Interviewing Ayan Adam

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Introducing

!Based in Canada, Ayan is the founder of a Digital Marketing Agency called CX Atelier that caters to the IT Channel. She creates content strategies and builds SEO frameworks for tech companies. She regularly publishes articles and “How to” guides on SEO and Digital Marketing and is highly involved in the IT community.

We asked her everything from how she first got into SEO to what empowers her to be the brilliant woman she is 💪🏽

How did you get into SEO?

I started my career in brand marketing for L’Oréal and as my career evolved and marketing shifted to primarily digital channels, I found a real passion for SEO.

What fascinates me with search engines is that they are the modern equivalent of ancient Greece’s oracles. We turn to them for answers, and they reflect back to us the workings of our collective psyche.

I love helping businesses find their footing in this digital landscape and leave a footprint that is consistent with what they set out to achieve for the people they serve.

What is your favourite SEO task?

Oddly enough, my favorite SEO task is to build a business strategy. I love the step before creating content and optimizing it, which is to define who to target, what to say and how to make them care.

What is your go-to tool or resource that you can't live without?

Keywords Everywhere. It’s a really neat, adequately priced tool. I love that it’s very narrow in what it does compared to other feature bloated tools. Their chrome extension is very functional, helps me get the information I need directly on my search results page.

What is something you learned in SEO that made you have an 'AHA' moment?

SEO is about people as much as it is about best web practices. To be truly exceptional in your craft, you must have a good understanding of psychology, linguistics and social trends. Some of the best SEO tools out there are “social listening tools”.

SEO can also get incredibly complex and cross-functional so it’s imperative to surround yourself with people that have complementary skills. I’m not the best at technical SEO so I work with people that are better than me at it, so we can learn from each other and create amazing results with our combined skills.

What is your proudest industry achievement?

I generally work with small and medium businesses and ranking their website can be a life-changing event for them. I am very proud when I help them find their audiences online and when it has a real impact on their business growth.

What advice would you give women who are starting out in SEO?

Have a core practice aligned with your natural abilities and interests and hone that practice as much as possible, for me, it’s copywriting.

Give a shout out to a woman in the industry who inspires you and tell us why

Jamie Indigo from Deep Crawl. She’s an exceptional technical SEO and I’ve learned a lot from following her work. Her collaborative approach bridges communication gaps between SEOs and developers which in turn helps make the web a better place.

Finally, what empowers you to be the brilliant woman you are?

I am deeply passionate about what I do. I don’t think I could keep up with the amount of learning and practice this discipline requires if I weren’t consumed with it. It’s not work if it’s fun!

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Thanks Ayan for a truly insightful interview, you can learn more about her through her website and connect with her on LinkedIn.

To view more interviews with brilliant women, check out our Interviews page. If you've enjoyed reading this interview, then we'd love for

to share your story with the world! Simply fill this form here, we welcome brilliant SEOs from all walks of life! 🙌🏽