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Welcome to a new Weekly Interviews 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 Tess Voecks! Based in USA, Tess is the Senior Director of Project Management for Local SEO Guide, a SEO agency creating and delivering SEO strategies and solutions for a range of businesses ranging from enterprise local SEO businesses to startups and everything and anything in between. Tess manages each client's deliverables by collaborating with internal and external stakeholders to ensure success, profitability, efficiency, and satisfaction from proposal to delivery. Prior to taking on a project management role, Tess has over 10+ years in the SEO industry working on local SEO and enterprise SEO.
We asked her everything from how she first got into SEO to what empowers her to be the brilliant woman she is 💪🏽
It quite honestly just happened to be the first job I took out of college. Funny story, I was hired for a PPC role, but the company called me back a few weeks before starting to ask if I'd be willing to switch to a SEO role. They let me know it was no big deal because "it was pretty much the same thing. I laugh now. I've stayed in SEO because the nature of the job is interesting and I enjoy the challenge. Every day I work on and learn something new. The fast paced nature of the job is what I crave!
Project management of course! However, I do really enjoy creating internal linking strategies. I think internal linking is one of the most underrated SEO tasks. Small effort but big reward.
The project manager in me says ClickUp! ClickUp is a project management tool but can be used for so many other things ranging from a CRM to time tracking, invoicing, and so much more. However, as an SEO, I really enjoy Screaming Frog. It's a versatile tool that can share and pinpoint so much rich information.
I find it fascinating how there is not a one-size-fits-all or universal SEO strategy. There are best practices, but no one client will ever have the same SEO strategy.
A lot like a medical diagnosis, each client is unique, and what works for one client won't work for another. I have a medical background as well as a business background, and SEO in so many ways reminds me of my medical background!
I don't have a specific moment, but as of the last few years, I'm really proud of the work I've put in with Local SEO Guide. Transforming the project management system there has changed the way we are able to function as a business and has improved the way we complete client work. I'm also proud of the hard work I've put in to help clients and businesses transform their SEO and site performance. It's a labor of love many times, and the end result is always so satisfying!
Find a mentor. Find someone who you can bounce ideas off of, ask questions, and who you feel comfortable being vulnerable with. Having mentors has been a life saver for me.
One? Just one? I have so many. Michelle Robbins is literal #goals. I admire her strength, brilliance, honesty, and willingness to mentor young women in the industry. If I can add more (and I know I'm not including everyone, ugh): Carolyn Lyden, Taylor Berg, Krystal Taing, Kelly Stanze, Crystal Ortiz, Aimee Sanford, Claire Carlile...these women are all such positive, helpful women who lift each other up. Downright amazing.
Currently trying to get through a major case of imposter syndrome. What helps me most is remembering and reminding myself that we all have something to bring to the table.
What's helpful to one person might not be to another person, but the latter half shouldn't scare you from the positive outcome of the first half.
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Thanks Tess for a truly insightful interview, you can connect with Tess on Twitter and 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 YOU to share your story with the world! Simply fill this form here, we welcome brilliant SEOs from all walks of life! 🙌🏽