Welcome to SEO Spotlight, where we highlight SEO specialists’ journeys. We’ll focus on their early SEO days – the highs, lows, successes, and failures. So whether you’re just starting out or have some SEO knowledge, there’s something for everyone.
As part of the SEO Spotlight series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alek Asaduryan.
Alek Asaduryan is an experienced SEO specialist who has been in the industry for over 6 years. He has a diverse portfolio of small niche sites and experience working for an EdTech SaaS business for a year.
Amanda: Thank you for accepting my interview request, Mr Asaduryan. Let’s dive right into the questions without further delay.
What inspired you to pursue a career in SEO?
Alek: I love learning new stuff, and SEO is probably the best career path for people who want to learn. I read case studies and blog posts and watch SEO videos daily.
Amanda: So, how exactly did you start learning SEO?
Alek: A friend introduced me to WordPress and Yoast SEO in 2016 because he needed help with his website. He showed me how to “optimize” blog posts for SEO and add keywords to blog posts. I was fascinated! That was more than enough to keep me stocked up. I immediately decided to build my website and learn more about SEO.
Amanda: Tell us a brief story of how you landed your first SEO job.
Alek: From 2016 to 2020, I worked mainly on my personal sites, but when the pandemic started, I quit my 9 to 5 and decided to go full throttle on the SEO. I found an SEO gig through Upwork and was instantly accepted. I worked in an EdTech SaaS business which helped me learn many new tactics and SEO tricks.
Amanda: As a beginner SEO Specialist, what notable accomplishments did you achieve?
Alek: I could scale my first site in the outdoors niche to $10,000 per month in 3-4 years, which was impressive then. It inspired me to create more niche sites and pursue this career.
Amanda: Did you ever make any significant errors during your early days as an SEO Specialist? We’d love to hear that story.
Alek: Oh, I made so many mistakes. That’s the beauty of working on your own portfolio of sites – you can experiment and test until you find out what works and what does not. My biggest mistake, in the beginning, was that I was not aware of keyword research and wrote blog posts on topics that I thought were interesting for my audience. There’s no organic traffic without keyword research.
Amanda: What lessons did you learn from that mistake, and how would you handle it now?
Alek: I learned that keyword research is the foundation of SEO. Before launching a new site, I prepare vast lists of keywords/topics.
Amanda: In your opinion, what would you say is the most important thing to know when starting a career in SEO?
Alek: Don’t be afraid to fail. Experiment with everything and find what works for you. Most things won’t work, but that’s fine.
Amanda: What are some common mistakes that you’ve seen beginner SEOs make, and how can they avoid them?
Alek: Another mistake that beginners make very often is to put ads on their websites when they don’t have any traffic yet. Don’t add ads to your site if you don’t have at least 20k organic traffic per month.
Amanda: Lastly, what advice would you give to beginners learning SEO?
Alek: Start your own website and experiment with everything you learn. There’s no better way of learning new stuff than doing it yourself.
Amanda: Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us! Could you let our readers know how they can contact you?
Alek: Reach out to me on Twitter @Ldnbox or visit my website Alek-Asaduryan.com
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Amanda Nze
Amanda Nze, the founder of AmandaTalksSEO, is an SEO specialist who has successfully boosted her client's website traffic from almost zero to over a thousand organic clicks with limited backlinks.