Carly Steven
Head of SEO - The Sun
Life in a newsroom is different. You deal with a crowd of hardened reporters and editors, respond to breaking news, and aim to rank outside organic results. Carly talks through her experience working in SEO for the Daily Mail and The Sun, along with some of her most important discoveries.
About Carly
Carly is an SEO veteran of the digital media industry, having worked in the field for over ten years. The Daily Mail was her introduction to both SEO and the newsroom, and she has been drawn to both ever since. After her time at The Mail, she served as a consultant for The Montreal Gazette, worked for City AM, and is now the Head of SEO for The Sun.
Life In The Newsroom: SEO In The “Breaking News” Landscape
“…Newsroom SEO is a little different to traditional SEO. We optimise for the Top Stories section of Google News, rather than organic results. When we first started, only a select few publishers could appear in the Google News results. But because it was brand new, doing basic SEO best practice paid off quickly for the team at the Mail.”
Q&A with Carly Steven
What was your first ever job?
I think it was probably working in the patient records department in Glasgow Royal Infirmary
How did you get into SEO?
I did my Masters in Electronic Communication and Publishing and as part of this did some work experience at MailOnline. They kept me on to work on a migration project and when that came to an end the SEO role became available. I knew absolutely nothing about SEO when I first started so it was very much in at the deep end.
What is your favourite SEO task to do?
Optimising content and seeing it ranking well and driving traffic.
What inspired you to choose the topic of your chapter? Why is it important to you?
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? Be confident. Most people don’t know what they’re talking about.
What one tip would you give someone who would like to get into SEO as a career?
Work hard. Newsroom SEO is full on and relentless. You have to thrive on that kind of pace and pressure to succeed.
What is your favourite SEO / marketing related resource or book? (other than Mastering In-House SEO of course!)
I wish I had time to read more blogs. The Blue Array newsletter is, genuinely, really helpful and a bit of life-saver for keeping up-to-date with what’s going on in the industry.
How do you relax when you aren’t working?
I have three kids under 7 so not much relaxing in our house. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m not really a ‘lie-in’ sort of person.