How Dataquest Helped an SEO Expert Save Tons of Time

Antoine Eripret, SEO Lead

Antoine Eripret decided to learn Python for SEO because he realized he was wasting time. “I realized that I was sometimes doing the same tasks over and over. Things like copy-pasting a value from one file to another — repetitive mechanical steps. I started to realize that maybe there’s a smarter way to do that.”

At the same time, his work with some clients involved dealing with large datasets. Excel and large datasets don’t always work well together, and Eripret realized he also wanted to find a way to “handle a lot of data without having to pray in front of your computer that Excel won’t crash.”

So he did what any SEO expert would do. He Googled it.

Learning Python the Wrong Way

Eripret quickly found that learning some Python programming could probably solve both of his problems. “With Python, you have the ability to automate tasks, and it’s also really great for data analysis,” he says.

So he started trying to learn Python. It didn’t last long. “I basically gave up,” he says, “because I started learning the wrong way.”

He bought Automate the Boring Stuff with Python, a well-liked book for Python beginners, but it just didn’t work for him.

“The issue was when I tried to apply the stuff explained in the book,” he says. “I had a really hard time going from the theory, which is explained in the book very well, to the practice of being able to apply it to my own problems. So I gave up.”

Learning with Dataquest

For his second attempt, Eripret knew he wanted to learn with an online platform, so he started looking up reviews and opinions, and trying out different platforms. Ultimately, he says, “I was choosing between DataCamp and Dataquest. I went for Dataquest because the way you explain things is better for going from the theory to the practice, at least for me.”

Since he wasn’t a total Python beginner, Eripret wanted to skip some of the introductory course material. With Dataquest’s text-based approach, it was easy for him to skim through the lessons, skipping over sections on concepts he knew and slowing down whenever his eyes caught something new.

He also liked that Dataquest doesn’t leave out visual learners. It’s text-based, but it’s not just text — concepts are explained using illustrations and animations, too. “For instance, with Boolean indexing,” he says, “the first time I read about the concept I was like, ‘What the **** is that?’ But then you have that animation with the red and the blue where you show how it works.”

Advice for Data Science Learners

Eripret advises starting with a specific problem you’re trying to solve, rather than just trying to learn Python (or any other language) for its own sake.

He also echoes some advice we’ve heard from a lot of successful learners: don’t be afraid of Googling for answers, but don’t copy-paste code you don’t understand, either.

Everybody Googles, Eripret says. The key is trying to understand the solutions you find in the search results so that the next time you encounter that problem, you’re able to solve it on your own.