Just for SEOs: The Best Christmas Gifts for Our Significant Others

SEOs have a tendency to be both nerdy and passionate about their work. And to be fair, it’s part of the job description. Search marketers must possess an intimate understanding of the search algorithms and they better give a hoot about the sites they’re promoting.

But this nerd/passion combo can be dangerous for our relationships—some of us have the tendency to get a bit wrapped up in our work.

While our partners care about our work lives, we must recognize that they don’t want to dissect the latest SERP feature over dinner or discuss link bait over dessert. They don’t obsess over keyword rankings, and they certainly aren’t turned on by how many PR5 links a website has.

That said, here’s some gift ideas that might just make up for some of the SEO drama our loved ones put up with.

The Gift of Time

Our work doesn’t end just because the clock hits five. While we are sometimes compelled to work overtime and/or unusual hours, our loved ones don’t always appreciate it.

Consider making your partner “quality time” coupons they can turn in for work-free days. Whenever your partner wants to a day alone with their boo, they turn in the coupon and you call off work and power down the laptop.

As cornball as it sounds, your partner will appreciate you acknowledging that it ain’t easy loving a web junkie.

The Gift of Shutting Off the Shop Talk

When introducing yourself at your partner’s company holiday party, keep your job description short. Just call yourself an online marketer and leave it at that. Partners get annoyed when we say “I’m in SEO”, because when people politely ask what that means, we shoot off into a 10 minute rant talking about how SEO is this big puzzle where you don’t have all the pieces, and search engines are constantly updating their algorithms … yada, yada.

The “Real” Gifts Your Partner Wants

Oh, so you clicked on this article because you actually wanted real gift ideas? Here are some ideas for the loved ones that have to put up with all the eccentricities and work hours of an SEO...

1. Cooking Classes. Or something the two of you can do together, like tennis, dance, foreign language or karate lessons.
2. Massage/spa gift certificate. An opportunity for them to shut out the search chatter.
3. Housecleaning or cooking services. If you’re working a lot, you’re probably not covering your fair share of the housework. Let a cleaning or cooking service pick up some of your slack and give your partner a break.
4. Noise cancelling headphones. ‘Nuff said. We tend to talk a lot.
5. Concert Tickets. Have fun and let loose together. You’ll probably need a fun break after the holiday online rush, anyway.
6. Technology. You can’t be the only one who gets to have fun with gadgets. Significant others may not be into technology like we are, but if you get him or her a fun and useful gadget (tablet, GPS system, smartphone, web-enabled TV) they might just start enjoying the “nerd life” with you.

Whichever way you go with the gifts, I wish you a happy holiday season. And bless our partners who put up with our unique careers.