The Power of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Why did I build my career in SEO?

When we think about SEO, or search engine optimization, we can think about a structured plan using all of the content that is created and shared online. This content has one goal: To get your business's message across clearly to potential customers online, whether using Google or another popular search engine. Sounds easy enough, but there are many details we have to pay attention to in order to create the best possible experience for the customer's journey and clearly convey your message. That is where SEO comes in, and helping clients clearly understand how to craft that journey and use each detail to their advantage is something I've grown to truly enjoy.

How many of you have had a goal in your life before? A few of you?

How many of you have thought that you developed a pretty good path towards that goal, started out and you were doing pretty well?

And then you found a shiny object that you thought maybe could help you get to that goal but then you found another shiny object and then another one, and pretty soon the path to get to your goal looked very confusing. Right?

When I first started out my career in marketing, specifically SEO, I realized that a lot of the small businesses, serial entrepreneurs, non-profits and startups that I was working with had this same issue.

They knew where they wanted to be, and the kind of success they wanted to enjoy, but their roadmaps were a little confusing (if they even had one). They had so much to offer their customers, and wanted to explain it all at once and use this tool, and then that tool, and many of them had overlooked the power of SEO and optimizing everything on their website and social media.

SEO in its most basic sense is aligning everything on a specific web page to generate a clear user experience according to your key message. Say you sell pens and you want to design a webpage featuring your newest model: Pen 2.0.

First, everything on your whole website should align with pens and the problems they solve for the customers you're targeting. The website should also provide an enjoyable experience for your visitors (think page speed, pictures, organized text, and a clear message of what you sell and how to get it). With these in mind, each of the specific pages should directly align with the purpose of that page.

For the Pen 2.0 page within the site, you'll optimize the page for the problems that Pen 2.0 solves directly. That will be expressed through key phrases used throughout the text, the structure of the text, and making sure the page is accessible for search engines using a variety of metrics. External involvement such as social media mentions, links to and from other pages, and shares will also show a clear path from your offerings to the value that is actually created for the customer. Ultimately, this is what search engines will look for when deciding to promote your website.

How SEO relates to life and why I love it

Something I love about SEO, and optimization in general, is being able to help my clients streamline a clear path from where they are starting to where they are finishing instead of wasting time, money and effort meandering around. When you take everything mentioned above into consideration, everything you do online leads to a specific goal. It falls into a branch of SEO that leads back to the tree trunk, providing a clear path for your customers and a specific conversion in mind so you can better track performance and help solve your customers' problems.

This is a lot like life. Often, we may think that everything we do in one day, or one place, is unrelated to the grand design of our lives. Many of us think in binary terms: We do things that are aligned to our path or goal, and other things that off to the side and might not matter as much. The truth is, everything we do, every decision we make, every thought we have, is part of the journey. When we can be conscious of each passing moment and how it aligns with our path and how it's affecting us, the idea of optimization on a grand scale can be seen. We can be consistently thinking in the direction of our ultimate goals and ensuring that our output each day is flowing in that direction always. Then, almost like magic, our goals are realized. In business, it is no different. Helping businesses reach their potential by optimizing everything they do online is something I've grown to genuinely enjoy.

One of my favorite things about my career in SEO and one of the things that really motivated me to continue pursuing this career was being able to work with all of these brilliant, creative individuals who are starting businesses, creating concepts and doing something new in the world.

I've had the opportunity to work with tech startups, online English schools based in Europe, silent film festivals, mobile applications, novelists and many more. You can learn more about some of my previous clients here: Our Work. I loved helping these people unpack all of these creative ideas they had and organize them into a systemized, optimized structure that got their ideas from inception to goal, all in the digital realm.

It's fascinating to be able to see these ideas come to life! I really love being able to watch my clients as they see themselves get closer to their goals and fulfilling what they have been working so hard to accomplish.