What Skills Do You Need To Succeed In SEO? Is It Too Late For You To Switch Up Your Career?
What Skills Do You Need To Succeed In SEO? Is It Too Late For You To Switch Up Your Career?
Search engine optimisation has been around for decades and yet still there are many, many people who have no idea what it is or how it works. This is largely because it isn’t taught in very many colleges. Most people who get into SEO typically stumble upon it – as did I.
But, what skills do you need to succeed in SEO? Is it a highly specialist industry reserved only for the smartest technical wizards? Absolutely not. In fact, SEO is a highly accessible career path and even if you have zero experience – with the right skills and attitude, it’s something that you can quickly pick up and thoroughly enjoy.
In this article, we’re going to share the main skills required to thrive as an SEO specialist.
1 – Critical thinking
You don’t need to be an academic genius to succeed in SEO, but being able to think critically and solve problems certainly helps.
Every day you will be faced with new challenges. Sometimes you will feel like a champion, others…not so much. What matters is your ability to adapt, think on the spot, and look for solutions.
2 – Excellent communication and writing abilities
As an SEO specialist, you will be tasked with managing campaigns and interacting with clients. While you strategize an SEO campaign, you will need to communicate complex ideas with people who are likely unfamiliar with the subject in a way that they can easily digest.
You’ll also need to be a competent enough writer to conduct your own keyword research, send emails, author content, and more.
If you are a confident speaker and you are proficient in writing, you’ll have the basics.
3 – Technical knowledge and programming skills
These aren’t essential as they can certainly be learned, however, having some technical knowledge and basic programming skills can help give you a head start.
For example, you should be able to make recommendations on page speed, basic HTML tags, server site redirects, and more. SEO is an industry teeming with jargon so be sure to do your research and see what terms you may already be familiar with.
Since your job will be to figure out ways to make a website more visible online, you should have a reasonable understanding of how a website functions at its core.
4 – Decent social skills
If you prefer to work alone, SEO and digital marketing might not be the right job for you. There’s an awful lot of client interaction – not to mention communicating with web designers, writers, graphic designers, and more.
5 – Analytical & data-driven skills
How good at you with numbers? Would you feel confident analyzing data and spotting trends? Any good SEO agent should be able to pull and segment data and then spot discrepancies that can be leveraged.
6 – Drive and adaptability
A career in SEO won’t be easy, but it will never be boring and it can be highly rewarding. If you are driven and you are willing and able to adapt to a forever-evolving digital marketplace, you’ll have everything you need to grow.
It’s never too late in the game
If you are feeling undervalued or perhaps growing tired of your current job, switch things up! It doesn’t matter if you are 21 or 50; if you are hungry to try something new – all you need to do is jump.
Yes, there’s a steep learning curve and a lot of work involved, but if you keep an open mind and apply yourself accordingly, you might just have what it takes.
Why don’t you start by looking at the various SEO agencies in your area? For example, search SEO Brisbane and start jotting down a list of all the prospective agencies in the region and see if any offer any form of an internship program for you to explore.
You never know what opportunities are just a few clever Google searches away!
Featured photo by Merakist on Unsplash
