How to become an SEO Expert

This blog post will teach you how to become an SEO expert. I’ll give you insights in what it takes to be one, what skills are needed, and the best ways to learn these skills. If this sounds interesting or relevant to you, keep reading!

Let’s start by understanding what it means to be an SEO Expert. The first thing is that there are no set qualifications for being a professional in the field of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This means that anyone can call themselves an SEO Expert as long as they have some knowledge on how search engines rank websites based on their content and other factors.

So if your goal is to become good at SEO then it’s a good idea to start learning…

What is an SEO Expert?

An SEO expert or SEO specialist is someone who can help you rank higher in search engines. They optimise websites to make them appear more relevant and accurate for people’s searches, which increases their visibility on the web as well!

They are an essential part of any marketing team or of course, their own independent entity. They know how to leverage keywords and phrases that will increase traffic for a website, while also providing perfect advice about which content on your site should be optimised in order make it rank higher with search engines like Google or Bing!

With the ever-growing intricacy of SEO – one can argue its vital importance not only towards driving more visitors but establishing relationships between businesses across all industries worldwide as well – experts have become invaluable members who possess knowledge above others concerning these intricate technicalities when creating effective campaigns online.

The demand is increasing year on year for people with the right skills in the industry.

How do I become an SEO Expert?

The road to becoming a successful SEO consultant is not one that everyone follows, but it’s important for aspiring professionals in this field to realise they don’t need traditional marketing experience. In fact many people who work with clients on their branding campaigns began as online marketers before specialising solely or mostly towards Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

The best way of doing so? Find what works well for you! However, here are a few of the typical methods:

• Take an SEO course
• Work in marketing as a more general field then specialise in SEO
• Build a website and rank it yourself
• Work for a specialist SEO agency

Understand the Basics of SEO

SEO is a daunting task, but don’t worry! The basics of this process are simple:

• Technically correct website so it can easily be crawled and read by search engines
• Produce in-depth excellent content
• On page & keyword optimised to ensure you are maximising its potential
• Create an excellent website experience for your user. i.e. Fast load time and a clear UX
• Build strategies to share your content and gain backlinks

Then learn the advanced area’s to become a true SEO Expert

However, do note, this can take several years of hard work and includes 100s of points but here’s a few:

• Ability to find and fix crawl errors
• Fix broken links
• Ability to find and remove duplicate content
• Have an excellent understanding of URLs & title tags
• Find and optimise website architecture
• Improve a website’s site speed
• Ability to do in-depth and relevant keyword research and apply this to a content silo
• Have a moderate knowledge of HTML & CSS. Javascript, PHP etc are a bonus
• Build and promote links to important pages
• Keep up with the latest SEO trends and google algorithm updates

Learn how to use SEO tools

In every career, there are those tools that you need to make your work easier. It’s no different with SEO consulting – a good consultant needs the right tools! Here are some of the most common SEO tools that I would suggest using:

a) Ahrefs

The tool is an all-inclusive product that helps optimise content, ads, social media, competitor research, and reports. If you want to increase online visibility, then Ahrefs is a must-have for any SEO expert.

b) Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a tool that an SEO expert must use to understand metrics such as how users interact with your website, the location of site visitors and bounce rates. Such information can help determine areas we should focus on for optimization or marketing efforts in order achieve desired results faster than expected!

Google analytics allows marketers (and any other type of businesses) to get insight into what makes people come back again – whether it’s through organic search queries, customer acquisition campaigns using social media platforms or direct traffic etc.

c) Google keyword planner

The Google keyword planner is a free tool that will help you find out useful metrics like monthly search volume and related keywords. This way, when it comes to optimising your SEO campaign for success with keywords, the information provided by this phenomenal resource can be invaluable!

d) Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog is an essential tool for any SEO consultant as it acts as a crawler analysing all pages on your website. The tool provides insightful information regarding each URL and can form a huge part of a Technical SEO audit.

e) Google Search Console

Google Search console acts as a dashboard where you can visualise how your site appears on the search results. The tool also gives insights into any errors that are preventing your website from ranking.

Put your SEO knowledge into practice

Of course, you can study and learn all the theory. But if you want to become an SEO expert, then the best way is by actually getting stuck in and learning on the job.

Build your own website and rank it

Build your own website and rank it. You will learn so much in the process, from how websites work to SEO tips that can increase traffic by 10%.

Find clients

It might sound a little bizarre to work on a clients website when you aren’t yet an expert. However, if you have been studying then you are already more likely to know than them.

Work for a company

Take a specialised SEO job at an agency or perhaps for a large company who does in-house SEO. You may start at ‘the bottom’ but you will learn quick and your skills will advance.

General Tips for being an efficient SEO Expert

1. Set clear and achievable goals

Setting clear and achievable goals is important as it can be difficult to gauge the time needed to require meaningful results for your clients. I always suggest to be realistic with yourself and your client about what can be achieved then work towards that efficiently.

2. Educate your clients and answer all questions

It’s almost impossible to realise the value of SEO, especially if you don’t completely understand the concept. As a consultant, it’s essential to understand your clients’ background and understanding around the topic and then teach accordingly.

As expected, your clients may have many questions, especially if they have never worked with an SEO Consultant before. Admittedly, you may not have all the answers or know everything they may ask. It helps to thoroughly prepare before meeting with clients to avoid those moments when you are clueless about a concern.

If you don’t have a satisfactory answer, I recommend letting your client know that you will get back to them. This is better than giving vague or false answers. If and when you answer the questions, make sure that you exhaustively answer, leaving your audience well informed.

3. Take charge

A client/consultant relationship means working together to achieve desirable goals. You may not always have control over the execution of the recommendations they make. As a good consultant, you need to make the client understand that achieving goals majorly depends on how well and fast they take action on recommendations.

For example, a consultant may recommend a content strategy to target certain keywords. If the client doesn’t engage a writer to help realise the recommendation, then this may delay the success of the campaign.

4. Show interest in the business and industry as a whole

A good way to demonstrate your expertise is by showing the client that you want to understand their business model before you even start working. Get to know the key competitors, updates in the industry and any changes worth noting.

You can subscribe to relevant publications in the industry, create Google alerts on any news regarding the niche and do thorough research. Most importantly, ask your client any questions regarding what they do in their line of work. Most clients will trust you if you take the time to understand their business.

5. Get to know your recipient

As mentioned earlier, SEO isn’t a one-off thing, but an ongoing process before any significant results can be realised. In the course of your consulting job with a certain company, you’ll often find yourself holding meetings with stakeholders trying to understand the progress.

You may have different audiences at different times. For example, you may meet with the management team while at other times it’s the junior staff working in the marketing department. With this understanding, you need to tailor your talks to suit different audiences.

6. Effectively communicate the results

A good consultant will send reports and find time to explain to the client what the report shows. Personally, I send a monthly report with an explanation of what’s in it and an invitation for the client to discuss further on zoom if there are any questions. 

Conclusion

The best way to become an SEO expert is by educating yourself, working hard and achieving results. This could be on your website or a clients. There are multiple methods to do this and only you can decide which one will work best for you.