Being an SEO: A Day in the Life

This week, I was featured in Mishpacha Magazine as part of a cohort of SEOs about my job as an SEO.

Hope you'll enjoy!

Shalom Goodman,?Crown Heights, NY

SEO Specialist: Wall Street Journal Global Headquarters, Manhattan

Years in Field: 7

My Typical Workday

SEO is essentially the practice of trying to understand users and their needs as well as Google’s preferences. Combine those two, along with the needs of your company, and you’re good to go.

My job is to give the various offerings on the?Wall Street Journal?website, from Live Blog coverage and articles and everything in between, the highest chance of being seen by readers via Google and other search engines. There are hundreds of factors at play in optimizing an article or a site so that it appears at the top of Google’s search results. Figuring out why a page isn’t ranking well and how we can change that is what we’re tasked with on a daily basis.

This is both fun and tricky, as there are constant new developments to deal with, both from Google’s ever-evolving algorithm and from the endless news cycle.

I start my day by sending communications with the broader newsroom regarding the latest happenings and news that are making waves around the world. I give SEO recommendations and article ideas based on potential reader interests and on what would be most important to cover from a broad perspective. I then work on technical issues within our site, finding ways to essentially allow Google to crawl our website as efficiently as possible, giving us the best chance to rank well. This can all be interrupted by a breaking news event somewhere in the world. Being on top of the latest news is vital for any news SEO.

An average afternoon can have me working on content from various places: A bank run occurs and the stock tanks, all while a natural disaster occurs overseas. But wait, the White House just put out a statement.

A massive part of my job is education: explaining to editors and reporters the best ways for their articles to get the most eyeballs on Google. And I also need to educate myself; understanding the news landscape and what lies ahead is a massive part of the job, as well as being nimble in the moment when breaking news occurs. I need to really delve into Google’s search results and Google Trends to understand exactly what readers are searching for.

All the while, I’m working with various teams on fixes for technical problems that might impact our search rankings in the normal course of operating a website as large as the?Wall Street Journal.

It’s a lot of hopping from problem to problem; I like to say that my ADHD has been a benefit in this job!

How I Chose the Profession

My education trained me to be a rabbi; I studied in yeshivah until age 24. In 2017, after some brief internships, I started working with Chabad.org as an editor and an SEO. This was my entry point into the editorial world. I then went to work as the first official SEO for Business Insider.

The fun part of SEO is that even if you were to learn it in college, most of what you learned would be outdated by the time you graduated. I learned on the job and it snowballed from there.

How I Chose My Specialty

SEO is quite broad, and there are specific niches within the industry. I specialize in news and commerce SEO, though I’m also a generalized SEO. I’ve always had an affinity toward articles and news, and this was the perfect marriage of the two.

The WSJ was my dream job. When I saw an opening in 2020, I applied and hit it off with the team. Then Covid hit and hiring paused, but a year later, I reached out again and finally got the job. Now here I am, a proud?frum?Jew rocking the beard, yarmulke and tzitzis while my desk is 20 feet from the editor-in-chief’s desk. I handed out homemade challah in the newsroom?—that was a big hit!

What I Love Most about the Field

I love how in news SEO, you never really know what your day will look like, because things change so quickly. An average afternoon can involve interacting with editors in New York, D.C., Israel, London, and Asia.

What I Find Most Challenging about the Field

The biggest challenge is impostor syndrome. Even the most experienced SEOs can face challenges when trying to understand Google’s algorithm. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, an article may not perform as expected. In such instances, it’s crucial to remember that the ultimate goal of SEO should be to create valuable and relevant content that meets readers’ needs and enhances their experience. You must remind yourself that you can’t win them all.

On a personal level, I have the unique challenge of having a stutter. Though at times it can be difficult, I never use it as an excuse but rather as a springboard to better communication. People know that they have to wait a bit extra when speaking with me and they always feel it’s worth it.

My grandfather also stuttered, and he’d always quietly worried about me and what kind of career I’d have. I was able to tell him the good news that I’d been offered a job at the?Wall Street Journal?(he was a lifelong fan) just two months before he died. Hearing that I’d be okay professionally was comforting for him in his waning months.

I’ll Never Forget When

When I was introduced to the then editor-in-chief of the WSJ as an SEO and a rabbi, I was admittedly a tad nervous to hear his response. He shocked me when he shared his excitement about my unique path and related that his father, too, took an untraditional path later in life and became a priest.

Something I Wish People Knew About SEO Professionals

There are so many aspects of our job. You need to have people skills, technical skills, product management skills, editorial skills, an understanding of general trends?— and the skills keep growing!

How I’ve Seen the Field Change Over the Years

The field is changing all the time. Google’s search engine algorithms are constantly evolving; there are hundreds of updates each year, which means there’s never a dull moment in this field. With the evolution of AI, the SEO space will become even more interesting.

AI has a lot of potential to make waves in our space, so keeping on top of the latest developments and trends will be really important. We’ll have to navigate the advent of AI in Search. The trick is to try to stay ahead of the curve and use it to your advantage.

My Advice for People Starting Out

Start with the basics. I started with a basic SEO course and learned on the job. Trial-and-error is the best teacher. And know that if you really want it, there’s endless opportunity out there.