Today I would like to introduce you, Jessica Thomas, another extraordinary person known at the Glasgow WordCamp in 2020. Jessica was one of the speakers of the day, giving a talk on SEO.
On February 8, when I was in the “Development” room at the WordCamp in Glasgow, Jessica's talk was in the “design / business” room: You've got a website – now what? Get optimizing! A beginner's SEO guide.
Jessica's story is truly interesting, she started with her studies in art history and now she takes care of organizing seminars on website creation and offering marketing and SEO services.
We know Jessica better with a few questions
From art to SEO, what has been your story?
I studied History of Art at university which then led me to working in the auction industry in London for 5 years after graduating. I worked at an Auction House but after finally realising that I wasn’t going to earn any real money doing that, I decided it was time for a change. I’d always enjoying managing my own websites and I was thinking about re-training to become a web developer(as they seemed to earn lots of money and work in cool offices!) To complete the training was going to be quite expensive and over time I realised I actually really enjoyed making engaging websites on the front-end and increasing the organic traffic. My mother’s company needed someone to help out with the marketing so that was a great opportunity for me to go back to basics, helping out with their company website, doing the social media etc… gradually this lead me to having my own clients. Today I focus mainly on SEO because it’s so gratifying when you help business owners increase their organic traffic. Some of my clients refer to it as a ‘dark art’ and I love that!
I met you during the WordCamp in Glasgow, how do you relate to WordPress?
I build all of my personal websites on WordPress because it’s very SEO friendly. Adding content to a website is the main way you start to increase your organic website traffic and WordPress makes it super simple to do so. I also run WordPress in a day workshops that help entrepreneurs and new business owners build a website and learn how to use it. It’s really rewarding helping people start their own online journey.
Why do you love WordPress?
With WordPress there is always something new to learn! No one can be an expert in WordPress as there are just so many things it can do! Personally, I love its simplicity, the fact it’s free and the community support. For the cost of a web host, anyone can do whatever they want online such as start a blog, sell a product, create an online course etc. It creates opportunities for so many people.
Do you organize SEO and WordPress courses, what are the next courses?
I run WordPress workshops in Edinburgh and Glasgow every other month but I will be launching an online course soon which is pretty exciting!
If someone wants to follow your updates, in which social network can they find you?
If anyone wants to sign up to my mailing list they can do so here:
https://prowebsiteguide.com/wordpress-course-online/
Otherwise I’m active on LinkedIn and I’m trying to get better at using Twitter:
Rosadigitale Week
This interview is part of a series of articles dedicated to “the week of rosadigitale”, an event dedicated to equal opportunities.
This year I organized the interviews in pairs, with the same theme. The interview with Rhys is part of “Scottish Interviews” dedicated to wonderful people known in Glasgow.