SEO Expert: Search Engine Optimization professionals come from different backgrounds. Some are programmers, some entrepreneurs, some journalists, and some used to be rappers!
Many factors determine the effectiveness of an SEO campaign, but at the heart of every campaign is at least one person who makes the decisions. This person will set goals, guide team members, research, and complete various tasks.
Important skills an SEO expert must have
1. CRITICAL THINKING
It is important to remember that no two SEO campaigns are alike. Every website is unique, and many factors affect a search engine’s ranking.
For this reason, an SEO expert must be able to identify any problems on the websites they are working on. A great way to do this is to study competitors’ websites carefully.
An SEO expert should be able to review your campaign and determine what went right, what went wrong, why it happened, and how you should fix the issues.
There is no standard SEO formula. That’s why it’s important to partner with a true SEO professional to understand, identify and react to any problems your business may have and find creative solutions to correct them.
2. PRIORITIZATION
Priority is key to running a successful SEO campaign. That is why all SEO experts should thoroughly understand every step they will take.
For example, backlink building is one of the longest and most complicated aspects of the SEO process, but it is also one of the most important factors in determining rank.
It is very important to invest time and attention in this phase!
3. RESEARCH
SEO: It’s not something you only learn once! You should always read articles and pay close attention to any updates that Google performs.
Research is incredibly important to an SEO campaign. An SEO expert should be someone who mastered the art of web research while still in high school.
An SEO expert should be a specialist and master Google’s Keyword Planner. It is also important to invest time in researching competitors. But you have to be careful! What works for one company may not work for another, even if they are in the same industry.
4. ANALYSIS
SEO is a report-based process, so any SEO professional who doesn’t have strong analytical skills won’t be able to track their successes and failures.
SEO experts measure success, so analytics should be a regular part of the day. Every action taken during an SEO campaign can and should be measured.
SEO experts should be able to interpret the data they receive.
5. DECISION MAKING
Google constantly changes how it reviews websites, and changes need to be made quickly so you don’t lose any progress. That’s why SEO experts must have the ability to make quick and smart decisions.
Knowing how to make the best decision in a given situation without asking 10 different people is a strong quality that all SEO experts should demonstrate.
6. HUMILITY
After a few years of work, people following a company’s marketing research process may feel they have learned everything and are among the best in the industry. But SEO is a field full of surprises; just because you think you know something doesn’t mean it’s objectively true or that things won’t change in a few weeks or months.
Staying humble opens up new possibilities and helps you solve problems faster (especially when working with a team)
7. WRITING
Strong writing skills are a real must for anyone running an SEO campaign. Remember, search engine optimization is a content-based strategy, and SEO writing is an art form… and not everyone is good at it.
Nothing is more painful to the eye than reading a blog or information page filled to the brim with matching keywords. Readers see us well, and Google is no exception.
8. TENACITY
Tenacity isn’t a skill but a trait you’ll need if you want to be successful. SEO can be a challenging industry at times:
- Your assumptions will be overturned.
- Your efforts will occasionally fall flat.
- You may face criticism and misunderstanding from your clients.
Being able to persevere through those low moments and find solutions to your problems no matter what happens is vital if you want success.
These foundational skills will guide you through the entire process, from campaign planning and keyword research to reporting and retrospective analysis.
The more you invest in yourself, the more you can do to reach your goals.
9. CODING BASICS
You don’t have to be a professional programmer to be successful in SEO. You should be able to look at the source code of a given website and identify the key features relevant to your campaign. You should also be able to make changes quickly and easily without breaking the website.
10. COMMUNICATION SKILLS
When we talk about communication skills, we refer to oral and written skills. An SEO consultant must be in constant contact with his teammates and other departments with whom it will be necessary to work. Fluency in communication and knowing how to convey ideas well are key to speeding up the development and implementation of tasks.
We must also speak with our clients and clearly explain the deficiencies detected in their project and how to solve them. At this point, it is very important to consider the client profile: do you know about SEO, or are you completely unaware of terms such as “robots.txt”, “meta robots”, and other professional jargon terms?
If you have little SEO knowledge, you must have the ability to adapt our language for effective transmission and reception of our message. As for written communication, strive to make reports clear and understandable.As you can see, having communication skills, both written and oral, will make it easier for you to expose, explain and justify the measures and recommended actions, both in reports and in calls and meetings with the client.
11. PROACTIVE BEHAVIOUR
Often, in the online marketing sector and web positioning, professionals must have a high capacity to respond in unforeseeable circumstances and a proactive attitude in a specific situation. For example, let’s imagine that in the e-commerce whose positioning we manage, the most profitable family of products is suddenly deindexed.
In this situation, the SEO consultant must take control of the problem and decide what to do to minimize a negative impact on organic traffic.
Also highly valued for an SEO consultant position is your ability to anticipate future problems and keep on the lookout for opportunities.
12. STRATEGIC VISION
Having a strategic vision is key to identifying possible opportunities, weaknesses and strengths by analysing and observing the environment and trends in the sector.For example, an area of opportunity in a physical and local restaurant during the Covid-19 pandemic could include the delivery and home delivery service.
In most cases, we will have to deal with projects where we must design the strategy to follow that is, determine the key actions to achieve the objectives set at the beginning: increase organic traffic from mobile, improve the positioning of the home page for keywords generic, increase the number of mentions on authority websites, etc. The key to everything is understanding where we are and where we are going. This way, we will know whether or not we are doing the right thing to achieve the goals that have been set.
The proposed actions must be carefully thought through, transmitted, explained, and shared with the client.
It is interesting to develop an action plan that guides us in achieving, in a given time, the objectives set at the beginning.
13. LEARN FAST
SEO is constantly changing; what was relevant today will not be tomorrow. Therefore, in addition to being attentive to the news, it is required that you learn to apply new strategies, as well as to use the latest platforms and tools that are relevant to the sector.
14. PERSEVERANCE
Yes, we know this is a trait more than an ability. We’re not going to lie to you, though; search engine optimization has its ups and downs. It may be that you were positioning yourself for a significant number of keywords, for example, and with the last update of the search engine, everything went down the drain… So instead of giving up, you should rethink your entire strategy, for which you need strength, maturity and desire to move on.
Criticism is also the order of the day. There will be those who do not agree with your way of doing things, sometimes the clients. That’s when you must display all your professionalism, make decisions and persevere.
15. HAVE SELF-CONFIDENCE.
It is the main basis of leaving the office door and going to an event with a single objective: to meet and make yourself known. For this, it is essential to feel good about yourself, be comfortable with the clothes you wear, and smile. Imagine: you are at an event, and your colleague approaches you to discuss a problem with a client. Comment it. Nothing prevents you but do it – even if it is rare – with a smile. Yes, we already know he does not fit you, but the rest of the guests cannot see you worried or sad – it would make a bad impression. And you know, the first impression is the one that counts.
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