Q&A with Anna Fearon, Founder of AMF Digital

What made you start AMF Digital?

I’m afraid it’s the cliche of wanting to be my own boss. I love taking the lead on content. I love being a lone wolf; being able to make ambitious decisions and act on them. I’m also seriously fascinated by what I do - the continual updates in the world of SEO keep me on my toes. It’s certainly not a boring industry to be in.

What’s your favourite SEO job?

I most enjoy keyword research - it’s such a buzz when you suddenly stumble across an excellent keyword that you know will work perfectly in a heading and is going to get a client’s content ranking in Google and AI Search.

What do you consider your USP?

Oh, quite a few things. Number one, I’m a seriously hard worker, ambitious and a perfectionist, meaning that I put a lot of time and effort into what I do. From the research process to building templates in content management systems, everything is well thought out. And also, I’m a female in a male-dominated industry. I thinks this massively helps me stand out.

What’s a typical day for you?

I wake up about 7am and read my book in bed with a coffee, finally getting out of bed at 8am to shower and have breakfast. I’m going through a granola phase at the moment so I will have that with lots of dairy free yoghurt, honey, and some fruit - sprinkled with pumpkin seeds.

I get to my desk at 9am and work out my day and priorities. The day is filled full of client emails, updates to websites, SEO research and occasionally filming for social media reels. At lunchtime, I might go for a walk to clear my mind or pop the Kardashians on for an hour.

I sometimes leave the office to meet clients or go to a local networking event, but more often than not I’m at my desk.

What’s a career highlight?

So many! One that stands out is when I was working at Macmillan, I had an idea for Macmillan Coffee Mornings to coincide with Royal celebrations like the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and The King’s Coronation. It was just after the pandemic and these big events on the Royal calendar felt like an excellent excuse to bring communities together over tea and cake.

I worked closely with the Coffee Morning team to bring my web page and fundraiser to life. The fun part of the job was selecting recipes for spotlights on the page.

Another career highlight is managing the Japanese edition of Mazda’s magazine. I don’t even speak Japanese but that wasn’t a barrier as I worked closely with a Japanese Sub-Editor and a team of wonderful art editors. It was such a joy to manage the whole process and be the one sending it to print. Its was a challenging project but I believed that I could get it done and did.

What are your favourite websites?

Other than my clients’ websites? So, my criteria for a good website is that it doesn’t overcomplicate things, has clear call-to-actions, a good user journey and tells people about your brand and story. Don’t assume that everyone knows who you are and why you started your business. A layperson who doesn’t know your brand, should be able to understand who you are and what you do from looking at the landing page and if they don’t, you need to re-think things. Taking all that into account, websites that have “got it right” include Ocado and JustPark.

What do you do outside of work?

You’ll probably find me in a field somewhere either painting or walking. Something I spent a lot of time doing at weekends is painting in oils, whether it’s outdoor painting or painting still life scenes. I also love visiting art galleries, museums and country estates - my National Trust and English Heritage passes get used a lot! I also love keeping fit and (try) to go to the gym a lot. I practise yoga every week which makes me feel more happy and balanced.

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