Team Member Spotlight: Ella Henning

Perfect Search's newest team member comes to us from Spain! Well, kind of. SEO & Content Analyst Ella Henning grew up in Ohio, went to college in Chicago, taught English in Spain, and then joined our team. Get to know her in our latest spotlight.

1) What's your favorite part of your job so far? What's the most challenging part of your job so far?

My favorite part of the job so far is learning all of the technical aspects of SEO like using a crawler to find site errors or learning how to optimize meta data. This is probably also the most challenging part of the job because I feel like there's a pretty steep learning curve.

I don't have a background in SEO so it's exciting to be learning something entirely new but also a little overwhelming. There's a great sense of accomplishment when I finally understand a certain project or task.

2) What surprised you the most about SEO?

What has surprised me the most is how the SEO approach differs from the approach of a traditional advertising agency. My background is in advertising, so I'm used to focusing on one particular campaign for a brand, their voice, messaging, etc.

SEO is a continuous process, there's always something to improve or a new update of the Google Search algorithm that affects rankings in some way. There are so many outside factors that you have to take into account when making reports or optimization suggestions.

3) What's your favorite website and why?

My favorite website is actually for a non-profit called watsi.org. I've been obsessed with them for a few years. Watsi is basically a healthcare crowdfunding platform that allows people to fund surgeries for people in developing nations. They're really focused on transparency and accountability, so you see the breakdown of what the money is funding (medications, staff costs, hospital fees, etc.) on each patient page.

They also provide updates on how the surgery went and what sort of impact there has been on a patient's life. The website's design is well-thought-out and easy to use. I can't think of a better example of combining the capabilities of the internet with the desire for positive change. We have all of these incredible digital tools at our disposal, so it's inspiring to see how young people are using them to find more efficient solutions to global problems.

4) What are your 2019 resolutions?

I'm a big fan of New Year's resolutions. This year I want to focus on continuing to learn Spanish. I'm comfortable with the level I'm at but I would like to improve even more so or maybe try to gain some sort of certification in the next year or two. Perfect Search's office is right down the street from a Spanish school so I might be in luck!

I also would like to focus on my professional growth. I spent the past two years teaching English in Spain which was lovely for travel and exploration, but in 2019 I want to put more of an emphasis on my career and growth within Perfect Search.