SEO Managers Have Good Work Life Balance… Apparently!

Browsing through the latest SEO news the other day, I came across a hilarious headline in Today. It read – The Best Jobs For Work Life Balance: Data Scientists, SEO Managers And More.

I wish I’d not had a mouthful of coffee at the time! That took 30 minutes to clean up and afterwards my sticky keyboard didn’t type properly. For the rest of the day, I was the EO anager of Paper ky.

Anyway, according the careers website, Glassdoor, SEO managers fall into the top five jobs that offer the best work-life balance. In actual fact, we’re in at number two.

The top five best jobs for work-life balance

So you’re probably wondering what other careers offer the best work life balance. Data Scientists top the list, with SEO managers just 0.1 points behind.

Third is Talent Acquisition Specialists, followed by Social Media Managers and – you’ll never believe this – substitute teachers!

Substitute teachers – really? They only work part-time! I love what I do but I’m not sure how many SEO managers would agree that they have a better work-life balance than part-timers! Incredible.

The article got me thinking which SEO managers actually participated in this survey. I can only imagine they work for agencies that do not have “overtime” or, erm, “clients”.

Not that I can complain. We have great clients at Papersky and I am blessed to work with a great team of specialists that make my job and my life easier. You could say, they are my work-life balance.

A day in the life of an SEO manager

We can’t speak for all SEO managers of course, but we’ve taken an educated guess at a day in the life of an SEO Manager:

Typically wake up at six, grab a quick breakfast then make the hour’s drive to work to be in the office for 8 am to be able to set their stall out for the day before the crew arrive.

Drink at least three coffees in a morning to get the motor going! The morning shifts usually require the most concentration and mental energy and caffeine is an SEO Manager’s friend and fuel.

Work out the best possible strategy for each client that week and orchestrate the work amongst the team of technical specialists like a conductor leading an SEO symphony.

And things in SEO can change quickly. The entire team has to be adaptable and flexible. Bruce Lee once said, “Be like water my friend.”

SEO flow and overtime

After lunch, and oftentimes during lunch, catch up with the latest SEO news. The early afternoon sessions can be the most pressurising – depending what the news throws up. If there is something significant like a search engine algorithm change or new survey offering marketing insights, client strategies may need tweaking.

Afternoons are also the best times to call team meetings. By this time, the mental engines are fully heated and brain storming sessions are like a mini electrical storm. Then it’s back to planning, planning and more planning, reports and more reports.

More often than not, a strong SEO Manager is in overdrive and in overtime, and their team too working harder than a Michelin tyre on race day.

Where’s the work-life balance there Glassdoor? But we love what we do at Papersky and more than make up for it at weekends! Ha, as if. We work at least one day on the weekends too and most evenings… but we love it!