Welcome to a new
Introducing
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?
When beginning to increase organic traffic to my photography business website, I found how confusing it was. Even for me who has been in the digital marketing space for a number of years. I started networking with other photographers and worked on some one-off projects, finding SEO was a black hole for many. Around the same time, I decided I wanted to work for myself and be able to work anytime, anywhere. I niched down into SEO and so began Compass Digital Strategies.
What is your favourite SEO task?
Keyword and content creation research. And then organizing and planning out the content. It's the part of my day that I lose track of time.
What is your go-to tool or resource that you can't live without?
ClickUp, my task management tool. I would be lost without it. I manage my own business and my clients' projects all in one tool.
What is something you learned in SEO that made you have an 'AHA' moment?
How important a great copywriter is to SEO and your website. A great copywriter will keep SEO in mind knowing what words to use in the heading tags for example. And great copy is what encourages users to convert.
What is your proudest industry achievement?
Every time I can help my client's hit their goals. The one that comes to mind recently is for a local flower shop. The goal was to increase revenue by 26% from 2019 to 2020. We hit a 50% increase!
What advice would you give women who are starting out in SEO?
The first thing I recommend is to network. I think for some that sound like a dry, sleazy idea. And it's not just exchanging business cards. It's a way to build up your professional contacts in a supporting and engaging way. I network first to help others. And learn from others. If you go into it thinking who's going to give me sales, you will not benefit from it.
Second, understand your capabilities and resources. If you sell your time in some form, for example as a consultant, you can take on only so many clients or accounts. How can your business grow when you have a cap on time? What can you outsource?
Third, schedule time to market your own business. I once heard it said that fish won't jump in the boat if you don't put your boat in the water. Fish don't ever just jump in a boat of course, but the idea is how will your customer find you if you are not proactively marketing your business. It's very easy to put your own business on the back burner to take care of clients.
Give a shout out to a woman in the industry who inspires you and tell us why
For sure Areej AbuAli for the amazing work at building the Women in Tech SEO community. Melissa Fach and Shelly Fagin. They came across my path a few years ago at my first PubCon. I was like wow, they know a lot!
Finally, what empowers you to be the brilliant woman you are?
"When you have clarity of intention, the universe conspires with you to make it happen." -Fabienne Fredrickson
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Thanks Barb for a truly insightful interview, you can learn more about her through her website and connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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