Fernando Ferreiro
Fernando Ferreiro is @profesordeseo and one of thefounders of Indexando Marketing.
Together with Alberto Flores, the other half of this international marketing company, and the rest of the professionals of the Indexando Marketing team, they plan and execute SEO and data-driven marketing strategies to help companies of all sizes and sectors achieve the best results in Google.
We spoke with Fernando about his career in the world of SEO and as a teacher, the organic positioning keys and how we work in our international marketing agency.
What was the first thing that caught your eye about SEO? Why did you decide to start in this world?
When I started working, I really didn’t know that what I was doing was called SEO, I just knew that creating a website for a client that no one would visit made no sense. One day a classmate told me that what he did was called SEO and that’s how it all started.
I have always liked dynamic works, in SEO you never know what you are going to do or how you are going to do it tomorrow and that is what made me choose SEO among all marketing strategies.
In addition to working as SEO we know that one of your great passions is teaching, what do you like the most about being @profesordeseo?
It allows me to be in environments with people of different ages and with different concerns, which makes me think about different perspectives and I love that. On the other hand, I really enjoy being able to help other people to get to know something as exciting an so challenging.
In your opinion, what are the keys to be a good SEO expert?
- Patience and impatience: Patience because the changes that are made usually don’t have an immediate effect and impatience understood as an eager to learn. Since, as everything changes, you cannot stop consuming information.
- Analysis: I have always thought that the phrase “less is more” is the key of marketing. Having an analytical mind and be capable of undestanding data is a very important factor in an SEO journey.
- Tools: Without effective tools it is very difficult to make good decisions. I know they have a high monthly cost but, just as there is no electrician without a good screwdriver, there can be no SEO without good tools.
Should any business invest in SEO? Is SEO for everyone?
Absolutely, all the companies, no matter how small they are, should invest in SEO. At least to make their web perfect for Google.
The problem is in these companies that have a small benefit per sale, that means that they have to make a lot of sales a lot to have the money necessary to develop a good marketing strategy. In such cases I always recomend mixed marketing strategies that combine SEO and Google Ads.
How do you start a new project?
The start point is always an audit, so the client would be able to see what can be achieved and, most important, what the real cost of the project will be so there are no surprises along the way.
If the proyect is new I always try to imagine where can it go and what will be the benfits for the clients. Meanwhile, if it is an active project I analyze the room for improvement and how to achieve it with the least possible effort.
What can a business expect when hiring a SEO expert? What would be realistic expectations?
The only thing that can and should be expected is a continued growth both in visibility and sales month by month. If that doesn’t happen there is something wrong in the project.
We know that when planning an SEO strategy each sector has its peculiarities, is there a sector for which you have a predilection? Why?
There are two sectors that have me fell in love more that any others, because they have nothing to do with other ways of doing my work:
- Legal sector: It is very interesting in every way and you can learn day by day by seeing how everything is changing, both for Google and with the perception that users have of the sector. A few years ago, no one would think of hiring a lawyer for any issue, now we are no longer afraid and seeing this evolution is incredible.
- Medical sector: If I’m honest, it is one of the sectors that I respect the most because the information always has to be very precise; not only in what is said, but also in how it should be transmitted so that the user can be able to understand it.
What are the main obstacles that a SEO can encounter when developing his or her work?
Programmers who do not know how to do their job, clients who do not give importance to the server, boards of directors who only understand a % growth, lack of communication with large multinationals, marketing managers who do not understand analytics… There are many obstacles in the way , but none that can’t be beat.
We know that SEOs do not work alone, what supports are necessary for the strategy to be successful?
Another nice thing about SEO is that it is a completely vertical job where you have to work with a lot of profiles, since servers, programming, design, usability, content, linkbuilder, Google Ads, Social Media, inbound, data analysts… Until shareholders or clients.
Actually when you work in SEO you do it coordinating your work with many people and both decision-making and coordination are key for everything to work well.
Can you recommend us some reading to learn more about SEO?
- Twitter is a great source of information to keep you updated.
- LinkedIn is really important to be in touch with other people of this sector.
- Google’s General Guidelines to be up to date with the things that Google says and not says.
- And my favourite book not only about SEO, I apply it to almost everything I do in life, “The Art of War”.
