As you all already know, I live and work in Chicago. I am a search engine optimization analyst at the Chicago SEO Scholar. My life as an SEO analyst in is amazing. I get up nice around 6am to get a hot shower, read the Chicago Times, have two eggs for breakfast and then head out to work on the L train.
Once I arrive to the office and settle in, I check to see what clients’ accounts/websites I’ll be working on. Typically, I start the day off my making phones or emailing clients to show them SEO reports, which contains info such as what SEO campaigns are working or not working, how much traffic their sites are getting via different SEO methods and things of that nature. If clients have any questions about the reports or about SEO in general, then I’ll try my best to answer them.
The second task of the day usually involves looking at clients’ site maps. If need be, I’ll structure them in a way that will appease the search engines, but in some cases clients’ websites won’t have any site maps. If I come across sites like these, then I’ll spend time creating a site map. Depending on several factors, I might spend up to 2-3 hours on structuring site maps and/or creating them.
Another task I spend a considerable amount of time on is researching keywords for clients and potential clients. Finding and choosing keywords is one of the funnest tasks I do, but it is strenuous and requires a lot of thinking outside the box. To help me perform keyword research I use Ahref and Moz as well as other keyword research methods I have learnt throughout my career.
I’ll create a list of potential keywords for each client I am working with. I’ll save these lists and will refer back to them when I’m done performing keyword research. I’ll then narrow down each list to the top keywords I recommend clients using.
Around noontime I take my lunch, which I have outside of the office building. I love all the amazing restaurants, which is why I choose to eat lunch outdoors. I take about an hour for lunch before heading back indoors.
Once I’m back inside my office, I’ll start checking out the latest happenings in the SEO industry. I do this daily because that’s how fast the SEO industry changes. I’ll check to see if the major search engines have done algorithm changes or if they plan on doing changes to their algorithms. If there are changes coming or have already taken place, I’ll research more in-depth to determine whether or not there are things that could be done in order to counteract any potential negative effects due to changes to the algorithms.
The last major task of the my day is finding areas to improve in. There are lots of SEO campaigns that I look over on a daily basis, therefore there is typically always room for improvement. Something I learnt a longtime ago is that even the smallest changes can have the biggest impacts on SEO campaigns. If need be, I’ll discuss ideas for improvements with colleagues.
At the end of my workday, I take 10-20 minutes to briefly review what I’ll be working on the following morning. After that, I call it a day and head to a nearby gym for an hour long workout before going home to have dinner. Finally, I turn off my mobile phone and relax for the rest of the evening.