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 Lindsie Nelson! Based in Milwaukee, Lindsie is the Vice President of Client Strategy at Transistor Digital. She is a highly experienced SEO, client manager, leader & business professional. She leads the strategic SEO direction for a host of clients with a laser focus on increasing revenue.
We asked her everything from how she first got into SEO to what empowers her to be the brilliant woman she is 💪🏽
I started in the world of corporate marketing and PR. In that time, I honed my skills in project management, digital marketing, and communication but wanted to be challenged in a new way. I joined an SEO agency and was thrown in headfirst. There was so much to learn. I was so ready for that challenge. This is an industry that very few people are trained and ready to do, it takes a lot of on-the-job learning and experimenting to really hone the skills needed to be an expert SEO.
I love answering complex questions with data and trends. As SEOs we have access to a wealth of powerful information that allows answering questions like "What Products Should a Business Sell" and "Where is the Market Moving & How Does a Particular Business Keep Up". I can look at searches, trends, organic traffic, SERP results and more to build a beautiful, data-driven picture to answer any business question.
I'm a fan of good old SEMRush but I also love to validate and explore more info using Google Trends. A newer tool that I also use a ton is InLinks - it's great for internal linking and content build-out projects.
Big moves can really pay off. I think SEOs can get into a rut of standard optimizations, but you can only edit Title Tags so many times. Coming up with fresh ideas for every site - think revamping navigation, building out new pillars of content, creating custom content for verticals. Take risks! We rarely do things that make a site worse for SEO, so don't be afraid to make those big moves.
I've seen a lot of large ecommerce sites make a lot of money due to SEO but I have to say my proudest achievement comes from a small product startup that I helped develop into an organic powerhouse within their niche. Their site isn't big and their products aren't vast but with a little help (actually a lot of help) from SEO they have generated more than $300,000 from organic traffic alone. It's been a fun ride to see this client grow, generating a 50% increase in traffic and revenue each year.
Ask questions: important questions. Ask why a business only works in one vertical when there is so apparently an opportunity in another. Ask what products are actually profitable and worth SEO time. Ask who makes the decisions, and get in front of those people. Ask for that raise. Ask for the job you've always wanted.
Asking questions shows that you're prepared, thinking, developing and strategizing.
A big shout out to Michelle Bobzien! Not only is she a darn good SEO, she also happens to be my mom! We entered the world of SEO at similar times but she has such a wealth of experience in all things marketing.
My daughters. Cheesy but wholly and authentically true. I want my girls to see me achieve, see me succeed, and see me work really hard. They need to see that women can do amazing things.
----
Thanks Lindise for a truly insightful interview, you can connect with Lindsie on 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! 🙌🏽