Do you have your heart set on becoming an expert in search engine optimization? This article will give you a better understanding of what it takes to become a Jedi Master in this field. Trust me, if I can be considered an expert in this industry, so can you.
What is SEO?
First, let’s define what SEO is. SEO marketing is a form of digital marketing and simply put, it’s the process of optimizing a website to rank well in search engine results pages. Now there is a lot more that goes into the process of SEO, but the above statement explains the objective of search engine optimization.
What Is an SEO Expert?
Let’s define what an SEO expert is: SEO specialists use a range of different techniques in order to improve the rankings of websites. These techniques include keyword research, link building, content creation and conversion optimization and more.
SEO is a constantly developing field. The good news is that there are many paths to becoming an SEO expert. However, since this field is constantly changing, it’s best to be up to date on the latest practices.
Many people think that to become an SEO specialist you need to know programming languages, but this isn’t true. You don’t need any programming skills to get started with SEO. There are multiple ways you can learn – like taking online courses, reading books or getting mentorship from someone who’s already experienced in the field.
Types of SEO
There are three types of SEO: on-page, off-page and technical. On-page SEO is about making sure that the content of a website is optimized for search engines. Off-page SEO refers to all the things that happen outside of a site, such as link building and publicity. Technical SEO is a subset of search engine optimization and involves the optimizing the infrastructure of a website.
On Page SEO: Includes keyword research, title tags, meta descriptions, headings, alt tags, URLs, and more.
Link Building: Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. They are considered one of the most important factors in determining a website’s ranking in search engines.
Technical SEO: This subset of SEO was created to help ensure that your website not only loads fast but is secure and easier for the search engines to crawl and index your web pages.
Now I will say onsite SEO and backlink building are a lot less technical and easier to master than technical SEO. It’s good to be well rounded in the search engine optimization industry. However, many people make living being superb at one aspect of SEO.
How Long Does It Take to Learn and Master SEO?
The answer to how long it takes to learn SEO depends on the person. If you pick up technical stuff rather quickly, you will have a leg on up on people who don’t. To be honest, this is kind of a loaded question and the reason I say this is SEO truly takes time to master. You can learn some SEO techniques in a couple of days. However, to truly master it can take months, if not longer.
I like to look at SEO as a puzzle. Your outer border pieces are the foundation and the rest of the puzzle is combining all aspects of SEO to successfully rank a web page.
You notice I said web page. SEO is the process of ranking webpage not a website. Yes, there are things you want to do to build authority to the whole site, but when it comes to increasing rankings, it’s done on the page level.
How To Learn SEO
SEO is a tricky business. You need to know how to optimize your website for search engines, but you also need to know how to optimize your content for people.
The good news is that there are many schools and programs that can help you learn SEO skills. You can even learn SEO via online courses if you’re not able to attend a school or program nearby.
Search Engine Optimization Tips
I would like to leave with a few tips to help with your journey of becoming an SEO expert.
- Backlinks are not created equal. Relevancy and quality over quantity.
- Internal linking is your friend
- When doing technical, don’t over optimize: What I mean by this is you can spend hours trying to speed up your site and making sure score high on Google’s speed insights test. However, the reality is you only need to do a better job than the sites that are currently ranking for your keywords.
- Create readable content that flows well. Rather than trying to stuff keywords in the content.
- This might be the most important tip I can leave you with but understand what user intent is. Don’t try rank pages that don’t fit what’s currently ranking.
I hope you find this article useful and wish you well in your journey. If you have questions about the article, you can contact me through my site is Local Dudes Marketing.
