A Detailed Guide to Becoming an SEO Expert in 2023 (Updated)
SEO is an interesting concept and many digital marketers and aspiring marketers look forward to mastering the craft of SEO. Well, here’s a detailed guide to becoming an SEO expert.
What is SEO?
SEO refers to Search Engine Optimization, which is basically a digital marketing strategy. It focuses on the website’s presence in the search results on search engines like Yahoo, Google, etc. Knowing how this search engine optimization works can help to better one’s ranking in search results. If simply put, SEO is the method to improve the site’s visibility and ranking.
This means that the better the SEO, the better the visibility, increased relevant searches, more attention to content, and hence more likely for customers to increase their visits to one’s site. SEO aims to improve the website traffic both in quality and quantity, to a website from search engines. It optimizes and enhances the online content so that search engines show the content as a top result in the keyword search.
How is SEO important?
Search Engine Optimization is fundamentally important for digital marketing. Search Engines like Google collect information about searches conducted on web pages and have algorithms that analyze these pages and based on numerous factors, determine the appearance of the rank of these search queries. Allowing the optimization of one’s site ad content can help to rank pages higher in the search results.
Search Engine Optimization is a crucial part of the digital marketing strategy because, as per studies, people conduct nearly about 2 trillion or more searches per year, with the common intent to search for details about various products and services. This is because these are searches that are conducted by the people are the common and the basic source of online or digital traffic for business and brands and not only that but they also act as an accessory to competition to other marketing channels indirectly.
This is because greater visibility of one’s website or web page and higher ranking in the search results impacts the competitors’ search visibility and rankings and can thereby have a direct impact on the brand’s business.
Moreover, over the past few years, these search results have evolved to equip users with more information and direct answers that in turn helps the content creator as this keeps the reader or the user occupied with the result page rather than redirecting them to other web pages or sites. Tabs and tools like the Rich Results test tool and the Knowledge Panel tool can help in increasing the visibility of the content and enable users to access direct answers to their search queries.
It is not just only about search keywords or links, in fact, search engine optimization is so much more than that. Its focus on providing the readers and the users with the experience that they are looking forward to at one go and equip them with the information that they are exactly looking for.
According to the famous author, Brian Dean ‘Content writing is the process of planning, writing and editing web content, typically for digital marketing purposes.’ These include writing blog posts for blogs, articles, article snippets, and all such other forms of content. So to see, SEO and content writing go hand-in-hand and are complementary. There is no SEO without content and vice-versa. For the content to rank and to be found by the readers and the users, the content needs to be readily available to them through strategic Search Engine Optimization.
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Who is an SEO Expert?
An SEO Expert can also be referred to as an SEO Specialist and is anyone who can optimize the websites to get higher rankings in the search engine results. SEO experts help to increase traffic to a webpage or a website from various search engines.
They are the people who know how search engine optimization works and how to apply these optimization strategies to make sure there is an increase in the rankings of websites in the search engines. Their aim is not only to get more traffic for the search engines but also make sure to turn that traffic and views into recurring visits and thereby, bringing in recurring customers. SEO experts make sure that they apply every such rule to increase the search engine traffic to one’s website.
Skills and Responsibilities of an SEO Expert
As explained by SEO specialist, Neil Patel, himself – ‘ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your online content so that a search engine likes to show it as a top result for searches of a certain keyword.’
Now, as discussed before, about how SEO is important for content ranking, these points themselves show the responsibilities of any SEO Expert and the skills to be possessed by these experts or specialists to implement them and help rank content and built search engine traffic. An SEO Expert should be responsible enough to analyze the websites for content, review them, and apply these websites that are enhanced and optimized by the search engines.
These experts will be developing the content in such a way that they include the keywords or the phrases that help the website or the webpage to gain more and more traffic to itself. Amongst these responsibilities of an SEO Expert or an SEO specialist, key responsibilities include the optimization of static’ pages or in simpler terms – a landing page that refers to a webpage that pops up in response to a search result.
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Apart from this, an SEO Expert needs to perform trending keyword research that includes the detection of keyword opportunities and even the expansion of those. SEO Experts or specialists have expertise over the presentation and ranking of your content and your website to the major search engines and put together the website for categorizing, arranging, and improving its rankings by going through and focusing on the vast data available through various tools specifically meant to analyze keywords as well as the content. Once they are done analyzing the content, is when these experts then draw conclusions, find the areas of improvement, and execute the ideas to further improve and enhance the content.
Through various studies, it has been shown that SEO Experts not only improve and enhance content for the content creator but also have the responsibility to implement and execute the search engine optimization and the various social media strategies that are required to implement for the betterment of the clients’ content. These analysts are capable of quickly understanding what is needed and thus, supporting the measures that will ultimately contribute towards the success of the client’s business.
Thus, it can be derived from all we discussed that the key areas of responsibility of the SEO Experts include –
- Conduct keyword research by the client’s business and its goals.
- Optimize the existing content and discover new areas of improvement.
- Provide proper SEO analysis and provide recommendations as per the content structure of the website and the web pages.
- Consider the elements of the content, recommend improvement of the content by the content elements and structure, and execute the strategies for the development of the content accordingly.
- Coordinate with the goals set for the Search Engine Optimization both general as well as keyword specific.
- Be familiar and savvy with various search engine programs like the webmaster tools, shopping feeds, and administers such programs for the objective of running a diagnostic report on client projects and take actions based on such reports.
- Help in creating and supporting the marketing of the content.
- Socializing and using the marketing strategies for social media marketing as well; for example, blog posts, case studies from customers, posts from customers, etc.
- Help in the development and implementation of content strategies through social media platforms and communities by the optimization objectives.
- Keep up with the search engine, social media, and internet marketing trends and developments.
- Research and implement social media tools to support the client’s social media marketing strategy.
- Keep track of the web analytics dashboards, reports, and the reporting tools, post which they can highlight the crucial areas of importance as per the client’s objectives and goals.
- Communicate with the team and effectively manage the development of the project, timelines, deadlines, and results.
- Clearly and effectively state thoughts and ideas.
- Work in tandem with the team to meet the client’s objectives, goals, and deadlines.
Skills, Competencies, and Qualifications for an SEO Expert
As much as content writing is the key to SEO, it is also necessary for anyone aiming to become an SEO expert to be skilled appropriately as per the demands and trends of the industry along with being competent for the same. To achieve the knowledge and understand the basics of SEO, first and foremost, anyone who intends of the same should have a clear goal to excel in SEO as apart from the basic knowledge, SEO needs complete focus, attention as well as creativity.
An SEO expert needs to find the relevant keywords that have a good search traffic trend or a search traffic potential. One must be skilled to create pages and optimize them for both the search engines and users alike as they both go hand-in-hand. There cannot be content without SEO or SEO without content, and the same goes for search engines and users as they both are interrelated. Search engines flourish and exist because of users like us and hence, that is what should always be kept in mind while optimizing the search engines – to cater to the user’s or the client’s demands.
Search Engine Optimization is a fundamental skill required for a content marketer, even though not the complete technical aspects, but an SEO expert should at least have a solid understanding of how search engine optimization works, to begin with. One needs to make sure the client’s website is accessible to the search engine bots as well as the humans for the search engine traffic to exist and increase, thereby, increasing and pushing the search engine rankings higher as well.
It is also very important for an SEO Expert to be able to build the relevant links apart from the high-quality websites and then implement and execute these relevant link-building campaigns in tandem with the user’s or the client’s SEO goals and objectives.
Listed below are the skillset, the competencies as well as the qualifications needed to become a successful SEO Expert
Competencies
- Proficient speaking, reading, and writing ability
- Drive, adaptability, and critical thinking
- Passionate about SEO
- Knowledge of social media and internet marketing
- Creative thinking, ability to identify problems and resolve such problems
- Outstanding attention to detail
- Effectively to multi-task and reach result within deadlines
- Ability to portray and articulate one’s thoughts, ideas, and creativity
- Have integrity and self-motivation in times of pressure and urgency to meet deadlines
- Have autonomy of thought and the ability to take action and execute what’s required to achieve the results
- Absolute and effective organizational skills
- Have excellent analytical skills
- Have excellent and efficient project and time management skills
Skills, And Qualifications
- A minimum experience in SEM – Search Engine Marketing along with SEO – Search Engine Optimization
- One needs to be proficient and well versed with MS Office tools namely MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and most importantly, MS Word.
- Minimum and basic experience with website analysis and have efficient presentation skills
- Experience and knowledge of various analytical tools including Google Analytics as well as the know-how to work with popular keyword research tools like WordTracker, Google keyword planner, Google Search Console, Keyword Discovery, etc.
- Knowledge of website administrations
Given the premise of utter importance of SEO when it comes to online content creation and its marketing, working knowledge of Search engine optimization is extremely crucial and the need for such knowledge is growing as well. To get a grip on SEO as a concept and adopt the best practices, one needs to be focused and driven to learn about the same and inculcate and implement that knowledge on a real-time basis, thereby, building and gaining experience in the relevant field.
There are also several courses across the globe to get certified for the same and learn the skills needed to grow and make your career in SEO. There are plenty of links as well one can easily access in today’s age and time to gain knowledge and use these tools to get to the next level.
Simply put – determination, passion, perseverance, and the patience to give time and learn these skills is what is required if one plans to make SEO their career choice as it is not only trending but is the future of marketing.
Detailed and in depth introduction to being an seo expert. Very insightful. Always thought that it would be difficult to get these information in one place but its great to see such information on this platform.
Hi, I am from Bansdroni, Kolkata. And i have been wanting to take up writing as a career choice . I recently found this article on seo, and all details about seo and content writing and found so much details in this article. I have been searching and researching quite a number of sites and this is one of the few with such detailed explanations on the career aspects of it.
It’s very insightful and very well explained. I