Are you curious about what an SEO specialist is and what they do?
An SEO specialist simply optimizes your online platform like a blog, ecommerce or social media channels to gain rankings, generate traffic and widen its visibility.
In today’s digital world, it’s crucial to have a strong online presence to compete with other businesses. That’s where an SEO specialist comes in.
We have made this guide just for you to understand how an SEO expert works and what kind of skills they need to thrive in this sector.
Decoding The Term ‘SEO Specialist’
SEO stands for:
S= Search
E= Engine
O= Optimization.
So, anyone who can optimize, manipulate or strategically use search engines for a desired outcome can be called an SEO specialist.
An SEO specialist’s job isn’t one dimensional. Sure, it’s all connected to search engines like Google, Bing, etc, but it requires a wide range of skills to really become an SEO specialist.
In the early days of SEO, a lot of people used keyword stuffing and other black hat techniques to gain search engine ranking and visibility. Fast forward 2023 and SEO has evolved into a complicated, analytical and specialized area.
They need to work closely with Google guidelines, keep changing tactics based on algorithm updates and experiment a lot!
But the goals of an SEO consultant remain the same: Gain more traffic, increase brand awareness and make business projects flourish!
Roles Of An SEO Specialist
We focused on 13 distinct roles in the SEO world and these are the exact things SEO consultants do for their clients.
1. Utilize Advanced Keyword Research Techniques
Did you know that “15% of all Google searches have never been searched before?”
You know what that means? It means a lot of new keywords are constantly being added.
What truly is an SEO specialist? Well, the person better be good at keyword research.
SEO specialists can use their skills to identify new trending Keywords that can help you gain rankings quickly and increase your website’s traffic.
Keywords are simple search terms people use to find information in search engines. SEO specialists with top notch KW research skills can find lucrative keywords in your industry and create ways to leverage high performing and popular KWs that are hard to beat.
2. Conducts a Thorough SEO Audit
More than 66% of links created from 2013-2022 were dead. Ahrefs, the industry leader for KW research, found in their study in 2022.
Enter SEO consultants. One of their vital roles is to conduct SEO audits which involves analyzing a website’s performance, structure, content, and backlinks to identify areas that need attention.
It also involves identifying dead or bad backlinks and replacing them. By conducting an SEO audit, an SEO specialist can create a comprehensive strategy that addresses a website’s strengths and weaknesses and drives targeted traffic to the website.
3. Creates a Technical SEO Strategy
A technical SEO strategy makes an average SEO strategy into a successful one!
These are the backend activities of a website that require specialized knowledge and deeper understanding of search engines, WordPress and Html.
Some of these activities include improving elements such as site speed, metadata, sitemaps, URL structure, internal linking, and mobile responsiveness.
SEO experts optimize these technical elements so that search engines can understand websites better and ultimately improve their search engine ranking, leading to increased organic traffic and potential business success.
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4. Improves On Page and Off Page Seo
You might be familiar with On page and Off page SEO. These are the compulsory roles an SEO professional needs to accomplish.
What we mean by On-page SEO is optimization of a website’s content and HTML source code to make it more search engine-friendly. This includes optimizing elements such as titles, meta descriptions, headings, internal linking, image optimization, and content quality to make it more relevant and appealing to search engine crawlers and users.
Off-page SEO deals with a website’s external factors to improve its search engine ranking. This includes building high-quality backlinks from other relevant websites, managing online reviews, and engaging in social media marketing.
If you have a website, you should definitely look for on-page and off-page SEO consultancy.
5. Manages Content Marketing
If you are looking for a way to enhance your website’s content and increase its visibility on search engines, an SEO specialist can help you achieve these goals.
One of the essential tasks of an SEO specialist is managing content planning and marketing.
In fact, 72% of online marketers consider high-quality content creation to be the most effective SEO strategy. That’s where an SEO specialist comes in.
They create a content strategy that aligns with your website’s goals, develops engaging content that resonates with your target audience, and optimizes it for search engines.
With the right content strategy, you can increase your website’s search engine ranking, attract more targeted traffic, and ultimately, boost your conversions.
6. Builds High-Quality Links
As an expert SEO specialist, building high-quality links is essential to improving a website’s search engine ranking and driving targeted traffic.
By analyzing a website’s backlink profile and creating a tailored link-building strategy, an SEO specialist can ensure that a website receives links from high-quality sources that are relevant to its content and audience.
According to a recent study by Ahrefs, 91% of web pages receive no organic search traffic from Google due to lack of backlinks. Therefore, building high-quality links is a crucial role of an SEO specialist that can have a significant impact on a website’s success.
If you are interested in how link building works and need some context, check out this case study.
7. Uses Data and Analytics To Test and Rank Websites
In order to better optimize the search engines, SEO experts need to work with data and analytics at different levels.
It can start with Keyword research and most of the work is simply surfing through tons of data to filter the appropriate KWs. Data analytics is also crucial in understanding the user behavior when they visit your website.
Heat mapping, A/B testing or conversion tracking, all involve some form of data analysis. SEO specialists understand how to work with data, learn about new data mining tools and integrate it into your business.
All of these can help you measure your project’s success, weakness and strengths quantitatively.
8. Takes a Holistic Approach Coordinating with Other Teams Like Web Design, Graphics
An SEO specialist is just like a building contractor who ensures that everything is working together, from the foundation to the roof.
But just like a house, a website needs a team of experts to make it a home. That’s where the SEO specialist’s coordination skills come into play.
The SEO specialist needs to work closely with teams related to graphic design, social media marketing, content creation, web design, etc to create a seamless digital marketing strategy.
An SEO expert plays a key role in coordinating with other teams to make sure that a website is working as a whole, not just as individual parts.
9. Keeping Up To Date with Industry Trends and Algorithm Updates
Staying on top of the ever-changing search engine algorithms is no easy feat. It requires a constant effort to keep up with the latest industry trends and algorithm updates to ensure that the strategies remain effective and relevant.
It’s a dynamic industry and the knowledge that was relevant 6 months ago, might not be relevant today. That’s the reason most SEO experts are of SEO communities where they share and decipher strategies.
Algorithm updates like Panda, Penguin and BERT really changed how SEO works in the past 10 years. And.. it will continue to do so in the coming years. The more up to date SEO specialists are, the better the chances of your website’s success.
Other Advanced Roles SEO Specialist Might Take
10. Working on Local Seo
Local SEO is a specialized work and not all SEO professionals will have the skills or interest to do it. It requires optimizing a website’s content, structure, and code for local search queries
In short, you need to leverage search engines to increase a website’s visibility in local search results if you are a local SEO expert. So, you will be optimizing for terms that end with a state or city name like ‘best sunglasses in Perth’.
SEO specialists also focus on building local citations, generating customer reviews, and improving the website’s overall reputation to increase its chances of appearing in the local searches.
11. Integrating Ai and Automation into Current Strategy
With the newly launched Chat GPT taking the world by storm, Ai is moving at a fast pace.
Using Ai a lot of repetitive and even technical work can be done in minutes!
In fact, SEO experts are quickly integrating Ai into their current workflow to generate keywords, understand search intent and website coding.
At the end of 2023, professionals who won’t be able to leverage Ai will have a hard time to stay relevant. An SEO specialist using Ai can perform 2X work compared to others who are still not using it.
12. Optimizing Video Content and Social Media Presence
According to current projections, it’s estimated that by 2023, videos will make up a whopping 82.5% of all web traffic.
Hilarious, right?
But isn’t SEO only limited to websites and blogs?
Wrong!
An SEO specialist can also optimize video content creation with appropriate KWs, topic research and identifying trends in current time.
In fact, applying SEO to video creation and social media posts can take your online presence to the next level and reach a wider audience.
Think about it this way!
You have a new shoe business and you have created video ads or posts for social media profiles. An SEO specialist can help you get the most of your ads/posts.
13. Engaging in Influencer Outreach
In some cases, SEO specialists can even reach out to influencers in your industry to create high quality backlinks and word of mouth campaigns.
They also leverage influencer content to improve a website’s overall content strategy and increase its visibility in search results. By engaging in influencer outreach, advanced SEO specialists can improve a website’s authority, credibility, and search engine ranking.
The current ‘influencer marketing’ market is valued at 13.8 bn. So, it’s quickly becoming expensive. SEO specialists can find just the right influencer for your business without spending too much on over-hyped influencers.
And.. How do they do that? Data, research and analytics!
How Much Does an Seo Specialist Earn?
Are you curious about how much money an SEO consultant can make?
According to Glassdoor, the average salary for an SEO consultant in the United States is $55,793 per year. However, that’s just an average – experienced SEO specialists with a solid track record and high-value clients can earn up to $100,000 per year or more.
But here’s the thing: the actual pay scale can vary depending on a range of factors, such as the working location, company size, and project scope. That said, many SEO specialists prefer to work as freelancers, taking on individual projects or specific tasks within larger projects.
If you’re a freelancer, you can set your own hourly rate based on the level of difficulty and expertise required for the work. So, the sky’s the limit – with the right skills and experience, you could potentially earn a very lucrative income as an SEO specialist. Are you looking for an SEO Consultant Glasgow?
Skills Needed To Become The Next Seo Guru
Knowledge Of Search Engines and Ranking Factors
To become a top notch SEO guru, you must have a deep understanding of how search engines work, as well as the various factors that affect website ranking.
This includes on-page factors like keyword usage, content quality, and page structure, as well as off-page factors like backlinks, social media engagement, and online reputation.
Understanding Of WordPress and Different Cms
You need to be familiar with different content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, Shopify, etc which power most websites. It’s an essential skill in order to become an SEO specialist.
By understanding the ins and outs of different CMS platforms, an SEO specialist can effectively optimize a website for search engines. This means understanding how to use themes, plugins, and other customization options to improve a website’s ranking.
Keyword Research and Analysis Skills
One of the most important features of an SEO consultant is the ability to conduct killer keyword research!
It’s all about finding the perfect words to help a website rank higher and attract more visitors.
You’ll need to dive deep into user intent, search volume, and competition. Plus, you’ll get to flex your analytical muscles by using SEO tools like Ahrefs or even Ai to spot trends and unlock new opportunities.
Ability To Organize and Analyze Data
You will agree that SEO is a data driven field.
So, to make informed decisions you must be familiar with organizing data and using analytical tools like Google analytics.
But don’t worry, it’s not as boring as it sounds!
Data is fun as long as you can make sense out of it and use it to create results.
Why Do You Need SEO Consultancy?
If you are in any one of the situations, you badly need SEO consultancy.
Your Websites aren’t Ranking High
You have a website, it has content and functions pretty well. But your rankings are all over the place.
Working with an SEO consultant can help you gain insights as to why your website is not ranking and what strategies could be adopted.
Your Website’s Traffic is Low
Now, you might have a lot of keywords ranking high on SERP. But still the traffic value is still low.
This could be because you have targeted the wrong keywords and an SEO consultant can totally revamp your business with intelligent Keyword research.
The Users aren’t Interacting with Your Brand
A lot of the time, users might not be able to resonate with your brand and end up leaving your website.
The issue could be anything like bad website UI, lack of intriguing visuals or your brand image is something else in the user’s mind than what you portray.
An SEO consultant can find these gaps and suggest strategies to solve them.
You’re Doing Good, but the Conversion Rate Is Low
It’s a problem with a lot of website owners. Low conversion rate can kill your potential business.
If the problem persists, it’s best to consult with SEO experts and make changes to your content, website layout and branding strategies.
You Are Totally New To Online Business and Don’t Know What To Do
A lot of the time, individuals who are transitioning from traditional business to online business will find everything overwhelming.
If you are in such a situation, we recommend working with an SEO consultant to build your business from scratch. You’ll save more than if you did it yourself. Because the industry is dynamic and it’s hard to follow up without years of experience.
How Can You Find an SEO Consultant For Your Project?
We are sure you have a good idea on what an SEO specialist is by now.
What’s more crucial is to find the right SEO consultant for your project to achieve success in your online business.
As a company specializing in SEO services, we understand the importance of partnering with the right consultant to drive traffic, increase conversions, and achieve your business goals.
Our team of experienced SEO specialists has a proven track record of delivering measurable results for our clients.
If you’re interested in partnering with an experienced SEO specialist to improve your website’s visibility and drive targeted traffic, feel free to reach out to us to learn more about our services.
