How To Become An Independent SEO Consultant (And Succeed) via @sejournal, @olgazarr

Since I began doing SEO in 2012, my biggest dream has been to work as an independent SEO consultant.

However, it was not until a decade later that I was able to realize my dream.

It wasn’t an easy journey, and I made plenty of mistakes along the way. If only I had known then what I know now, I could have achieved my goal in half the time or less.

In this article, I will share with you 10 essential steps to become an independent and successful SEO consultant. These steps will help you achieve your goals faster.

All steps are based on my 12+ years of experience in SEO which includes freelancing, agency SEO, in-house SEO, and professional SEO consulting. Let’s get started.

Make Sure Becoming An SEO Consultant Is Really What You Want

The role of an SEO consultant may seem like an ideal profession, but it’s not for everyone.

Although it offers many advantages, such as autonomy, versatility, and huge earning opportunities, some individuals may find the downsides unacceptable.

Before making a decision to go solo, weigh all the pros and cons.

Some drawbacks of being an SEO consultant working independently include potential deal-breakers:

• You don’t have paid leave, maternity leave, or sick days unless you make special arrangements with your clients or have other passive sources of income.
• You should have at least a few contracted monthly SEO clients to feel relatively secure.
• You will probably be working more than 40 hours a week, including over weekends.
• Work-life balance may be harder to achieve compared to if you had a 9-to-5 job.

If the above doesn’t discourage you, then working as an SEO consultant might be a suitable profession.

1. Become Obsessed With SEO

Obsession with SEO is probably the most important element of being a successful SEO consultant.

Without that, you won’t be able to track and adapt to what’s happening in the world of SEO, which is changing rapidly.

You should live and breathe SEO; learning new things should be your top priority.

This includes but is not limited to a thorough study of the Google SEO documentation, reading popular SEO blogs like Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, or Search Engine Roundtable, attending conferences, completing high-level SEO courses, listening to SEO podcasts, or watching other SEO pros share their knowledge on YouTube.

Without obsession, you will quickly become overwhelmed by SEO because this industry is very demanding.

2. Build & Break Your Websites

True SEO experience and knowledge come from practice. The only way to gain practical knowledge is by building and optimizing your sites.

The following may sound harsh, but this is the truth:

• You will never be a good SEO specialist if you don’t have a portfolio of your websites.
• You will never understand SEO unless you build, rank, and break websites.

If you are afraid of getting your hands dirty, then you should not pursue this career.

Theoretical SEO knowledge won’t get you far. I mean it.

In an ideal world, you should have a few websites that are doing well and have a decent amount of organic traffic. You can use those websites to showcase your skills to potential clients.

Additionally, you need a bunch of churn-and-burn websites that you are not afraid of tanking. These are the test websites that you can use to test the craziest SEO techniques.

Want to test if Google can index 100K words in the title? Use your churn-and-burn site to test that.

And this brings us to the next point.

3. Do SEO Testing

Theoretical knowledge is super important, but it gains actual power only after you put it into practice.

Whenever you learn about a new SEO theory or a ground-breaking SEO tip, test it.

Does the method this SEO guru shared work every time?

Will changing the H1 into something else move your page up or down?

Will the result be the same in all cases? Are there any variables that can potentially influence the results?

These are just a few of the questions you should be asking yourself every time you are analyzing whether something works.

Of course, in most cases, you do not want to do SEO tests and experiments on your clients’ sites (unless they want you to and are aware of possible consequences).

The best place to do SEO testing is your test websites.

Did I mention that setting up a test website takes a couple of minutes and costs practically nothing?

4. Work At SEO agencies

The experience you gain working at SEO agencies is probably the most valuable, especially at the beginning of your SEO career.

Not only are you exposed to various projects, but you are also among other more experienced SEO specialists.

Moreover, most agencies provide solid SEO training for new employees. And whenever you get stuck at something, you always have a few smarter SEO pros to ask for help.

In addition, working at SEO agencies teaches you how to work with SEO clients, create work processes, scale your work, and loads more.

Ideally, you should have a few years of experience working at different SEO agencies, both small and big, before going solo.

5. Work In-House

In-house SEO is different from agency SEO. You need a different set of skills to be a good in-house SEO. And to work in-house, you need some previous experience.

As an in-house SEO expert, you are the person responsible for creating and executing the SEO strategy from start to finish.

In most cases, this is what you will be doing as an independent SEO consultant.

Therefore, to succeed as a solo SEO consultant, you will need a blend of in-house and agency experience.

If you are a beginner in SEO, you should start working at an SEO agency and then consider going in-house.

6. Build Your E-E-A-T From Day One

E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, is something you should be building from day one as an SEO pro.

Even though initially, E-E-A-T (previously just E-A-T) related only to medical or financial professions, it now relates to every niche that even slightly connects to YMYL (Your Money Your Life).

SEO is no exception. As an SEO consultant, you will impact your clients’ financial and life decisions.

And that’s not the only reason.

Now, more than ever, you need to stand out from the crowd of faceless AI fakes. And the only way to do it is by having and demonstrating E-E-A-T.

Your SEO clients will come to you because they trust you, recognize you, or want to use your SEO experience.

That’s why I recommend starting to build your SEO brand way before you go solo.

Here are the steps that can help you do that:

• Build your SEO consultant website and start sharing your SEO knowledge there. Make sure you are sharing something unique or your unique spin on something. Avoid repeating what others have said thousands of times (especially with the use of AI).
• Share your unique SEO insights, observations, and tips on social media channels popular among SEO professionals (like X/Twitter or LinkedIn).
• Don’t be afraid of tagging well-known SEO professionals in your social media posts or asking them for feedback.
• Publish expert guest articles on well-known SEO blogs like Search Engine Journal. Be aware that you won’t be able to do it right away. You will have to earn your reputation a bit at first.
• Pitch to speak at SEO conferences. If a huge conference does not accept you, try your luck with the smaller ones.
• Publish the results of your SEO tests or your SEO case studies.
• Create your SEO newsletter and share your best knowledge with your subscribers. This will also allow you to be less reliant on traffic from a single source (like only from Google or social media).

7. Network With Other SEO professionals

Real SEO growth and education happen when you combine your knowledge with the knowledge of other SEO professionals.

SEO pros – even the most popular ones and the biggest names in the industry – are super helpful and friendly. They will help you or provide feedback if you ask them.

Don’t be afraid of reaching out to other more experienced or more popular SEO professionals. The worst that can happen is that they won’t answer your message or answer it with a delay.

I had been living under a rock for seven years before I created my SEO consultant website, started sharing my knowledge, and began to reach out to other SEO pros. Don’t make my mistake.

8. Get Prepared For The Transition

Transitioning from an SEO job to an independent SEO consultant does not have to be scary. There are two ways of making the transition.

Depending on how much risk you are willing to tolerate and how much money you have saved up, you can either:

Give Up Your Job And Focus On Building Your SEO Consultancy Full-time

This may mean you will not have any revenue for a few months, so this option may not be possible for everyone.

However, you will have 40 (or probably more) hours a week to build your SEO brand, set up your processes, and/or publish interesting articles about your favorite topic in SEO.

Simultaneously Add Other Income Streams While Still Having A Job As An SEO Pro

This is probably the safest path for most SEO pros, as we all have our financial obligations and families to provide for.

In this scenario, you start building your brand a few years before you plan on going solo.

You go solo only when you have enough revenue from other sources like your own clients or affiliate/sponsorship deals with SEO tool providers.

For me, the transition point was when I had 50% of my income from my job, and I could easily live off the other 50% for 6 to 8 months.

The downside of this option is that you will have to work after hours and probably over weekends for a few months or years. However, it pays off.

9. Tips On Getting SEO Clients

How do I get new clients? How do I make this profitable? What if I don’t have any projects to work on?

The single most scary aspect of becoming a solo SEO consultant is getting new clients and sustaining the existing ones.

Here are my top tips and insights:

• Share your unique SEO knowledge and experience through in-depth articles or video tutorials. If they are good, they will bring you lots of leads.
• Add useful and helpful comments on specific LinkedIn posts where people ask for advice or want other SEO pros to share feedback. Take your time to analyze the topic and provide an exhaustive answer.
• Participate in SEO forums where people ask for help with their websites. Google Search Central Help Community is an excellent place. You will find hundreds of website owners asking for help there.
• Look for websites with serious SEO issues and reach out to their owners with tips and initially free help.

If you are really good and SEO is your passion, clients will find you (unless you are hidden).

If you are a fake looking for shortcuts, hype, and easy money, you may have problems. Sorry!

10. Always Go The Extra Mile

The quote by Zig Ziglar, “There are no traffic jams on the extra mile,” rings very true for being successful in SEO.

Most people won’t go the extra mile to better understand a given issue, explore other possibilities, or analyze something from a different angle.

If you do, you will not only stand out from the crowd, but you will also:

• Have a better understanding of SEO.
• Have more in-depth knowledge.
• Have more experience.
• Be able to provide more effective solutions.
• And be a better SEO pro.

I put this tip at the end because it is like the icing on the cake. It applies to all previously mentioned tips.

If you want to succeed with any of the steps I shared, you always need to go the extra mile. There is no shortcut.

Are You Ready To Leap?

I have completed all the necessary steps, and I assure you that this is all you need to become a successful independent SEO consultant.

You may be feeling scared or doubtful, but it’s perfectly fine. Don’t worry.

It’s not easy to get there, but with determination, it can be done.

You have to take my word for it, but there’s nothing better than waking up one day and telling yourself:

I have finally achieved my dream job and feel free.

Are you ready to take the leap? Have you already started preparing?

More resources: 

Featured Image: fizkes/Shutterstock

Going Solo – How To Manage Freelance Life That No One Talks About

Freelancing is an attractive proposition. Many SEOs get their start freelancing because the material barrier to entry is quite low, and there’s a high demand for the services.

If you’re good at what you do, you can earn high rates as an SEO consultant. Freelancing is also an excellent path into a career by virtue of the direct hands-on experience with client websites.

According to the World Bank, there are 1.57 billion self-employed people in the world, which is 46.6% of the global workforce.

Freelance is growing in popularity. According to Remote’s 2022 survey, 28% of employees in the US and UK plan to do freelance in the next five years. 40% of young people (25 – 34) want to go freelance, and 52% will do it part-time.

Some projections estimate that by 2027, 86.5 million people, or 50.9% of the US workforce, will be freelance. The Upwork survey, Freelance Forward 2022, found that Gen Z and Millennials are the most likely to freelance.

In 2022, 43% of Gen Z professionals and 46% of Millennial professionals worked freelance. 51% freelancers, (31 million professionals), provided knowledge services such as marketing, IT, business consulting and computer programming in 2022.

There are many advantages to going freelance, such as control over job security, flexibility – including the ability to remote work 100% of the time and choose the clients one wants to work for – and more control over one’s career.

However, there are also some areas that people do not always talk about, or those preparing to go freelance may not be aware of.

Loneliness

Going freelance can be lonely, especially if you are living alone or not in a relationship. Depending on the city, it can be difficult to meet others.

According to a Meta and Gallup survey of people aged 15 years and older across 142 countries, 24% of people report feeling very or fairly lonely.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared loneliness to be a pressing global health threat, with the US surgeon general citing that its mortality effects are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

How To Manage Loneliness

Join a co-working place. If you put the membership in the company’s name that should mean it is deductible from profits, but check that with your accountant.

Join other communities that support freelancers. The Digital Marketing Union (DMU) was set up in 2019 as the founder was lonely working on his own.

In the DMU’s Slack channel, there is always a lot of interaction, where freelancers ask/respond to questions. There is also a weekly video chat, offering members the chance to catch up virtually.

Women in Tech SEO is a great community that supports others, and there are regular virtual meetups.

Costs Of Working For Yourself

Many freelancers may not realize the cost of working for themselves.

For example, in some European countries, social security contributions are very high. This is something normally covered by the employer, but as a freelancer, that person has to pay for it.

The employer (depending on the country) may also contribute to the employee’s pension – but as a freelancer, this is another cost to consider.

Those working for themselves may also have to pay private insurance as well as the cost of tools and licenses outside of repairing or buying a computer/laptop.

It sounds obvious, but working for oneself means managing one’s own taxes. In some countries, tax is immediately charged at 19%, and it is important to keep this money aside.

There may also be start-up costs, such as registering a business name. Some countries require a minimum amount of start-up capital in the bank; the company cannot go below that level; otherwise, it risks closure.

Tip To Manage Costs

Make sure to save at least 40% of all gross income.

This will help ensure there is enough money to pay taxes and social security costs, as well as account for the SEO tools and laptop or computer fixes that freelancers need to pay.

Periods Of Highs And Lows

Freelance workers can have very busy periods where they are working nights and weekends, as well as during the week.

However, there are also quiet periods when they have more time on their hands than they would like. This is the opportunity for freelancers to take that course or attend that conference they always wanted to attend.

How To Manage These Periods Of Highs And Lows

It can be difficult to scale and manage these periods of highs and lows, so time management is key.

Make sure you’re spending periods of low activity investing in the future of your success. During the quiet periods, freelancers should take the opportunity to work on sales. It is important to have a warm lead pipeline.

When it gets busy, use a calendar or time management app to keep you focused on critical tasks.

Time Management

Managing one’s time is extremely important as a freelancer. Over-servicing one client may mean the other is under-serviced and could end in them leaving.

Therefore, it is necessary to write in the terms and conditions of agreements that the contract is for a set period and work must be undertaken during that time.

Be strict with your time for the project. If a project drags on, tell the client, and make sure to be paid for the extra hours worked.

Some freelancers charge hourly, while others may charge on a project-by-project basis. Charging by project may sometimes mean the freelancer over-services if the project takes longer than anticipated.

How To Manage Your Own Time

Block out your calendar for different client tasks and try to keep meetings to a minimum.

Make sure you also block out days and weeks for vacation to spend that time to unwind and not think about work.

Invest The Time Writing Up Contracts

Following on from the last point, if a freelancer finds the time they allocated for a project has not been used within the set period, they may find themselves working well after the contract has finished – but may not be getting paid any extra.

Therefore, it is crucial to spend time writing up water-tight contracts.

Finding Clients

Some freelancers find clients from referrals or their own network.

Therefore, it is important to ensure that one has a good network and at least a couple of confirmed clients (with contracts signed) before going freelance.

However, there may be times when a freelancer has no warm leads and needs to do cold outreach.

This can feel uncomfortable, but it is necessary, especially in times like now when marketing budgets have dropped.

Stress

Running one’s own business can be very stressful, which one may not think about before entering the freelance world.

According to the Freelancers Union and Upwork 2022 Study, 72% of freelancers have work-related stress, compared to 58% of traditional employees.

Freelancers also tend to work more than the 40-hour week – 51% of freelancers versus 36% of traditional employees –which means they have less time to relax and unwind.

How To Manage Stress

The first step is to recognize it and then seek support. The IPSE provides guides on managing this.

Therefore, it is important to recognize the signs of being stressed and overwhelmed before it becomes too consuming.

It can be difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance as a freelancer. One important step is to stick to firm “office hours” and avoid working outside of them — even answering emails.

Find A Good Accountant

Working freelance means looking after one’s own taxes and filing them correctly.

It is therefore very important to find a good accountant who can help with expenses and make your company as tax efficient as possible.

Depending on the country of business (for example, in Europe, taxes are very high), more or fewer expenses can be offset against a freelancer’s income from their company.

Before starting the freelance journey, find a responsive accountant who can help you become tax-efficient.

Then, ensure everything is in order before generating revenue; otherwise, sometimes, tax fines are unavoidable, and if someone has paid too much in tax, it can take months to get it back.

Conclusion

Sometimes, becoming a freelancer isn’t necessarily a choice.

Between 2022 and 2023, 40,000 people lost their jobs at Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Salesforce.

Those in the US do not tend to be given much, if any, notice; if someone is one of the lucky ones who escaped the cull, now is their time to plan their objectives if they intend to go freelance.

To make the most of all the opportunities freelance work has to offer, write out SMART objectives for going freelance and prepare a business plan. Where do you see yourself in 12 months, 36 months, or longer?

To avoid feeling overwhelmed or stressed, write out a to-do list but also a completed list of things you have done so far.

Many of us focus too much on what we need to do, but how often do we sit back and look at what we have achieved?

To manage that freelance life no one talks about, be a great project manager and time tracker. Do not over-service without being paid for it, and make sure you take your vacation days as if you cannot refill your own tank, it will be hard to deliver the best service to your clients.

One last point, to freelancers: well done, and congratulations for all you have worked on and your projects completed to date.

If you ever feel like going back to working for an organization, you will bring with you many new skills and qualifications; any company will be lucky to have you as you have the drive and determination to succeed.

More resources: 

Featured Image: Juliana Turnbull

13 Lessons Learned From 13 Years Of Running Search London

I have been running Search London, a networking event, for 13 years, and it has been so successful that it has become a major feature in the SEO conference calendar.

I originally launched the event in October 2010, but I will be celebrating its 13th birthday on February 26th, 2024, in central London.

I wanted to share some of the lessons learned so that others who have an idea and want to run events can do so outside of work.

When I launched Search London, my objective was to provide a safe place to share search industry news and promote a wide range of speakers, including those presenting for the first time, where they could talk about their case studies and show the audience how they could also generate such positive results.

1. Choose Unknown Speakers

Many speakers at Search London were originally unknown in the SEO world but have gone on to present at BrightonSEO and other larger conferences.

When I first started speaking, it was difficult to secure a speaking role as I needed experience – but as I did not have any, it was very difficult.

I don’t want this to be a barrier for others in our industry wanting to present. Over the past 13 years, we have had at least one new speaker at each event, meaning we have heard from over 70 first-time participants.

2. Have Enough Time For Networking

The other objective of Search London is to provide a safe space for those to learn more about SEO, PPC, and social media.

When I was an Account Director at an agency, I did not have the support from a manager to help me – yet, as I was leading a team, I had to know more than the members of my team did.

Therefore, I wanted to create a place where I, along with others, could learn from each other and have enough time for networking and getting to know more people in the SEO community.

We start our events at 6 p.m. and have the venue until 10:30 p.m., though we sometimes go on to 11 p.m.

Many of the talks start early, and we have enough time to discuss the presentations and the topics that are going to be presented.

3. Choose Speakers From Different Backgrounds

When I first started Search London, there were a majority of male presenters in our industry and many of those with years of experience.

I wanted to have a more equal balance with more women presenting.

I also did not necessarily want presenters from large agencies or brands but those from small companies or those running their own businesses.

I made sure we had a wide range of speakers, not just from London but from elsewhere in the world.

With Search London going online, we now have a lot more reach. I do not want location to be a restriction to those presenting.

4. Make It A Learning Experience And Have Focus

I have always favored practical work versus theory.

Presenters share real case studies, and none of the talks are theoretical. It does not matter about the size of the budget that is available for a project, but the results.

I always encourage people to ask for audience questions; each speaker has a Q and A slot after the talk, and most presenters stay at the event for the whole evening so attendees can ask speakers questions.

Running networking events requires a clear agenda and focus.

I did not just want it to be a group of people getting together without some specific idea or inquiry. Therefore, it was important to have at least one speaker.

I wanted to make it as informal as possible, as this is an event people are attending after work.

It is important to remember that those people attending the event have probably been sitting down all day at work and need a stimulating environment in which they are free to circulate and ask questions.

I always have a screen up at the beginning so people know where the talks will be and attendees can organize themselves.

5. Have Scholarship Tickets

Scholarship tickets were something I did not do when I first started running the events. Instead, I asked companies to purchase tickets for their staff.

However, now,  I can offer scholarship tickets and will be doing more in 2024.

It is important to offer an easy method for companies to purchase tickets for their staff to attend your event.

6. Find A Central Venue With A Separate Room

When I first started running Search London, I was in central London.

Post-COVID, not as many people were working at the office, and many were working from home. However, location is still very important, so choosing a venue that is central and well-connected makes it easy for people to come after work.

Very often, pubs have an area that can be rented, which can be a great option – but make sure it is a separate room. Otherwise, it can be very noisy. Monday and Tuesday nights are typically the cheapest nights to rent a room.

Try to find venues where the minimum spend is less than £1000 a night, and if you do not reach the minimum spend, ask if you can purchase drinks or food to take away.

7. Do Not Share Email Addresses

Data protection is a very important subject and when I first started having sponsors, many asked for email addresses of attendees.

I have never shared email addresses with sponsors.

If you want to do so, follow the example of BrightonSEO and ask attendees when they register whether they want to be contacted by sponsors and are happy to have their personal contact or work details shared.

8. Charge For Events

In the beginning, Search London was free, as it was on Meetup. That worked well when I did not have to reach a minimum spend at the pub.

However, when pubs started charging, and it became harder to find venues of more than 50 people capacity, I wanted to have a guarantee on the number of attendees.

Charging a small fee and selling tickets via Eventbrite has helped guarantee numbers. However, there have been cases where I did not charge as we were being hosted by a company.

For example, at the first in-person event after COVID-19, November 2021, we had 193 RSVPs, but then only 50 people attended.

Luckily, we were not renting a venue as the Trainline team was hosting us – but if people had actually bought their tickets, then there would not have been such a dropout.

Once people have paid for a ticket, they are much more likely to go to the event, unless, of course, they have an emergency.

9. Have A Good Team

You cannot do everything if you want to grow your event.

When I moved to Australia at the end of 2012, I realized I still wanted to continue to run Search London, but it was not physically possible to come back every two months.

Tim Sheed, who came to the very first Search London event, helped organize the in-person events along with Luella Ben Aziza, Russell McAthy, and Mike Chidzey.

Once I came back to live in Europe, Tim continued to help and was the co-organizer of Search London for the in-person events.

10. Move Away From Meetup Once You Have A Regular Group Of Attendees

Search London was originally a Meetup group, and it is still on Meetup; however, as I have started selling tickets for events, these are now sold via Eventbrite.

As Search London grew, I should have started an online community away from Meetup.com, for example, on Facebook or Slack in recent years.

11. Build A Network

Although I did not have an online community or following, such as on Slack or Facebook, I was an editor for State of Digital. I started as a blogger and met a lot of writers in person.

From building this network of writers at State of Digital, I asked some of them to speak at Search London.

From running Search London, I was invited by Mike Chidzey to co-host SEO Office Hours, where we have an informal weekly chat with two special guests answering people’s website and SEO issues.

12. Start Sponsorship Early

In order to secure a sponsorship, it is important to start looking early for a suitable sponsor or venue.

When I first started running these events, I did not ask for much sponsorship.

Now, I ask for sponsorship for as many events as possible.

I would recommend those starting their own events not be shy about asking for companies to help support the event.

13. Plan More Time Than You Need For An Event

Days and weeks pass quickly, so it is important to give yourself enough time to organize the event. I like to always organize at least two months in advance. I ask people to pitch to speak at Search London.

If you can, try and secure sponsorship from at least one company, and have your speakers guaranteed as soon as you finalize a date.

Never be complacent and assume that because people have come in the past, they will continue to come.

For example, one event we ran in March 2018, we had just ten attendees. There were more who had signed up, but due to the extreme cold weather causing snow in some parts, many were not able to come.

In Summary

Be open to new ideas and change the format of your meet-up.

Although I have been running these events for 13 years and they have been successful, there can never be a time when it becomes routine.

Choose different venues, different topics to be presented, new speakers, and keep up with new ideas and new technology.

Everything is moving so fast, and it is important to keep up with trends and developments in the industry.

Make it as exciting as possible so that everyone will look forward to the next event and will continue to come and be part of the great SEO community.

More resources: 

Featured Image by author 

How To Build A Community By Running Industry Events

I have been well aware of the importance of global communities since I started working freelance at home and also in an office environment.

Digital communities are so important, especially in our industry as we continue to grow.

The global digital advertising and marketing market is set to reach $786.2 billion by 2026, which is up from $350 billion in 2020.

This means there are more opportunities for events as the global search community continues to grow.

The important thing about being online is that you have access to global reach and have no borders to contend with. Therefore, events help expand our own network.

COVID was possibly the single most influential factor in creating global digital communities.

Post-COVID, digital users are still attending events. I ran a survey on LinkedIn about the number of events running per year, and the majority (57%) are attending 2-5 SEO events per year, which demonstrates how significant they are.

Screenshot from LinkedIn, October 2023

I was fortunate to speak at the International Social Summit in Barcelona in May on a topic I feel passionate about: how events can help build and support international communities in our search industry. The following is a summary of my presentation with advice on how events can help to build communities.

Objectives for setting up an event

When setting up an event, it is important to keep in mind your objectives. This not only helps draw an audience but can also help lead to a following and a community.

At Search London, my objective was to promote a wide range of speakers, including first-time speakers, and have them share actionable tips.

I wanted presenters to share results of what worked at their agency or company instead of talking about SEO, PPC, or social media theory.

There are many events in our industry, and it is important that companies support them as they are working to grow and support our community.

Some of the events I feature in this blog post were set up because there was a gap in the market.

I found out about many of these events from running Search London, which led me to write for State of Digital and connect with many in the industry.

Search London

I took over Search London in October 2010 from Judith Lewis. I rebranded it and launched the first event in January 2011.

I wanted to be part of a community, even though I was not experienced; I had been in the agency for just one year and worked in SEO for less than two years.

I wanted to have a safe place (in person) where people in SEO, PPC, and social could get together to discuss ideas and learn from one another.

Attending events in person for the first time can seem daunting. I did a State of Digital Roadshow in 2012 and met many international SEO pros in their home countries – and then I met some of them again later at SEO conferences.

International Search Summit

Through State of Digital, I was able to attend events and write about them on the State of Digital blog.

I found out about the International Search Summit and attended my first one in September 2012. It had started in London in October 2008 before expanding to seven locations.

International Search Summit was set up as there was a gap in the event market, and there still is.

There are not really other conferences focusing on international search, both the audience and the international content.

Digital Marketing Union

From running Search London, I discovered the DMU, short for the Digital Marketing Union, which is run by Dan White.

Dan set up the DMU in February 2019 as he was feeling somewhat isolated being self-employed. The DMU is a global community that has grown outside of events.

Only about 20% of the DMU personnel have met one another in real life. In this way, this community supports events, not the other way around.

Turn Digi

With the experience gained from running Search London, I decided to set up Turn Digi in March 2020 as COVID took hold.

As an entrepreneur, I saw that meeting others and networking has a positive impact on business.

However, due to the lockdown, I wanted us to have a safe place to network online.

I noticed the other events were not setting up any online conferences, so I created Turn Digi. I live-streamed the events via Streamyard to YouTube.

I had clear objectives from the start:

• Provide a platform to connect those in the search and online marketing industry together – globally.
• Help others in the industry promote themselves, especially small businesses and self-employed folks.
• Attract a diverse range of speakers.
• Encourage more women to take part.
• Run events in Spanish, French, and English.
• Have actionable tips – no theory.

SEO Mindset Podcast

The SEO Mindset was set up by Sara McDowell and Tamzin Suleman, who again found a gap in the market.

There were podcasts about how to do SEO, but there wasn’t one focused on personal growth and career development for SEO pros – and this podcast is focused on helping people optimize their careers.

The SEO Mindset podcast is now at BrightonSEO, as they teamed up with Jack Chambers-Ward from the Search with Candour podcast.

They do a live podcast the evening before BrightonSEO, with the first one being in April 2022.

They pick topics that are relevant to attending a conference, including dealing with anxiety when at conferences and managing your energy levels when at conferences.

They create a safe, judgment-free space where people can have open and honest conversations about topics that matter.

Women In Tech SEO

Areej set up the Women in Tech SEO community in 2019 with their first event in June 2019. She saw there was a lack of diversity at conferences, especially the more technical and advanced SEO tracks.

That was the impetus for starting WTSEO which is a global support network aimed for women in the search industry at all stages of their careers. WTSEO is “the place where you can ask any question, anytime.”

WTSEO is a safe and judgment-free space which is kept that way by following a code of conduct that was set up from the beginning. This is extremely important and the community values are:

• To be kind.
• To be helpful.
• To be respectful.
• To be a safe and judgment-free community.

The last one particularly resonates with me. In the search community, it is important that we can be part of a judgment-free environment.

Many of us unfortunately may have been in toxic work environments where we have been criticized for asking questions or doing things differently.

The Results From Setting Up These Events

Search London

Search London will soon be turning 13 years old, and it always has a diversified lineup of speakers and topics. There have been over 75 events over the years, both online and in person. The birthday parties attract the highest number of attendees – nearly 100 at each one.

During my time running Search London, I have formed relationships with many SEO pros globally.

I have increased my brand visibility, was invited to be a co-host of WTSFest in 2021, and took part in mentorships at the WTSEO and the FCDC. It has also helped me with my business.

If running events and creating a community in my free time has such positive results, imagine what could happen if a company did this itself or even sponsored these events.

International Search Summit

Over the past few years, the company behind the event has focused on hosting one event per year, which is Barcelona International Search Summit.

I was fortunate to attend their first Barcelona event, which was in 2017 and had 50 attendees. They expect over 500 in Barcelona this November.

From their initial event in October 2008, they now run webinars and LinkedIn Lives and are well known in the industry for their international search perspective.

DMU

There are now 89 members who are based in 14+ countries, and when Dan set this up, he wanted to make sure the emphasis was on the digital aspect – meaning nobody is excluded based on their geography.

The DMU has given Dan a wider support group he can recommend to his clients for specialist knowledge when they require it.

It has also given him access to other individuals in online marketing, many of whom have become good friends; Dan achieved his goal of bringing people together to form a community.

SEO Mindset Podcast

The SEO Mindset Podcast has over 2,000 followers on Twitter and 700 downloads per month.

They found that having regular episodes, picking topics that resonate with their audience, sharing episodes with the WTSEO community, building the podcast following on social media, and having guests have led them to more than double their downloads compared to when they first started.

Turn Digi

I wanted to help others in the industry promote themselves, especially small businesses and self-employed folks.

At the first Turn Digi, there were 18 speakers, and 12 had their own business.

At the second Turn Digi, 5 out of the 12 speakers had their own business.

I also wanted to attract a diverse range of speakers.

At the first Turn Digi, we had 18 speakers calling in from 8 different countries and 3 different continents. Some were not on the regular speaking track, including Sheri Mandour and Lily Dedman, who both spoke about diversity and disability – topics not always addressed.

I wanted Turn Digi to be international, and we had it in English, Spanish, and French.

I also wanted to encourage more women to take part. At the first Turn Digi, 14 out of 18 presenters were women, and at the second Turn Digi, 8 out of the 12 presenters were women.

I launched with 18 speakers from 8 countries on April 30, 2020. This generated a lot of visibility, and I had 77,300 impressions over 28 days (by May 16) on Twitter, a platform I do not use very often.

From one post I shared, I generated 3,000 views on LinkedIn, and in one day, I had 682 YouTube views.

If I could achieve such results running this in my free time, what could a company achieve if they supported an event or a global community?

Setting Up Your Own Event

There will always be a gap in the market, and if you are passionate enough and have the time, then you can also set up your own event.

I found that with Turn Digi during the pandemic, there were not many in-person events being turned into webinars or online events.

When setting up an event, think of the objectives and make sure you are consistent.

How Can You Get Involved And Help Build A Global Community?

There are many events in our industry that need support.

Find out what events are happening in your area. Many people run events in their own free time, so they are looking for sponsors to help them with a venue or pay for food or drinks.

Many event organizers have a “buy me a coffee” initiative, so even if you cannot afford to sponsor the full evening or part of the day (such as food or drink), you can still support them.

Common Objectives

When supporting an event, think about your company’s and the event’s objectives:

• How do you want to align with the event?
• How can you best support them? By free trial? Working on a study or survey together? Buying scholarship tickets for their event?
• Have a consistent brand image to promote.

There are many smart search professionals in our industry working hard to build their events and a community.

Companies with budget (time and resources) should be there to help them grow.

The community in our industry is key and is what has kept me and many others working for so long in search.

Without a search community, this is just a job where we are working day in and day out on individual tasks without building toward a future.

More resources:

Featured Image: Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

10 Tips For Mastering SEO Interviews: A Guide From A Hiring Manager via @sejournal, @HelenPollitt1

I have interviewed many people for SEO roles during my time as a manager.

I can say that certain mistakes are made during interviews that can easily be avoided.

Unfortunately, all of those generic “top tips for interviewing” guides out there don’t tend to address them due to the specificity of SEO interviews.

During the heat of an interview, it can be easy to lose focus, ramble, and appear unsure of your SEO knowledge.

If you are looking for a job currently or want to brush up on your interviewing skills for your next opportunity, take a look at these SEO interview-specific tips.

I’ve approached them from the perspective of a hiring manager who has seen her fair share of probably great candidates lose out on a role due to a bad interview.

1. Research The Role

This may sound like an obvious tip, but you’d be surprised how many people will turn up to an interview with little knowledge of what they are interviewing for.

If you are in the position where you are being interviewed for an SEO role, this can be even more important. Our industry is a multi-faceted one; “SEO manager” means something different at every company.

It can be obvious when a candidate has been referred to the role through a recruiter who doesn’t really understand what an SEO professional does.

If you are in a position where the job has been explained to you by the recruiter, make sure you do a bit of further research yourself.

In general, it’s a good idea to check the following;

• What are the key skills the company requires for the role?
• Does it lean toward any particular SEO focus, e.g., local SEO, technical SEO, or digital PR?
• What is the current team structure – is this the only SEO pro or one of many in the company?
• Does the role report to a manager with SEO experience, or will this role be the most senior SEO pro in the business?

In addition, you may want to find out:

Why Is The Role Available?

In your initial conversations with recruiters or contacts at the company you have applied to, try to ascertain why the role is available.

Is it a new role due to expansion, new markets, or new clients? This will help equip you during the interview to answer questions from the right perspective.

For example, if you are asked about a time when you have successfully completed a technical campaign, and you know from conversations that the role is coming about due to the company’s expansion into Europe, it would give you the right context to talk about that tricky hreflang tag implementation or French keyword research that you had success with.

Who Has It Already?

Is there someone else in the company that does this role already? Are you expanding the team or taking over from an incumbent?

If so, see if you can find out some information about what sort of experience they have. This might mean looking on the company’s website for their bio or even looking on LinkedIn.

Be respectful, though; not everyone wants a ton of new LinkedIn contacts from people who are after their job!

Are You Taking Over From An Agency?

If the role you are applying for is at a brand, you may find it useful to identify if the role has been created due to the company bringing it in-house.

For example, is the work this new employee would be doing replacing that of an external agency?

If so, it would be prudent to know so you don’t end up talking about how much you would want to rely on agencies for support if you land the job.

What Industry/Clients?

One of the most important pieces of research you can do is around the industry, or industries, the company operates in.

If you are applying for a role at an agency, their website is a good place to start to see what industries they work in.

They may specialize in one vertical, for example, or their case studies may show a variety. This knowledge will allow you to tailor your answers with their target industries in mind.

2. Reach Out To The Hiring Manager To Ask Questions Ahead Of Time

Some hiring managers love this approach. Others do not.

Ask your recruitment contact at the company if the hiring manager is happy to take questions before the interview before you go outside of the prescribed hiring process!

I’ve had some great conversations with candidates via them reaching out on LinkedIn or through SEO groups we’re a part of.

It has allowed both me and them to get an idea of whether they might be right for the role before they go into the trouble of applying.

3. Prepare 5 Examples Of Successful Projects

During the pressure of the interview, it’s easy for your experience and knowledge to fly out of your mind.

A good tip for anyone interviewing for an SEO role is to write down five examples of clients or projects they’ve worked on that directly relate to the skills and requirements listed in the job advert.

This has saved my bacon personally when interviewing for SEO roles!

It can help with your confidence when answering interview questions and will likely result in you providing an answer that is clear and directly applicable to the question.

This will help you to avoid the dreaded situation where waffling takes over!

4. Be Specific And Use An Answer Structure

Be specific when you are answering questions. It is horrible as an interviewer to have to dig through a verbose answer for the piece of information you are hoping is there.

I’ve had candidates answer in such a confusing manner that I’ve struggled to identify if they answered the question or not. This can often result from nerves or not fully understanding the question. It doesn’t have to happen, though.

There are several techniques for structuring answers to interview questions. A well-known one is “STAR,” which stands for “situation,” “task,” “action,” and “result.”

It allows a candidate to ensure their answer includes the key details needed.

Whichever one you choose, make sure you are picking up on the intent behind the interviewer’s question.

Remember, interviewers often have no training in interviewing skills. We can be quite bad at it! It is okay to ask clarifying questions if you’re unsure of what the interviewer is trying to ascertain.

Once you are clear about what skill or experience they are trying to uncover, you can directly tailor your example to showcase the relevancy.

This is particularly important during SEO interviews because the projects we might want to use to showcase our experience can be complex, containing many stakeholders, activities, and results.

Using an answer structure can make sure you include everything that is pertinent to the question.

Choosing a technique and practicing answering questions with it can help you overcome the initial panic during an interview. It will enable you to provide clear and structured answers.

5. Be Prepared For Not Having An Answer

You may be asked to give an example of a time when you have carried out an SEO task that you simply haven’t done before.

Don’t worry. No one matches a job description 100%.

What I look for during interviews, especially with candidates who are new to the industry, is their ability to think around a problem.

This is especially the case if they haven’t directly encountered a situation before.

Some of my best hires have been people who have said, “I haven’t dealt with that before, but this is probably the approach I would take.”

You can use examples from case studies you have read about or draw from presentations you’ve seen at conferences. You can talk about how you would go about finding an answer to that issue or resources that you might use for help.

SEO is an incredibly broad discipline. It’s unlikely you have encountered every SEO issue out there! However, theoretical knowledge applied well can be just as effective as experience.

Draw on your knowledge and understanding of a situation if you can’t draw on your experience of it.

6. Consider Your Answers To Probable Questions

You are likely to encounter similar questions across SEO interviews.

Typically, you will be asked to give examples of times you have worked well with stakeholders or solved a complex technical issue.

You may be asked about a time when a project did not go to plan and how you handled it.

If you have been interviewing for a while, you might want to list some of the questions you notice you get asked often. Practice those answers. Ask your wider SEO network to help you refine them.

There will always be nuances to how interviewers interview, but there is a limit to how off the wall the questions are likely to be and still be relevant to SEO!

7. Don’t Criticize A Potential Colleague’s Work

Sometimes, interviewers will ask candidates to audit their company’s or their client’s website. You may choose to do so unprompted.

Be careful if you are likely to be pointing out errors or missed opportunities with a site someone on the interview panel may be working on.

As we all know, there are often internal processes and problems that impact an SEO pro’s ability to fix glaring issues.

When answering these types of questions, just be aware that you don’t have the full context of why the hreflang tags are missing, or there are terrible cannibalization issues.

Don’t be afraid to highlight these improvements and opportunities; just do it sensitively. Lean on the side of caution.

Assume that you are not uncovering some previously undiscovered technical issue. Presume that the SEO expert in charge of that client’s account isn’t lazy or incompetent.

Even if you are correct and they have missed an issue or made a mistake, no SEO pro wants their work criticized on a call with their superiors. Instead, take an empathetic approach.

Don’t forget, it’s not just your practical SEO knowledge that is being tested at the interview, but your approach and team fit also.

8. Tailor Your Answers To Who Is In The Room

It is a good idea to be aware of who is interviewing you generally, not just so you don’t accidentally criticize their work but also so you can tailor your answers appropriately.

There is a big difference between being interviewed by someone with specialist SEO knowledge and without. It is likely that you will be interviewed by both during a company’s hiring process.

If your interviewers are SEO pros themselves, you can afford to go more into the technical details of your experience.

You can discuss the impact a content pruning exercise had on the crawling and indexation of your site. Or explain how you handled a tricky website migration. You can discuss these with some assumption that they will know what you are talking about.

If your interviewers are not au-fait with SEO, you may want to focus more on the business impact your changes made.

They may not want to hear about how going from client-side to server-side rendering impacted the visibility of your pages in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

They may be more interested in how you brought stakeholders along on your project and the impact on revenue your changes had.

You may need to explain the activity in a bit more detail than you would with another SEO.

9. Demonstrate Your Desire To Learn And Develop

Our industry is one that is changing a lot. One thing I tend to look for when interviewing SEO candidates is their attitude to learning and development.

I will ask questions to see how they solidify and expand their knowledge.

Good answers will often show that a candidate takes responsibility for their own learning and growth.

Everyone learns differently, but good SEO professionals are always trying to learn more about their discipline.

Whether you are an avid reader of case studies or listen to all the SEO podcasts out there, just be ready to explain your process for keeping up with industry developments.

10. Use It As An Opportunity To Learn About The Company And Refine Your Choices For Your Career

You’ll often hear it said that interviews are just as much about the candidate deciding if the company is right for them as it is the other way around. In SEO, this is extremely important.

You could be fighting a battle to get your recommendations implemented. You may be faced with strong stakeholder opinions and push-back.

Whilst you are interviewing with a company, use it as an opportunity to understand what level of SEO-literacy the team has.

• Is SEO something that is new to the company, and your focus will be on training and selling in the benefits once you join?
• Are they already aware of the importance of SEO and have been working towards a goal for a while?
• If so, are your ideas going to be welcomed, or will you be expected to just continue your predecessor’s work?

Questions you could ask during your interview include:

• “What is your company’s current approach to SEO?”
• Or, “What importance does the senior management team give to SEO as a growth lever?”

The answers will help you determine whether the issues and opportunities at that company are the sort you want to face.

Conclusion

SEO interviews can feel overwhelming.

There are so many aspects to SEO that it can feel impossible to showcase your strengths in all of them.

Take some time to review the above tips and practice your interviewing where possible.

Most mistakes in interviews seem to be the result of nerves. Good interviewers will understand that.

Do yourself a favor and prepare for these interviews so that you can reduce the nerves as much as possible and feel confident in your ability as an SEO professional.

More resources: 

Featured Image: fizkes/Shutterstock