You probably know of increasing SEO star Areej AbuAli from her work leading the Females in Tech SEO (WTS) community, for her discussions at conferences like SMX or BrightonSEO, or for her insightful and useful tweets. And now, we’re so ecstatic to welcome her to the MozCon Virtual stage for the very first time!
Prior to the program, we talked with Areej about the success of WTS, what drew her to SEO, and what viewers can look forward to in her MozCon presentation.
Check out the complete interview below, and do not forget to get your ticket to see Areej and our other remarkable speakers at MozCon Virtual 2021:
Question: 2020 was quite the year, what were you up to this
past year? Any surprises or favorite tasks you dealt with? Areej: Yes, it was certainly quite a year! I have a lot to be grateful for. I’m healthy, I work, and I’m surrounded by people I like. I know it’s not the same for
others. In terms of my favorite 2020 project, I handled to host the first full-day Ladies in Tech SEO Celebration right before lockdown (I’m incredibly fortunate!). It happened in London in honor of International Women’s Day. I invested eight months arranging it from my table and I couldn’t be better with how it went.
Post-lockdown, I focused on our global community and I launched a number of community efforts consisting of WTSWorkshop, WTSPodcast, WTSNewsletter, and more. I made one of the most out of the time that was no longer lost in travelling to the office and I take pride in how much the community grew throughout that duration.
Question: You have actually been running the Ladies in Tech SEO group for about two years now. What inspired you to start this community?
Areej: The honest response is for simply selfish factors. A couple of months before I began Ladies in Tech SEO, I was feeling really demotivated. I didn’t know if I wished to continue being an SEO, I always felt evaluated for asking questions, I didn’t believe I was good enough in what I do. I could not discover a safe group or neighborhood that I might be a part of. There were lots of “unique” groups that I was told I couldn’t belong of because I have not been in the market for x variety of years or since I haven’t spoken in specific occasions. So I chose to begin my own safe group, one that has values that focus on generosity and is a judgment-free zone, one where all ladies are welcome, even if they’ve just become aware of the word SEO the other day.
Question: Was there anything unexpected that happened as you began this community?
Areej: I never anticipated it to grow so much naturally. I put a tweet out saying “Ladies in Tech SEO, rejoice, we now have a safe group …” and on the first day, over 100 members joined the group. I likewise didn’t anticipate it to grab the attention of such a global audience. In the first year, I was extremely concentrated on London-based events yet we still kept having great deals of members from all around the world join us. I guess I never ever recognized how much it was needed up until I began it. There’s now over 4K people and we keep growing.
Question: John Mu just recently said that you are doing a few of the most impactful work in SEO right now. How does that feel knowing that you are driving real change in an industry that has been male-dominated for so long?
Areej: John is exceptionally kind and I actually value all the assistance he provides our community and the industry as a whole. It’s humbling to get the support of John and many others for the work I do and it keeps me going. It’s not constantly rosy, I get a handful of unkind remarks, I’m sometimes informed that it’s sexist and prohibited to host events that are just for women. It’s likewise a lot of work, time, and energy. So when I get these kind comments, it keeps me going and helps me stay inspired to deal with the next huge job.
Question: What particular modifications are you wanting to influence in the SEO industry in the coming years? In what ways are you wanting to influence the next generation of ladies in Tech?
Areej: I’ll consider Women in Tech SEO to be an effective project when the day comes that we no longer require it. There are lots of obstacles that women in the market currently face which need neighborhoods like WTS to be around. I hope that the day comes where there’s equality in representation and pay, as well as generosity and respect all around, for us to no longer requirement communities like Females in Tech SEO.
Concern: Beyond the Women in Tech community, you are likewise an accomplished SEO and speaker. How did you first begin in SEO and where you are today?
Areej: I studied Computer system Engineering back house in Egypt then relocated to the UK to do a post-graduate in Company IT. This is when I discovered digital marketing and I did a few internships while studying that presented me to the concept of SEO. This was 8 years earlier and I wasn’t actually sure what I wanted to make with my career at that point. I wound up signing up with an agency that was searching for an Arabic speaker for a few campaigns and in a month I got relocated to the Tech SEO team. I enjoyed Tech SEO because it was this great bridge in between Computing & & Marketing. I have actually been doing SEO ever since, I invested around 5 years agency-side then moved onto client-side. Currently, my day task is invested directing SEO for a global e-commerce company and my evenings and weekends are spent growing Women in Tech SEO.
Concern: Could you tell us a little bit about what you’ll be going over at MozCon this year?
Areej: I’m truly excited about my talk this year since it’s as sincere as it gets. As Tech SEOs, we tend to be fixated on our own metrics; everything from crawlability, indexability, performance, and so on. But these metrics aren’t ones that align with business KPIs and it’s difficult for us to get sign-off from engineers and senior stakeholders for huge Tech SEO tasks. It took me a long time to understand that so in my talk, I share a case situation of an automobile aggregator website that has an indexability difficulty and how I connect these to organization KPIs.
Question: What do you hope our readers will remove from your presentation?
Areej: I hope that everyone who attends my talk has the ability to connect their own technical SEO obstacles with business KPIs and interact those with stakeholders.
Concern: What recommendations do you have for other ladies aiming to raise their individual brand name in the SEO space?
Areej: A few things come to mind. To start with, be your authentic self! Deal with jobs, write posts, and speak in conferences that line up with YOUR worths. Reach out to people who encourage you and introduce yourself. And most notably, do not be fixated on numbers (variety of followers/likes/retweets, etc.) Rather, focus on the quality and value of your interactions with others.
Question: Who in the MozCon line-up are you most excited to view this year? Anything else you are eagerly anticipating?
Areej: Let me just start off by saying that I absolutely like how diverse the MozCon speaker line-up is! With 14 dazzling women (aside from myself) taking the phase, it’s hard to pick a specific speaker that I’m most excited about. If I absolutely have to, then I ‘d like to offer a shout-out to Shannon McGuirk. I ended up being good friends with Shannon in MozCon 2019, she was my Seattle buddy who made me feel really comfy about getting on the MozCon stage for the first time ever. Her talks are always exceptionally honest and she’s a terrific storyteller.
A big thank you to Areej for her time! To read more about her approaching presentation, see details on our other speakers, and to acquire your ticket, make sure you click the link below!