An Intern Experience: SEO Edition

Hi everyone! My name is Nicole Danks and I am a rising senior majoring in advertising with a  concentration in account management and media planning.This summer I am interning at Power Digital Marketing based in San Diego as a search engine optimization intern. 

Although the location is based in California, I have the opportunity to work remotely on eastern standard time. Power Digital Marketing is a digital marketing agency that specializes in growth solutions for a range of industries including beauty, fashion, B2B, B2C, retail media, etc. They have in-office locations in San Diego and New York City. Power Digital offers a full funnel of services ranging from influencer marketing, content marketing, to social retargeting ads and many more. Some of the most well known brands that PDM works with includes Alo Yoga, AirBnb, Casper, Peloton, Procter & Gamble,etc. 

I found out about Power Digital Marketing through my digital media and advertising class during my first semester of in-person classes at Temple. My professor brought in a Temple alum who worked at PDM to speak to the class about their digital advertising, college, and professional experience. After hearing about the company I was super interested in their internship program, so I reached out to the presenter and had a phone call. Our chat was helpful and informative so when the time came, I decided to apply for the summer internship program. This experience really showed me the value and necessity for networking with others, especially alums. 

As an intern I work closely with the organic search team on a day to day basis. Interns have a daily training meeting that reviews different SEO platforms and optimization strategies. Projects and tasks were assigned based on the weekly SEO training. I was somewhat familiar with search engine optimization from taking an elective course this previous spring semester. I knew I liked SEO because of the combination of analytical and creative thinking. This experience has enhanced my overall SEO skills by allowing me to apply it to real clients using industry leading platforms and websites. More specifically, my content optimization skills have improved, which was a goal for the summer semester! Overall, I really enjoy SEO and I feel like this internship solidified my choice to work in the industry. Additionally, many interns end up being full-time employees at PDM.

My experience at PDM this summer has been amazing so far. Being remote doesn’t mean being disconnected to others- and the PDM makes sure of that. I have had nothing but a positive experience with the internship program. Within the past few weeks, Power Digital has connected me to many new people through scheduled coffee chats where I meet one on one with someone in the company and weekly meetings with the organic search team to celebrate successes, talk about the industry, and give our shoutouts to people who we think are doing an amazing job. Additionally, the company uses Slack for not only professional communication but based on your interest, there are channels for pet parents, book lovers, and beauty lovers. 

Overall, the experience is not exactly what I thought it would have been but still managed to exceed expectations. I find myself looking forward to each day with the company and enjoy making numerous connections everyday, even without being in-office.