How To Make A Career In SEO

How To Make A Career In SEO. Do you want to make your career in SEO? We’ve been in this industry for many years, and we will be happy to help you decide if SEO is a career choice for you. 

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is not something new in the internet world. It’s been around for almost two decades, but it’s only started gaining ground as a real professional in the last few years. 

Today, universities worldwide are offering courses on digital marketing, and there are many online options available to get training and become SEO certified.

If you want to start a career in SEO, there are several factors to consider besides getting the proper training.

The job role of an SEO professional is not just to apply in training the theories learned through a course, but it is much more than that.

So, if it’s not only a point of getting the proper training, what other skills should an SEO expert have?

The answer is various analytical, communication, and development skills. 

Why Choose SEO as Your Career

1. Great Demand for SEO Services

With an increase in the demand for SEO services, employment opportunities in the SEO industry are also increasing. Presently, when internet businesses have grown in number and are doing excellent work, a specialist SEO has turned into the requirement of the organizations. Thus, you can expect more job openings for work in the Online Marketing industry.

2. Many people are identified internationally because of their SEO Careers

Some professionals have successfully used SEO career opportunities and are recognized as internet marketing experts worldwide. The rundown is too long to be mentioned here, yet a portion of the names incorporated- Rand Fishkin from SEO Moz, Rob from Blackwood Productions, and many others.

3. SEO Experts Earn Good Money

Payment for SEO professionals is comparable to or much higher than engineers, architects, developers, marketers, advertisers, and designers. As a solo SEO specialist, you can earn even more profit. All freelance websites have job opportunities in SEO, and getting requests like $40+/Hr would not be far away if you are known as an expert in search engine optimization. 

4. Just Web–Designing is not sufficient

Smart Customers expect that the site should be SEO-friendly when they contract someone to make their website. Hence, on the off chance that you are excellent as both- a Web Designer and an SEO Specialist, you will be an asset to your company. The need to have search engine-friendly sites creates a scope for SEO-friendly web designers.

Now you know why to choose a career in SEO. Then the next step is- how can I start my career in SEO? 

Let’s figure it out!

How can I start my career in SEO? 

1. Build up your SEO skills

Before applying for any SEO-related job, you need to ensure that you have the basic SEO knowledge.

Spend some time enlightening yourself with how search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing work. After all, this is what SEO is all about; optimizing a site for search engines to rank higher on the search results page.

Get to understand the different elements that make up the SEO process like On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and Technical SEO. 

Keep in mind that you can comprehend SEO terminology, including crucial phrases like keywords research, backlinks, white hat SEO, black hat SEO, link building, and any other terms you read in SEO topics. 

 2. Improve your writing skills

One of the most typical SEO jobs you’ll have to perform regularly is writing page titles, meta descriptions, page headings, and optimizing the content of a page. You cannot do this successfully if your writing skills are not perfect.

If you plan to work with UK or US clients and English is not your primary language, you need to enroll in an SEO copywriting course or find another way to enhance your English writing skills.

3. Gain basic development skills

You don’t need to be a developer to become an SEO, but you need fundamental development skills.

You should be able to read and basic understanding of HTML code, understand how a website is structured, and know the role of JavaScript in the web development process.

You need to have the ability to work with famous CMS like WordPress to edit the titles, meta descriptions, and other SEO-related settings (Comment settings, sitemap, permalinks, etc.)

Part of your job duties will be to drive developers to make SEO-related changes to a site, so you must know what to ask for.

4. Develop your analytical skills

For any SEO work you do, you have to show it to your client or boss in a report format. A good SEO report accumulates information from different sources, such as Google search console, Google Analytics, and SEMRUSH. So it is essential to have some knowledge in reading, interpreting, and presenting the report in a meaningful format. Knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets is a must. 

5. Learn the process of using SEO tools

Having knowledge of SEO tools makes your life easier, provided you use them correctly.

Besides knowing Google search console and Google analytics, you also need to have some knowledge in Yoast SEO, SEMRUSH, Chrome Developer Tools, Page speed insights, and lighthouse. 

6. Try to be an expert in Google Webmaster Guidelines

Google Webmaster Guidelines is Google’s set of rules. In this document, they explain everything about their quality standards and rules. SEO can sometimes be tricky. So if you’re not familiar with Google guidelines, you might face problems, and your site can get penalized, which means losing rankings and traffic. 

At the interview, the interviewer might ask you about it. So give some time to read and understand the guidelines. 

7. Build your SEO experience

An SEO job is not about knowing SEO concepts; it’s mostly practical. It doesn’t matter whether you hold a certificate. To become a successful SEO professional, you need to practice SEO to prove to your clients that you can take their website to the first page of Google. 

A company will hire you not because of your qualifications but for your experience in SEO. You have to convince them that you can increase their rankings and get them more organic traffic and customers. So practice SEO to build your SEO experience. If you are a fresher, choose a niche, create a website, do your keyword research, and start doing SEO. 

This can be your passport to secure a job or secure your first client as an SEO executive. 

8. Become certified in Google Ads

Search engine marketing is not solely about SEO. It also includes paid search advertising and Google Ads. Your focus should also be on learning how Google ads work; this will help you understand how Google works. In a typical search results page, Google Ads comes on top, and below comes the organic results. It’s good to know the basics. SEO and Google Ads work in tandem, so you should know how Google ads operate.  

9. Get your first client

Once you become confident and know what you are doing, it’s time to get your first client. Your first goal is to test your skills in a real-life scenario and improve your CV’s hands-on experience.

Create your freelancer account in Upwork, Fiverr, and PeoplePerHour. These portals offer hundreds of SEO-related jobs daily. Choose the particular jobs that suit your knowledge and experience. Keep the prices low to secure a couple of contracts. You should remember that your goal is not to make a living as an SEO freelancer but to gain SEO work experience and get ready for upcoming interviews. 

10. Prepare for the interview

After gaining some experience and harnessing your skills, the next step is to prepare for the SEO interview. Remember, SEO agencies always look for specific things. So follow the below-mentioned tips to secure a chance to get your first job as an SEO executive. 

When you’re asked to introduce yourself, you should ensure that you mention the examples of the SEO work you did. This is the most important thing. You can also talk about the SEO certification you did. 

Be prepared to answer the question about Google Webmaster Guidelines and questions like:

“Do you need links to rank a website high on Google?” 

“How you optimize a web page against a particular keyword”

“How much time does it take for SEO to give results?”

Conclusion

There are multiple advantages to working in the SEO industry. After working for a few years, you can start your own business as a freelancer or an SEO agency. You have the authority to set your own hours. You have the option to work from home or remotely.

You can interact with people from all over the world. If you don’t want to start your business, then you can work for an SEO agency. There is always demand for a good SEO person. As the internet grows, the need for an SEO executive will also increase.