Leeds SEO

We have a treat for the lovely readers of LeedsSEO this week – the charming Beccy Scott reveals the genius of keyboard demos and why seeing people fall over is hilarious…

Give us a brief resume of your life in SEO – including any dramatic highlights!

I started at Base One in May 2007 and have had been lucky to see the company double in size in the last 2 years. The search team originally consisted of two people, one of which was me and now we have a team of 5 specialising in a range of search marketing skills. Having basic knowledge of the internet and how it worked I had to learn quickly in order to prove myself.

Having Lisa D Myers, as a tutor, was a highlight in itself as she pushed for me to pick up SEO skills quickly with the aim of taking on my own campaigns and clients. I read everything from beginners’ guides to blogs to articles as well as attending conferences to hear others theories and practices.

At my first conference I met people who inspired me to learn more, telling me some of the cool stuff that they had done for clients, yes I was taking notes on my napkin but who wouldn’t with this priceless and free information…..right?

One of the highlights was having my first blog post posted on SEOchicks which went hot on sphinn. The response I received gave me so much confidence and spurred me on to develop my knowledge further. Although maybe it was this picture that helped?

(That's what I look like under the clothes - SPT)

2 years on and I am now managing a team at Base One and continue to learn daily with the evolving world of search marketing.

Given that you studied English, do you have an unfinished novel lying around somewhere?

Funny you should say that I actually did write a novel, well it was more like a script for a film, but it was starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks as a man obsessed with his hairdresser…… could happen!! I have also just written a short story/blog post about blackberrys. It will be published soon I promise so watch this space.

What made you want to join the mad cap world of search?

Honestly……..? I didn’t. But now I am here I want to stay. It is a mad cap world and the people that are in it are equally as mental. But that is exactly what makes it so fun and appealing. London SEO events are a prime example where lunacy and intellect comes together.

If you could control Matt Cutts for a day, what would you make him do?

Allow me a secret back door to get round ‘no follow’……..

How did you come to work for Base One?

Oh now this is a good story. I was doing a number of temping jobs after University trying to find my way into editing for film or TV which was proving to be difficult. Just met a guy and was invited as his +1 to his best friend’s wedding. When I was there I met a girl who straight away made me feel like one of the gang and we had a laugh all night…… The week when I was temping for a hideous debt collection agency I bumped into the girl on my lunch break and she said that she was looking for a junior SEO. I had no idea what she just said but it had to be better than what I was doing. Little did I know that Lisa D Myers (then Lisa Ditlefsen) was such a figure in this industry and that she would teach me so much…. the rest is history.

Coffee or Tea?

Both…… coffee at work which I am normally in desperate need of around 09:01am, and Tea in the evenings and on Sunday mornings with an old film, dunking chocolate hobnobs.

What is your favourite thing about your job?

Love testing and challenging theories. That when I explain what I do everyone says it sounds so cool. I love my team….. They are all really different and from crazy backgrounds, but that makes conversations interesting. I also love love love my job when you have taken a site with little or no search visibility and managed to create an online presence, with a lot of hard work of course. It is so rewarding.

We share a love of people tripping up – what’s the funniest trip you’ve ever seen? (don’t worry, Jesus doesn’t read this blog)

It is a toss up of two, so I will tell you both….. when I was doing work experience and I was in Swindon (not my home town before any of you start, I live at least 20 mins from there) I was on a lunch break and saw a slightly larger lady, on crutches with arms full of bags literally do the splits and was stuck…… I had to help but I was crying my physical eyes out with laughter. God I am going to hell aren’t I….

2nd best ever trip was in the cinema when a woman tripped up the stairs sending popcorn flying, I could not control my outburst of hysterical laughter with a pointing finger too. There is just something so funny about people tripping up – as long as there is no pain of course

Do you still feel a twinge of guilt about crushing those kid’s dreams?

Have you been talking to Lisa? I thought it was initiative…. for those of you who don’t know the story, when I was younger I was in a talent competition for young musicians. Not being able to play an instrument at the time, I thought I would enter with my Yamaha keyboard. Needless to say I won. Later at a parent/teacher interview my mum was bombarded with praise about my excellence in music, of which she was confused as I had never even had one single lesson.

Ah the absolute geniusness of playing along to the pre installed demo tunes!! *bows and walks off stage right with trophy held high*

Are you a Mac or a PC?
PC enough said…

What’s your favourite social media network?

For my personal stuff I prefer facebook, for client work my favourite is Twitter. Facebook still does what it set out to do, to connect people with friends. Twitter is a great way of reaching mass audiences and to monitor the noise (or lack of) surrounding a brand or product.

And finally, if you weren’t an SEO, what would you be doing right now?

Who knows with keyboard skills like mine I could have been a musician in a band J ….. I have always wanted to do editing for film………But if I really had to choose right now I would be making jewellery on a beach in Bali.

If you want to find out what Beccy is doing right now you can follow her on Twitter.