Considering a career in search engine optimization? To be successful, you’ll need to have specific abilities. Although SEO has been around for decades, it is still not taught in many institutions or included in most marketing curriculums. SEO specialists come from a range of different backgrounds. Some are programmers, others are entrepreneurs, traditional marketers, and others are journalists. There is no definitive list of SEO abilities that everyone should possess, but a few things will be highly beneficial to you.
- Critical Thinking
It’s crucial to note that no two SEO strategies are precisely comparable in their execution. Every website is unique, and numerous elements influence a site’s search engine position. Therefore, an SEO professional must identify and resolve any issues on the websites on which they are hired to perform their services. This can be accomplished by conducting competitive research and determining what is working and what is not working for some of your primary competitors.
The capacity to “out-optimize” your primary competitors is the key to achieving long-term SEO success. Someone who can evaluate your campaign compared to your competitors’ campaigns to identify what went well, what went wrong, why it happened, and how you should correct any issues can be considered an SEO expert.
There is no conventional SEO technique that works for everyone. The need of having a critical mind at the table to analyze unique problems from many perspectives and come up with inventive ideas to remedy them is underscored by the fact that
- Data Skills
It is not enough to pull the data. Sometimes, it is necessary to modify the data to gain the insights you require. Many SEO professionals cannot complete even the most essential jobs in Excel. Concatenates, Vlookups, and IF statements are powerful tools that every SEO professional should have in their arsenal.
The ability to rapidly bucket keywords from the search console into brand/non-brand or product groupings and measure algorithm changes and their impact using GA/Adobe data make Excel an excellent tool for marketers. However, simply using Excel is no longer sufficient in today’s world. One who is genuinely comprehensive in their SEO knowledge will construct dashboards in data studio, use multiple APIs to retrieve additional data, and understand databases well enough to do interesting things with that data.
It’s also essential to discuss R, Python, and Tableau in this context. Math is also included in this area! We continue to witness a plethora of flawed correlation studies and statistical analyses that fail to convey the information that the authors believe they do. The ability to grasp the fundamentals of statistical principles can be highly beneficial in assisting an SEO in determining not only what to measure but also “how” to measure it.
- Technical & Programming Skills
You can always be a successful SEO professional who does a fantastic job despite having no programming experience. The truth is that if you had some programming skills, you could be doing an even better job than you now are. As SEO pros, you will provide recommendations about rendering, page speed, microdata tagging, server-side redirects, lazy loading, and fundamental HTML tags, amongst other factors. These discussions will go more smoothly if you can communicate with the developer and offer insights rather than just requests. When opposing a plan, it can be quite helpful to understand where the developer is coming from.
Estimating the level of work required about the SEO impact is also essential. We are not suggesting that SEO professionals should be able to code. Still, they should be aware of the coding implications of the modifications they want and what that means for the developers, the most prevalent mistakes and objections, and how to overcome them. Simply copying a Google page speed analysis and sending it to the developers isn’t enough for an SEO practitioner. You must be aware of the changes that have been made, what they signify for the site, and how much effort has been put into implementing them.
- Project Management
Creating links, enhancing the speed of a website, and selecting the correct keyword phrase are all critical aspects of search engine optimization (SEO). Moreover, it is concerned with the successful design, execution, and management of projects. You must organize your work, adhere to deadlines, and supervise your team members. Otherwise, reaching the goals will become far more complex. It is necessary to use a systematic strategy to plan your duties and evaluate your progress, even if you work independently. It is at this point that project management is required.
When it comes to project management, it is the discipline that involves planning, organizing, and coordinating all of your resources (such as SEO knowledge, capital, people, and information) to reach a specific objective most effectively and efficiently possible. SEO specialists must have strong project management abilities to provide excellent service to their clients. These skills include:
Task management is assigning and monitoring critical tasks throughout a project’s life cycle. The importance of communication and consolidating team and client communications into a single location. Managing a team effectively means assigning roles and coordinating work efficiently (especially vital as you grow). Managing your time effectively and optimizing your approach are two essential skills in today’s world.
Risk management: Identifying and mitigating any risks associated with your SEO campaigns is essential.
Technology: How to select and apply the most appropriate project management software to manage all of your projects and tasks effectively.
- Flexibility
When a specific SEO approach that an SEO professional assumed would be a sure thing turns out to be a flop, they must understand when to make a course correction to the strategy. When it comes to SEO, the same thing does not always fit all. In other words, what has worked well for one company will not necessarily work well for another company in the future. Your SEO specialist should be able to change techniques on the fly if the situation calls for it. Even more importantly, these strategy modifications must not derail the current momentum or impede the process’s overall progress.
Name a field, you’ll find Ishi making her way through in it. She’s a woman with her camera, and writer by passion. Having written contents for diverse industries, she knows her way with words. Ishi is also a Catholic Speaker, a travel addict, an aspiring polyglot, and a few more things that you have to ask her about.
