Now our rebrand is done and dusted, we’re highlighting the brilliant people within Climb & Conquer, showing the people our clients deal with directly to maximise their digital performance. First up, it’s Steph Blick, one of the first employees of the business, who joined us as an entry-level SEO Trainee and has progressed to SEO Campaign Lead, working with Crumbs & Doilies and My Learning Cloud, to name a few.
Steph is based in Worcester and joined us back in July 2023.
We sat down over a (virtual, obvs!) coffee to find out a little more about Steph, her path into SEO and her insights on working in the industry.
Give us a whistlestop tour of your career journey to date:
I would go as far as to say this is my first proper job. Before here I worked running a warehouse for a small company, which weirdly is what got me into digital marketing. I then moved to Sweden for a short term and whilst there I did some freelance work for small Etsy shops in terms of writing product descriptions, and photo and video editing. This sparked my interest in digital marketing, then after some research and online courses I decided SEO was the route I wanted to go down, and here we are 18 months later.
Describe a typical day in the life of your role:
I like my days structured down to the last second so the first thing I’ll do is plan it out as accurately as I can, followed by catching up with any emails, prepping for any meetings and a quick catch-up with colleagues on Slack.
After this, I’ll dive straight into a few hours of client work, resurface for air to check emails at 12 and then dive back in. I always try to make sure anything I least prefer is done first so I can spend my afternoon doing research or content writing.
What made you decide to join Climb & Conquer?
Growth, training and support were promised, and Shane and Victor have certainly delivered on that. When I started, I was provided with all the knowledge and support I needed to thrive.
Another aspect was it being a remote role and when I started, we were very much in the early days of the business (there were just 3 of us and Shane!), which presented the opportunity to grow and move up as the business grew.
It’s been great to see the business continue to thrive as an early member of the team!
What do you enjoy most about your role?
Probably all the different companies I get to work with. I love researching and learning lots of different aspects of different businesses and sectors.
Also, because I’m a bit of an all-rounder, there’s a nice variation of work to cover between all my clients from strategy to keyword research and page speed insights to creating or optimising new content. This keeps my days full and interesting, which is exactly what I’d hoped for from a career in SEO.
And what’s the most challenging part?
I’m a little on the shy side – so to some extent, client meetings can be challenging for me. But the more I work with a client and the more meetings we do, the easier it gets. Hopefully, before I know it, I’ll be going into every meeting without any nerves.
What’s your hot take on SEO for 2024?
This is a bit of a broad answer but – there isn’t a perfect customer.
By pushing too hard for that, companies are often writing off potential customers too early and damaging their lead and conversion rates.
If you could give one piece of advice to anyone looking to get into your field, what would it be?
Don’t give up.
It’s difficult to get into SEO without any experience but keep trying and you’ll get there. Take online courses, watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts and even build your site or store if you have time, or pick up some small freelance gigs – it’ll all help in the long run.
Want to see more about what life at Climb & Conquer is like and be the first to know when we’re hiring new people to join the team? Follow our LinkedIn page for the latest updates.
