Today, Universities around the World are offering formal courses on Digital Marketing<\/a><\/strong> and there are plenty of online options to get SEO training<\/a><\/strong> and become certified.<\/p>\n If you want to break into a career in SEO, there are a number of factors to consider besides getting the right training.<\/p>\n The job role of an SEO professional is not merely to apply in practice the theories learned through a course, but is much more than that.<\/p>\n So, if it\u2019s not only a matter of getting the right training, what other skills should an SEO expert<\/a><\/strong> have?<\/p>\n The short answer is a diverse set of skills that includes analytical, communication, and development skills (you don\u2019t have to be a developer but you need to understand basic HTML code).<\/p>\n The path to follow to get a job in digital marketing and start a successful career in SEO can be summarized in these 10 steps.<\/p>\n Step 1: Build up your SEO skills<\/a><\/strong> Towards the end of this post, you can also find an answer to popular questions<\/a> <\/strong>about SEO Career:<\/p>\n Before even thinking of applying for any SEO-related job, you need to make sure that you have the necessary SEO knowledge.<\/p>\n Spend some time familiarizing yourself with how search engines work<\/a><\/strong>, after all this is what SEO is all about; to optimize a website for search engines<\/a><\/strong> so that it ranks higher in the search results.<\/p>\n Get to know the different components that make up the SEO process like technical SEO<\/a><\/strong>, on-Page SEO<\/a>,<\/strong> and Off-Page SEO<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Make sure that you can understand the terminology of SEO including key phrases like keyword research, link building, backlinks<\/a><\/strong>, white hat SEO, black hat SEO, and any other terms you read in SEO-related topics.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> One of the best and fastest ways to master the theory is to follow an SEO course<\/a><\/strong>. If it is well structured, it will give you all the info in one place without having to spend endless hours searching for this information on Google.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n One of the most common SEO tasks is to optimize the page title<\/a><\/strong>, meta description<\/a><\/strong>, headings, and content of a page. You cannot do this successfully if your writing skills are not good.<\/p>\n If you plan to work with US or UK customers and English is not your first language, you need to take a course or find other ways to improve your English writing skills.<\/p>\n It may sound like an optional step for now but as soon as you start doing SEO copywriting work, you will realize its importance.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to be a developer to become an SEO but you need to have some basic development skills.<\/p>\n You should be able to read and understand HTML code, know how a website is structured, and understand the role of JavaScript in the web development process.<\/p>\n You need to possess the ability to work with popular CMS like WordPress to edit the titles and descriptions of a page as well as other SEO-related settings (permalinks, comment settings, sitemaps, etc.).<\/p>\n Part of your job responsibilities will be to guide developers to make SEO-related changes to a website so you need to know what to ask for.<\/p>\n Pro Tip:<\/strong> W3schools<\/a><\/strong> is a great place to start learning HTML.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For any SEO work you do, you will have to prepare reports for the client or your boss. A good SEO report combines information from different sources like Google search console, Google analytics, and SEMRUSH<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is important that you have the necessary skills to read, interpret and present this information in a meaningful format. Knowing how to use tools like Excel and Google sheets is a must.<\/p>\n The right SEO tools can make your life easier, provided that you know how to use them correctly.<\/p>\n Besides being familiar with the absolute essentials (Google search console and Google analytics), you also need to learn how to use and configure other SEO tools like:<\/p>\n Yoast SEO<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 The most popular SEO plugin in the market. Knowing how to use Yoast SEO does not make you a professional SEO but you cannot be a pro if you don\u2019t know the ins and outs of Yoast SEO.<\/p>\n SEMRUSH <\/strong><\/a>\u2013 This is by far my recommended SEO tool. It\u2019s a tool I use on a daily basis for many tasks including, keyword research, link building, PPC campaigns, competitor analysis, and many more.<\/p>\n Chrome Developer Tools<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 A set of developer tools built into Chrome. You can use them to inspect<\/em> the HTML code of a page.<\/p>\n Other SEO Tools provided by Google like Page speed insights<\/a><\/strong> and Lighthouse<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Google has a set of rules, known as the Google Webmaster Guidelines<\/a><\/strong>. In this document, they explain everything there is to know about their quality standards and rules.<\/p>\n SEO can sometimes be tricky and if you are not familiar with Google guidelines, you may do something that can get your website (or worse the client\u2019s website) penalized and this means loss of rankings and traffic.<\/p>\n This is also something that you may be asked in an interview so spend some time to read and understand the guidelines.<\/p>\n I have mentioned above that the job role of an SEO is not limited to knowing the SEO concepts and theory but it\u2019s mostly practical.<\/p>\n With or without a formal education, with or without an SEO certificate, in order to become a successful SEO professional, you need to practice SEO and prove to your future clients or employers that you can improve the rankings of a website in the SERPS.<\/p>\n A company or SEO agency<\/a><\/strong> will hire you not because of your qualifications but for your experience and abilities to increase their rankings, get them more organic traffic and customers.<\/p>\n The best way to build your SEO experience and learn SEO is to practice SEO. If you don\u2019t have a website yet, then this is your first step.<\/p>\n Pick up a niche, do your keyword research, and start a website asap.<\/p>\n Work on your website\u2019s SEO and try to get high rankings for as many keywords as you can. There will be obstacles in the way, that\u2019s for sure. Don\u2019t give up, learn from your mistakes and keep working until you get some decent results (in terms of organic traffic).<\/p>\n This can be your passport to secure your first client or your first job as an SEO.<\/p>\n Search engine marketing<\/a><\/strong> is not just about SEO, it\u2019s also about Paid Search Advertising and Google Ads is the most popular PPC platform in the market.<\/p>\n Pro Tip<\/strong>: Read this to understand the difference between SEO and SEM<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While your main focus is to learn SEO, knowing how Google Ads work, will help you get a better understanding of how Google works.<\/p>\n In a typical search results page, Google Ads are shown on top and below the organic results and it\u2019s good to know what factors and under what conditions an ad can appear higher than the organic results for a given keyword.<\/p>\n SEO and Google Ads work great together and it\u2019s also another opportunity for you to prove your expertise and offer a wide range of digital marketing services<\/a><\/strong> to your clients.<\/p>\n Pro Tip: Google Academy for Ads<\/a><\/strong> has all the resources you need to learn AdWords and get certified.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I mentioned in step 6 that you need to build your SEO experience by building and doing SEO work on your own website first.<\/p>\n Once you feel confident that you know what you are doing and already have some good results, it\u2019s time to take it a step further by acquiring your first client.<\/p>\n Your primary goal at this stage is to test your skills in a real-life scenario and enrich your CV with hands-on experience.<\/p>\n Go to job portals like upwork<\/em>, fiverr<\/em> and peopleperhour<\/em> and register for a freelancer account.<\/p>\n These portals have hundreds of SEO jobs listed on a daily basis. Filter the requests and apply for SEO jobs you can execute based on your current knowledge and experience. Keep your prices low to secure a couple of contracts.<\/p>\n Remember your goal at this stage is not to make a living as an SEO freelancer, but to gain working <\/em>experience and get ready for upcoming job interviews.<\/p>\n Once you have your SEO skills built up and some prove about your working experience, the next step is to prepare for the SEO interview.<\/p>\n As an SEO agency we have gone through the process of hiring SEO\u2019s a number of times in the past and we are always looking for specific things.<\/p>\n Most probably other agencies look for the same things, so follow the tips below to increase your chances of securing your first job as an SEO.<\/p>\n When you are asked to introduce yourself, make sure that you mention examples of SEO work you did for clients (or your own website). This is more important than anything else. Then you can mention any SEO Certifications<\/strong><\/a> or SEO courses you followed.<\/p>\n Be prepared to answer questions about Google Webmaster Guidelines and questions like:<\/p>\n \u201cDo you need links to rank a website high in the results?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow would you optimize a page for a particular keyword\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHow long does it take for SEO to Work?\u201d<\/p>\n Is SEO a good career choice? <\/strong><\/p>\n It is, if you are really passionate about the Internet. If you don\u2019t have a true passion for the Internet and digital marketing in general, then becoming an SEO is not a good career choice.<\/p>\n Advantages of working in the SEO industry:<\/p>\n Disadvantages:<\/p>\n What\u2019s the next step to advance your SEO Career? <\/strong><\/p>\n Consider expanding your skills and become a digital marketing manager<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n10 Steps to start a career in SEO<\/h2>\n
\nStep 2: Improve your writing skills<\/a><\/strong>
\nStep 3: Acquire basic development skills<\/a><\/strong>
\nStep 4: Build up your Analytical Skills<\/a><\/strong>
\nStep 5: Learn how to use SEO tools<\/a><\/strong>
\nStep 6: Become an expert in Google Webmaster Guidelines<\/a><\/strong>
\nStep 7: Get practical, build your SEO experience<\/a><\/strong>
\nStep 8: Become Google Ads Certified<\/a><\/strong>
\nStep 9: Get your first client<\/a><\/strong>
\nStep 10: Prepare for the SEO interview<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
Step 1: Build up your SEO skills<\/h3>\n
Step 2: Improve your writing skills<\/h3>\n
Step 3: Acquire basic development skills<\/h3>\n
Step 4: Build up your Analytical Skills<\/h3>\n
Step 5: Learn how to use SEO tools<\/h3>\n
![\"SEO](\"https:\/\/www.reliablesoft.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/seo-tools-min.jpg\")
Step 6: Become an expert in Google Webmaster Guidelines<\/h3>\n
Step 7: Get practical, build your SEO experience<\/h3>\n
Step 8: Become Google Ads Certified<\/h3>\n
Step 9: Get your first client<\/h3>\n
Step 10: Prepare for the SEO interview<\/h3>\n
SEO Career FAQ<\/h2>\n
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![\"SEO](\"https:\/\/www.reliablesoft.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/seo-per-hour.png\")