responsibilities, and nuanced team dynamics. More importantly, they can also serve to bridge any skill gaps and set the stage for success.
With all of this considered, you’d naturally think that onboarding would be a top priority for all founders. Sadly, this is often not the case.
Poor Onboarding Or Lack Thereof Is Killing Your Retention
Last year I placed 70 candidates in new roles. Seven quit of their own accord before their probation was up. Of these, all of them but one attributed a poor onboarding process to their early departure.
Three had never met their manager in person, not even once.
Two cited feeling isolated and removed from the rest of the business, despite working in the office.
Three had commented about trying but being unable to meet every stakeholder in the business to understand their motivations.
One reported not having a single proper conversation with their manager about key performance indicators (KPIs).
Historical Resentment Combined With Poor Communications
Nobody intentionally onboards staff poorly.
It often happens when there’s a rush to get the new hire started fast, usually because of bad planning and a long recruitment process, which translates to: “We needed you yesterday, so just jump in.”
This urgency can create a stressful environment for new staff.
Existing team members who might have taken the slack in their absence may quickly start offloading responsibilities, potentially overwhelming the employee.
Businesses that don’t address this early on end up with a high turnover.
So, How Can Agencies Improve Their Onboarding Process?
I spoke to various agency founders and directors across the UK, the U.S., Australia, and Dubai and I asked them for their insights and advice about onboarding.
Here’s what they recommend:
Observation And Shadowing Are Vital
Zoe Blogg, the Director of Operations at independent SEO & Content Marketing agency, Reboot, says: “It’s about immersion. Our process is designed to give new hires time to truly absorb how we work before they’re expected to contribute. In the first two weeks, we encourage new team members – especially at a senior level – to focus on listening, observing, and understanding our culture, processes, and workflows before making any major changes or suggestions.”
Supporting the idea that early collaboration and involvement are key, Kristi Hoyle of Kaizen actively encourages new starters to sit in on ideation sessions and client strategy meetings, even with teams they won’t directly work with. The ultimate aim is to gradually ease them into the agency.
Phil Dukarsky, SEO lead at Dubai-based SEO Sherpa, leverages a buddy system to ensure that new starters are given the best introduction. Effectively, somebody from the same department is chosen to take this person under their wing and induct them into the department and the wider business.
Emma Welland, founder of paid media agency House of Performance, emphasizes a similar approach with a twist: “We assign everyone a mentor as well as a manager to make sure they have multiple people to check in with and speak to from day one.” They also make sure new employees have time with the founders on a weekly basis to ask questions and get extra support.
Use The Right Tool Kit
I’ve spoken to many digital agency founders and hiring managers, and many have their own nuanced tool stack to ensure that their onboarding is on point.
Zoe Blogg was the first to recommend ClickUp as a project management platform that has been adopted by businesses all over the world.
She explains: “We use the tool to centralise everything from training materials to role-specific onboarding tasks.”
“A key feature we leverage is a dedicated ‘sandbox’ space, where new team members can test ideas, experiment with workflows, and familiarise themselves with our systems in a low-pressure environment before making live changes,” she shares.
Systems like this provide central spaces for new employees to get to grips with existing workflows and ways of working very early on, so they’re not in the dark. This also offers them the chance to ask questions and even make suggestions for improvements, making them feel valued early on.
Kristi Hoyle of Kaizen Search uses ClickUp in combination with Notion, another project management tool, to centralize all learning resources, induction documents, and educational resources.
Vervaunt was the only agency that cited Asana as a key onboarding tool.
Bethan Rainford, the company’s general manager, shares: “We use Asana across Vervaunt and have a comprehensive on-boarding flow which all new starters enroll within.”
Tools For Positive And Negative Feedback
Kaizen Search is an agency that takes considerable steps to continuously improve its employee experiences.
It uses 15Five, a performance management tool that enables new starters to record confidential feedback on their onboarding experience, helping the agency record any shortcomings or needs for improvement.
Emma Welland takes a similar proactive approach to this at House of Performance: “We ask every new joiner for feedback on the joining process, so we can evolve it.” She expects their process to be even more advanced over the next 12 months.
This is actually worlds apart from some of the experiences I’ve been told about.
Of the seven people who left their roles before probation, only one was even given an exit interview with an opportunity to give their feedback, while the rest were never asked what had gone wrong.
In fact, some of the hiring managers refused to acknowledge any feedback given by the employees.
CharlieHR
Zoe shares that CharlieHR helps them make the heavy administrative side of onboarding more efficient.
It also gives new starters immediate access to key information early on, such as company benefits, perks, and policies. “This removes the logistical friction and allows them to focus on integrating into the team”, says Blogg.
Jen Wlodyka, who heads up the talent team at London and Hertfordshire-based Distinctly Digital, also praises the tool for its ability to schedule performance reviews and ensure that detailed feedback is created and distributed privately and timely. This is vital for keeping staff happy and loyal.
Breathe HR
Breathe is another solid tool for onboarding.
Olivia Royce, the operations director at ecommerce SEO agency NOVOS, explains, “We rely on tools such as ClickUp for task management, BreatheHR for HR processes, and Assembly for fostering team connections. Cybersecurity training during the first week equips our team to handle IT security.”
Jen Wlodyka also stresses the importance of having the right tools for success.
She points to Slack and their bespoke intranet as vital for smooth communication from the start. Both platforms serve as the company’s centralised hub for policy documents, internal communication between teams, and regular company updates, making new starters feel included right away.
Onboarding Shouldn’t Stop After 2-4 Weeks
Many agencies and brands see onboarding as a short, 30-day process, but that’s not enough. Here’s what the best agencies are doing in that respect:
Rolling Inductions
Zoe Blog from Reboot addresses this head-on as she tells us, “We recognise that onboarding is more than your ‘first month’. That’s why we have rolling induction slots in the calendar, so if someone wants a refresher or misses a session, they can easily join again. This ensures that information isn’t just received once and forgotten – it’s reinforced in a way that makes it stick.”
The 30/60/90-Day Approach
The ecommerce-focused agency NOVOS adopts a structured approach to onboarding.
Its 1-30-60-90-day plan aligns with probation periods and breaks the process into clear milestones: a structure for day 1, week 1, and months 1, 2, and 3.
Olivia Royce, the company’s operations director, explains, “We have a clear onboarding process in our task management system which outlines who is responsible for what during the onboarding process.”
This structured approach consists of a comprehensive introduction to the company and its mission, vision, and values, and helps set personalized KPIs that match the employee’s development areas for the first three months.
Bethan Rainford from Vervaunt outlines their ongoing approach that ensures onboarding doesn’t end after probation: “At the end of a probationary period, we have a tradition of ‘end of probation presentation’.”
They started this when they were a team of five, and now at 65, it still continues.
She goes on to explain the process: “The employee presents back to the full team on a topic they are passionate about or a key project they have worked on during their initial time here. We’ve always found this to be a really rewarding and supportive way for new team members to close up on their probation, and the support and encouragement from the wider team is always really lovely to see.”
Onboarding Should Start Before Day One
Kristi Hoyle from Kaizen Search explains that their onboarding actually starts before an employee even steps foot in the office: “Our process begins two weeks before their official start date to ensure employees feel informed, prepared, and welcomed.”
She breaks this down in detail:
Pre-Start Preparation
Hoyle describes how 14 weeks prior to starting, new hires are given a comprehensive welcome deck they’re encouraged to look over in detail.
The document includes key company information, details on benefits and key policies, a full organization structure chart, short bios and photos of everybody in the company, and a comprehensive outline of what to expect from day one, including training schedules and full immersion sessions.
Emma Welland shares a similar philosophy: “When we bring new people into House of Performance, we make sure our onboarding starts before they walk through the door, whether that is inviting them to any company events we have in the lead-up to their start date or a simple email answering all those little questions such as ‘what should I wear?’, ‘who am I working with’, ‘where do I get lunch on my first day’, etc.”
As Hoyle points out, this proactive approach ensures new hires arrive feeling comfortable, informed, and excited for their first day. She then goes on to outline the full and detailed itinerary.
Day 1 Experience
“On their first day, new employees receive an HR onboarding session introducing them to our core systems, including 15Five, Breathe HR, and ClickUp. We aim to align new starter dates where possible to deliver these sessions efficiently in group settings. New joiners also enjoy a welcome lunch with their manager and buddy to foster early connections,” she explains.
Similarly, at House of Performance, they always start new joiners at 10 a.m., when the rest of the company is already in the office and set up. This creates a smooth entry, avoiding the common situation of arriving on time only to find that managers aren’t there.
Welland goes on to say: “We always go out for lunch on the first day, and try and ensure there is some social event in their first few weeks so they can start building relationships (an integral part of account management life!).”
First Week Focus
Hoyle goes on to say that the first seven days are centred around training, with new joiners gradually taking on client tasks designed as learning exercises.
This structured approach allows them to contribute early without pressure, ensuring mistakes are treated as learning opportunities with full support from their line manager and buddy.
New starters also have a values session with the CEO to better understand the behaviors expected of them and the culture they are trying to build from the start.
Check-Ins And Progress Tracking
Midway through onboarding, Hoyle and the directors at Kaizen conduct a formal HR check-in to assess how the role aligns with expectations and identify any points of friction.
Monthly probation check-ins track progress against probation goals to ensure success.
Refreshingly, this agency views probation as a two-way process, using this time to gather feedback and make adjustments where needed.
Jennifer Wlodyka also advocates for regular check-ins, stating that they prioritize ongoing support with daily check-ins throughout the onboarding process and weekly meetings with their managers. And they don’t stop there!
New starters are also invited to monthly reviews for the first six months, giving them the opportunity to share their thoughts about the process, too.
Top Tips For A Smooth And Effective Onboarding
In my experience as a former marketer, hiring manager, and now a recruiter for the space, I recommend the following:
Take the time to map your onboarding process carefully and tailor it to the size you are currently at – it’s not a one-size-fits-all.
Certain tasks can be automated using the key management tools cited above.
Speak to new starters and ask them for feedback early on, during, and after their onboarding to keep improving.
Don’t let one single person handle onboarding. Get the whole team involved so new hires feel truly welcomed.
Encourage the entire business to partake in onboarding in some way by involving reps from every department. This will display a genuine desire to make new starters feel at home.
Take it slow. Onboarding can feel overwhelming for new members of staff, so spread it out. The NOVOS 30/60/90 day approach is a prime example of how it’s a marathon and not a sprint.
Olivia Royce sums it up: ”When it comes to onboarding digital marketing talent, effective onboarding serves as the launchpad for success.”
Emma Welland explains the emotional aspect perfectly: “I fundamentally believe a good onboarding is judged by how you make someone feel. For us, making sure expectations are clear from day one, is a big part of this. We want people to feel comfortable asking questions (there are no silly questions) and getting involved.”
A well-structured onboarding process, tailored to individual roles and supported by the right technology, empowers digital marketing talent.
By investing in onboarding, agencies and companies can nurture talent and drive remarkable outcomes in the fast-moving digital world.
It can be hard to get a job, especially right now it is difficult to land a job as the market has changed.
There are significantly fewer jobs available for both permanent and temporary positions.
But, this article will provide you with tips and advice to help you stay motivated.
Falling Job Vacancies
The current market, with fewer jobs available, is in stark contrast to what we saw during the Great Resignation (a term coined by Anthony Klotz), where there appeared to be a spike in the number of people quitting their jobs in 2021 that started before the pandemic.
According to a survey by KPMG and REC, vacancies for permanent jobs in the UK declined at their fastest pace for four years in January 2025.
The survey also shows that temporary vacancies fell in December 2024, and the labor market had been slowing down in 2024.
The U.S. has also seen the number of job openings fall.
In October 2024, this dropped to 7.4 million versus 7.9 million in September 2024.
Jobs in healthcare and government agencies also saw a lot of losses (the latter may be due to the election).
According to Newsweek, the number of Americans leaving their jobs dropped to its lowest since August 2020, but the number of layoffs increased.
There may be fewer Americans leaving their jobs voluntarily because they are more satisfied with their jobs.
According to Pew Research, half of U.S. workers are happy with their jobs, and 38% are somewhat satisfied.
There are 12% who are not satisfied with their job. Those who are self-employed (60%) are more likely to be highly satisfied than those who are not self-employed.
11 Tips To Get A Job In Marketing in 2025
Employers can now be more picky about who they hire. So, how can you make sure you land your job this year?
Here are my tips from my experience of looking for a job in this current climate.
1. Be Patient
Securing a job will take longer, unfortunately.
Data from recruiting software company iCIMS, a recruiting software company, said that the average time it takes to fill a role is seven weeks.
A friend of mine in Australia applied to 74 jobs over a 4-month period, but they only heard back from 27 – just 36% of companies responded.
Some job sites state they will not get back to you (such as the recruitment site called Seek in Australia). But, there were some jobs where after making a presentation it took two months to be told they were not successful.
Candidates are not happy about waiting so long.
Hays recruitment firm in the UK carried out a survey of 11,900 employers and employees in March 2024.
It found that only 18% of candidates believe three rounds of interviews are acceptable, and 6% are willing to wait more than a week to hear back from the company after the final interview. This means candidates want to hear back from potential employers quickly.
2. Build On What You Know. Don’t Try To Get Into A New Sector Without Experience
The market is already tough. Do not try to “pivot” as people may have done during the pandemic.
For example, if you want to do a podcast in your next job, create your own YouTube show.
I started Tea Time SEO during the pandemic, and I really enjoyed it. Then, in November 2023, Mike asked me to co-host SEO Office Hours.
The show did not give me a new job, but it did help me market myself and allowed me to learn a new skill, which I feel more confident in applying in my new job.
3. Make Yourself Stand Out: Building Your Brand Is Key
According to iCiMS, in March 2024, there were 43 job applications per opening in the UK and EMEA, which is 44% higher than in February 2023.
If you do not know how to start your personal brand or what is your brand, have a friend or former colleague help you.
Brainstorm first what you want to be known for and have a neutral person (not your family) write down what they think your brand is all about.
4. Network
Make the most of your contacts. Go to networking events in your sector.
According to Money.co.uk, among the 2,000 people surveyed, 40% secured a job through networking. This is particularly true for Millennials. 50% of those who took part in the survey landed their job through networking.
5. LinkedIn
Do not be afraid to ask others for help. There is no shame in posting on LinkedIn if you are looking for work.
Globally, more than 220 million people used the “open to work” banner on Linkedin in January 2025, which is 35% higher than it was in January 2024.
I posted on LinkedIn that I was looking for work, and I have seen far more people do this in 2025 and 2024 than in previous years.
Posting that I was looking for work led me to others sharing the type of job I was after and also meant my current employer reached out to me.
6. Refresh Your CV
A friend of mine in Australia applied for 74 jobs between November 2023 and March 2024. They managed to secure a job after having their CV reviewed and amended.
Ideally, a CV should be no more than two pages and highlight the key achievements in the role you are applying for.
Many CVs describe what you did at the job, for example, managed the content on the website, created a PR campaign.
Instead, try to show the results. For example “I doubled the content on the news section and increased downloads by 40% over the space of 12 months.”
“I created and launched a PR campaign that drove 3,000 unique visits in one day, which was 75% more than what was seen in previous campaigns.”
7. Try Not To Do Too Much Free Work
We have seen an increase in the amount of unpaid work during the interview process.
I know many who have done presentations, only to be then told they are not successful.
According to a LinkedIn poll, 85% of respondents said they had been asked to do unpaid work during the interview process, with 44% of them spending three to five hours and over 19% over six hours.
If a company is asking you to do free work, ask them to specify the time for the tasks and when they expect to come back to you with an answer.
8. Make A Realistic Plan
Research the types of companies you want to work for, whether they are a big brand, whether they share the same values as you, or if they are 100% remote-only companies. Make a list and plan when you will apply to them.
Try not to overload yourself by applying for 10 jobs one day and one the next. Instead, plan it out evenly over the month.
I kept a Google Sheet so I could see where and what roles I applied to and was able to follow up if I had not heard back. It helped me with my job application process.
Out of the jobs I applied to, I heard from just 40% of them.
Out of those initial replies, I then followed up but had no further contact, meaning that 30% of those who initially messaged me ghosted me. Having this Google Sheet helped me to track my progress.
If you have a plan for the number of jobs you apply to and when, it is easier to control your hours.
9. Try Not To Take Things Personally
You cannot control whether or not someone will return to you, but you can manage how you react.
Some companies will not be transparent, and some companies will not respect your time. They will not get back to you to tell you no, the position has changed, or it has been canceled.
It can help to talk to a neutral party about your experience or even colleagues or friends in the same recruitment drive position as you.
10. Join Communities
Applying for jobs can be soul-destroying. Join communities where people can also share job opportunities.
People within these communities want to help one another and support one another, and they are more than happy to pass on referrals.
However, be careful, as there are still people within the communities who are looking for help but then do not reply.
Out of the jobs I applied to within a community, where people were asking for candidates to fill a role, 56% ghosted me.
11. Get A Mentor
I started speaking with a mentor after being in my “career” for 10 years. It is probably best to do this sooner rather than later.
According to Forbes, 76% of people think having a mentor is important, but only 37% have one.
A mentee may not know where to look for a mentor, but 61% of mentor relationships have developed naturally. Therefore, there may be someone at work or an older friend who could help you.
My last piece of advice is not to give up. Applying for jobs is soul-destroying, and you can really feel you are not making any progress, yet you spend hours researching and applying.
However, if you give up, as we are moving so fast in digital marketing, you will be moving backward.
You are not alone and will get work, just don’t give up.
Methodology:
Please note that my research covers the U.S. and UK markets. I applied for 160 jobs from when I started making a record, which was from April 2024 until December 2024. I applied for remote jobs in the UK, the U.S., and hybrid jobs in Barcelona. I used LinkedIn to find jobs, and also through the communities I am part of.
I posted on Linkedin in October 2024 that I was looking for a full-time job and I was contacted by a few people and I now have my job because of that. It took me 8 months of looking for work to secure a full-time contract. I had started looking before April 2024 as I could see the market was slowing down, but as I was going to become a parent and take a couple of months out, I was not apply to secure a full-time role. Therefore I started the research again after my child was born.
After speaking internationally for almost 20 years and reviewing professional presentations for speakers of all levels, from Search Engine Journal webinars to helping out my colleagues, I’ve developed a deep understanding of what makes presentations truly resonate.
Through this journey, I’ve studied how people receive information and connect with speakers, and ultimately, how influence works in these settings.
When I first started reviewing presentations and giving feedback, it was just some quick ideas I would share based on my own speaking experience.
But, as more speakers began reporting positive results and requesting my input, I realized my approach was genuinely helping others elevate their presentations.
That evolution led to me conducting all the dry runs for the presenters for Search Engine Journal webinars, something I take great pride in today.
As someone who has been immersed in speaker prep and presentation dynamics for years, I’ve observed patterns in what makes audiences lean in versus tune out.
I’ve really focused on what makes presentations work and why people want to hear the psychology of it all.
These insights aren’t just theoretical; they’ve been battle-tested across continents, industries, and presentation formats.
Let me share some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned about creating presentations that not only inform but also truly connect with your audience.
Master The Art Of Storytelling And Authenticity
People don’t connect with slide decks; they connect with stories and authentic experiences.
Your presentation needs a narrative backbone.
As Jennifer Aaker, professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, notes, “Stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone.”
This is backed by research showing that after a presentation, 63% of attendees remembered stories, while only 5% remembered statistics.
When you get in here, people are going to be a little apprehensive about being sold something. They always are. And also, people get distracted easily.
So, there is a sort of attention span, a sort of “how do I feel about you?” that works itself out throughout the presentation.
The most effective approach follows a three-part formula:
First, identify the problem that resonates with your audience. Everybody’s coming in because they have a problem. Make it painful and relatable: This problem is painful. You feel this problem sucks for you.
Second, establish that you’ve walked in their shoes: You connect that you also have this problem. You put yourself in the same space. You bring yourself to the same level as them.
Third, position your insights as the solution: I found a solution by spending an enormous amount of time and energy and work doing only this, because this is how crazy I am. This is just what it is.
Talk like you’re sharing insights with a friend at a bar who asked about your area of expertise. This conversational approach feels authentic rather than rehearsed.
Rethink Your Approach To Slides
Your presentation is for you, not for them. Slides should serve as visual anchors for your natural thought process, not as reading material for the audience.
For me, every slide has only one core required talking point. I could talk about more, but there’s only one that’s required before I can go to the next slide. So, if I ever lose my train of thought, all I have to do is go to the next slide and reset.
Here’s a powerful exercise I recommend: Build out your presentation and talk through it, then set it aside and have that same conversation without any slides. Your mental dialogue is your authentic story.
When you notice there’s a disconnection between your natural flow and your slide arrangement, adjust the slides, not your thinking.
If you find yourself jumping to slide seven when you should be on slide two, you don’t change your mind; you change the slides because your internal story is your authenticity.
This approach ensures that even if you get lost or distracted, as soon as you go to the next slide, you’ll immediately reconnect with your narrative flow.
Master The Psychology Of Audience Connection
Understanding psychological triggers that create a connection is essential for presentations that truly resonate.
People don’t need the right answer. They need to feel that they resonate with the answer they hear and that they came to it on their own.
So, you’re kind of giving them enough of a feeling that they’re in a mutual resolution step.
This creates a powerful dynamic: By putting them in that state, they become your friend and they believe in you.
People naturally want to share decision-making because it distributes responsibility. It’s hardwired into our survival instincts.
When painting problem scenarios, elaborate enough that everyone finds at least one element that resonates with their situation.
You can rattle off a list of problems so that each one of those problems resonates with somebody. By highlighting various issues, each person will find something that speaks to them.
This technique means everybody’s got an “OK, this relates to me” moment and they start solving their own problems through your guidance.
Strategic Engagement Through Pacing And Pauses
One often overlooked aspect of great presentations is giving audiences time to process information mentally.
People can’t process until you stop talking. They need a moment to process with their own audio, like their own internal dialogue.
Incorporate deliberate pauses after key points with simple phrases like:
Just think about that for a second.
Just absorb that for a second, and then let’s keep going.
Let’s wrap your head around that for a second.
Even microsecond pauses allow people to connect the dots and make the neurological connections they need to.
Without these processing moments, you’ll observe a classic case of “information overload,” where retention plummets regardless of content quality.
When speakers continuously deliver information without breaks, the audience simply can’t absorb what’s being shared, no matter how valuable it might be.
Expertly Navigate Transitions Between Topics
People come in and out of attention during presentations, so your storytelling needs to be consistent across all slides.
Every single time you shift the topic, remind them of where we just came from and where we are going in the journey. This makes everybody feel like they’re going along, like a tour guide.
Create these connective transitions with phrases like:
Well, now that we’ve got the setup done, in order to get us to the point where we can see the return on investment (ROI), we want to go and do this next, right?
Now that we’ve seen that side, let’s check out where they slept.
You’re essentially guiding people through a tour of your ideas, constantly reorienting them to maintain engagement regardless of attention fluctuations.
Time Management And Content Prioritization
Knowing yourself as a presenter is crucial for effective time management.
I would plan to have about 20 minutes for Q&A. And in order to do that, you want your presentation to be about 25 to 30 minutes.
It’s helpful to run through it, practice it, and know yourself. Do you talk fast when you’re actually doing it live? Do you digress and give a lot of extra examples? And it ends up going longer.
Remember that every minute you kind of go past is just a minute that’s taken away from Q&A. When prioritizing content, it’s better to go deeper on fewer topics than to rush through many.
If you have 10 things to share and you scale it down to four, but tell those four things in three different ways so that everybody can resonate with them and feel like they really mean something to them, they’ll walk away with more than if you just gave them 10 things that they can’t connect with.
Effectively Using Polls For Reengagement
I am not a fan of polls personally, but they do serve a crucial reengagement function during presentations.
What we look at polls for is a reconnection of the eyes on the screen. People get distracted, and they end up talking to colleagues and stuff. And when there’s a poll, it’s like, “Oh, I need to come and participate.”
Strategic poll placement matters: If you put them at the beginning, then you’re reconnecting them when they’re already reconnected, which is fine. But for that purpose, you’d want it a little bit later on, in the middle or something.
Polls can also segment your audience for targeted follow-up: Being able to identify pain points where you can adjust the wording when you send your emails afterwards and you reach out.
Technical Preparation For Seamless Delivery
Technical hiccups can derail even the best content, so preparation is essential.
Jump in about 10-15 minutes before and just do a tech check for basic stuff, like rebooting the system real quick. If you have a Cat cable, run it because it’s more stable. Little things like closing out programs would also help.
Having backup options is crucial: Having a PDF is a great way. You can still break off and go live if you want. Same thing with sharing your screen.
This preparedness ensures you can navigate potential technical challenges without losing momentum.
The Final Word On Presentation Excellence
Throughout my career, speaking around the world, I’ve found that the most impactful presentations blend technical skill with authentic human connection.
Whether you’re presenting to five people or 5,000, these principles hold true.
One speaker recently shared their experience, which reinforced my passion to keep sharing my speaking experience and thoughts: “Your presentation advice has been invaluable, Brent. You have this remarkable talent for making complex communication principles feel intuitive and actionable.
Since implementing your storytelling techniques and engagement strategies, I’ve felt more confident and authentic on stage, and my audiences are clearly more responsive. You’ve helped me transform from simply delivering content to creating genuine connections. Thank you for being such an insightful presentation partner.”
Remember that your audience isn’t looking for perfection; they’re looking for value delivered in a way that respects their time and intelligence.
As I often tell speakers I’m coaching: Nobody’s looking to break you. They’re genuinely there because they are trying to learn.
By consistently implementing these strategies, you’ll transform from simply presenting information to creating memorable experiences that drive real action and change. And ultimately, isn’t that what great speaking is all about?
Today’s question from Kazi is such an honest and important one for our industry. Kazi asks:
“I’m new to this sector. Should I start an agency as an one-man employee? I know it sounds ridiculous, but I am very much in need of work – more specifically, in need of money.
So, I think an agency will have better pull power than me working as a solo search engine optimizer because clients won’t get attracted if they see a new SEO learner…”
I understand that the crux of this question is, “Will you appear more legitimate and competitive if you are offering services as an agency rather than a solo contractor?”
However, I really want to address the more important aspect of this: Should you be offering SEO services for a fee as someone brand new to the industry?
My answer to that is no. Not only shouldn’t you be offering SEO services as an agency, but you also shouldn’t be offering them as a solo contractor if you are brand new to SEO.
Why SEO Is A Great Career Move
I completely get the appeal of this as a career move. On the face of it, SEO has no barriers to entry, which is great!
I fully recommend this industry to anyone passionate about analysis, psychology, creativity, sustainability, and technology.
You’ll hear me encourage it for people who like to problem-solve and find solutions that don’t have obvious answers.
I recommend it not only for those who have a background in creative pursuits, but also for those whose background is more tech-focused. It is a career that captures the interests of a lot of different types of people.
Not only does it give you the opportunity to earn money through skills that are in demand, but there are also no expensive overheads.
There are no formal qualifications needed and no regulatory bodies to convince. All you need is a computer, the internet, and the passion to develop your skills.
But it’s not easy.
There is a lot to learn before you can realistically start charging for your services. It is not just about the mechanics of SEO, but also how to apply them in different situations.
Risks To Clients
If you take on SEO work for a business or organization without knowing how to apply SEO concepts in practice, you could open them up to significant risk.
Learning On The Job
SEO is not a straightforward practice. There are a lot of variables and circumstances that affect what we might deem “good practice.” Because of this, you can’t apply a blanket solution to every situation you encounter.
If you are brand new to SEO, there may be nuances with your client’s industry, website, or tech stack that you aren’t aware of, which will impact how successful your strategy is.
A lot of SEO comes down to problem-solving. This is a skill that gets honed over time. As you encounter more situations and learn from what worked and what didn’t, you will become more adept at creating successful strategies.
If you are a brand-new SEO bearing full responsibility for the success of the organic performance of a client, you will come unstuck.
SEO is a great industry for learning on the job. However, if you are learning SEO from scratch, you don’t want the pressure of being the most senior SEO in the room. You will likely make mistakes, and these could be costly to your client.
May Cause Significant Traffic Loss
In some situations, a junior SEO working on a website alone could cause significant traffic loss for a client.
For example, you could accidentally set live a solution that de-indexes their whole site. You may not know how to guard against that sort of mistake. You could see your client’s organic traffic disappear in a matter of days.
These are risks that more experienced SEO professionals face as well, but after years of working in SEO, we can foresee what issues might arise from the recommendations we make.
Could Cause Financial Harm
If your SEO recommendations cause organic performance issues, your client’s revenue could be significantly affected.
If they run a business that relies on their website – and in particular, organic traffic – then your mistakes could be very costly.
People have lost jobs over organic traffic loss. Without much experience in SEO and no one more senior to help flag risks, this is something that you could easily cause.
Risks To You
Not only would charging for your services as an SEO when you’ve never done it before put your clients at risk, but it could also be harmful to you.
Significant Pressure
You will face significant pressure. You will be expected to set reasonable goals and achieve them in a timely manner.
Without much experience in SEO, that’s going to be incredibly difficult to do. You’ll either set unattainable goals that no SEO could realistically achieve, or you simply won’t have the skills to achieve more practical objectives.
With that, you will find yourself trying to appease an increasingly disgruntled client.
Any SEO professional who has worked as a freelancer or as part of an agency has had to have difficult conversations with a client. They have expected results that you have not been able to deliver.
However, an experienced SEO will be able to identify when that is likely to be the case and adapt strategy, or inform the client of more realistic timelines or goals.
They will also have ways to help the client feel like they are getting a genuine return on their investment, even if it’s not as much or as quickly as they had anticipated.
A brand-new SEO specialist simply will not know how to do that. It’s too much to expect from someone so early on in their career. You will likely feel the pressure of that.
Your lack Of Experience Will Be Discovered Quickly
The above is really a best-case scenario – you actually make it to the point where you have convinced clients to trust you, and you are beginning to see that you can’t hold up to the promised performance standards.
Most likely, your lack of knowledge and experience will be identified more quickly. You may be working with people with more SEO knowledge than you, such as marketers or product owners.
They may not consider themselves experts in SEO, but they will assume you are if you sell it as a service. They will probably be able to identify significant gaps in your knowledge very early on in your relationship.
Not only will that likely sour the client-agency relationship, but you may also find yourself without a client pretty quickly.
Could Have Legal Ramifications
In some situations, positioning yourself as someone who can get results through offering a service – without the ability to fulfill that – could be a breach of contract.
I would be very wary of making promises to clients about your abilities unless you are upfront that you are brand new to SEO and they are among your first-ever clients.
What You Could Try Instead
So, if I’ve managed to give you pause about committing to offering SEO services as a contractor or an agency, may I suggest some other ways forward?
You can still make money through a career in SEO, even if you are beginning to learn about it.
Join A Company As An Intern
You are clearly passionate about SEO if you are already thinking about starting a business working in the industry. That passion is a great start.
Consider finding an entry-level job in the SEO field and learning on the job in a more supportive, less pressured way.
You could find an agency or in-house position that values your drive and ambition but can support you with the right resources and opportunities to learn SEO while minimizing the risk to yourself and others.
Practice On Sites That You Can Fail With And Learn
If you are struggling to find employment within SEO but want to learn it to get into a position where you can legitimately offer SEO services, you need practice.
Do not practice on sites that rely on organic traffic. Instead, consider building your own sites around subjects you are passionate about and develop your experience and confidence in SEO.
You can make mistakes, weather traffic drops, and be hit by algorithm updates – all without risking anyone’s livelihood. Through that, you will develop the skills you need to work on other people’s sites.
I would still consider graduating to other sites where the risk is low. For example, volunteering your time to work alongside other SEO professionals.
Or, you could try optimizing the site of a friend who understands you are still learning SEO and is happy for you to practice and make mistakes on their site.
Set Up Your Own Site And Monetize It
If you are determined to make money through SEO right away, then build and optimize a site that you can monetize.
This might mean an affiliate site, or perhaps you can start a business that drop-ships.
Whatever course you take, make sure that the risk is minimal, and you will not suffer if you lose traffic and revenue while perfecting your SEO skills.
Make Sure You Have The Experience Before You Go Alone
Most importantly, understand that learning SEO well takes time.
You can easily read up on SEO and have a very high theoretical knowledge of it, but you still need to put what you’ve learned into practice.
This way, you will be able to understand how to adapt strategies for different goals or how to rally when performance doesn’t go as expected.
I want to encourage you to pursue a career in SEO, but I caution you against running before you can walk.
More Resources:
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
“As an SEO specialist for over 6 years now, what and where does one need to focus with regard to SEO in this current dispensation.
How can you distinguish yourself and standout as an SEO specialist in this era of generative AI and AI search engines?”
This is an excellent question because it goes right to the heart of concerns I hear from a lot of SEO professionals. They have managed to build a solid career and name for themselves as an SEO specialist, but it now feels like the game has changed.
They worry that the skills and experience that got them to this point will not be enough to keep them excelling.
I want to address those concerns, both from the perspective of job seekers and those looking to make an impression in their current role.
What’s Changed
Up until a couple of years ago, it felt like there were clear career choices for SEO specialists to make.
Employed or self-employed? In-house or agency? Technical SEO or content SEO? Small business or enterprise sites? People manager or hands-on practitioner?
These series of decisions, or simply circumstances we found ourselves in, shaped our career paths.
There were central components to SEO. Primarily, you would be working with Google. You would be measured on key performance indicators (KPIs) like clicks and conversions.
You could impress stakeholders by linking your work directly to revenue.
It doesn’t seem as simple as that now, though.
LLMs And Social Media
More recently, there has been a focus on looking at optimizing brands’ presence in other search platforms, not just Bing, Yandex, Baidu, and other regionally relevant search engines.
It now includes platforms not traditionally thought of as belonging to the purview of SEO: TikTok, Perplexity AI, and app stores.
KPIs And Metrics
Google’s walled garden is growing larger, and proving the worth of SEO is getting harder. It’s increasingly difficult to show growth in your share of organic clicks when the pot is getting smaller.
With more answers being given in the search results themselves, and a reduction in the need for clicks off the SERPs, tracking the impact of SEO isn’t straightforward.
With potential – and current – employers still looking at year-on-year clicks, impressions, and revenue growth as their measure of an SEO’s success, this makes standing out quite challenging.
The Skills That Remain Important
I fundamentally believe that the foundational principles of SEO remain unchanged.
However, how we apply them may change with the advent of LLMs and other search platforms.
Technical SEO
A crawl issue that is preventing Googlebot smartphone from accessing the key pages on your site will likely also affect PerplexityBot and OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot.
As an SEO, we will need to be able to identify where these bots are struggling to crawl pages. We will need to find solutions that enable them to access the pages we want to have served in their search results.
To stand out, make sure you are not just thinking Google-first with your technical solutions.
Consider the other sources of traffic, like LLMs and social media, which might be impacted by the decisions you are making.
Ensure you are also tracking and reporting on the impact of these changes across these other platforms.
However, how you discuss it and the actions you take will change.
From now on, not only are the Google algorithms important for how you create and optimize content, but so are a host of other algorithms.
You will need to consider how searchers are surfacing content through other search platforms. You will also need to know how to make sure your content is served as the result.
Make sure you are moving away from Google as the only algorithm to optimize for and towards the other drivers of traffic and visibility.
Digital PR
I would suggest that digital PR is becoming even more important.
As the search engines we are optimizing for become more numerous, the key factor that seems to unite them is a reward of “authority.”
That is, to give your content a chance of being served as a result in any search engine, it needs to be perceived as authoritative on the subject.
These newer search platforms will still need to use similar methods to Google in identifying expertise and authoritativeness. Digital PR will be key in that.
I do feel that we need to stop making backlinks the main priority of digital PR, however.
Instead, we need to start focusing on how we report on mentions, citations, and conversations about brands and products.
For example, we can look at social media engagement metrics as an indicator of authority. Brand perception may well be formed through forum discussions, reviews, and comments on social media sites.
Just because we know that Googlebot discounts links from some social media platforms in attributing authority doesn’t mean that the newer search engines will. Indeed, they will not rely on social media sites heavily to understand brands.
For now, set yourself apart by rethinking the purpose of digital PR for SEO. Look at the benefits to the brand as a whole and start factoring this into your strategies.
“Soft” Skills
I maintain that the most successful SEO professionals are those who have mastered the non-SEO-specific skills that make businesses work.
Strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and leadership skills are all critical to success not only in SEO, but also in any career.
To really stand out in the changing SEO industry, focus on how these skills will need to be applied.
For example, factor in social media and LLMs into your SEO strategies. Make sure you are not just focusing on Google, but introducing the idea that SEO is broader than that.
Make sure you are liaising with development teams to loop them into your ideas for how to make the site accessible to AI bots. Work on being a thought leader in LLMs and new search platforms for your company.
These sorts of skills are those that will really make you stand out, but you need to apply them with the future of SEO in mind. Future-proof your careers as well as your websites!
Cross-Platform Knowledge
This is probably the hardest one for some SEO specialists to do. Stop looking at Google as the source of all SEO performance and widen the net.
Get comfortable with the other AI search platforms that are beginning to send traffic to your site. Use them yourself, and get familiar with what sort of content they serve and why.
Use social media sites and forums that are where your audience discusses brands like yours. Make sure that you are aware of how they work, and how to participate in those discussions without negative backlash.
Stand out by looking outside of the narrow “Google is SEO” box.
Being An Expert In The New Era Of SEO
How, then, can you guarantee that you are still perceived as an expert in SEO while the goalposts are changing?
What will make you stand out when you are applying for new jobs right now?
How can you prove that your skillset is still relevant whilst others are proclaiming “SEO is dead” (again)?
Demonstrate Impact Through Other Channels
Look at how you can collaborate more with adjacent channels.
For example, I’ve mentioned that social media and forums will be key areas where LLMs will discern brand relevancy and trustworthiness. Work with your teams who are already on those platforms.
Start helping them in areas that you are already an expert, for example: understanding algorithms, creating optimized content and measuring brand authority.
Drive impact in those areas and report on it alongside your more traditional SEO metrics.
Demonstrate Impact Through Other Metrics That Still Line Up With Corporate Goals
Although we are used to reporting on metrics like clicks, rankings, and impressions for SEO, we may need to start looking at other metrics if we want to continue showing the worth of SEO.
For example, consider utilizing tools like Otterly and Goodie to measure visibility in AI search platforms. Or, at the very least, some of the more traditional search engine rankings tools also cover Google’s AI Overview visibility.
Use these tools to demonstrate how the work you are doing is impacting the brand’s performance in AI search platforms.
Continue to relate all work you do back to revenue, or other core conversion goals for your business. Don’t forget to show how traffic from LLMs is converting on your site.
Continue Learning
A key way to stand out in your SEO career at the moment is to show a willingness to upskill and diversify your skillset.
The SEO landscape is shifting, and as such, it’s important to stay on top of new platforms and how they work.
Share your findings in interviews and discussions with colleagues so you are highlighting what you’ve learned.
Although this may seem basic, you may find there are a lot of SEO professionals out there with their heads still buried in the sand when it comes to the evolution of the discipline.
Stand Out By Being Adaptable
At the end of the day, SEO is changing. That doesn’t mean that the skills we’ve developed over the past years are obsolete.
Instead, they are even more in demand as new platforms promise new avenues to reach prospective audiences.
The best way to stand out as an SEO in the current era of SEO is by being adaptable.
Learn how to apply your SEO skills to these emerging platforms and track your success.
More Resources:
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
Hiring the right digital marketer can make or break your marketing team.
With new tools, platforms, and regulations cropping up constantly, you’re not just looking for someone who “gets PPC” or can crank out social media posts.
You need a pro who can adapt to change, think strategically, and roll with the punches when things don’t go as planned (because they rarely do).
Whether you’re at an agency or in-house managing a marketing department, hiring for digital marketing roles today means going beyond surface-level questions.
It’s about diving deeper to understand how candidates think, problem-solve, and approach their craft in a way that aligns with your business goals.
Sometimes, the “why” behind these questions is more important than the question itself.
Here are 15 crucial interview questions to help you hire your next digital marketing rockstar.
Tactical Knowledge Questions
The first set of questions focuses on an individual’s tactical knowledge of digital marketing.
1. How Do You Use AI And Automation To Improve Your Campaigns?
This question uncovers whether the candidate is using these tools for better performance or simply riding the hype wave.
What to listen for: Candidates should provide specific examples, such as using AI for bid adjustments in PPC or helping analyze campaign data for better optimizations. Red flags include vague responses or over-reliance on automation without understanding its impact.
2. What’s Your Approach To Building And Refining Audience Segments For Targeted Campaigns?
Audience targeting has become more nuanced, and it’s a skill you can’t skip.
This question dives into their strategy for reaching the right people at the right time.
What to listen for: Specific techniques like combining customer relationship management (CRM) data with platform insights or testing lookalike audiences. Be wary of candidates who rely solely on pre-set audience templates without customization.
3. What Platforms Are Your Favorite To Work In, And Why?
Asking this question helps understand the individual’s strengths in certain channels, and where they could use room to grow.
What to listen for: A great digital marketer should be able to comfortably work across platforms and different tools. This is true whether you’re talking about hiring someone for PPC or SEO, or even a cross-channel marketer.
4. How Do You Leverage First-Party Data To Inform Your Campaigns?
What to listen for: A candidate may talk about strategies like email segmentation, loyalty programs, or even how they’ve approached capturing first-party data to ensure they’re able to properly use them in campaigns. A potential red flag is relying on outdated cookie-based methods without a backup plan.
5. Can You Share An Example Of Using Cross-Platform Advertising That Has Driven Results?
As digital marketers, we know most campaigns aren’t “one and done” on a single platform. Candidates need to show how they think holistically about digital ecosystems.
What to listen for: Strong examples include integrating Google Ads with Meta campaigns or leveraging TikTok for awareness and retargeting on a different platform. A red flag is a candidate focusing only on one platform without considering how they interconnect and inform each other.
6. What’s Your Experience With Data Visualization Tools, And How Do You Present Campaign Performance To Stakeholders?
Explaining results is just as important as achieving them. This question gets into their communication skills and ability to tell a story with data.
What to listen for: Candidates should mention the use of different tools like Looker Studio and explain how they tailor reports to different audiences. Watch out for overly technical explanations that might confuse stakeholders.
Strategic Knowledge Questions
It’s not only important to know how to do the job, but also to know why you’re doing what you’re doing.
The next set of questions allows you to dive deeper into the candidate’s mindset and see if they can put the strategic pieces together for clients.
7. How Do You Stay On Top Of Industry Changes, And What’s Something You’ve Learned Recently That Impacted Your Work?
The digital landscape changes every single day.
If someone isn’t staying current with best practices and platform changes, it can be detrimental to client success. You need to have someone on the team who is fully aware of any changes in the industry that could impact performance.
What to listen for: Understanding what methods a candidate uses to stay “in the know” is important. If a candidate says they’re too busy to set aside time to read up on trends, I’d consider that a red flag.
8. Have You Had To Pivot A Campaign Due To Changing Data Privacy Regulations?
Data privacy laws have changed the name of the game, especially in PPC.
This question tests how the candidate navigates regulations while keeping campaigns effective and compliant.
What to listen for: Look for examples like shifting to first-party data or adjusting targeting strategies in light of GDPR or CCPA. Red flags include ignoring compliance issues or struggling to adapt when audience data becomes restricted.
9. How Do You Measure Success Across Different Types Of Campaigns?
Success isn’t one-size-fits-all. The answer should show how they align goals, metrics, and performance analysis for various strategies.
What to listen for: Candidates should mention setting specific KPI goals based on the channel and objective of a campaign. Be wary of those who rely on vanity metrics like impressions without tying them to business outcomes.
10. How Do You Explain Complex Answers To A Client Or Someone In A C-Suite Role?
This will inevitably happen in any digital marketing role. It’s easy when you’re working as a team, and everyone knows the ins and outs of acronyms, in the weeds content.
Sometimes, you need to explain something like you’re talking to a third grader. Less is more.
Green flags to listen for:
Candidates who know how to navigate their language based on the role of the person they’re talking to.
When a candidate has the knowledge of basic business questions that the role cares about.
They know how to explain the “why” behind performance peaks and valleys.
Red flags to listen for:
Does the candidate dance around this question?
Is this candidate someone who might have difficulty thinking on their feet?
Do they believe in sharing too much data in order to avoid questions?
Culture & Fit Questions
This last set of questions is really looking at the long-term impact of your digital marketing hire.
You’re not looking to hire temporarily; you’re hiring for the long haul.
You want to feel confident in your candidate selection based on their character, the ability to collaborate with others (teams and clients), and, of course, the empathy factor.
11. What Is Your Management Style, And How Do You Ensure Alignment Within A Team?
Leadership and collaboration are critical in marketing roles.
This question helps asses how their approach complements your team dynamics.
Green flags to listen for: Strong candidates will mention fostering open communication, using clear goal-setting frameworks, or adapting their style to individual team members.
Red flags to listen for: If you notice any micro-management tendencies or when the candidate avoids conflict resolution.
12. How Do You Balance Working Independently With Collaborating Across Departments?
Similar to the question above, digital marketers often juggle solo tasks with cross-functional initiatives.
Everyone performs their duties well in different scenarios. In some cases, digital marketers are required to work alone, on a team, or both.
This question highlights their adaptability to working together as a team versus in a silo.
What to listen for: Examples of successfully managing independent projects while aligning with other team departments. Be cautious of candidates who struggle to collaborate, communicate, or prefer working in silos.
13. Can You Describe A Time You Contributed To Maintaining A Positive Team Culture?
A strong company culture is key to retention and productivity.
This question reveals how they value and influence workplace dynamics.
What to listen for: Specific instances where they recognized a fellow colleague, facilitated team bonding, or helped resolve conflicts. Avoid candidates who dismiss culture-building as unimportant.
14. How Do You Handle Constructive Feedback, Both Giving And Receiving It?
Feedback is essential for any type of growth. This question assesses their ability to engage in productive conversations.
What to listen for: Look for examples of accepting feedback gracefully, acting on it, and offering constructive criticism thoughtfully. Red flags include defensiveness or avoiding difficult conversations.
15. What Are You Looking For In This Role?
Personally, I used to cringe at this question. Now, I find myself asking this to anyone I interview.
Bringing in a new person to an organization costs a lot of time and money. Think of all the training that goes into a new hire, the staffing that’s required to help train and mentor them, etc.
What to listen for: If they don’t have a clear answer, that’s a potential red flag. Are they simply looking for a stepping-stone position? While there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s better to know upfront to align expectations for both parties.
At the end of the day, do their motives fit in with your company’s culture and values? If not, they likely aren’t the right candidate.
Wrapping It Up
Hiring the right digital marketer isn’t just about finding someone with a great resume.
It’s about finding someone who fits with your team, aligns with your company goals, and has the skills to thrive in an ever-changing space.
Use these questions to dig deeper and uncover candidates who have the mix of experience, adaptability, and strategic thinking you need for this year and beyond.
Because let’s face it: You’re not just hiring for today’s challenges – you’re hiring for tomorrow’s opportunities.
Advancing your in-house SEO career can be incredibly lucrative and fulfilling. But most advice is theoretical, too high-level, and comes from people who haven’t done it.
I had the good fortune of a very fruitful in-house career, leading large organizations at companies like Atlassian, G2, or Shopify.
Over the recent years, I have had the honor of helping companies like Ramp, Hims, Nextdoor, and many others hire top-tier talent and design effective teams.
But my experience is subjective, so I asked four of the most accomplished SEO pros in the world to share their insights as well (you can find their full answers at the end of the Memo):
Image Credit: Kevin Indig
Thank you so much for sharing your valuable insights!
The 5 Core Competencies Of SEO
SEO professionals need five core competencies to succeed in the long-term, that I broke down into three skills each.
I created the framework based on John’s, Malte’s, Jordan’s, Tom’s, and my own experience. Each skill is critical. You cannot just be strong in four. You need to be strong in all of them to succeed in the long term.
Image Credit: Kevin Indig
Skill 1: Communication
Communication is made up of alignment, collaboration, and outward communication.
Creating internal alignment means helping everyone understand what matters in SEO to get buy in, but also contemplate what’s happening in a crisis. For example, when an algorithm update hits your site.
Since SEO is a recommended discipline, it’s critical to collaborate effectively with supporting teams like engineering, design, content, etc., and adjacent teams like legal or procurement.
Outward communication, the way you present yourself and the company at events or on social media, matters it comes to hiring new talent and raising your company’s reputation.
Skill 2: Learning
Learning breaks down into adaptability, experience, and filtering information.
Adaptability is important because Google’s algorithms and design change a lot. Just think about the shift we’re going through with AI search right now. So, you need to be able to shift gears, leave old mental models behind, and develop new ones. You can learn about SEO, but doing it is a different kind of beast. To learn, you can have one or more side projects to tinker with or analyze and reverse engineer other sites.
It’s also important to at least know the basics of other disciplines because they all impact SEO: copywriting, positioning and messaging, conversion optimization, design, web development, and product development.
Lastly, get good at filtering information. What do you read? How do you learn from experiments, and how well are you connected to the industry so you can learn from peers?
Skill 3: Business Savviness
Business savviness breaks down into planning, focus, and execution.
Planning is a crucial skill for almost anything in life. You need to be good at setting goals, priorities, timings, and responsibilities. Planning also includes knowing what resources you need and pitching for them. Also, develop proficiency in forecasting and projecting impact.
Focus is the skill of working on the most important projects while tuning out the noise. It’s measuring the right data to know whether you’re successful and to report upwards and sideways.
Good execution is really hard. In my experience, it comes down to good project management but also understanding how your business and industry work.
Technicality doesn’t mean technical SEO but the skills of automation, data analysis, and a general technical understanding.
Automation is about doing work more efficiently while controlling for dependencies and liabilities. This skill is rapidly becoming more important as AI gets better. It used to be about proficiency with Excel, Google Sheets, SQL, web analytics, etc. But in the future, a lot of it will come down to prompt engineering and workflow automation.
Data analysis is the skill of getting and analyzing data, i.e., knowing which data to look at and how to interpret it well.
A good technical understanding comes down to learning how Google works but also being “technical” enough to talk to engineers and product managers. For example, you want to learn what tech stack your company’s site and application is built on, how the engineering team works, etc.
Leadership is the result of advocacy, hiring, and relationship building. To be clear, you should develop leadership qualities, whether you have management responsibility or not.
Advocacy means representing SEO where it matters. It demands you to proactively find out where conversations happen that impact SEO and how to influence them.
Good hiring skills come down to whether you have a high bar and if you can bring in good talent. Who do you know, and how do you evaluate them for the job?
Relationship building is critical for rapport with your manager and peers. You need allies and “friends” to lean on and learn from. Part of this is getting good at coaching others and finding a good coach.
The five core competencies offer you a helpful overview of what you need to develop. But without understanding how to apply them, they’re only half as useful.
General Vs. Specific Skills
Everybody needs to be proficient in the five core competencies, but you need to adjust the emphasis of your skills based on the industry and business model of the company you work for.
I have three tips for you:
Learn more about technical SEO and product development when you work on larger sites, usually in B2C. Get better at demand generation and content marketing for smaller sites, usually in B2B. The reason is that you want to align your skills with the biggest growth levers of the business.
Develop expertise in SERP Features that matter for your industry. For example:
News: top stories.
Ecommerce: product grids.
SaaS: video carousels.
SMB: Map Packs.
Tailor your skills to the size and maturity of a company. For example, in startups it’s more important to execute fast while you need to invest more time into creating alignment at large enterprises.
Hard Vs. Soft Skills
Hard skills are not as important as soft skills in SEO because you need to constantly adapt to Google changes and learn new hard skills as tech and consumer behavior evolve.
I recommend writing down and refining your mental model about how Google works and what drives success.
Forcing yourself to explain and think about why things are the way they are allows you to truly refine your approach to SEO.
You need to balance two things at the same time: being confident in your approach but open to new insights. Jeff Bezos: “Strong opinions, loosely held.”
Career Planning
This is hard, but most people never think about where they want to be and what it takes to get there.
But without focus, it’s easy to dabble in too many areas and waste time. What are you optimizing for?
Think about your endgame and what you need to get there. Remember, you can always change your goal. But have one.
I love Ray Dalio’s five-step framework for endgame planning 1:
Have clear goals.
Identify and don’t tolerate the problems that stand in the way of your achieving those goals.
Accurately diagnose the problems to get at their root causes.
Design plans that will get you around them.
Do what’s necessary to push these designs through to results.
I want to finish by leaving you with some top-notch resources you can use to keep developing yourself.
1. Malte suggests Learning SEO by Aleyda Solis, probably the most comprehensive repository of SEO learning material.
I present to you the raw inputs I got from John, Tom, Jordan, and Malte:
What core skills and knowledge areas are essential for success in SEO today, and how do you recommend developing them?
Jordan Silton: If I were recreating my personal career path, I would emphasize technical expertise, data analysis, communication skills, and business acumen.
However, SEO roles today are so varied across different business types, industries, and strategies that a multitude of skills are valuable and relevant.
Malte Landwehr: I think SEO has become so diverse that there is no longer one set of skills.
A technical SEO needs very different skills from a content-marketing-focused SEO. A director of SEO needs very different skills from a principal SEO consultant. The SEO work for a B2B SaaS looks totally different from the SEO work for a marketplace or aggregator. News SEO is completely different from ecommerce SEO.
If I had to pick the traits that helped me the most, I would say:
The ability to simultaneously hold multiple, contradicting frameworks and mental models in your head. Two SEOs might tell you two completely different models, how they implement SEO. Both might be wrong – but you might still learn something from both approaches.
Embrace uncertainty. When reverse engineering the Google algorithm, there are many unknowns. You need to get comfortable with that.
ELI5 & ELIPhD. You need to be able to explain SEO to everyone. During your career, you might talk to a CEO, CFO, CMO, CTO, CPO, Head of Web Product, Product Manager, Content Editor, Software Developer, Analyst, and many other roles. Each of these people needs different information. And to convince them, you need to tell different stories. You must develop the ability to talk to each of them.
John Shehata: Today’s SEO landscape has evolved from a generalist approach to a more specialized one. We now see technical SEOs, content SEOs, commerce SEOs, and many more.
The most critical skill right now is adaptability. Google’s algorithms are becoming more sophisticated, advanced, and complex, requiring SEOs to maneuver through frequent changes and quickly pivot strategies when necessary.
Developing this skill involves staying informed through industry updates, engaging with the community, and experimenting to see what works in real time.
Equally important is the ability to think with a business mindset. Historically, SEOs have been focused heavily on driving traffic, but generating traffic for traffic’s sake is no longer enough.
SEOs today need to align their strategies with business goals and revenue streams, focusing on attracting the right audience that converts rather than casting the widest net possible. This shift requires optimizing content not just to attract visitors but to support key business objectives.
Additionally, leveraging AI is essential – not just for automating tasks but for enhancing your analysis and decision-making.
AI can streamline workflows, handle complex data analysis, and support content optimization, allowing SEOs to focus on strategic tasks.
To build these skills, SEOs should learn about AI tools, experiment with them, and stay updated on new developments.
However, none of these skills will be fully effective without strong communication abilities. Being able to translate complex SEO insights into clear, actionable recommendations for non-technical stakeholders is invaluable.
This involves bridging the gap between technical teams and business units, ensuring that all departments are aligned and moving toward shared objectives.
Lastly, data analytics is a foundational skill that ties everything together. A deep understanding of data helps uncover hidden opportunities and supports informed, strategic decisions.
Mastery of tools like Google Analytics, BigQuery, and Looker Studio will allow SEOs to extract meaningful insights that can shape strategies, validate recommendations, and ultimately drive better business outcomes.
Tom Critchlow: This will be no surprise to those who know me, but business skills are critical.
The ability to first understand the full revenue profile and mechanics of the companies you work with, and then being able to communicate confidently, credibly, and clearly.
SEO is more than ever a cross-functional activity and so what we consider “soft skills” are actually critical to be able to convince teams, stakeholders, clients and organizations to invest appropriately in SEO.
Of course, you need some knowledge of SEO too! I think the ideal career experience is a role that allows you to invest in your technical and analytical SEO skills while getting a front-row seat to the wider business context and communication.
What pivotal experiences contributed most to your professional growth?
Jordan Silton: I’ve been fortunate to keep learning different roles, and each shift into a new context accelerated my growth.
Starting in paid search/SEM taught me to monitor KPIs, optimize for ROI, and use an experimental approach to improvement.
Evolving a reporting team into a data science and experimentation team expanded my understanding of how teams and metrics connect across the entire business.
Becoming a product leader was transformational in teaching me how to build consensus and influence to move a business forward.
Malte Landwehr: For me personally, it was a combination of three things:
I started tinkering with websites in my early teen year. I did everything on my own, from repairing corrupted SQL databases, to editing .htaccess files, creating content, attracting visitors, and former partnerships for monetization. This allowed me to understand the full picture of running a website.
I studied Computer Science with a focus on graph algorithms, web scraping, machine learning, information retrieval, and NLP. This allowed me to form a deep understanding of Google’s algorithms and patents.
I worked in Management Consulting. One thing I oversaw was making sure our PowerPoint slides can be read on a BlackBerry in the backseat of a car. This gave me the skills to talk to the C-level and craft proper proposals.
John Shehata: My career growth has been shaped by a diverse range of experiences.
Coming from a technical background as a software engineer and transitioning to marketing has given me a strong foundation.
One key moment was learning to translate complex SEO concepts into a language that editorial, PR, and marketing teams could understand, which helped bridge the gap between SEO needs and business objectives.
Another pivotal decision early in my career was to become a well-rounded marketer instead of specializing only in SEO.
I gained expertise in social media when platforms like Twitter and Facebook were in their infancy, built one of the first social media teams for a major news publisher, and developed a deep understanding of newsletters and partnerships. This diverse experience allowed me to eventually lead global audience development strategies for large organizations.
Managing cross-functional teams was another formative experience.
Working closely with development and engineering teams taught me to speak their language, advocate for SEO needs, and propose technical solutions that accelerated our initiatives.
While working with Editorial teams taught me how to respect the craft and appreciate all the due diligence that goes into writing content.
Working with all these different teams and understanding their strengths and needs, strengthened my ability to push back when necessary and collaborate effectively, which is crucial for driving SEO projects forward within complex organizations.
One of the most fulfilling aspects of my career has been mentoring and team building. I’ve had the privilege of hiring hundreds of SEOs and mentoring some of the best SEOs in the industry, helping them develop their own skills and grow into leadership roles.
Watching them succeed has been one of the most rewarding parts of my journey.
Finally, a turning point in my career was the conscious effort I made to build my personal brand.
Early on, I had supportive managers who encouraged me to refine my public speaking skills and present within the company.
I took these opportunities seriously, which eventually led to my first speaking engagement at SES 18 years ago, the largest SEO conference at the time with thousands of attendees.
From there, I focused on establishing my presence both online and offline, which not only advanced my career but also opened doors for me to promote my own software solutions.
Building a personal brand has proven invaluable in expanding my influence and credibility in the industry.
Tom Critchlow: My first job in digital was as an account manager for a digital agency. The first week on the job the account director and the SEO director both quit!
So, I was left speaking directly to clients about SEO with zero experience. Great way to learn both sides of the equation.
After that, working at Distilled, my brother Will taught me everything I know. I am forever indebted to his guidance.
What are the biggest mistakes you made or have seen others make in developing their career?
Jordan Silton: Most of my early career success was predicated on finding an issue or problem or opportunity and shining a light on it to get others to rally and fix it.
That approach worked well in a world of technical audits and a focus purely on what to do, rather than how to get it done.
I wish I had understood earlier how crucial it is to build up the people and relationships along the way.
In larger organizations (and small ones, too), success is almost exclusively driven by teamwork and communication rather than individual expertise.
Recognizing the value of people in the process transformed my approach, and I believe it has made me a more effective leader.
Malte Landwehr: For a long time, I underestimated the impact a good coach can have. Mindset and manifestation sound like a scam. But they work – also beyond career topics.
John Shehata: One mistake I made early on was focusing too much on rankings as a primary metric. While rankings are a great indicator, they are not the ultimate measure of success.
As I matured, I evolved to focus on traffic, and ultimately how SEO metrics align with overall business goals.
Now, my primary focus is on understanding how each SEO activity impacts revenue and long-term business growth.
I’ve also seen many SEOs panic over algorithm updates. While these changes can be disruptive, a better approach is to remain calm, evaluate the impact, and create both immediate and long-term action plans.
Sometimes, Google reverses its changes, so it’s important not to overreact.
Another common mistake is made by managers transitioning into director roles. Many struggle with balancing tactical and strategic thinking. They might dive into tactical details when speaking with C-level executives instead of focusing on strategy.
Mastering the art of switching between tactical and strategic conversations is crucial for career growth at this level.
Tom Critchlow: Not giving yourself access to context. Whatever role you’re in, if you’re not in the room where budgets are discussed and decisions are made, then you’re missing so much context.
So much of this comes down to your manager and how much they invite you into conversations “above your pay grade,” so to speak.
How do you think strategically about your career?
Jordan Silton: My favorite question about career aspirations is, “What’s your endgame?”
While it’s not crucial to stick to the same endgame, having a clear vision of what you want to achieve is vital.
My aspiration has been fairly consistent in helping businesses turn themselves around and accelerate growth, but my approach has evolved.
Initially, I thought that meant becoming a management consultant, but I was able to reframe this early in my career by realizing that agencies had significant leverage in this area.
This mindset guided my career decisions, including transitioning in-house to gain insight into internal business dynamics and knowing when to leave a successful, industry-leading business to explore opportunities with companies focused on reimagining and rebuilding their brands.
Having an end state to point toward – no matter how much you zigzag to get there – helps ground you in your professional journey.
Malte Landwehr: I am in the incredibly lucky and privileged position that I found something that I thoroughly enjoy doing, happen to be very good at it, and that companies are willing to pay a lot of money for.
I just show up every day at work and focus on whatever task sounds reasonable (and fun) to me.
John Shehata: I’ve always focused on becoming a well-rounded digital marketer rather than a specialist. My strategy was to gain experience across different channels – SEO, social media, newsletters, partnerships, etc. – so I could integrate these areas into a cohesive strategy.
This approach has paid off as I moved into senior leadership roles, where I was able to oversee not just SEO but broader audience development strategies.
Now, as the founder of an SEO software company, my focus has shifted significantly.
Running a SaaS startup requires wearing many hats – product development, sales, support, and client relations – each demanding its own set of skills.
My strategy now is centered on building long-term relationships, and deeply understanding my customers, identifying their pain points, and positioning our software as a long-term solution rather than just a tactical tool.
This means continuously evaluating how our products can deliver real value and helping publishers see the impact through clear, actionable insights.
It’s a constant balance between addressing immediate customer needs and aligning those solutions with their long-term business goals.
In addition, I place a strong emphasis on long-term skill building. I focus on developing skills that I anticipate will be critical in the next 5 to 10 years, such as AI, automation, and business development.
Staying ahead of the curve is essential in such a fast-evolving industry, and it’s important to proactively build expertise in emerging areas.
Another crucial element of my strategy is networking. Building a strong network has consistently opened new doors and opportunities for collaboration.
It’s not just about who you know, but ensuring that the people in your network know the value you bring to the table.
By fostering genuine relationships and contributing to the community, I’ve been able to establish connections that have proven invaluable throughout my career journey.
Tom Critchlow: There’s a great post on a 40-year career that uses a framework of “pace, people, prestige, profit and learning” where different career/life stages require different focus. I like that a lot.
Personally, I’ve always been motivated by learning primarily – the ability to learn new skills and new industries.
Can you suggest any resources or material for career growth?
Jordan Silton: Three books that come to mind immediately are “Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers Into Leaders” by L. David Marquet, “The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande, and “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It” by Christopher Voss and Tahl Raz.
Each of these challenges traditional norms and presents innovative approaches grounded in science and contemporary insights.
Additionally, I’m excited about what Evan LaPointe is building at CORE Sciences. His team leverages clinical insights from neuroscience to evolve business thinking, addressing the many counterproductive norms that persist in the workplace. It’s time to upgrade our understanding, thinking, and practices for better outcomes.
Malte Landwehr: https://learningseo.io/ is the only resource you need to advance your SEO career.
John Shehata: The resources you should focus on depend on where you are in your career.
For early-stage professionals, I recommend mastering tactical skills using resources like Aleyda’s Learning SEO, Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO, WIX, Semrush, or Ahrefs’ Academy.
As you progress, start exploring strategic resources like Kevin’s Growth Memo newsletter.
For more experienced professionals and SaaS owners, I suggest diving into leadership books like “Leaders Eat Last” by Simon Sinek or exploring resources that help you develop a business mindset, Rand Fishkin’s “Lost and Founder,” case studies from Harvard Business Review.
Additionally, staying connected with the SEO community through conferences, webinars, and podcasts is invaluable for continuous learning and networking.
One thing that applies across all stages is the need to stay updated.
SEO and digital marketing are constantly evolving, and keeping a pulse on the latest Google algorithm updates, industry changes, and new tools is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge.
Beyond reading, mentorship is a powerful tool for career growth. Finding a mentor in your field, or becoming one for others, accelerates learning in ways that books and courses alone cannot.
Teaching and guiding others not only solidifies your own understanding but also deepens your expertise.
Finally, hands-on experience is irreplaceable. No amount of reading or watching tutorials can substitute for real-world application.
Create your own projects, build websites, do your own affiliate content, and test different strategies.
Experimenting firsthand is the best way to learn what works and, just as importantly, what doesn’t.
Ultimately, it’s the combination of learning, mentorship, and practical application that will propel your career forward.
Tom Critchlow: I mean, I’m biased, but I think a lot of the SEO MBA archives are relevant!
In particular, the SEO skills maturity matrix is my most popular all-time post and looks at career progression, specifically balancing the “hard” and “soft” skills you need as you grow.
