RankUp

Managing SEO projects can be a complex undertaking, with different websites having completely different requirements, and different SEO activites often requiring very different skills.

Despite its complexity, many SEOs find themselves in the position of managing projects solo. They could be freelancers like today's guest, working in-house as the only dedicated SEO, or even simply the only SEO on a particular client's team in an agency.

However you find yourself in such a situation, it's always helpful to hear from other people who have a lot of experience managing SEO projects on their own. Kevin Kapezi is one such person, having worked as the primary SEO specialist at Experian before going full time as a freelancer with Growthack.

Kevin has appeared on the podcast before, in episodes 11 and 12, and we were thrilled to have him back to talk about his decision to go freelance and his tips for managing SEO projects solo.

To see Kevin's recent talk at the Whitespark Local Search Summit, take a look at his speaker profile. You can also see a summary of the talk in Whitespark's event roundup.

You can follow all of us on the podcast on Twitter, at @KEVKDigital, @seoliviamae and @BenJGarry. If you have any questions for the podcast or you're interested in appearing as a guest, we'd love to hear from you.

SEO is booming, and growth goes hand in hand with job opportunities. The last 12 months or so have already seen SEO professionals across the industry changing companies and changing roles at a furious pace, but there's no sign of the recruitment drive slowing down.

You might find yourself facing a career choice soon. When it comes, what will you be thinking about? What progression opportunities does your current workplace offer, and what might be available elsewhere? What do the different job roles in SEO mean from company to company?

We had the pleasure of speaking to Jen Penalua about these questions and more. Jen is a senior SEO strategist at Evoluted, and was one of the people to take the plunge and move to a new company in the pandemic. This interview was a fantastic opportunity to get Jen's insights into her own decision making process, and to have the opportunity to discuss how SEO careers can look different from company to company.

You can follow all of us on the podcast on Twitter, at @penaluna_jen, @seoliviamae and @BenJGarry.

Mental health is a vital conversation topic in any industry, especially given the challenges thrown at us by COVID-19. SEO is no different, with imposter syndrome, performance expectations and the stresses of remote work just some of the strains commonly felt by people working in our industry.

Ryan Darani, our guest on this episode, is keen to keep people in SEO talking about mental wellbeing and working proactively as a community to make our workplaces and working lives healthier.

Join us as we talk to him about SEO's unique challenges, share some of our own experience about mental wellbeing in the industry, and discuss some of our thoughts as regular SEO workers (not medical professionals!) on ways we've found of protecting our mental wellbeing when things get tough.

As always, you can listen to the interview right here on this page or on any podcast player of your choice. Or, if you want to see a few key points, keep reading for highlights of the interview. You can also follow all of us on the podcast on Twitter, at @SearchForRyan, @EddJTW and @BenJGarry, or find out more about Ryan's freelance work at ryandarani.com.

Link for MHFA course through St. Johns Ambulance

The middle part of 2021 has already seen multiple broad core algorithm updates and Google's long anticipated Page Experience Update. In what has been a turbulent year both in SEO and in the wider world, the RankUp podcast wanted to return to questions we asked at the end of 2020 to see what's really working in SEO this year.

There's no guest interview this week, giving us the chance to put our very own Edd Wilson in the hotseat and ask him some questions about the themes he's seeing in successful SEO strategies this year. We spoke about how our expectations had changed from the end of 2020, the importance of understanding consumer search journeys, examples of brands doing a great job, and plenty more.

As always, you can listen to the interview right here on this page or on any podcast player of your choice. Or, if you want to see a few key points, keep reading for highlights of the interview. You can also follow Ben and Edd on Twitter, at @EddJTW and @BenJGarry.

Developing an SEO strategy over time is a crucial way to ensure that your site is able to compete in search and achieve its goals in the long term. The tactics that earned you success two years ago might not work in the present, and the needs of your site will evolve as the business grows and changes.

Kerstin Reichert joined the RankUp podcast to talk about her own experiences with setting the SEO strategy for Tide, a business bank account provider which has rapidly gone from being considered a startup to its current state as an international business with hundreds of employees. Kerstin's role at Tide has given her an ideal perspective on how to adapt a strategy to stay competitive over time.

As always, you can listen to the interview right here on this page or on any podcast player of your choice. Or, if you want to see a few key points, keep reading for highlights of the interview. You can also follow all of us on the podcast on Twitter, at @Frau_Reichert, @EddJTW and @BenJGarry, or find Kerstin on LinkedIn.

See more from Impression on our blog.

Digital PR executive Saffron Shergill interviews Azeem Ahmad on the topic of diversity and inclusion in the marketing industry. 

They talk in-depth about:

We interviewed Lucy Pembayun, founder of LEaF Translations, about the fascinating intersection of SEO and translation. Translation is a huge component of international SEO strategies but, as Lucy explains, machine translation and even human translation won't always leave you seeing the best organic results in your new markets.

Lucy joined us to articulate a translation process that takes into account both the communication of the text and its eventual organic performance, which will give you plenty to chew over if you're on the verge of branching into a new market with your company or client.

You can see more from Lucy on Twitter, or see more about what she does over at the LEaF Translations website.

Edd and Ben will be back soon with a new episode of the RankUp podcast. In the meantime, you can find us all on Twitter, @seoliviamae, @BenJGarry and @EddJTW.

If you’re interested in being a guest on the show, please reach out to us on Twitter or via email.

Tasha Amponsah-Antwi, Business Director at Reprise Digital and long-time fashion and beauty SEO expert, joined the podcast to expand on the topic that she brought to Brighton SEO in spring 2021.

After seeing Tasha's talk, we were keen to hear more about some of the topics that she mentioned: specifically, the idea of a fashion and beauty pyramid that helps us understand a brand's position in the market, and the complex research journey that customers often take before buying new products.

We also had a new host line-up for this episode! Ben was joined by Impression's own fashion and beauty expert, Olivia-Mae Foong, who helped us explore areas of the topic in a deeper and more insightful way.

Listen to the whole interview on the page or on any podcast app, or read highlights right here. You can also find everyone on this episode on Twitter, at @Tasha_Antwi, @seoliviamae and @BenJGarry.

Fabrizio Ballarini joined us for episode 21 of the RankUp podcast to talk about his experiences in scaling up the Wise SEO team from one person (himself) to a team of dozens that includes SEOs, writers and developers.

Fabrizio is an organic search specialist tasked with growing the organic presence of Wise (formerly TransferWise). He spoke to us about some of the tactics and practices that have helped his team achieve and maintain success as it has grown over the years.

You can find Fabrizio on Twitter @Pechnet, where you can also connect with Ben (@BenJGarry) and Edd (@EddJTW). We'd love to hear from you if you're interested in coming on the show or if you have any questions.

Don't forget that you can find all the latest content from Impression online at the Impression blog.

Kev Wiles joined the 20th RankUp podcast for a wide-ranging episode covering all kinds of topics from his experience working in agencies, in-house and as a SEO freelancer.

Now, freelance, Kevin has previously worked for big UK brands like Halfords and Soak.com, as well as working in the UK and New Zealand for a number of digital agencies. With this background, he's had plenty of time to pick up on what it takes to find commercial success through SEO.

You can find Kev on Twitter @kevwiles, where you can also connect with Ben (@BenJGarry) and Edd (@EddJTW). We'd love to hear from you if you're interested in coming on the show or if you have any questions.

Don't forget that you can find all the latest content from Impression online at the Impression blog.