Interviewing Casey Bryan

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edition where we interview brilliant women in our industry and share their stories with the world! Anyone is welcome to share their story by simply filling this form, we encourage women from all walks of life in our industry to do so.

Introducing

!Casey fell in love with SEO after starting her wine blog in 2010. She was intrigued by how to get her blog in front of more than just her mum's eyes. Since 2012 she has been working in web roles and began specialising in SEO and Google Ads in 2013. She now runs her own company with her husband - they're both Kiwis (New Zealanders) who have been living in Australia since 2012. Casey is Google obsessed and can also give some pretty good wine recommendations too.

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 blogging about wine in 2010 when I was working in fine wine sales in Dubai. I always loved to write and wanted to bring it together with my passion for wine. I soon learnt that creating a website was a lot more involved than I initially thought, and wanting to do everything myself, I taught myself all about websites and soon enough fell in love with how to amplify their reach and market them. This naturally led me down the SEO track and as they say 'the rest is history'.

What is your favourite SEO task?

I love a bit of everything as it keeps the job interesting. Saying that, I am a bit of a sucker for title tags - it always amazes me how sometimes a tiny tweak of a title tag can make a big impact in keyword positions and/or click-through rates. I am also a bit obsessed with chasing featured snippets, so working out ways to really make my client's websites shine on the search results is a fun task for me.

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

Google Analytics - without data we are lost! The data Google Analytics can provide someone in improving and analysing the impacts of changes on a website are vital. Plus you can use it to track activity from things like Google Business Profiles using UTMs, which can provide even more juicy insights. It's hard to say just one because I also use these tools virtually daily; Screaming Frog, Google Search Console, Google Ads Keyword Planner, SEMRush and Chrome extensions like Google Tag Assistant, SEO Meta Inspector, Redirect Path.... and more!

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

3rd party tools are great and can make doing SEO so much easier. But sometimes the answers you are searching for are right on the search result pages. You can gain so many insights about what type of content Google is looking for right from the search result pages. I always have an Incognito/Guest browser open on my desktop and mobile phone to review and analyse the search results when optimising a client/my own site for particular keywords.

What is your proudest industry achievement?

It would have to be branching out on my own. I never set out to own and operate my own SEO & Google Ads company. In 2018 I made the big leap and have never looked back. My husband has now joined the business and we have a portfolio of wonderful clients. During this time we have also had our first child and throughout this our business continues to thrive and help so many other small businesses in Australia master the art of SEO and Google Ads.

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

You learn by doing. Honestly, my wine blog has been the best teacher and place for me to hone my skills as an SEO specialist.

By understanding how websites work and being 100% invested in the outcome, it drives my passion to learn and improve. When I hear about new techniques, I typically try them out on my blog first to see how they go. Doing SEO for my own website/business really has taken my skills to the next level.

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

Not technically in the SEO industry, however, I have had the pleasure to meet Caroline Rainsford the Country Director of Google New Zealand and follow her on social media. The thoughts she shares, especially around leadership and women in business really resonates with me. Being a mum who works from home and ultimately drives the direction of our business and livelihood - I am inspired by women like Caroline who encourage and support us to do what we love and aim high.

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

Morgan my husband is a boatbuilder by trade, however since day one he has been my biggest supporter. He has even given up his full-time work to be a stay at home Dad + helps part-time in the business. He's always there lifting me up, encouraging me and motivating me. Yes, I could do it without him, however, he makes me better and he makes our company better.

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Thanks Casey for a truly insightful interview. You can learn more about Casey through her website and by connecting with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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! 🙌🏽