My first month as an SEO specialist at upMention

"A bit of an unexpected question perhaps, but do you want to work with us?"

After a nice first phone call with Geerten, I notice that we have a lot of personal and professional common ground. Further encounters - also with the other brothers - reinforce this feeling. What can be seen in, among other things, is the desire for a long-term collaboration, getting energy from the same things and the same interests in the profession and the technology around it. I am welcomed in a warm bath, created by the brothers. This feeling is again greatly reinforced by my colleagues. With some of them, I work in the Dutch office, in addition, I also have daily contact with my Kenyan colleagues via Teams.

Working for an international company

Kenya and the Netherlands. A huge cultural difference may cause difficult situations. But nothing could be further from the truth. Among the people of Kenya, it is deeply rooted to build a bond with a new relationship (work or private related) before you move on to other things. The shirt is asked of me during the many teams calls to get to know me better, while in the meantime I also try to apply this to them. It becomes clear to me that all my colleagues are there for each other. upMention is one family, where the difference in culture only promotes cooperation. The only thing I have to pay attention to as a Dutchman is my directness. Of course, we are only used to that in our little country.

Getting started as an SEO & SEA specialist

From my previous work, I have already gained experience in the field of SEO, a little still in the field of SEA. For example, in my general marketing function, I worked together with SEO specialists to get our site at the top of Google. Where I took on tasks such as writing texts and optimizing Google My Business or the images on our site. During this process, I discovered how much I began to enjoy this work. For now, at upMention a lot of learning, working with many new (own) tools, mastering a new – working method, and meeting new colleagues and customers. What impressions! Impressions that make me happy every day. This experience has shown that I have made the right step in my career. A step towards a new employer, but also towards a specialism: SEO & SEA.

Embracing the field

I saw and see SEO as a puzzle, where you try to get all kinds of puzzle pieces together to make a correct story. For example, the technology of the site must be in order. In the stories that are written, keywords must be processed while the text remains readable. Google my Business and much more are taken into account. All this ultimately benefits me and certainly the customer. A challenging job where one piece of the puzzle is much easier to get into place than the other. That is exactly why SEO suits me, a challenge. I see SEA as a similar puzzle, where the result is immediately visible or immediately disappears when the budget is stopped. It's up to me in the coming period to make all this my own.