Joe Handaya— RevoU Instructor | Group Web & SEO Manager at Ruangguru

Joe's Profile

Since 2015, Joe has worked in 6 companies and managed to elevate their SEO game: UpToPromo, Konsula, HIJUP, Blanja.com, Bramble Furniture, and currently Ruangguru. Not to mention, many other companies which he nurtured as a freelance Tech SEO Consultant and the talents he has enlightened on public lectures (visit Joe’s LinkedIn to see the list).

As Group Web & SEO Manager at Ruangguru, he leads a team of 20+ people who are responsible for the success of all websites belonging to PT. Ruang Raya Indonesia which includes: Ruangguru, Skill Academy, English Academy, Brain Academy, and Ruang Kerja.

One of his greatest achievements is leading this team to generate 5 million organic traffic within 3 months of newly launched website.

It’s no question that Joe has great knowledge and experience he definitely can share with you. Joe the “SEO Evangelist”  will be one of the instructors at RevoU Digital Marketing Program, specializing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

More on Joe

Student Testimonials on Joe

"Menarik bgt yang sprint review kali ini, selain dikasih insight juga kayak simulasi gimana ngomong sama pihak lain misalnya developer buat explain strategy dari tim SEO nya sendiri. Dan tetap nge-fans banget sama cara ngajarnya yang swag"

"Seems to understand technical things on the page and the content of the page, even though he said it was his first time teaching, but I think kak Joe has gone all out in carrying out his duties, I was greatly helped by the explanation given by kak joe. The way he teaches make it easy for me to understand SEO."

"Setiap selesai kelasnya, saya selalu dapat insight baru yang membantu dalam pengerjaan tugas. Kak Joe juga selalu mengingatkan kita untuk memakai logic and common sense dalam pengerjaan SEO."

Questions & Answers

#1 Can you explain to us what your typical day looks like at Ruangguru?

Mostly attending meetings with other stakeholders also plan and evaluate SEO strategy for all the properties that PT. Ruang Raya Indonesia own (not just Ruangguru but we also have another websites such as Brain Academy, Skill Academy etc)

#2 Biggest myths and misconceptions about working in SEO?

Backlink is the main ranking factor for SEO

Imagine if you build a house, what will you do? Telling a friend (backlink) to come by to your house even if the house hasn't even been built yet? That would be dop right? SEO is similar to building a house. The first thing you do should be looking at the bigger picture of the house. Are there any broken windows? Is there any leak on the ceiling? Etc etc. The point is, focus on your own house first, improve it, create a better UX or any other things rather than rely on backlinks alone

#3 Your proudest professional achievement at Ruangguru?

It’s not my own achievement actually, it's a team achievement. We are able to generate 5 million organic traffic in 3 months for a newly launched website. But my personal satisfaction is when we have a great collaboration between one division to another to achieve many great things together

#4 What drives you to work in your current industry?

Passion to compete. Somehow, SEO always drives me to think differently every single day. What makes them have a better ranking than me? Why can’t I be better than them? That kind of question always bugling me and I can not resist the desire to be number one

#5 Things you wish you could have learned earlier in your career?

Communication. I’m a very introverted person, if someone doesn’t start a conversation, I might never talk to anyone :)

#6 Books / Online resources you follow to remain on top of the most important industry trends and keep improving in your field (blogs, podcasts, newsletters)?

Reading materials:

• Ahrefs Blog
• Moz Blog
• Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Land
• Semrush Blog
  

Influencer / Official sources

• Twitter Google Search Central
• Twitter Google Search Liaison
• Twitter John Mu
  

#7 Your tips for someone who is interested in starting his career in SEO (aside from applying to RevoU) :)?

If you really want to learn SEO:

- Create a test website.

- Hook it up to GSC, GA etc

- Run some audits.

- Practice using SEO tools.

- Test new strategies.

- Ask questions.

Don't be afraid to:

- Break something.

- Lose all your rankings.

- Destroy your test website.

- Fail.

The best SEOs I know all learned SEO this way.

#8 The fundamental skills an SEO professional is expected to have?

Logic and common sense with creative & analytical skill built in. Knowledge is cheap, we can find any SEO tutorial on the internet, but the most important thing is, fix your mindset

#9 What distinguishes a good SEO person from a great one?

Understanding user behaviour and search intent. A good SEO definitely know how to gain traffic, but a great SEO will combine that skill with understanding the behavior of our own audience and match it with the search intent

#10 Best examples of SEO activities (outside Ruangguru) in Indonesia?

Ecommerce: Tokopedia

News portal: Detik

Brand Site: KlikDokter, Prenagen

Learn from Joe and other great instructors by applying to RevoU Digital Marketing program

Looking to kickstart your career in Digital Marketing but don’t know where to start? Apply to RevoU 15-weeks Digital Marketing Program

How RevoU works:

✓ Live daily interactive online classes for 15 weeks (7–9pm WIB)

✓ Learn from the best instructors in the industry (such as Joe)

✓ Personalised career coaching with 1:1 mentorship sessions

✓ If you are looking for a job and don’t get one at the end of the Program, the entire course is FREE