A Day in The Life of an SEO Specialist

Ever wondered what it's like day-to-day for our techy search specialist team, or what a working day might look like for an SEO Specialist? Here, Charlotte (aka Charley) reveals all…

Hey Charley! Introduce yourself:

The most awkward question to answer straight off the bat but here we go… I am a very bubbly and chatty person. I am obsessed with make-up, skincare and food; I love them so much I often blog about it all, and I enjoy spending time with my friends, chickens and partner. I was born in London and moved to Wiltshire to complete my education, then I moved back to London to study Marketing Management at University.

Did my degree help me? No.

We were taught the most basic version of marketing ever, BUT it did fuel my passion to pursue a career in marketing. I just didn’t know that would be digital marketing.

I first discovered Liberty around 6 months after moving to Wales. I was searching on Indeed and saw the job “Client Accounts Assistant”, which appeared to be the perfect entry role for someone like me who had little experience and wanted to be exposed to everything.

Every single thing about the job – the culture and the work-life balance was perfect for me. I started with zero SEO knowledge and worked my way up to becoming an SEO Specialist in 8 months. I am now working my way towards a Senior position with more exposure to clients, tackling bigger issues and creating strategies for clients.

So, what are your role responsibilities?

My responsibilities vary depending on the needs of the client. Some I am a ‘lead’ on which means I have direct communication with the clients, create the strategies and always spotting opportunities. For other clients I will support a lead, therefore I will help out with any tasks that need doing but again will always be spotting opportunities and keeping up to date with the current situation.

What does a typical working day look like as an SEO Specialist?

6:15am: Wake up to my soothing alarm/cockerel, I prefer the alarm but I can’t work out how to turn the cockerel off… I get ready for my day ahead!

7:30am: Leave to meet my car share and have a good old natter for 40 minutes, this puts me in a great mood for the day and makes me feel ready for work.

8:20am: Arrive at work, frantically rummage in my bag for my lanyard (yes, I do this every day despite knowing I need it) then I’ll go straight to my desk and log into my laptop. Then the most important part of the day, refilling the snacks, because if I am not there to present the daily goods the office riots (not really). I love a good snack, therefore, I have taken it upon myself to refill the snack bar, I don’t do it for the praise, the thanks, or the happiness of my colleagues, OH NO, I do it to get the best ones before they go.

9:30am: By this time I would have usually got through all my emails and planned out my entire working day. I am majorly into organising my days but I can be flexible.

12:00am: LUNCH! I enjoy either a take-out lunch or a homemade dish, followed by a FIFA Game or two…

For the rest of the day, it’s always so different. It will usually be a task related to a specific client that could take me all day or more! There is obviously time allocated to meetings whether that’s onsite or offsite too, so my day is rarely the same.

4:30pm: Home timeeee. Because I get to work early and we have flexible working, I like to leave earlier than later.

What are the misconceptions of your role?

That my job is instant, easy, that I spend the day on Google, and that it’s not very interesting!

All of these are completely untrue. Actually, I take that back, I do spend a lot of my time on Google BUT I spend time on it for a good reason. To be a search engine specialist you need to know the search engine, right?

My job is so not instant, SEO is a marathon not a sprint, but it is the most rewarding marathon in the world (mainly because you’ll never catch me physically running). Once you have your strategy and the implementation begins, you will start to see an increase in rankings, page views, etc usually within a few months.

As far as ease goes, it is not. SEO is a daily challenge that is constantly fluctuating, but I take it on every day because I love it. If anyone tells me my job isn’t interesting I get offended, but then I remember how much my partner loves cricket in comparison to me… but still, how can helping clients get to page 1 of Google not be interesting? I am forever doing different tasks daily for some really cool clients. I find it to be the most interesting role in the world.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

First and foremost, the clients, I love speaking to them and emailing them daily. Whether it’s to discuss results, to develop a strategy or to discuss their needs it is always a pleasure to help them.

Secondly, a very close second I will add, is the people at liberty. Walking in and having everyone say “morning” or “hi” makes you think you’re living in a sitcom, ‘Cheers‘ springs to mind… But it’s those small things that make you feel appreciated and valued in an office.

The level of support at Liberty’s SEO agency is just incredible. For me, to join with very little experience to becoming an SEO Specialist, I have always felt supported from day one.

Since becoming an SEO Specialist everyone has faith and trust in me which I find incredible considering how I started out. Every single person in Liberty would be there if you needed them which is something you cannot take for granted. There is a massive willingness to teach and support others too which I feel has impacted my role massively, I not only understand SEO but I understand the business as a whole. You never feel like people don’t have time for you at Liberty.

Is there a project/campaign you’re particularly proud to have taken part in?

Nobody could’ve guessed it, but Love Pork (major sarcasm there). They were one of my first clients. I did a solid 24 hours at the start of their project researching the intent for 3,000 keywords and for what? Well, to overtake BBC Good Food, to rank 1^st for a ridiculous amount of keywords, and to gain 100,000 page views in a year for just one section of their strategy. It is my baby and that project will remain with me forever.

What’s next for you at Liberty?

Ben’s job. No, I could never do what he does (he’s an SEO Manager) but I do want to keep progressing as an SEO Specialist to a Senior position. I have so many people to look up to and ever since starting, I knew I wanted to be like them.

Do you have any advice for other budding SEO Specialists?

Do not think that because you have no experience you cannot do a job (that’s life advice right there).

But seriously, so long as you have an interest in the SEO world and keep up to date with any changes in search marketing you can make it as an SEO. It is hard work and it takes a lot of time to develop but once you start getting results from clients you will be addicted. You’ll come to love the spreadsheets you do day in day out, but also developing strategies for clients. SEO is a great role to consider if you want something that changes daily, to be doing amazing, rewarding work and for the community aspect of it.

We’re always on the lookout for new SEO Specialists to join our team, so if you’re interested in applying to work for Liberty head over to the job description to find out even more here.