Starting a new job

I wonder if that would change actual appearance of the site? Or it would only effect SEO stuff? I actually like how straight forward and clear cut us NB website. I don’t like Nike website, too many bells and whistles. It’s exciting you are undertaking such major task! Good luck!

Spoiler: VENT.
I am looking at my job board search which is different now than the last 9 mos for some valid reasons. But, I have to redo the resume now and it feels like totally starting over. My work is not professional except for the 15 yrs I held a Massage Therapy license. I want to go back into the office world but working out of it for so long has me stumbling around in office jobs really feeling pent up and awkward etc. Too many random conversations with co workers which I could now live without.

Now, I have settled on working out of my home office and looking for remote work which is a different world I believe. Please share anybody that knows about remote work. I think it might even be more competitive!
Acck! I got my meds stabilized only over a year ago and immediately had to launch into a job search. My life's Achilles heel. It hurts. Even the counselor can't seem to help too much. I fired my job coach last year. I could swing half a year of retail last year to get out while I kept looking. I feel I have made such a mess of this now.

My parents have been helping me out with funds but now my Dad has understandably grown inpatient with my lack of employment a year later. My self esteem is almost in the toilet after this. I know things will open up for me once this gets settled. I pray and try to walk the path each day. I guess I can't push this any faster than its going. Okay. Deep breath.
Cheers~

Not really. I am simply adding a few additional words to the page titles, which you only view in Google's search results, and a page heading. underneath each product name. So while it's a massive undertaking for SEO, it should not change the look and feel of the site.

And thanks!!

Wow, so this is odd but very interesting.

You know how everyone's going ga ga over the recent Barbie movie? Well, pink is trending way up as a result, so my company beefed up their pink apparel page, I worked on it for SEO, and we launched a revamped page today.

My boss gave ME credit for the idea, when I believe it was my more junior male colleague who pointed out that searches for pink clothes and shoes was trending way up on the website. I mentioned this to my boss, telling her I believe it was his observation and idea, and that he should get the credit.

Well, instead, my boss gave me credit in an email to a female way high up in the chain of command who oversees online sales. I wonder why she did that, even after I pointed out it wasn't my idea or observation?!?

I got the sense that she wanted to point out to this high up female what we are working on for SEO, and to shine a spotlight on my work in particular. It made me paranoid, thinking that perhaps they're questioning why they have an SEO expert on staff, and my boss felt like she should shine a light on our work???? I don't know.

Now I have to watch the performance of this revamped "pink" page and hope and pray that it gains more traffic and revenue than it had before I worked on it. I did the SEO for the page in a hurry, and I worry it won't perform as well as it should had I taken more time to evaluate the page more thoroughly. It was a rushed, urgent job and they wanted the page launched ASAP. OY.

You are very good, very confident came to the company, with your approach I think you will succeed!
The worst question is not asked, so always ask if you don't understand something, everyone in the company is interested that you grow together and progress. Everything will be fine, I wish you good luck!

Thank you!

So, I screwed something up, and it was my first real project that launched on the website! ARGH! I did a rather rushed job on it because my boss said it was urgent and they wanted to get the new page live on the website ASAP. So, I did not perform due diligence as I should have with my keyword research, and I targeted the wrong keywords! Now the page isn't ranking at all in Google, but IS receiving plenty of traffic once people are on the website browsing.

I adjusted the keyword strategy and am waiting for Google to crawl and re-index the page so I can see how it is now ranking for my target keyword.

I have my 1:1 meeting with my boss today and have to give her an update on this page's performance. I am going to have to confess that the initial targeting was off-based and that I have modified the strategy as a result. However, there is still no guarantee that this page will rank #1 for the new target keyword due to what is being sold on this page.

I am SO frustrated with myself. Had I taken the time to more fully assess the keyword strategy, this would not have happened and I would have given a very different recommendation to the team involved in launching this new page.

And, I don't want my boss to now lose faith or trust in my judgment. I need to tell her the truth, and that my initial assessment was inaccurate.

SUCKY since it's the first real small project I've been given and I messed it up.

We all make mistakes. I think all you can do really is learn your lesson and spend more time checking. Don't tell her it’s because it was urgent or anything. Just accept the blame.

Did they expect it to be #1 all of a sudden? It’s a bit extreme. If that’s about pink merchandise, they don’t even sell that much pink stuff. If they just wanted an improvement, I hope it improves after you made these new changes.

You are HUMAN. WE ALL ARE.

Barbie pink - At my job, some of my hotels have made "Barbie" rooms - all Barbie pink including walls/decor. This is something that kids AND adults seem to want. I haven't seen the movie yet but heard good things about it and I definitely had my Barbie time when I was young. My goal was Barbie's Dream House but I think the best I did was the Barbie van....lol

Interesting if I type “pink shoes” or other kind of pink merchandise every type of shoe website pop up Adidas Nike Kate Spade you name it. No New Balance. Not like far on the list but like not at all.

It could be because they don’t have a lot but if you type “new balance pink shoes” then it does pop up so they have enough to pop up. But then Skechers were very far on the list and they for sure have pink shoes. Something they aren’t doing?

Interesting that Nike pops up in every type of shoe search for me but it’s not like it is customized for me because I never ever buy their stuff or ever search for Nike. They don’t fit me right

This stuff is interesting

Thank you, you two. I appreciate the supportive and kind words.

Yeah, you won't see new balance come up for "pink shoes" because all women's shoe pages rank on page 1. We don't have a women's pink shoes page. Only a single catch-all page for men, women, and kids pink shoes, clothing, and accessories. So this new page in fact won't rank for anything!!! I pointed this out to my boss today. What we should have done, and she agreed, is create a women's pink shoes page, a men's pink shoes page, and a kids pink shoes page. Then each would rank separately and for the right keywords. She said it was a learning experience for us, which it was.

I've tweaked the SEO of this page to try to at least rank for "new balance pink", but it's unlikely since it is a catch-all page covering everything. Google is deeming other new balance pages relevant for this search and is ranking those on page 1, and specifically, a women's running shoe page that has some pink colored products.

So, yeah, that's a part of my job and a part of what I do.

Right now, I am trying to see if i can target better, higher volume keywords for the home page. Another project!

Ok, so SOME progress was made after tweaking the SEO of the "Pink" category page on New Balance.

This page now ranks #6 on Google page 1 for the search "New Balance pink" - at least I got it to rank for the brand's own search term! YAY.

I made additional tweaks yesterday and need to submit the page again to Google for crawling and indexing. Hopefully, the page will rise in ranking above current competitors who rank well for the search, "new balance pink".

Thank goodness it's at least now showing up on page 1, however. I can show my boss this today, to support that I do know what I am doing. I want her to have faith and trust in me. It does take tweaking sometimes to obtain the #1 ranking.

WOW. So, I am shaking things up at work! LOL!

They have done the same ole thing for 30 years, and here I am, coming in with totally fresh eyes, trying to make vast, wide-sweeping changes and advocating for it. Thank goodness my amazing boss is backing me up, supporting me, and advocating on my behalf to higher ups who are decision makers.

For example,. for their massive Holiday promotions, during Oct-Dec, they've always named their holiday gift page, "gift guide". I proposed that they change this and aim to rank instead for the keyword phrase, "gift ideas", which has a far higher search volume than "gift guide" - like FAR HIGHER.

My boss is rooting for me and spoke in a couple different meetings about how "gift ideas" makes so much more sense. When you're searching in Google, do you type in "gift guide" or "gift ideas"? Or, perhaps "holiday gift ideas"? The latter, I am sure. What consumer really types in "guide"? Not a huge volume.

So, I had provided my boss with an example to follow of a holiday gift ideas page created by Target, who right now ranks #1 on Google for "gift ideas". I took screenshots and showed her how Target achieved this ranking by tailoring specific elements on the page to support gift ideas. She forwarded my example and screenshots to a whole slew of higher ups who are decision makers for this holiday promotions. Well, one higher up responded by saying how can you compare our Brand to Target? LOL.

So, I chimed in at this point and told him Target is only used as an example to follow because their page ranks #1 for this highly competitive keyword - I told him Target's page is strategically structured so that it WILL rank high for this keyword.

He hasn't replied yet. I am a little anxious to see the response. And, I am rocking the boat.. not in a bad way of course, it's all good. My intentions are to deliver significantly more website traffic and revenue.. all good, right?

But there's a good-sized group of higher ups who are stuck in their ways of doing things the same way and for the last 30 years, that I am now trying to change.

I had NO idea what I would be up against coming into this company. But, if I can convince these people to make some much needed changes in their approach, I can be successful. If I cannot get them to change their minds, I will feel a bit defeated.

This is only one of two battles I am fighting to make much needed changes. Nike surpasses them in every way on Google and dominates the search landscape. Same with Adidas. Other changes I am proposing would give NB far greater search engine presence, perhaps almost equal to Nike. Nike is #1.

Sounds like a good plan. “Gift guide”. Really? No. I’d never think of typing that. Yes certainly your idea makes more sense. I hope they try that and it works. Maybe show them how other shoe companies do their gift pages and are more successful in that way. Maybe not Target.

Thanks... no shoe company ranks on page 1 for "gift ideas". I had to give a top ranking example for NB to model their page after and not just provide a sports company page that is comparable to the brand but doesn't rank well.

I think the question to ask is do they only want to improve their web page rank vs their category competition or do they want to increase their brand awareness by ranking higher than most of the other places people shop during the holidays?
To compete against just their category means what they sell needs to be a desired holiday gift. To compete against all online shopping means they want to increase their visibility and brand awareness to holiday shoppers. He's failing to see where the footwear as a holiday gift category is in relation to all other holiday gift options IMO.

Glad things are going well for you. It's wonderful that you feel so supported there!

Thank you... .and agreed. I think this one guy's viewpoint is myopic. He' s not seeing the whole picture or the value of online search. Everyone uses the internet these days to conduct research and to shop, especially during the holidays. And since Covid, ecommerce sales have skyrocketed, making it even more critical for ecommerce businesses to rank on page 1 and to be found. It's a vast mistake to ignore or dismiss online shopping overall, and to dismiss their own consumers who shop on Google, Yahoo and Bing, the 3 top search engines. And yes, by targeting "gift ideas", they can compete with all other ecommerce shops during the holidays.

I do feel very supported by my boss and by my team. It"s a welcome and very refreshing change from sexist old boys clubs in past jobs.

Believe me, all of my shoe shopping is done online. I know my size with every company, what doesn’t work for me, everything. I liked the Beacon line a lot.

I’m super anxious. I have to give an hour long training next week, another half hour training on Monday, and a major presentation, all next week. How am I going to pull this off? I’m going to have to work tomorrow for several hours to pull together these trainings. How did this all fall into one single week? Ugh!!

Well, I got the page I was working on to rank #1! HOORAY!!! That took a few tweaks, but I did it.

Now I need to work today... like all day. UGH. Prepping for the trainings I am giving.

I got through and finished 2 out of 3 presentations I have to give.

The first presentation was an SEO 101 that I pulled together and presented to a group of about 20 people. The 2nd presentation was a proposal for this massive change I want to make to all product pages across the whole website.

A colleague who is higher up in the organization gave a couple of very nice compliments to my boss afterwards. She said that I am "great" and that she has learned more from me in just a few weeks' time than she did over the course of two years working with the former SEO Manager. That's QUITE the compliment!!!!

I am proud of how far I've come along. I used to physically shake when public speaking because of PTSD. Now, I seemingly breeze right through it and present with confidence. Amazing. I am growing and improving!!!

Very nice!!!! Proud of you

Thank you!

I have to give a third presentation today. A training on SEO copywriting for the copywriters. I am getting burnt out already in this job. It's demanding and there are SO many meetings.

I also am having trouble keeping up with my workload. With so many meetings, and so many different needs pulling me in different directions, I am getting lost. There's so many people I must deal with in this role, in the north america group and globally. I am getting confused and lost. I need help. I need my boss to reign it all in for me.

There's an enormous and growing backlog of deliverables from the agency I work with, dating back to April. I am working through the deliverables, very slowly. I am having to redo a lot of the work myself. I sent back some of the work to be redone by the agency, but they still haven't done the job to my satisfaction. I don't know how to approach that with my boss? I have to tell her that the agency's SEO work still isn't meeting my standards, even after providing a few specific guidelines.

I am starting to get stressed and overloaded. Now I can see why my boss thinks I need someone helping me. And I do! I need an assistant. This is overwhelming for me, and I cannot keep up.

Could you ask for an assistant