How To Deal With The Shittiness Of Being an SEO Professional
9/10 SEO employees feel pressurized — This is the way out
On one side is the boss, glaring with red-hot angry eyes. And on the other side is webpage traffic, humming and relaxed, not budging.
Welcome — to the world of SEO employees.
This is a nightmare every employee must have encountered.
A boss — who wants to see immediate results, &
Google — that takes pleasure in rattling all plans with constant updates (aargh!)
So, being an SEO specialist, one has to deal with both things simultaneously. Upon that are a couple more issues:
- Communicating with the boss/client regarding the differences in anticipated results and implementing plans is difficult.
- Requesting a budget to invest in a process that is slow in showing results requires too much work.
- Having the perfect coordination with associated teams to bring out the desired effect needs constant effort.
Now, SEO is a process that cannot demonstrate immediate results. That’s not how things work. Conversely, clients/founders/CEOs want instant results to ensure they are moving in the right direction.
Trust me; I feel you because I have been on both sides of the table. And the good news is there’s a way out of this sticky situation.
Choose your boss, not the company
15 years in SEO, one thing I can tell you with surety. To master SEO, you must choose the right boss rather than be lured by big banner companies.
Because SEO is a relatively new concept that hasn’t been around for ages and is hence mastered by a few. So, it is not by working in a big corporation that you will gain much but by being in the company of a good mentor that will teach you the tricks of the trade.
I can relate to having the tag of a renowned company adding credibility to your CV, but in the long run, your skill will take you ahead in your career. So, learn the craft from a master while you have the opportunity.
Be greedy when you have found the right person.
Learn with passion and keep growing your skillsets.
You may ask, Sankar, how do I know someone is the right mentor for me? Well, it’s much easier these days with social platforms like LinkedIn. Every professional information (personal as well) is available today at the tips of a finger. This works for any industry, not just SEO.
Research your boss.
Look at their past work. Observe the career progression and achievements. How have they fared in driving traffic in their previous and current jobs? Someone who has driven 10k is better than someone who has made it to a million. A person who drives 10 million traffic would have much more to teach you.
Making an informed decision and choosing the right mentor will be the best investment you would make in yourself.
Adopt the ‘T’ shaped marketing
T-shaped Marketing refers to in-depth knowledge in 1 or 2 core areas while broadly understanding several relevant disciplines. In marketing, we call it expert generalists. Or, in easier terms — a jack of all trades and a master of some.
Being an SEO professional doesn’t restrict your work limited to SEO only. It is a completely integrated process that depends on other teams for success. Hence, if you desire hard work to show outcomes, you must develop a T-shaped approach.
In a work environment, you must coordinate with the Engineering team to ensure that the web page’s loading time is fast. Similarly, the content creation team, which has a big hand in the success of SEO, has to be in sync with you about what goes into the pages and whether the same is in the best consumable format.
It might happen that you would have disagreements with other teams, but it is your job to make them come to terms. It might not be easy at first, but they see your point once the results start showing in.
So, you see, while the accountability for the results lies on your shoulder, it is only through a coordinated effort between you and other teams that will make things happen. Having a broad knowledge of different domains, therefore, becomes a necessity.
Be proactive, not reactive
In his book The 10X Rule, Grant Cardone says one should set targets 10X more than they believe they can achieve.
Similarly, one should act 10X more than they believe necessary to achieve the desired result. The most fundamental mistake people make setting low targets and operating at subpar levels, which will take them only that far.
Let me be very blunt here — SEO is a cut-throat affair. Because you are eying to be in the first 10 spots (Google page one), for which millions of pages are already scrambling, and millions more will get added in days. So, imagine the competition out there.
Depending on small targets and acting with complacency will get no results.
I do not intend to scare you, but this is how things work. The best approach is to set a higher target than you have planned.
If it is 10k that you want, plan for 100k, and work out your strategy based on that. Yes, Google is partial to sites with higher domain authority and might siphon away some of your traffic, but you will still get your original 10k traffic.
My point is that when you set a higher target, your actions are aligned with that and, ultimately, your results. So, stretch your potential to achieve more.
Believe in your instincts, and act like there’s no tomorrow
Okay, it’s a bit dramatic, but then life’s just that, isn’t it?
Well, in 2012, I started working in a startup. 6 months in, I felt the need for many changes to get to what I was targeting. The content on the web pages was thin and basic. I wanted in-depth stories that users would find valuable to read. That required hiring good writers.
As with any other startup, my boss hesitated because that meant spending money. He was not willing to invest in a group of writers at that point. So, I proposed he hire one writer, see the results and then invest in more. That worked, and he gave the green signal.
But unfortunately, the writer needed to be of a better standard. I was not satisfied with the outcome, and the webpage traffic showed no change.
I returned to his office and told him we needed another good writer. I still remember his face. It was as if I had asked for one of his kidneys. It took me two days to convince him, and this time I selected the writer.
15 days — the traffic jumped 300% for that one article.
After that, my boss never questioned my decisions.
Be confident and believe in your instincts. Let the results speak for you. Be okay to take risks. Only then will you achieve the unthinkable.
Learn from the Best
Growing up, I hated reading books, even my course books. They were more like instruments to put me to sleep.
I would stand corrected today. For me, books are priceless. I can swear my success on a handful of books from which I have gained wisdom and guidance. I read them again and again because each time, I get a new perspective and insight, depending on the situation I am in.
Look at a book as an investment. It’s the lifelong wisdom of great thinkers in the most compact form. I feel a good book is a steal. That’s why successful people like Bill Gates read 50 books in a year & Warren Buffet still devours books, spending six hours a day reading.
It is prudent to earmark a few people who have succeeded in this field and track their work. A big part of SEO involves experimenting and testing things. You would gain a lot by learning about them and using them in your work.
It is a vast time-saving proposition. And thanks to today’s technology, one has access to a tremendous amount of information and data. Make use of that. Invest in knowing more.
Conclusion
SEO is a trying master but rewarding too — disproportionate rewards. But it demands dedication, perseverance, and patience. This field will not stop rewarding if you think you have these qualities.
Are you really serious about your business? Are you ready to invest and start seeing the results?
My limited-seat course, 10X SEO Program, is explicitly tailored to transform the digital presence of a business to the next (and then the next) level. It can benefit you immensely only if you have an open mind, a serious business outlook, and the willingness to experiment.
Drop me a mail at hi@sankardatti.com, and we will schedule a time to see if we’re a fit to work together.
[Not for the faint-hearted coz the results will be dizzying.]
