Kenyan Developer Who Googled “What is SEO?” After Landing an SEO Client.

Chapter One: The Gig That Shouldn’t Have Been

It started, like all great tragedies, with a client in a WhatsApp group chat. They were looking for someone who could “do SEO,” and I—high on a caffeine rush and desperation—replied with the confidence of someone who thought SEO meant “Sending Emails Often.”

“Yes, I offer premium SEO services,” I texted, fingers trembling. In that moment, I had no idea what I had signed up for. I just knew I’d need to figure it out fast, or fake my death and flee to Telegram.

Chapter Two: Google Becomes My Business Partner

The minute I closed the deal, I typed “What is SEO?” into Google. My search history that week was a glorious symphony of panic:

“How to do SEO for a WordPress site without crying”

“Can you rank on Google using luck?”

“Best SEO tools free because I’m broke”

I spent the next 72 hours watching YouTube videos at 1.5x speed, downloading every Rank Math tutorial PDF I could find, and praying my client didn’t ask me a single question.

Chapter Three: Enter Rank Math—My Savior and Co-Conspirator

I discovered Rank Math like it was the Holy Grail of digital marketing. Every blog post I optimized turned into a little green smiley face. I became obsessed with turning red warnings into green checkmarks, like some twisted game of adult Tetris.

I didn’t know what “canonical URLs” were, but if Rank Math said I needed one—I added it. Internal links? Sure. Keyword density at 1.8%? Say less. Meta descriptions with emotional triggers? I had them sounding like clickbait from Nation.Africa by the end of the day.

Chapter Four: The Accidental Win

The craziest part? It actually worked.

Two weeks later, the client called me and said, “My site went from page 9 to page 1 for my niche keyword.” I nearly dropped my phone into a cup of tea. Apparently, my panicked research, obsessive optimization, and compulsive Googling had somehow done the trick.

I was now… officially… an SEO specialist.

(Still didn’t know what “backlink building” really meant though. I added it to my services list anyway.

Chapter Five: The Real Lesson (and Actual Tips)

Jokes aside, here’s what I learned through this chaotic crash course:

SEO is 40% knowledge, 60% audacity. But also… get the knowledge. Fast.

Use Rank Math—it literally holds your hand. If you follow its checklist religiously, you can fake expertise long enough to become an actual expert.

Always write for humans first. Keywords are important, but sounding like a robot from 2012 won’t get you clicks.

Learn how to use Google Search Console. It tells you what’s working—and what’s just embarrassing.

Don’t take jobs you’re not ready for… unless you’re ready to suffer and grow. Pain is part of the process.

Final Thoughts: Hustle Now, Cry Later

Every Kenyan freelancer has that first gig they shouldn’t have taken—but did anyway. And while imposter syndrome is real, so is rapid learning. If you’re willing to grind, Google, and humbly admit that you’re learning on the fly… you might just surprise yourself (and your client).

And if all else fails—there’s always Fiverr templates, Reddit, and that one Facebook group where everyone overshares SEO secrets at 3 AM.