9 Tips on How to Become an SEO Expert
To help you become an SEO expert in 2023, we’ve gathered nine valuable tips from experienced professionals in the field. From mastering the Screaming Frog tool to adapting to SEO trends and updates, these insights come from senior SEO leads, freelance writers, and other industry specialists. Dive in to learn the best strategies for SEO success.
- Master the Screaming Frog Tool
- Innovate in Keyword Research
- Understand Clients and Target Audiences
- Publish High-Quality Content
- Prioritize Thorough Keyword Research
- Embrace Continuous Testing and Learning
- Gain Technical SEO Knowledge
- Develop Problem-Solving Skills
- Adapt to SEO Trends and Updates
Master the Screaming Frog Tool
I am sure many of the SEO folks do not know the power of using Screaming Frog.
The Screaming Frog tool is an SEO spider that crawls websites and provides valuable insights for optimizing on-page elements, identifying broken links, and analyzing website data. Practice using the tool regularly to gain a deeper understanding of its capabilities and experiment with different settings and options.
If you want to count yourself as an SEO expert, you must start learning about this tool.
Aayush Dusad
Senior SEO Lead
Innovate in Keyword Research
When tracking keywords, do you rely entirely on a keyword research tool, or do you think outside of the tool’s limitations? Do you look for up-and-coming terms through your own independent research?
We know that these tools are inaccurate at times. The power of a 0-volume keyword lies in your ability to identify it—look for new trends at conferences, listen in on product meetings, and research industry buzz on social media.
Exploring keyword opportunities beyond the basic tools makes you an SEO expert because it pushes you to rethink industry norms. In today’s competitive environment, “keywords” and “rankings” are not enough; we see new SERP features tested every other day. If we stick to the same set of keywords and the same set of 10 blue links, we limit the potential of our campaigns.
Harmony Huskinson
Senior SEO Strategist, Portent
Understand Clients and Target Audiences
Becoming an SEO expert in 2023 is all about getting to know your client. This is especially true for small businesses and nonprofits who often struggle with clearly defining their mission, including who they are and who they want to reach.
In fine-tuning their target market, we understand more about their organization. Once we know who they are trying to reach, we can connect how those targets are finding them and research keywords. Then we create relevant, keyword-based content to reach their target audiences.
Anne McAuley Lopez
Writer and Author, Agency Content Writer
Publish High-Quality Content
In 2023, one important tip for becoming an SEO expert is to focus on publishing high-quality content. This means creating content that is informative, engaging, and useful for your target audience.
By doing so, you will not only improve your website’s search engine rankings but also attract more traffic and build a loyal following. To create high-quality content, it is important to conduct thorough research about your audience, the topics they are usually interested in, the keywords they use, and then provide them with a valuable and enjoyable piece to hook them.
Jennifer Ghraichy
Owner, Jennifer Ghraichy
Prioritize Thorough Keyword Research
Good SEO can’t happen without knowing the keywords you’re targeting for a specific website. This is why keyword research is the first actionable step. Before URLs get changed or blog posts get planned, we have to figure out the keywords the people we want to reach will be typing into search engines.
This means becoming an investigator for a time and imagining yourself in your target audience’s mind, thinking about the search queries they’ll ask Google, and anticipating how they might phrase what they’re looking for.
Tiffany D. Davidson
Web Designer and SEO Specialist, Squarespace Website Design + SEO by Tiffany
Embrace Continuous Testing and Learning
Build a habit of testing. SEO is not an exact science. John Mueller, from Google, has already told the SEO community not to look at search as a science.
As a good professional, you need to learn what works and what doesn’t. And this must be a recurring process.
Why can’t you stop performing SEO tests?
Think with me: currently, even a professional who already has over 10 years of experience needs to do several tests with the advances of Artificial Intelligence with tools like ChatGPT, Bing, and BERT.
You should have your own website for testing. This will allow you to become a hands-on professional who knows the shortcuts to generate results.
A test cannot stop at the execution stage. It is essential to analyze your results to understand your main learnings.
My final recommendation is that you must share experiences with your colleagues. This will help you expand your network, which opens up more opportunities for your career.
Marcella Merigo
SEO Director, NP Digital
Gain Technical SEO Knowledge
SEO isn’t just about keywords and content. Technical SEO plays a major role in how well a page or website performs in SERPs. It’s important to gain a basic understanding of the technical elements that impact performance, such as crawling, indexing, and page architecture. Think meta descriptions, title tags, semantic markup (like heading hierarchy), and links.
While these may not be the first things you think of when writing SEO content, they’re essential to ensuring its success. For example, you could have the best content in the world, but if there’s a “noindex” tag in your HTML, it will never rank. And if you don’t know what that means, it’ll be hard for you to accurately analyze your metrics and diagnose potential issues.
As a bonus, not only will understanding technical SEO help you drive better results, it’ll also give you a competitive edge since it’s considered a more advanced skill set in the digital content world.
Brittany Foster
Freelance Writer, Editor, and SEO Expert, Brittany Foster
Develop Problem-Solving Skills
One tip to become an SEO expert in 2023 is to be resourceful and able to resolve issues with the resources you have.
Being able to handle and troubleshoot problems on your own can make you more efficient and effective in your work, as well as save time and money for your clients or company. Developing a “handy” mindset and thinking creatively can set you apart as an SEO expert and help you stand out in a competitive industry.
Julieta Bergna
SEO Team Leader, Agencia Eleven
Adapt to SEO Trends and Updates
An effective way to become an SEO expert in 2023 is to stay up-to-date with the latest search engine algorithm updates and adjust your strategies accordingly. Google’s algorithm constantly evolves, so staying informed about the changes and adapting your SEO tactics to align with the new requirements is essential.
This includes creating high-quality content, optimizing for mobile devices, and improving user experience on your website. By staying on top of the latest SEO trends, you can position yourself as an expert in the field and deliver better results for your clients or your business.
Paul Olorunsola
Senior WordPress Developer and SEO Expert, WP DESIGN FIX
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