Almost anyone can dabble in Search Engine Optimisation but not everyone has what it takes to be a professional. SEO is a highly specialised field and it can actually take years to reach a level of proficiency needed to be considered a pro. Whilst it helps to have a degree in Information Technology and a fair amount of on the job training, there are those who seem to be natural pros. That is probably because they have an inherent talent, many times without even knowing it. Even so, there are skills that they will need to master in order to stay one step ahead of the search engines.
Analytical Thought Processes
SEO is all about the use of key words that people are searching for and how they put those words together when they use the search engines. Most of the technical skills you will need as an SEO professional can be learned. This is the one skill that should be part of your nature. In working with SEO you need to be able to know what information is important and how to collect it. Then you need to know how to forecast how it will affect future searches in order to employ what you’ve collected into a successful SEO strategy. Having an analytical nature is perhaps the most valuable skill you can have.
Proficiency in Excel
However, once you have all that data what do you do with it? Metrics are also vital in terms of SEO and this is where you should be proficient in Excel. All that data you’ve collected now needs to be analysed and although you have an analytical mind there are charts, graphs and calculations that need to be made. The leading software on the market for doing this is Excel but to make the most of all its functions you really should have mastered the program.
Programming and Coding
From Java script to CSS to HTML, an SEO expert should have a good working knowledge of how websites are built. You may never really need to be the actual programmer but if you don’t know how the crawlers work and what they are looking for in the structure of the website, your SEO will suffer. A glitch in the programming and coding could interfere with how the crawlers find or fail to find the data and structure you’ve worked so hard to include.
A Solid Understanding of Hosting
As an SEO professional you should also have a good working knowledge and some experience with web hosting. Bounce rate is huge with the search engines and if searchers find you in the SERPs only to keep getting bounced from your site due to poor hosting connectivity, your rankings will suffer. Choosing a good hosting company is also important and as a professional you should know what to look for when making your choice.
At first glance SEO seems fairly simple and straightforward but when you begin to understand all the nuances of what it takes to develop a successful strategy you will appreciate the fact that there is much to learn. Good SEO professionals are always in demand so once you’ve mastered the trade you can bet there’ll always be work for you out there, a decent salary and a better than average potential for growth.