• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, February 7, 2022

London-based Rise at Seven's head of search engine optimization (SEO) Tasha Amponsah-Antwi is an open book. She doesn’t hesitate to share her love for fashion, family, and science, and is also committed to taking care of her two younger adult brothers who are autistic. 

“I originally thought I would become a doctor, so in school I took all the required biomedical sciences and -ologies,” she says, adding that she really enjoyed psychology.

But she changed direction in her second year and started on a path toward business and management. That’s when she came across the world of SEO. Her dissertation focused on online perception of fashion brands, because of her interest in the way people perceive information online.

People change, she says, and it’s important to understand why based on how humans evolve. As human interaction evolves, so does the way people search.

Overlay that understanding with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to better understand why people search and shop for certain brands.

“The way a search journey starts doesn’t necessarily include a website or a search engine, because there are so many platforms like TikTok, so I’ve been doing a lot of research related to the future of SEO,” she said. “I plan to change the way people think about SEO. Disrupt today’s thinking, and introduce a multiplatform SEO strategy.”

Rise at Seven historically has focused on public relations, but with Amponsah-Antwi, the company has a new focus on SEO backed by data.

Of about 120 employees, about five are now dedicated to SEO and about six or seven are focusing on data and technology.

Working in the search and media industry for nearly nine years, she joined Rise at Seven from the agency Reprise Mediabrands, where she served as business director and SEO account manager, setting the overall global SEO strategy for Lego.

She also worked at an agency known as Forward3D as organic performance team lead, senior content marketing manager, and other positions.

Her love for style may have come from working with more than 20 fashion, beauty, and travel brands such as Gucci and Ralph Lauren. 

Amponsah-Antwi joined Rise at Seven after the company announced plans to open a New York City office after setting up in Sheffield, Manchester, and London.

“As SEO professionals we need to understand why someone might starting searching on TikTok or Instagram, for example, rather than a search engine or website,” she says.