Lin Zhao is SEO manager at ilk, a Leeds-based integrated marketing agency.
Named as one of Prolific North’s Top 50 Integrated Agencies for 2024, ilk is approaching its 25th anniversary after being founded by managing director Nev Ridley back in 1999.
Lin Zhao joined ilk in 2023, having previously worked in SEO at ALT agency and LITTLE Agency in Leeds.
If you’ve ever wondered what an SEO manager might get up to everyday, fret not as Zhao has shared a recent week in their life with us…
Monday
The week starts with a black coffee. Nothing gets done before then. Once there’s some caffeine in my system, it’s time to check in with our roster of SEO clients – how has organic performance been doing over the weekend? Is there a ranking dip that needs investigating?
If so, I’m straight into hunting down the competitor who’s bumping us down the rankings, before reviewing landing pages and making tweaks to reclaim the top spot. All my technical audits are scheduled for Sunday at midnight too, so I jump right in and fix any issues that can be handled in the CMS, or brief my good dev friend to sort anything I can’t.
Tuesday
Another coffee. Black again, of course. It’s an exciting day today because there’s new business on the horizon. The wider integrated team is getting to grips with the brief for a pitch, so I spend my day thoroughly auditing their website, SEO performance and looking at competitors to inspire SEO campaign ideas, as well as any insights to pass to the creative and comms teams. There’s no such thing as too much SEO, in my opinion.
Wednesday
It’s coffee time. You guessed it, black. After Wednesday’s mug, I get my head around strategic planning for a key client. The best way to understand a client is through competitor analysis, in my opinion, so I build out content calendars based on what’s ranking well for their rivals, whilst uncovering the hidden trends and topics they might have missed. Once I’ve selected the best keywords, I send out briefs to copy and design.
Thursday
Someone asks if I want a tea. Of course not. This morning’s coffee leads to chats with people I’ve briefed during the week. Are they happy with what they have on their plate? Do they need any more info or insight? How does the work link up with wider account activity? Then it’s client meetings, updating on SEO progress and answering questions on my specialist subject. I finish the day ticking off some to-do list tasks for on-page SEO, drafting metadata, tweaking content and updating schema data.
Friday
TGIF. I celebrate with… you guessed it. A black coffee. Friday is analytics day, so I crack open Google Search Console for immediate impressions and clicks, and GA4 to track user engagement. SEO tools help me analyse the competitive landscape too. I tot up the week’s wins, and the not-so-wins, to get a sense of what worked, and what needs tweaking. I like to end the week with something more open-ended, browsing SEO forums and Google updates to see what’s going on in the SEO world. If algorithm changes are coming, I want to know.
