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 Kathryn Bevan! Based in Folkestone, UK, Kathryn is an SEO specialist, with 10 years of experience working in digital marketing agency-side at Sleeping Giant Media, where she is responsible for client SEO delivery, SEO process development and training, as well as coaching and mentoring a brilliant team of SEO experts.
We asked her everything from how she first got into SEO to what empowers her to be the brilliant woman she is 💪🏽
I arrived in the world of SEO by chance, having studied for a History degree at University and graduating with very little idea what I wanted to do next, I was lucky enough to stumble upon my first role in digital as a Search Account Executive at Sleeping Giant Media. In this role I developed all-round experience across both SEO and PPC, before pursuing Account Management and then choosing to specialise in SEO on a more technical level, as this is where my passion really lies.
It is really hard to pick just one SEO task, but I'd have to say getting stuck in with a full SEO audit has got to be up there as a favourite. I really enjoy unpicking a website, delving deep into analysis on the issues and causes, and prioritising actions that can make a real impact to that site's performance.
The tool I probably use most day to day is Screaming Frog, but I have also recently started using seotesting.com which has proved really valuable for drawing out insights from Search Console data, helping us to both report much more easily on the performance of SEO tests we are running for clients, but also generate new ideas for clients based on their GSC data.
Learning quite early on that every site is completely different and requires a bespoke approach - test and learn is key!
Speaking at BrightonSEO this April was a huge career highlight for me! Having been to and enjoyed many of these events in the past as an attendee, it was a privilege to be able to share the stage with so many other great speakers.
Soak up as much information as you can, especially while you're still learning - attend events, read articles and blogs, follow industry professionals across Linkedin and Twitter, subscribe to industry newsletters. Aleyda Solis also has created an excellent guide to learning SEO which I always recommend to new starters in my team: learningseo.io
The work that Areej AbuAli has done in founding this community and making it a safe, welcoming space for women in SEO cannot be understated, she is incredible and so inspiring.
I would also say Lily Ray. I aspire to be as cool and effortless at presenting at events, and every time I have seen her present there have been so many brilliant takeaways. I'm also in awe of her knowledge and research on E-E-A-T.
Don't be afraid to push yourself outside of your comfort zone - you might just surprise yourself at what you can achieve.
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Thanks Kathryn for a truly insightful interview! You can connect with Kathryn on her 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 YOU to share your story with the world! Simply fill this form here, we welcome brilliant SEOs from all walks of life! 🙌🏽