What Do SEOs Actually Do All Day? (Plus a Tangent About PBNs & Link Juice)
What My Day Actually Looks Like
People keep asking me what I do every day, running an SEO agency. I usually give a vague answer because, frankly, the real answer sounds made up. But fine, here it is.
I wake up (not at 4am). I make breakfast for my wife. I shower. I check email. And I don’t start real work until around 11am or noon.
I know. I’m already failing the LinkedIn hustle fantasy where success requires military discipline and “winning the morning.” But here’s the truth: I’ve tried the 4am grind. For a month. It broke me. I got nothing done. Turns out, I’m not wired for mornings.. and neither are a lot of people.
This idea that success = waking up at 4am is both exhausting and lazy thinking. Being successful is about doing what works for you. If you’re a night owl, embrace it. If you’re a morning person, knock yourself out. Just don’t force your circadian rhythm into a toxic productivity cosplay.
And for the record: going to bed at 8pm to wake up at 4am sounds like an actual nightmare.
Real Tasks, Real Time
Once I get rolling, my actual work varies by the day:
I spend 0–3 hours in Zoom/Google Meet meetings (which are weirdly draining).
I check email 4–5 times a day (more out of habit than urgency).
I work on client research: competitors, backlinks, site audits, etc.
I write content for our own sites (not client sites, because content ≠ SEO strategy).
I occasionally waste time reading SEO forums and questioning my life choices.
Also, if you’re working as an in-house SEO, ignore everything I just said. Your days probably look totally different (you know, structured).
If you’re self-employed or running an agency, your days are a chaotic blend of creative, analytical, and administrative tasks. Some days it’s four hours of focused work. Some days it’s ten. Some days it’s “let’s clean out our inbox and pretend that’s productivity.”
📫 Mailbag: Do PBN Outbound Links Lose Effectiveness?
A reader asked a smart question:
“At what point do outbound links from a PBN start hitting diminishing returns?”
Good question. Let’s unpack it from two angles:
1. Diminishing Returns from the PBN Site Itself
People worry that every outbound link from a PBN “dilutes” the site’s authority. The idea is that if you link out too much, the link juice dries up.
Here’s the deal:
Outbound links are normal. Sites with no outbound links look suspicious.
There’s no magic number, but if your posts have 0–3 outbound links, you’re golden.
Just don’t be a link farm. You know what I mean.. pages that are 90% hyperlinks and 10% despair.
Vary the number of outbound links per post. Uniformity is a red flag.
Ask yourself: “Would this ever happen naturally?” If the answer is yes, you’re probably fine.
If you’re building a PBN and worried about overlinking, aim for normalcy. You’re not hoarding gold here. Share the juice—strategically.
2. Diminishing Returns To the Client Site
Can too many PBN backlinks to one client site become ineffective?
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: SEO is a race. Every good backlink increases your lead. There’s no cap on how far ahead you can be. If your site is winning by 5 feet, a great link might put you ahead by 20. Keep going.
Now, that only applies to good PBN links. Garbage links don’t help. But high-quality PBN links? They keep pushing you forward.
Just remember: it’s not about hitting a quota. It’s about doing what looks natural and works in your competitive space.
If you want numbers, here’s a number:
Three.
Three outbound links per post. Not because it’s magic, but because people love concrete answers. But really? Use your judgment.
TL;DR
You don’t need to wake up at 4am to be successful.
My day varies, but usually includes research, writing, meetings, and admin work.
PBN outbound links aren’t inherently harmful — just don’t overdo it or get weird.
There’s no such thing as “too much link juice” from quality backlinks.