Spargle meets Pepijn Arts
Pepijn Arts is a freelance SEO specialist since 2021. Over the past three years, he’s been living outside The Netherlands for several months, exploring countries like Portugal, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam. It’s clear to say that his passion lies in traveling.
Inspirator: His parents
Book: ‘How Will You Measure Your Life’ by Clayton Christensen
Podcast: Jong Beleggen, de podcast
Motto: “Niet denken, maar doen” (Don’t think, just do it)
“I find the combination of my freelance SEO work and and these other projects to be absolutely fantastic”
What is your current role and have you done anything like this before?
I currently work at Montblanc, I assist them as a SEO Specialist. I’ve been working as an SEO specialist for about 4 years, taking on projects for various companies.
At the same time, I am working on the development of a mobile application targeting solo travelers called ‘Likeplan’. In 2015, I embarked on my first solo trip as a true ‘backpacker’. In the following years, I repeated this by trekking alone through Southeast Asia for a few weeks each year. I created Likeplan to make it easier for myself (and hopefully many others soon) to undertake trips and activities with like-minded individuals.
I find the combination of my freelance SEO work and this project to be absolutely fantastic. They are two completely different projects, which makes it enjoyable to combine them.
Did you always know you were going to do this?
Until I was around 7, I always wanted to be a pilot, something completely different. Both my parents work in aviation, so that influence was embedded from an early age.
Around high school, I knew that, at some point, I wanted to start something for myself or establish my own business. Over the years, I’ve done various things and since 2017, I’ve specialized more in the SEO aspect. I studied Commercial Economics at HvA/HES, which aligns well with my current responsibilities.
What are the biggest challenges in your role, and how do you deal with them?
At Montblanc, I think my biggest challenge mainly involves setting priorities. Montblanc operates in more than 120 different countries, each with its own version of the website. Imagine, when a page is published, there are more than 120 different variants. When dealing with thousands of products, that becomes quite a large scale. The challenge lies primarily in determining ‘what do we do first’ and ‘what will have the most impact’. This requires analysis to determine what potential impact a certain action will have on revenue or website traffic. Then, breaking it down into manageable tasks and assigning priorities.
Equally important is communicating the whole process to people at different levels. There’s the C-level that prefers discussions in numbers, and then there are layers beneath in terms of management and those more operationally involved. Translating those priorities into more operational tasks is a significant challenge, but a very enjoyable one. I especially like the consulting aspect.
“The challenge lies primarily in determining ‘what do we do first’ and ‘what will have the most impact.”
What trends do you foresee in 2024 within your role and/or in the freelancer industry?
Where this was not yet the case, it will become even more important to put the visitor at the center of optimizing a website, rather than the search engine.
In addition, Google will want to fill in even more of the function of a marketplace / comparator to keep visitors within their own ecosystem as much as possible.
Shifting the focus from category pages to improving product visibility at scale is a micro example of this within eCommerce.
Speaking of the freelancer world, it is important to stay abreast of developments within AI and Google. This has always been true, but has gained momentum with the advent of generative AI tools like ChatGPT.
What are your thoughts on these developments, and are you actively involved in them?
When we talk about the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, initially, there was a real concern; it was proclaimed that Google would no longer be relevant next year due to AI. However, within a few months, it turned out not to be the case. If we see now, ChatGPT is used to support us in our daily activities, rather than replacing Google as a search engine. Looking at how I use it daily, when I’m working on an analysis and need a specific formula for Google Sheets, I can simply ask ChatGPT which formula to use. I’m not saying it’s impossible for Google to be taken over or surpassed by ChatGPT, but I believe a sense of stability has returned since the advent of AI. We’ve all come to better understand the use case of generative AI tools. The same applies to us as SEO specialists.
A good quote I once came across is that “We don’t need to be afraid that AI will quickly take over our work as specialists. But, someone who understands and implements AI in their work could take over the role of a person who doesn’t.” I believe this because, in a certain way, you can perform your work more efficiently when you use these techniques.
“People often sya they value health and familiy, but when you look at how much time they spend on them weekly, it’s not that much. We often say things but don’t act accordingly.”
What is your favorite documentary, podcast, and book, and why?
My favorite podcast is ‘Jong beleggen, de podcast’, it’s an entertaining podcast that presents investing in an enjoyable way weekly and covers current events. Since I am interested in the whole investing scene, I enjoy listening to it and staying informed.
My favorite book is ‘How Will You Measure Your Life’ by Clayton Christiansen. This book has stuck with me the most. The main idea of the story is: what do you want to be remembered for? What is important to you in life, and do you allocate your daily/weekly time accordingly?
It makes you think, for example, that people often say they value health and family, but when you look at how much time they spend on them weekly, it’s not that much. We often say things but don’t act accordingly.
What is your life motto or favorite quote?
“Niet denken, maar doen” (Don’t think, just do it)
Applicable in both my professional and personal life. As an SEO specialist, you can endlessly analyze and write hypotheses, but ultimately, it comes down to doing something and seeing if it works. A/B testing, and so on. If it doesn’t work, you adjust your strategy and move on. Don’t linger too long on the analysis part.
For my personal life, I believe you shouldn’t overthink everything, but also just do things, make choices, and see afterward if it was the right decision. Or not.
Who inspires you, and why?
My parents are my biggest inspiration, because they mainly taught and inspired me to pursue my dreams and to follow my intuition. Entrepreneurship isn’t necessarily a family trait, but my ambition to start my own business has been supported since I was young. I am very content with where I am now, and for that, I can only be incredibly grateful to them!
