A day in the life of a Content SEO Specialist!

Meet Sarah, Content SEO Specialist (recently promoted from Junior) at SaaS SEO agency: Skale. Come and say hi!

What’s involved in a Junior Content SEO Specialist role at Skale, and how is the learning experience? We’re catching up with Sarah, who joined as Skale’s first ever Junior, and has since progressed within the Content team, to find out more about the role, and her favourite part of working for a remote agency!

Let’s get to know her.

Meet a Content SEO Specialist!

Hey, I’m Sarah, a Content SEO Specialist at Skale! That means I’m responsible for handling all things content for my clients -> all SaaS brands crushing it in their respective industries. 

On a day-to-day basis, I create content ideas based on keyword research, enhance existing content, and brief new articles. It’s my job to stay on top of all my clients’ blogs and make sure content is doing what it does best: informing, entertaining, and showing people why these SaaS brands are the best at what they do. 

Before Skale, I was a creative writing graduate with 1 year of SEO experience, focusing on content writing. If SEO was a driving test, I would have passed the theory and failed the practical exam! I knew the main concepts, but applying them to a real big-picture strategy was a challenge I’d never faced before.

Since joining Skale, I’ve grown from a Content Writer into a Content SEO Specialist. I’m part of a team of experts in content, tech, and SEO strategy, handling content for multiple SaaS brands every day. While my knowledge has come a long way, I’m constantly learning new things from the incredible team around me- and turning that knowledge into success for the brands that work with us.

Tell us about your onboarding process when you joined the team

I was Skale’s first-ever junior, working on a team of experts with years of experience and knowledge, and it was a little daunting at first! But there was never a need to worry, because the support at Skale is nothing short of phenomenal. Even before I joined the team, I was presented with a roadmap for my possible development, and an open statement from management: “We want to turn you into a world-class SEO, and we’ll help you to develop the necessary skills.”

Day 1 looked something like this: a short chat with our founders in the morning, being introduced to my mentor (who oversaw all of my training and development) and reading our onboarding materials. Skale has a lot of in-depth knowledge to share, and I had never worked in SaaS before, so there was a lot to absorb!

Over the next few weeks, Skale continued to support my development in several ways:

• Creating a bespoke roadmap that allowed me to focus on learning a new topic every week. This was also malleable and easy to change, according to how my development actually progressed each week.
• Weekly 1:1 meetings with my mentor for us to chat through how I was settling in, any issues I was having, or any questions I had about SaaS SEO in general.
• Regular meetings with my manager, who seemed to know exactly what I needed to learn, and when (even when I didn’t!)
• Throwing me in at the deep end – progression was full of challenges, and working with clients who are used to the amazing work that Skale delivers. I had to quickly rise to that responsibility, and it helped me to learn a lot about content SEO in a short space of time. 

Working remotely, do you feel you’ve had good opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and learn from them?

Short answer: yes! 

Skale excels at remote work- and especially remote connection. Weekly meetings with my mentor made sure that I was never stuck on a task for long, and in-between meetings the floor was always open for me to send her a message with any question at all. There were a lot of questions in those early days!

A few weeks into my role, I started working with other members of the team, and the advice my mentor gave me at the time was “This person is great, learn from them, and ask questions!”

So the more people I worked with, the more I was able to learn about how to use content to create real results for our clients. 

My ideas were always seriously addressed in brainstorming sessions, and I adopted a philosophy that “there are no bad ideas- as long as I’m learning.” There was always someone on the team to help develop my early ideas into something great, or point me in a better direction, and I was right there to watch how they did it. 

There is nothing better for career development than learning from an expert in action, apart from repeating that action to yourself on an excel doc right after the meeting!

What’s been the biggest learning curve in your role?

Skale’s team never shied away from a challenge. It’s part of what makes our team so great at what we do, and it leads to a lot of learning curves. 

Even as a junior, nobody shied away from giving me the opportunity to develop new tasks and procedures. It was intimidating to create a new task from scratch as there was nobody to directly ‘learn from’. Creating new procedures forced me to develop skills that make for a solid content SEO:

• Attention to detail – most of the new processes I developed were large tasks that took days to complete, and afterwards I would be the only person who knew how to do it, so remembering all the little details was very important for the whole team’s development.
• Logical thinking – As a content writer, I wasn’t used to dealing with large amounts of data and turning it into actionable suggestions. I had a minor background in mathematics, but the main thing that helped was reaching out to other members of the team and understanding their thought processes around what I was doing.
• Collaboration – I was always checking in with more experienced colleagues and taking their advice on-board. I must have asked a thousand questions, but I got a thousand-and-one answers, and that made all the difference!
• Creativity and originality – being creative as an SEO is different to most other creative fields. There are best practices to follow, changes to Google’s algorithm to take into account, and client-specific factors you can’t ignore. At the same time, making creative, innovative, and useful content will do more to get you to the #1 spot than just copying what everyone else is doing.

Since I was creating these new processes first-hand, it also developed my confidence in myself. Within a few months at Skale I was taking on bigger tasks, responsibilities, and looking after my own clients.

Which is your favourite company perk at Skale?

Do I have to pick just one? Half of my favourite perks aren’t even the ones you’ll see on the job listing. I love being able to manage my own time and calendar, working with a team of people who are amazing at what they do, and being given the opportunity to develop at such a fast pace. My learning hasn’t stopped just because I’m no longer a junior, either! No two days at Skale are the same, and even the days that go at breakneck-speed are fascinating opportunities to grow.

Of the official perks, our subscription to Oliva’s mental health platform is great. I value the encouragement to take time out of my day to breathe, exercise, and spend time away from my work to find a little personal balance. 

At Skale, you’re trusted to handle your own work-life balance and working hours, which means you can take the time you need to reset throughout the day as long as your work gets done. By integrating Oliva’s meditation and self-guided classes into my workday, I can work with a clearer head and great work-life balance.

Any advice you’d give to a new Junior Content SEO Specialist?

Ask questions! Don’t be afraid of sounding ‘less expert’ than everyone else. You’re a junior, there is no pressure or expectation that you’ll join us and start operating with a senior-level mindset. You’re here to learn as well as work.

The most important thing I told myself as a junior was this: it’s okay to make mistakes, but don’t make them twice. Make as many mistakes as you need to while you’re learning, because then you won’t make them again when you’re at a more senior level.

That’s all folks!

Thanks for taking the time to meet Sarah. We hope you found this a great insight into what life is like here at Skale, as well as what it’s like to be a Content SEO Specialist!

As you’ve probably learned, SEO agency life is very different from in-house. So, if you’re ready to take your SEO expertise to an agency, then maybe Skale is the right fit for you. Keep track of our careers page for updates. 

Until next time!