Pride: What Is It That YOU Do?
Hi all,
I've just written a pretty long blog post on the subject of what I do as an SEO. I thought I'd share it with you all and hopefully get some interesting replies to what other warriors do. What do you say when people ask you what you do? The purpose of this is that I'd hope that every person could put an individual twist on their job/career to achieve a sense of pride. Isn't that what makes the world go round, the qualities of many combining?
Anyway, I hope it's an interesting read for some of you
and I look forward to reading replies on what it is you do.
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Alex
I've just written a pretty long blog post on the subject of what I do as an SEO. I thought I'd share it with you all and hopefully get some interesting replies to what other warriors do. What do you say when people ask you what you do? The purpose of this is that I'd hope that every person could put an individual twist on their job/career to achieve a sense of pride. Isn't that what makes the world go round, the qualities of many combining?
Anyway, I hope it's an interesting read for some of you
and I look forward to reading replies on what it is you do.----------------------------------------------------------
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It's probably one of the most common questions that comes up in adult life - what do you do? The question that aims to break through your guard as to what your job actually is, what business means to you and what your role is in the bigger picture. As an SEO, I'm involved in something that usually triggers an automatic facial reaction - a raised eyebrow, widened eyes or a blank stare. Those three letters give nothing away, only to those who know its meaning. I've been trying to work out the easiest definition possible to pass on to others who are relatively unaware of this industry, still in its infancy and growing rapidly into an unavoidable business strategy. Companies are realising that an online presence is essential. With it, they reach an almost infinite audience with which to pitch their product at any time of the day, any day of the week with minimal resources. The increase in conversions, if the strategies are employed correctly, is inevitable. Those companies who shy away, or simply don't know about the necessity of SEO are left behind whilst their competition soars past them. I find it hard not to give the same bemused look to the business owner who doesn't know what SEO is. After all, isn't it their job to know? So what do I do as an SEO? The expanded wording of this acronym does little to inform the non-technical. 'Search Engine Optimisation' just about makes sense to the casual internet user who would define the internet as 'Google'. It would be easy enough to say that my job is to rank websites at the top of the search engines for certain terms. This, however, would be a pretty modest explanation to what we do. The truth is that we assist in so much more than just ranking websites. That's simply another metric and the one that clients care most about with their limited knowledge. They see it as a league table and if you're not near the top, you're near the bottom. I have access to sensitive information that business owners place a lot of trust in me for having, and rightly so. I often think my job is to 'lead the blind' to where they are apprehensive to tread. SMEs who don't have the budget of the larger corporations are very much scared of ploughing money into something they know next to nothing about. Yet once the explanation is there, they understand its necessity. The reassurance, in my opinion, to this is that everything I do as an SEO is (or should be) measurable. My job is to negotiate and advise realistic targets with clients and work to achieve them within an agreed time. SEO is not a quick fix like so many would like it to be, it can be a long and arduous journey. Going back to the measurable part, this is what I love about my job. I learn about my clients business... Their audience, demographics, products/services, competition and so much more. My own knowledge of marketing becomes much clearer with every client I work with. I have the opportunity to work in many industries and with many audiences. Ultimately I become involved in the business strategy and do my best to reward trust with measurable success. I take pride in becoming a consultant to online ventures and this makes me work harder to achieve goals. With their success comes my own. On a day-to-day basis I analyse metrics and tweak aspects of my clients online profile to improve the results - but this isn't what I love doing. I'm not a magician with numbers, but for this I have others who are to help me. That's their job as they see it, and its what they excel at. I could just keep quiet and let my client direct me I guess, but that wouldn't be me. I like to invoke thought and ideas. The reward of this is that as the trust grows between myself and my clients, they begin to understand that rankings are not necessarily the be-all and end-all. That Google isn't the only method of finding their website, product or service. Their eyes are opened to the far larger scope of the online world and all that comes with it... Often with great excitement at the prospect of what it could mean for their business. This is the part I love - being the bridge between online and offline strategy. My love for SEO is only equal to my love for business and trade. Both are equally high on my agenda. Linking the two together is what really defines my job and where I want my career to go. I've really only skimmed the surface of the SEO title in this post. I see SEO as just the canopy of a very large umbrella - to explain this in detail would need far much more than just a blog post (and someone far smarter than me to write it!). As a new industry, it's growing so fast that we can't possibly specialise in every part of it. To say I'm an expert metrics analyst would be blowing my skills well out of proportion. To say I am a social media expert would be insulting those who are. When it comes to developing and applying new and exisiting business strategies, to my knowledge of the online world - that I am good at. My creative background, love for marketing psychology and incessant interest in business has sort of moulded me that way. If my degree had read maths instead of graphic design, perhaps this article would be different. Probably. My title is still an SEO, but what I do does not apply to all who share the same label. I'm eager to meet many SEOs - to ask them what they do. Would each definition will be different? Probably. Source |