Career Advice

How to Start a Career in SEO

If you've decided to start an SEO career, we have some useful tips for you

By DMJ Team

Going into an SEO career is an amazing choice for so many people. That’s because it is like its own industry with many niche, unique and varied digital marketing roles.

Nowadays, many people choose to start an SEO career. If you’ve decided to do the same, we have some useful tips for you. Check our guide!

1. Consider the Job You’re Seeking

SEO feels like an amazing “easy” choice for a lot of college graduates. The jobs are available, it’s easy to freelance, and it can pay a good amount.

However, many people realise after they decide on this career, it’s not as exciting as they’d like. It’s a technical field to work in, and you’ll need to learn several tools.

It’s also not a typical 9-5 job. There will be many times you will work odd hours, weekends, or overtime. Work-life balance isn’t easy to come by. You’ll probably also be expected to work during holidays and over vacation.

If you’re okay with the possibility of working crazy hours and being in a more technical field, there are plenty of amazing SEO jobs out there. There are many great things about these positions, too.

Ideas matter in the SEO world. Do you have big ideas? Can you perform well? Experience won’t matter as much, then. Your voice will be heard!

2. Get Your Hands Dirty

Don’t just read about SEO and the theories behind it. Actually put it to use. There is nothing that will teach you  SEO better than real-life experiences.

Try building your own website. Set it up and configure it yourself. This will give you a good, solid understanding of terms to use and where people may spend their time when visiting a page.

Create projects for yourself. That may be creating content for small businesses or social media accounts for a local artist. The more projects you have, the more work and experience you create for yourself.

These things will give you useful tools to work in an SEO job later. You’ll be able to talk to web developers in a language they understand. You’ll also be able to prove you can adapt to changes that come your way.

3. Jump Into Communities

Join all the SEO communities you can, wherever you can. Follow SEO blogs. Subscribe to SEO news websites. Attend SEO conferences. You’ll expose yourself to all the industry facets.

If you’d like to check out a few groups who can help you understand SEO in a more comprehensive way, here are a few:

  • Catalyst Digital’s TechSEO Boost. They offer both live stream and SEO videos.
  • The BrightonSEO Channel. Here, you can find a collection of past conference videos and presentations.
  • Traffic Think Tank. This is one of the best private SEO training groups online.

4. Find a Mentor

Learn directly from someone else in the field. Having an expert guide you will cut down on your own trial and error process. A mentor will help you learn from his or her own mistakes, instead.

5. Identify Your Strengths

SEO offers a variety of careers. You can play your strengths to find one that suits you. For example, if you love the social life, work on the PR side of SEO. If you love to write, try creating content.

Here are a few job possibilities in the SEO world:

SEO comes into play in a ton of digital marketing careers. You have a lot to choose from.

6. Focus on Basic Skills

There are also a lot of skills you’ll need to land an SEO job. Even at an entry-level, you’ll be expected to know how to:

  • Manage and analyse websites using Search Console
  • Use Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics
  • Understand Google’s search operators
  • Perform SEO both on and off pages
  • Write content that is optimized
  • Build links that worth with and improve rankings in search engines
  • Use a crawler
  • Find and fix error pages
  • Monitor SEO results of a campaign and adjust accordingly

These are the skills you’ll want to focus on and prove you are able to do, even before you get an interview.

7. Take a Course

Find a quality digital marketing course and invest in it. Searching online will give you an abundance of information that will make your head spin. A good course will feed you that information in a way that makes sense.

Don’t forget to learn at your own pace, however. It’s easy to fall into the “I need a certificate” mindset, especially when searching for SEO training courses. The truth is, you don’t need a certificate to work in SEO.

A certificate can help, but the courses focus on education, not hands-on experience. Don’t focus on what the end goal is on the courses you find. Instead, focus on what they offer. If they offer you a way to practice the skills you’re learning, you are on the right track.

8. Work at a Digital Agency

If you can land yourself a digital agency job, you’ll see quick professional growth. You’ll learn SEO quickly thanks to hands-on experience and how agencies operate.

An SEO Career is a Great Choice

SEO careers are taking the world by storm. You can find one in almost any field imaginable. You can find the right lucrative position for you, just make sure you do your research. Keep up to date on your skills. Most importantly, practice, practice, practice.

Ready to get a head start on your career? Check out our SEO job listings to find the right match for you.

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