In my career as an SEO professional, I’ve had the opportunity to lead impactful initiatives at some amazing companies like Groupon and GitHub. These experiences allowed me to tackle complex technical SEO challenges, develop strategies that generated significant growth, and foster collaboration across teams to drive long-term success. Here are some of the key wins I achieved at both companies:

SEO Wins at Groupon

At Groupon, I focused on enhancing technical SEO, improving site performance, and developing new growth strategies.

Here’s a closer look at the highlights:

Technical SEO Fixes:

• Resolved Google Security Warning: I led the resolution of a Google manual action for hacked content, which improved Groupon’s site security and boosted its credibility with search engines.

• XML Sitemap Cleanup: I spearheaded the effort to clean up the XML sitemaps, which was on track to be completed by mid-January 2020. This ensured better crawl efficiency and indexing by search engines.

• Markup/Structured Data Implementation: Collaborating with the Deals team, I secured a commitment to implement structured data on deal pages, improving search visibility through enriched data.

• Crosslinks on Homepage Touch: After completing a successful Finch test in North America, I oversaw the rollout of crosslinks to boost internal linking, which enhanced site navigation and SEO performance.

• AMP Page Improvements: We cleaned up 75% of AMP page technical issues, improving mobile page performance, a crucial factor for SEO.

• Technical Audit Consolidation: I consolidated audits from multiple SEO agencies into a unified action plan, resulting in a streamlined approach to technical SEO fixes.

Foundational Improvements & Page Speed:

• Merge Local/Browse Integration: I helped form a task force to optimize and integrate /browse and /local pages, enhancing both user experience and SEO value.

• Occasions Pages Cleanup: By working closely with the Merchandising team, I helped manage duplicate and deprecated content, leading to SEO-friendly holiday and seasonal content strategies.

• Expired Deal Redirects: I led the effort to fix expired deal issues, improving user experience and ensuring SEO value retention from expired deals.

• Page Speed Improvements: Working with engineering teams, I began strategic initiatives to enhance page speed, improving both user experience and search rankings.

Content and Growth Strategies:

• Top-Funnel Content Revamp: I initiated and oversaw content updates for international pages, driving search visibility and relevance in global markets.

• GeoCat Pages Optimization: I published new pages for France and Italy, which drove targeted traffic and improved international SEO performance.

• Near Me Optimization: My team worked on optimizing local search queries like “Near Me,” which contributed to a surge in localized traffic.

• Holiday Strategy: I created and implemented a comprehensive holiday SEO strategy that capitalized on seasonal trends, increasing search traffic during key periods.

• Structured Data Implementation: I led the implementation of Local Business schema on merchant pages, increasing visibility through better-structured search results.

Team Collaboration & Tools:

• Internal Team Communication: I successfully established and led communication channels across the SEO Tech Team, ensuring smooth collaboration on technical SEO issues.

• Agency Collaboration: I managed collaboration with agencies like Merkle and Sticky Eyes, driving key strategic initiatives across technical and content SEO.

• BrightEdge and Botify Training: I conducted multiple training sessions on tools like BrightEdge and Botify, empowering the team to track SEO performance more efficiently and identify growth opportunities.

SEO Wins at GitHub

At GitHub, my focus was on driving organic growth through technical SEO, content strategy, and improving overall site performance. Here are the key successes:

SEO Performance Growth:

• Impressions Growth: We achieved an impressive +247.82% YoY growth in impressions, greatly increasing GitHub’s visibility across search engines.

• Clicks Growth: I drove a +19.7% YoY growth in clicks, attracting significantly more organic traffic.

• Keyword Growth: Expanded the number of keywords GitHub ranked for by 132%, improving the company’s visibility across more search queries.

• Average Position Improvement: I boosted GitHub’s average position on Google by 40%, making its content more prominent in search results.

Technical SEO Enhancements:

• Non-Indexable URLs Cleanup: I reduced the number of non-indexable URLs from 3.7 million to 700k, vastly improving the site’s indexability and crawl efficiency.

• Robots.txt Optimization: After two iterations of robots.txt edits, we generated an additional 62.4 million impressions per month and resolved Baidu’s indexing issues.

• Resolved Google Manual Actions: I collaborated across teams to resolve manual actions caused by user-generated spam, leading to a healthier search profile and improved ranking potential.

Content Strategy and Optimization:

• DevOps and Security Campaigns: We saw a steady increase in non-branded impressions and clicks through campaigns targeting high-intent traffic in DevOps and security sectors.

• Blog Post Optimization: Optimized key blog posts, including one that ranked first for “Role of Operations in DevOps,” demonstrating the power of SEO-driven content.

• Git Guides Audit: Optimized Git Guides content, ranking for high-volume terms like “git pull,” which resulted in over 7,343 clicks and 142,152 impressions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Learning:

• SEO 101 Training Sessions: I conducted SEO 101 training and created an SEO Wiki, which empowered GitHub’s teams to adopt an SEO-first mindset, greatly benefiting the organization’s long-term SEO strategy.

• Help Hub to Docs Migration: I oversaw the successful migration of help.github.com to docs.github.com, maintaining traffic and search performance with minimal disruption.

Strategic Testing and Initiatives:

• SEO-First Projects: Launched an SEO-optimized FAQ page, which saw immediate results in Google rich snippets just four days after launch.

• Testing SEO Optimization: Demonstrated that optimized pages perform significantly better, validating the importance of thorough SEO techniques.

Technical SEO Tools and Page Speed Improvements:

• Botify Integration: Botify was successfully integrated to facilitate in-depth SEO analysis, technical issue mitigation, and keyword tracking.

• Page Speed Monitoring: I monitored and improved page speed performance, contributing to a 7% increase in pages classified as fast, enhancing both user experience and search rankings.

Impact on SEO Goals:

• Non-Branded Growth: Significantly grew non-branded impressions and clicks, particularly in core categories like DevOps and Security.

• Long-Term SEO Success: Established a framework for ongoing SEO success at GitHub, including strategies, cross-team collaboration, and scalable workflows.

Reflection on My SEO Journey

Both Groupon and GitHub presented exciting challenges and opportunities that allowed me to refine my technical SEO skills, drive organic growth, and foster collaboration across departments. Whether it was resolving complex technical issues, developing effective content strategies, or improving site performance, these experiences were invaluable in my journey as an SEO professional.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that SEO is not just about the numbers or quick wins—it’s about building a strong foundation, fostering collaboration, and making sure that every action is aligned with long-term goals. I’m excited to carry these learnings into future projects, and I can’t wait to see what new challenges and opportunities await.