Meet Christina Clark, Head of Product SEO at HubSpot. Initially starting her career in Graphic Design, Christina used her experiences in the corporate space to explore her interests. That's when she discovered her love of all things digital strategy! Since then, she's been learning, growing, and excelling in just that and is now at HubSpot, helping our prospect or existing customers search better.
We took the opportunity to interview Christina about her inspiring career path, journey to HubSpot, how she's solving for the customer, career advice, and what she does outside of HubSpot. Without further ado...
Can you tell us a little about your background and journey to HubSpot?
I studied Graphic Design in college with the aspiration to someday become an agency Art Director. My goals evolved after spending some time designing in the corporate space. And I began to explore other industries and interests.
Taking some HTML and CSS courses for designers served as the foundation and catalyst for my professional pivot. The real-time feedback you get from customer engagement (or lack thereof) in the digital space is thrilling to me. It’s something you simply don’t have access to in most areas of graphic design. So when a role opened up on the digital strategy team, I took the leap! At a small association you wear so many marketing hats and it was an excellent opportunity to quickly scale my digital strategy skills. My work ranged from managing email marketing, web content, and migrations to optimizing for search and conversions.
The next leap for me was moving into people management, leading and coaching the digital strategy team. This was my professional “aha” moment! The overlap of building out a digital strategy to meet company goals while contributing to the growth of individuals on a team is my happy place.
So, when the opportunity to lead HubSpot’s Product SEO team presented itself—of course, I took the leap! And I’ve happily landed into the most fulfilling role and work of my career to date.
Describe a typical day in your role.
Anyone who works in Marketing knows that industry trends change dramatically every year. In SEO, industry trends change much more frequently. So I start each day with a 30-minute to 1-hour scan of search industry newsletters, internal dashboards, and Slack channels.
While scanning I look for answers to a few questions:
- How are we tracking toward our monthly goal?
- Is there a new product or feature on the roadmap?
- Has there been any major shift in search? (This could be new or evolving SERP features, recent case studies with notable gains in organic traffic, or the announcement of another algorithm update.)
That quick scan informs my decisions and discussions for the day ahead. The majority of my days are spent in discussions with my team, peer-level managers, and key stakeholders refining our strategy, streamlining workflows, and tracking progress toward our goals.
Tell us about a problem you're working to solve right now.
A problem I regularly encounter (and work to solve) is pinpointing the best content and technical strategy to capture organic traffic. This is while facing headwinds of algorithm updates on no set schedule, competitors with similar solutions, and customers with limited time.
How are you solving for the customer?
There are so many questions to answer and problems to solve when it comes to managing data, teams, and customers. Disconnection is a common denominator. I believe that HubSpot has some of the best products and solutions to better connect businesses with their customers. I’m leading my team in an effort to be the first resource potential customers find when they’re searching for software to help them do their jobs better.
If a customer’s problem is having too many things to do and too little time, then I’m putting HubSpot at the top of their list. I’m saving customers time in search.
In your own words, what makes working in tech at HubSpot unique?
Every single HubSpotter I’ve worked with is solutions-focused. Any time a problem is presented at HubSpot, you can expect it to be met with questions to clarify the problem followed by actionable next steps. It doesn’t matter if we’re solving for data discrepancies, resourcing strains, or the customer. Everyone at HubSpot will push forward until the problem is pinpointed and solved.
Are there any industry trends or topics that are exciting to you right now?
The evolution of AI in search and content creation is so exciting! New features are popping up every day and it has the potential to dramatically change the way we all live and work.
If you could go back to the beginning of your career and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t waste one minute trying to fit into or follow a linear career path. Let your passion guide you to the right industry, role, and company for you. If you’re passionate about a job, you will be motivated to learn, adapt and grow into it.
What do you like to do outside of HubSpot in your free time?
In my time away from HubSpot, I’m working at my other job as a mom to Luca and Violet. Becoming a parent is my biggest leap yet. The rapid changes in their moods and appetites challenge me every day. But the cuddles, giggles, and growth of two seriously cute kids reward me just as much.
I’m so grateful to work at a company that gives me the flexibility to step away from work when I need to meet the challenges of parenting AND the opportunity to pause and soak up rewards like snow days and field trips.
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