Week 5: A Conversation with Guest Speaker Kate Gallagher by Nadia Briscoe

By UCLA X469.21 Student Nadia Briscoe

The last guest speaker for our class was Kate Gallagher, guru of SEO (although she doesn’t care much for that description). Perhaps she avoids such labels because of her humble nature, or because there is so much to explore in this area of SEO that nobody can be a true guru. One thing is certain… she is an amazing SEO specialist with a gift for sharing her knowledge. It was a pleasure to listen and learn from someone who is so passionate and dedicated to a pursuit that can be so challenging. 

Originally from Michigan (from a small city called Wyoming), Kate moved to Los Angeles after graduating from Colorado State University in 2008 with a degree in English. She also studied in Japan and Wales.

Her journey with SEO started in 2009 while working for companies like The Pet Collective, Evolve Studio, Yoshinoya, Birdy, etc. From 2011 until the present she has concentrated on digital marketing initiatives for small and medium size companies. Her current freelance client list includes companies like Openfit and Geek Feed.

During her class discussion, Kate provided a briefing on key SEO tips for increasing and optimizing search visibility. She explained the underlying mechanism behind web search engines, how SEO has changed over the years, the best tools, websites and other resources specialists use, as well as what to avoid.

Interestingly, despite all her work to make clients easy to find, it’s not easy to find Kate online. But as a specialist and true strategist, she understands that it’s sometimes advantageous to limit your visibility.