SEO is a lucrative career path in the field of digital marketing. An SEO specialist is similar to a traditional marketing professional as their ultimate goal is to increase sales for the company. It is a one-size-fits-all job that gives SEO specialists access to diverse opportunities. Whether you want to switch your career or just started your career search, you should give this profession a look to see how it may be a good career option.

What is an SEO specialist?

An SEO specialist is someone that optimizes a website to get higher search engine rankings and website traffic. They know how to use keywords properly to earn the top spot, how to get more organic traffic, and stay updated on optimization trends and Google algorithm changes. They also know what type of content to publish and can find the technical issues that prevent the websites from ranking in the top position in SERPs.

What skills should an SEO specialist know?

SEO specialists are proficient in different digital marketing areas. From title tag optimization to writing, there are a lot of skills that SEO specialists should learn. 

With that, here are the essential skills that an SEO expert needs to have:

• Perform keyword research, find high-volume, low-competition keywords, and use them throughout the marketing material and company website.
• Proficiency in video, infographics, and other visual content.
• Create and execute a link-building strategy.
• Understanding of technical SEO and knowledge of emerging SEO trends.
• To improve search results, write high-quality content, including page descriptions and blog posts. 
• Ability to build internal and external links to primary website pages that will help in search engine rankings.
• Analyze and change website architecture, linking, and content to improve the website’s position in search results for targeted keywords.

What kind of tasks do SEO specialists do?

SEO specialists do a variety of tasks in their day-to-day operations. If you are looking to make search engine optimization a career, your typical day will include the combination of the following tasks:

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the backbone of SEO. Google constantly changes its algorithm, determining how it reacts to specific website signals and content factors. Keywords are still part of the equation because it is the linchpin between what your content is providing and what people are searching for. As an SEO specialist, your job is to do keyword research to determine relevancy, competitiveness, and popularity to create a list of high-volume and low-competition keywords to focus on.

Optimization

Search engine optimization takes more than just keywords. On-page and off-page optimization is also a part of the SEO specialist’s job responsibility. On-page optimization includes:

• Implementing structure data.
• Optimizing title tags.
• Properly using keywords.
• Adding internal links.
• Ensuring quality content and good page load speed.

SEO specialists test different elements to determine how they can improve the conversion rate for the website.

Link Building

Posting high-quality content is not enough to rank better on Google. What others say about you has great importance in the eyes of Google. When prominent websites link to your website, it gives you credibility and demonstrates to Google that your site has valuable content. The website with more backlinks tends to earn the top spot on Google, especially if a high DA (domain authority) is linking to it. 

Creating link building strategy and looking for opportunities to earn backlinks from high DA websites are part of the job when you work as an SEO specialist. Quality link building helps to drive more traffic, improve your website’s reputation and increase its ranking in search engines. 

Analytics

As an SEO specialist, checking analytics to see the overall performance of your targeted keywords, landing pages, and websites is your job responsibility. It will help you know what’s working and not performing well. Moreover, Analytics also tell you where your website traffic is coming from. 

Mobile Optimization

Mobile optimization refers to updating websites to deliver an engaging experience to your visitors when they access your website from mobile devices. As an SEO specialist, you must ensure all content is the same on mobile and desktop.  

Building SEO strategy:

Building an SEO strategy for both on-page and off-page is a part of the job when you work as an SEO specialist. This detailed plan helps improve your website’s ranking to capture more organic traffic. Technical SEO, content strategy, link building, on-page SEO, and user experience are fundamental pillars of a search engine optimization strategy.  

Competitor research: 

Competitor research includes:

• Finding gaps in the strategy.
• Identifying and analyzing competitors’ websites.
• Evaluating your search engine optimization competition.
• Analyzing the information to boost the search engine optimization of your website.
• Recommending improvements based on analysis.

As an SEO specialist, competitor research helps you understand what marketing ways your competitors use to market their products and why customers choose to buy from you or your competitors. 

Website technical audit

Conducting a detailed website technical audit is another task that SEO specialists do in their day-to-day operations. This thorough audit includes checking load time, HTTPS status codes, and crawl errors. Moreover, it also includes evaluating your website’s performance on mobile.

FAQs

Is SEO a promising career?

SEO is a much sought-after career. You can work in an agency or marketing firm as a freelance SEO specialist and even grow your website.

Is SEO an in-demand job?

Yes, it is an in-demand job as it is a digital marketing skill that gives people access to diverse opportunities. 

What’s the salary of an SEO specialist?

You can expect a $22k to $33k annual salary if you are new to the SEO field. An estimated salary of intermediate-level SEO specialists is $35K to $50K annually. After attaining years of experience, you can expect a handsome salary, especially in a metropolitan city like New York. You can expect around $55K to $135K for top positions annually. 

Don’t look further if you are looking for expert SEO specialists in South Carolina or coast to coast with good SEO knowledge and years of experience. At SEO After Coffee, we have a team of SEO specialists who can quickly drive more website traffic and improve search engine rankings. 

What is an SEO Specialist | Blog Article | SEO After Coffee | All Rights Reserved | Greenville SC | April 2023

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