Eagle-eyed readers of the GGD blog will already be familiar with our SEO Content Strategist, Nathan Hunter. He’s been the scribe of many an insightful blog post for us (latest here!), and his fantastic achievements since joining the agency last October recently resulted in his promotion to Strategist.
We recently sat down for a chat to find out a little more about him, his career journey, current role, and what it’s like to work at GGD. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Tell us a bit about your role here at Green Ginger Digital:
I work for a range of clients, from Hurst Doors and Victory Leisure Homes to Trex and Sewell Law. My role involves elements such as conducting keyword research and competitor analysis to support content strategies, managing and executing on-page optimisations, and creating and publishing engaging editorial, e-commerce, and blog content. No two days are the same, and you must be both proactive and reactive to stay ahead.
Long-term, I also help to drive forward strategies and client goals, monitor/analyse performance metrics and generate monthly reports for our clients.
What does a typical day look like for you?
My day involves a lot of writing; typically through blogs, page optimisations, building out new pages with content and optimisations such as FAQs and meta descriptions.
I also plan ahead as much as possible, mainly so I know what I’ll be doing from week to week and month to month. I also often track performance metrics on Google Search Console, as this allows me to know where to pivot if a change in focus is needed.
What was your career journey like before joining the team?
I’ve worked in various roles across retail and hospitality, and then transitioned into my hobby, which is writing. Here, I would write blogs and news articles for a football and gaming website, before launching my own football website in 2018. I later became the Social Media Manager of the gaming blog for several months.
However, I had a bit of a lucky break when I was at university. I happened to stumble on a website aimed at university students called Unibeez, which was a job site but only for current students or postgraduates. Here, I ended up working on shorter projects and jobs, including serving as a Research & Development Executive for an inspection services company, a transcriber for TV shows produced by Studio Ramsay and National Geographic, and a Content Researcher for a marketing agency.
I worked in these roles until I landed a full-time position at a top London agency that specialised in thought leadership. I worked here for a little under two years and learned a great deal of what I know today through them, whether it was client communications or how to build effective strategies. From pitching to journalists and writing embargoed press releases to posting on social media and creating media lists, this job was wide-ranging and very fast-paced. I also worked with some of the most innovative and groundbreaking tech companies during this role.
What’s your favourite part of the job? And what’s the most challenging?
Writing is my hobby, so my favourite part is anywhere I can write content or come up with new ideas. Although (and maybe I’m weird), I do also like keyword research and building a plan on Excel.
In terms of the most challenging aspect, I would say it’s having to juggle multiple accounts, and the job can be very fast-paced and demanding at times.
What would you say is your key area of expertise?
I’d say my area of expertise is being able to turn a short brief into a detailed piece of content, no matter what the medium. In terms of what people come to me for help with, reviewing pieces of content and general advice on planning ahead for our clients so that we’re always a step ahead.
Do you have any advice for someone wanting to get into your line of work?
Be passionate about it. It’s hard to be fully invested in your company or clients if you’re not eager to keep learning about SEO or copywriting, if you don’t have a passion for all the parts the job entails.
What’s a tool, app or trick you can’t live without in your work?
There are a few really useful tools and apps that I would struggle to work without.
I think the two that I use the most and rely on would be Asana – where we share most of our work for internal reviews – and Ahrefs, which is a tool that I’ve used often for keyword research, competitor analysis and helped me craft blog plans, FAQs and page optimisations for a range of clients.
How do you stay sharp and keep learning in your role?
Attending events like BrightonSEO and staying up to date with industry trends on social media and Google helps me stay sharp.
In terms of how I keep learning, I like to experiment with new content ideas for clients, even if it’s something as small as coming up with new blog ideas. As I’ve said, writing is a passion of mine, so I like coming up with new angles and themes.
What advice do you wish you could give to your younger self when starting in your career?
Take your time and believe in yourself.
I’m still working out the latter today, but learning there’s no rush to be in a particular place and that doing my best is enough is something I would definitely say to my younger self.
And finally… what do you love most about being part of GGD?
I love working with the most fantastic team. Coming into the office to work alongside such a warm and fun team is what I love most.
If you’re on the hunt for a role in a welcoming, specialist independent agency, working alongside talented people like Nathan, then check out our Careers page! We currently have a distinct need within Technical SEO. Still, we’re also always keen to hear from enthusiastic, knowledgeable digital marketers who feel they could bring something to the GGD team.
