- Beyond The Dashboard
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- State of Change within SEO
I've said it before, but no one, including myself, dreamed of being an SEO.
We all came to this realization through strange and varying pathways.
I went through a BS in Biology and Chemistry.
I started my career in chemical characterization with Johnson Matthey, a leader in advanced metal sciences that provides sustainable chemical solutions.
Quickly, I realized that without a graduate degree, I wouldn't move up in the organization too quickly.
I had aspirations for more, and at that point in my life, I wasn't ready to take on more school debt.
I also realized early on that I went to school for chemical characterization, and running XRF and ICP microscopy labs doesn't change much from day to day.
I wanted variety.
I wanted upward mobility at lower costs.
Learning about how the internet works and website development offered both of those.
What better way to learn about the internet and websites than by studying on the internet?
I decided that the only way to learn something new was to set aside time every day and commit to nailing, at minimum, those two hours a day.
If I did that, I would eventually gain expertise in a new skill that could benefit me long term.
So I set the bar at 2 hours a day, but the majority of the time, I was able to clock 4+ hours focused on changing my career.
I had concrete goals at the time.
Summed up - wanted to learn a skill I could leverage from home and didn't require $100s of thousands of dollars worth of lab equipment like my current job.
I worked my way through HMTL, CSS, and JavaScript, ultimately stumbling on SEO, which took hold of me.
I knew that this skill could change my life.
And in terms of the variety I was after… SEO changes daily due to the algorithms used to build search engine results.
The rule, not the exception.
Change is the rule, not the exception, in SEO.
In 2018, it was reported that Google changed its algorithms around 3,000 times that year.
Almost 9 times per day.
That's a rate of change most other industries aren't familiar with and wouldn't be able to function under.
Generally, continuity and stability with a splash of innovation are what drive an industry forward, but in the case of SEO, there is a constant state of instability and exploration focused on understanding the best user experience, what Google thinks is the best user experience, and most importantly; how it determines that.
All of which drive this daily change.
Take, for instance, where we are right now. Mid-October 2023, there were two large algorithm updates deployed, and two more have started deploying all within the last six weeks.
Two core updates, a Helpful Content update, and a spam update.
Those are massive changes to how pages rank for different types of content and topics within Google Search. On top of that, there were many more that weren't announced and haven't been made public by Google during that time span.
How do you navigate:
So outside of all the shit, you must do while teaching yourself a new skill: validating the information you don't already know, finding trustworthy experts to learn from, sifting through noise for signal, etc.
How do you learn SEO?
I've said before it's like jumping on a speeding train.
You've gotta build up speed to match the train and then jump on.
This means you need to build up a solid foundation and then begin to digest the daily updates.
There's no point in diggin' into current info if you're not familiar with where the industry has come from; there is so much to the role that requires a 5' view and 30,000' understanding in order to fully digest and navigate the organic channel, especially for a large site.
I tend to shy away from SEO books.
I just bought the 4th edition of "The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization," and no offense to the authors, all are brilliant and successful in their own right, but there were things that I noticed were outdated way before the book was published.
Companies listed that were acquired way before print, info that's no longer valid, etc.
I pre-ordered this book. It's 741 pages… and it's the second version I own.
Books for this industry go out of date rapidly. Especially if they are positioned on "how to do SEO" or "learning SEO."
Other aspects haven't been written about that make a lot of sense as industry book topics. To me, that’s a bit odd.
I also tend to shy away from search results about most SEO topics.
That sounds counterintuitive… “What ranks for SEO isn’t the best info about SEO?”
Sadly, no. The low-hanging fruit can sometimes be rotten due to the industry itself - a topic for another conversation.
On the other hand, search results can tell you a lot about how Google is currently approaching the customer intent for the search, and the way it's sorting pages addressing certain topics within industries.
You can learn a lot by sifting through the search results.
Courses seem to have come a long way.
There looks to be some real value in those at the moment, but I'm not sure at this stage if there are any I can directly recommend, especially if you're not just dipping toes in.
I'll make a whole Newsletter about some of the courses I've bumped into and do some reviewing soon.
Mentorship is a great way to build skills.
Asking people actively working in the industry what their opinions are on issues you're running into is a great way to learn how to approach an issue.
It's not about finding the binary answer to most of your questions. The reality is that your setup, your industry, and all that nuance shapes the solution dramatically.
There are a few Yes or No questions. There are few easy answers; it's more about what makes the most sense currently and having the foundation to make an educated guess.
Gun to my head, where should someone start? https://learningseo.io/
Then, join X (twitter) and follow a few people within the industry.
Generally, a good mix of big biz and SaaS or startup are the type of SEO accounts I would follow just starting out.
There's a ton of noise on the platform, so be prepared for that and take it all with a grain of salt.
Conclusion:
If you want to succeed in SEO as a career:
Commit to learning - schedule the time. set an alarm.
Practice every day.
Choose a few voices to listen to, test them out, and don't be afraid to dump them for some better influences.
Don't chase shiny objects.
Ingest as much as you can, but build your own perspective.
Stay tuned for more insights, stories, and tips. Until next time!
I hope this gave you some perspective and helps as you build your career.
Be sure to share with anyone you think will find value.
Matt!
Car Corner
A lot of people throw around the term Outlaw Porsche, but many are unaware about why, or how it all started.
Some traits that play into the naming convention… Being owned by an Outlaw, one of them.
Significant non-factory modifications
Doesn’t look like any other Porsche in the world
Modified with complete disregard for resale value and the opinion of the community
Looks badass
I know it’s not Porsche-related, but this was wild to see: Tesla Trucks just started shipping, and we see a wild video of one with what appears to be rocking bullet-shaped dents all along the driver-side body panels.
IMO, it’s marketing
Still caught my eye for sure.
Cool Links:
I bumped into something that blew my mind… and I was surprised I hadn’t heard about it previously.
Pre-nuclear testing steel is and has been at a premium for specific use-cases due to the contamination levels.
Still, to this day, special use cases like Geiger counters require pre-nuclear steel due to all of the testing done throughout history.
