Search Engine Optimisation and Babies.
Posted by Malcolm Slade on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 in Digital Marketing, SEO
As a bit of a departure from my normal technical heavy SEO ramblings, I have decided to assess if the new wireless, paper-free, mobile office and all the gizmos involved will allow me to successfully monitor, manage and maintain my clients SEO projects and my team while on maternity leave.
Well I guess I should look at exactly what I actually need to do my job effectively and whether I will still be able to use it at home. I’m the head of the natural search department by the way.
So, probably the most important thing and one of the hardest things to teach my team to use is my brain (teach them to use their brains obviously). I might struggle if I leave that in the office. “Why do I feel my brain is the most important tool I use?” you may ask, well it’s very easy to shrug and assume that everyone involved in SEO uses their brain but really from my experience most simply play follow the leader in a kind of robot fashion. As the head of the department I am involved in some pretty major projects and therefore need to be creative, innovative and go beyond the norm with my ideas. I do a lot of reading (I honestly expect my newborn son / daughter to understand “Trust Rank”, “Social Media” etc. from day 1) but then go beyond what I have read so I can disseminate the useful information to my team and file the crap under B.I.N. That’s another thing I will need, a bin. I see no reason while I can’t continue to read while on maternity as my voice should calm the baby (I have a tendency to read out loud by the way) and most of my reading material is plucked from the SEM community which is all online. Printing might be an issue as my home printer hasn’t been used for a long time. I will just have to print anything major in the office pre-baby.
A computer would be nice as it allows me to access the Worldwide Web, my useful tools, client data and shields the world from my hideous handwriting. I’m very lucky here as my amazing bosses (Mr Quigley and Mr Skidmore) have provided me with a laptop (a Rock Pegasus 665 to be exact) which has truly made me mobile and made me more efficient. I can’t recommend a laptop enough as it removes the need for constantly updating multiple machines, ensures all my files are the latest versions, allows me to work even when the power is out, allows me to work on the couch and allows me to involve my wife in some of the things I do outside of work (World of Warcraft has never looked so pretty). Did I mention how amazing my bosses are?
Communications-wise I will miss my office phone. I do however have a mobile which I will get important calls patched through to. I have a great relationship with most of my clients as I am a very sociable person so I am not expecting to have to pass my mobile number out to anyone and we also have some very good alternative communication tools in place including a client management system, IM and of course good old e-mail.
Tools-wise, most of our tools are web based meaning as long as Virgin Media and the dodgy kids on our street don’t decide to ruin my broadband connection I should be fine. All of the other tools I need are on my laptop. I like to write stuff down which could be an issue. I’m not saying I don’t have any paper etc. but as any of you who have children will know, babies seem to take up a lot of room or their stuff does anyway. My office has already become the guest bedroom so I will have to curb my spreading habit and start using bound paper rather than loose. Other things I might miss are my filed notes and printed client records although my team will be able to help me there, oh and of course the witty and intellectual conversations that happen within our office.
So in a nutshell I should be fine. I have my laptop, my broadband and my notebook (the old style paper version) so I see no reason why I shouldn’t be able to oversee my team and clients from afar. I’m sure I read somewhere that babies are quite, polite little bundles of joy……
If you feel I have missed anything or you know of any tools, advice etc. that might help me I will be glad to hear from you. Oh and the estimated ESA (estimated Spud arrival, we chose not to learn the gender.) is 8 weeks.
Disclaimer
I am aware that legally I am entitled to 2 weeks maternity leave which should be a complete break from work. To be honest I love my job and the whole buzz around search engine marketing and will find it hard to not stay in the loop. I’m not expecting to carry out all my duties while on leave and neither are my bosses expecting me to (amazing). I will be briefing my team and letting them take the load off as well as briefing my clients.
