In this article you will discover:
What SEO specialists do
Requirements and skills to become an SEO specialist
How to become SEO in 4 steps
Step 1 - Information
Step 2 - Experimentation
Step 3 - Professional training
Step 4 - Practice
Practical conclusions on the steps to become an SEO Specialist
For an SEO Specialist, there is no graduation day
How to understand if you have become an SEO Specialist
What SEO specialists do
SEO experts or SEO Specialists are professionals who, thanks to their profound knowledge of search engines and the factors that determine the ranking, implement a whole series of on-page and off-page activities on the sites to be positioned, allowing them to be visible for queries relevant to the products/services they promote, resulting in an increase in relevant organic traffic from the natural search engine results.
The role of an SEO expert involves in addition to keyword research, SEO audit, on-site and off-site optimization, also the analysis of SEO campaign data, conversion rate optimization activities, the optimization of the content ( SEO copywriting ) and the development and implementation of link building and link earning strategies.
Requirements and skills to become an SEO specialist
To become an SEO Specialist you need to have a number of minimum requirements, including advanced knowledge:
the functioning of search engines (algorithms, search operators, crawlers);
HTML5, CSS languages;
the main CMS (WordPress, Joomla, Prestashop, Magento) and their optimal configurations;
of the main Web Analytics software ( Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Webtrekk);
of the main link intelligence tools (Majestic SEO, Ahrefs, Moz OSE);
Excel (Pivot Tables, Search.vert, Filters);
spider emulators (Screaming Frog, Xenu, Visual SEO Studio );
the main Keyword Research tools (Google Keyword Planner, Bing Keyword Research tool, Market Samurai);
of Google Ads ex AdWords ( certification is preferable ).
Basic knowledge:
Javascript, PHP, Database and SQL;
of Information retrieval ;
of Analytical, Strategic, and Operational Marketing.
In addition to these minimum requirements, the SEO expert, in order to define himself as such, must present a series of documented successful SEO case histories.
Personally, having obtained a wide range of case histories over the years helps me a lot in the negotiation phase with potential customers.
By continuing to read I will explain how to create the first case histories to really offer you on the market.
for a course SEO Training in Dhaka
The first step to take when approaching a new business is to get informed. To start this information phase, I think there is no better way than starting from the official sources:
Step 1 - Information
The first step to take when approaching a new business is to get informed. To start this information phase, I think there is no better way than starting from the official sources:
Google's getting started guide to SEO
Search Console help
Another method I recommend to get informed is to read dedicated books. There are many SEO books on the market, personally, I was struck by the following titles that I consider ideal to start:
Analyzing and Influencing Search Engine Results: perhaps the only book that technically and in-depth explains how search engines work. Unmissable for those who want to understand the real logic that governs the search engines.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Secrets: the best on the market to learn how to carry out a complete SEO Audit. Fantastic the paragraph in which the author explains how to do an SEO Audit in 15 minutes.
The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization: a complete manual (perhaps the most complete) that takes into consideration all aspects of SEO with theoretical and practical notions.
Another source of reading are blogs and forums: personally, I recommend them at an advanced stage when you are already quite familiar with the topic and are able to select the really reliable and useful ones for your level of knowledge.
I don't provide a list, as I think the selection is very subjective.
Once you are informed on the subject, my advice is to continue purchasing some domain, create the sites above and commit to implementing everything that was learned during the Information phase.
I recommend choosing niches whose subject you know to facilitate this step.
Experimenting is perhaps the most important process of becoming an SEO Specialist for several reasons, including:
get certainties;
understand the techniques that work and those that don't work or that don't work anymore;
really understand the reliable sources with which to update and the little useful sources (even if in fashion);
create your own working method.
These are just some of the advantages of experimentation as the list could go on for several pages.
This phase, although optional, is important for those who want to shorten the path and burn the steps to become an SEO Specialist. As you begin to study SEO, you will realize that there is a lot of information online to learn, so much that it is difficult to orient yourself.
If you decide to do it yourself, without any help, you will end up with an endless list of articles to read and things to try, which you will probably never read and never test.
It took me years to learn SEO this way because when I started, there were no SEO training courses or guides that you could read and have all the information in one place.
Nowadays things are different: if you want to speed up the learning of SEO you can do it by following a structured course and without having to spend endless hours searching the Internet and reading article after article.
I think it is inconceivable that there are still subjects (with whom I am completely at odds) who claim that SEO courses are not very useful when those who know less have always learned from those who know more and training is certainly one of the most important aspects for a professional.
My advice is: if you have the opportunity to train, take advantage of it.
Personally, when I have the opportunity to learn know-how from another colleague, at any level, I try not to miss the opportunity: I have always been of the idea that anyone can learn something important.
Search Console help
Google Webmaster Central Blog
Another method I recommend to get informed is to read dedicated books. There are many SEO books on the market, personally, I was struck by the following titles that I consider ideal to start:
Analyzing and Influencing Search Engine Results: perhaps the only book that technically and in-depth explains how search engines work. Unmissable for those who want to understand the real logic that governs the search engines.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Secrets: the best on the market to learn how to carry out a complete SEO Audit. Fantastic the paragraph in which the author explains how to do an SEO Audit in 15 minutes.
The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization: a complete manual (perhaps the most complete) that takes into consideration all aspects of SEO with theoretical and practical notions.
Another source of reading are blogs and forums: personally, I recommend them at an advanced stage when you are already quite familiar with the topic and are able to select the really reliable and useful ones for your level of knowledge.
I don't provide a list, as I think the selection is very subjective.
Step 2 - Experimentation
Once you are informed on the subject, my advice is to continue purchasing some domain, create the sites above and commit to implementing everything that was learned during the Information phase.
I recommend choosing niches whose subject you know to facilitate this step.
Experimenting is perhaps the most important process of becoming an SEO Specialist for several reasons, including:
get certainties;
understand the techniques that work and those that don't work or that don't work anymore;
really understand the reliable sources with which to update and the little useful sources (even if in fashion);
create your own working method.
These are just some of the advantages of experimentation as the list could go on for several pages.
Step 3 - Professional training
This phase, although optional, is important for those who want to shorten the path and burn the steps to become an SEO Specialist. As you begin to study SEO, you will realize that there is a lot of information online to learn, so much that it is difficult to orient yourself.
If you decide to do it yourself, without any help, you will end up with an endless list of articles to read and things to try, which you will probably never read and never test.
It took me years to learn SEO this way because when I started, there were no SEO training courses or guides that you could read and have all the information in one place.
Nowadays things are different: if you want to speed up the learning of SEO you can do it by following a structured course and without having to spend endless hours searching the Internet and reading article after article.
I think it is inconceivable that there are still subjects (with whom I am completely at odds) who claim that SEO courses are not very useful when those who know less have always learned from those who know more and training is certainly one of the most important aspects for a professional.
My advice is: if you have the opportunity to train, take advantage of it.
Personally, when I have the opportunity to learn know-how from another colleague, at any level, I try not to miss the opportunity: I have always been of the idea that anyone can learn something important.
On which SEO courses to invest in this phase
My advice is to take courses with professionals who have been working as SEO for years, preferably in one-to-one mode, in order to be able to fully learn the notions and make you prepare tailor-made lessons that aim to fill knowledge not learned during the Information and Testing phases.
The courses must provide you with both theoretical and practical knowledge, must give you certainties (not just doubts), and provide you with a working methodology that can be applied concretely to your projects.
What SEO courses to avoid at this stage
Recorded videos: ideal in the Information phase when you have a superficial knowledge of the subject, they are difficult to comprehensively deal with advanced concepts. They should be considered (perhaps) only if they deal with topics that fill their specific gaps.
Mass: more suitable for networking purposes, they are certainly not suitable for a novice user. Often they are only a marketing strategy to make sponsoring companies known and not very useful to final consumers (the students). Generalists: The same goes for recorded video courses, they are suitable only for very basic levels.
Step 4 - Practice
This step is different from the Experimentation we talked about before, in that, in this phase, the solid knowledge already acquired in the previous phases is applied to customer sites.
The main difficulty of this phase consists of obtaining the sites on which to practice. My advice is as follows: hiring in web agency: you get hired in some web agency as an SEO Junior or intern and practice on the sites of their customers, having the opportunity to learn the know-how from professionals who deal with SEO every day.
organic positioning: position your personal website for SEO-related queries and start acquiring customers via your website. After all, if you can position yourself in a niche where there is competition from the best web agencies and the best SEO experts, you have to show little else to your potential customers.
Both solutions are valid, the first is perhaps the one that allows you to shorten the times.
I say perhaps because, from direct experience, SEO employees tend to sit down (settle for salary), to train less (employers do not give them time to train under pressure from production targets) and, consequently, to be less prepared than self-employed SEOs (freelancers and/or entrepreneurs).
Practical conclusions on the steps to become an SEO Specialist
All the illustrated steps are cyclical and continuous: you will always have to inform yourself, experiment, train, and practice. This is a complex profession where it is easy to see professionals who are very good in a given historical period, but then absorbed by work and by the lack of time to get informed and trained, they become invalid dinosaurs and above all unable to bring new results to customers (thus creating important glimpses for young people who competently present themselves on the market). For an SEO Specialist, there is no graduation day
This means that an SEO Consultant must be a very enterprising student. Once I reached the milestone and started living on SEO, my real education began.
I knew I did not know all the answers although I had several projects and accumulated experiences in management. I knew I had to learn a lot and quickly. Today nothing has changed. I know my SEO training will never take place on graduation day. In other words, when I am not working on customer projects, I read or study, and then I experience what I learn about my personal projects.
All the illustrated steps are cyclical and continuous: you will always have to inform yourself, experiment, train, and practice. This is a complex profession where it is easy to see professionals who are very good in a given historical period, but then absorbed by work and by the lack of time to get informed and trained, they become invalid dinosaurs and above all unable to bring new results to customers (thus creating important glimpses for young people who competently present themselves on the market). For an SEO Specialist, there is no graduation day
This means that an SEO Consultant must be a very enterprising student. Once I reached the milestone and started living on SEO, my real education began.
I knew I did not know all the answers although I had several projects and accumulated experiences in management. I knew I had to learn a lot and quickly. Today nothing has changed. I know my SEO training will never take place on graduation day. In other words, when I am not working on customer projects, I read or study, and then I experience what I learn about my personal projects.
Over the years, this constant study and subsequent application on projects have been one of my most important habits to be successful in this profession.
I have always been of the idea that customers are the value of a professional and not a Facebook page, a group on Google+ or a guest post on the blog of an SEO colleague. And 'who pays us every day and allows us to live through SEO that shows us how good we are and how much we are worth.
This is a profession that is based on results and in the end, the market will decide: you will have become SEO Specialist when you can sell your SEO services, customers will receive tangible results and renew their trust in you and your services and the compensation that perceive will allow you to live truly and independently with this activity.
Conclusion
If you wanted to understand how to become an SEO Specialist I am sure that you now have much clearer ideas. If you have doubts, questions, criticisms, and uncertainties do not hesitate to use the comments, we are here to really improve the sector.
How to understand if you have become an SEO Specialist
I have always been of the idea that customers are the value of a professional and not a Facebook page, a group on Google+ or a guest post on the blog of an SEO colleague. And 'who pays us every day and allows us to live through SEO that shows us how good we are and how much we are worth.
This is a profession that is based on results and in the end, the market will decide: you will have become SEO Specialist when you can sell your SEO services, customers will receive tangible results and renew their trust in you and your services and the compensation that perceive will allow you to live truly and independently with this activity.
Conclusion
If you wanted to understand how to become an SEO Specialist I am sure that you now have much clearer ideas. If you have doubts, questions, criticisms, and uncertainties do not hesitate to use the comments, we are here to really improve the sector.
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