11 Essential Skills Every SEO Professional Needs

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the set of practices used to improve a website’s visibility in search engines and to help the site rank on results pages. To put things into perspective, only 0.63% of searchers on Google click results from the second page. This fact emphasizes the importance of a strong SEO strategy to ensure your site appears on the first page to attract organic search traffic.

With search engines continuously updating their algorithms and with online competition becoming more intense, SEO skills have become a necessity for businesses to establish brand authority, increase engagement, and drive sales.

In this article, we’ll cover essential skills for SEO specialists, including technical and analytical skill sets, and provide advice on how to improve your current SEO knowledge.

Table of contents:

• Keyword research
• Technical SEO
• Off-page SEO
• Content marketing
• SEO software skills
• On-page SEO
• Competitive analysis
• Local SEO
• User experience (UX)
• Understanding emerging trends
• Data analysis
• How to improve your SEO skills

1. Keyword research

Keyword research involves identifying and prioritizing specific words and phrases people search for online, so your content can have the conversations your customer base is looking for. Using keywords to guide your content can improve your website's ranking on search engines, increase organic traffic, and ultimately boost your conversion rates.

Keyword research involves choosing a topic or product to promote. For example, if you're selling a line of organic skincare products, begin with "organic skincare" as the topic. To conduct this research, a variety of tools are available. While Google Keyword Planner is a common starting point, many professional SEOs prefer using more advanced tools such as Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz. These platforms offer a broader range of data and insights, helping you to discover related keyword suggestions, evaluate metrics like competition levels, and understand the search volume for specific keywords or phrases.

Once you've gathered keyword information, you can implement these words into your content and evaluate your website's performance with Google Search Console. Then, you can use these insights to optimize your website for better search rankings and higher visibility.

Importantly, you want to avoid “keyword stuffing.” This is the practice of forcing keywords and phrases into content in a way that feels forced or unnatural to the reader. Modern search engine algorithms are pretty good at filtering out pages that employ keyword stuffing, and material that reads naturally will help keep your audience on the page and increase the chance of converting them into customers.

The best way to learn how to conduct effective keyword research is to practice on your own blog or website to gain hands-on experience and improve your skills over time. In addition, you can experiment with different tools or techniques, such as using social media to find trending topics, to see what works best for you.

2. Technical SEO

There are several technical aspects of SEO, including evaluating page loading speed and understanding code and other core technologies, that can optimize the performance of your digital content.

Page speed directly affects user experience. If your website takes too long to load, people will become frustrated and leave your site. A fast-loading website can improve your SEO and help you rank higher in search results. Consider using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to evaluate the time it takes to load images and content on your site.

Having a working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can allow you to make changes to the structure and design of your website. For example, using HTML to add header tags can help search engines assess the structure of your content, which impacts your search rankings. CSS and JavaScript can be used to make your website more visually appealing and easier to navigate, which can keep users on your site longer.

3. Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO involves optimization techniques that are done outside your website to improve its rankings on search engines. It involves building quality backlinks from other websites that point to your site and increasing brand awareness through various online platforms, such as LinkedIn or Instagram.

Search engines like Google assess off-page SEO practices to measure a website's reputation and authority. Search engines consider websites to be more credible when they have a strong online presence and a greater number of high-quality backlinks.

To build a strong digital presence, you need to create high-quality content, engage with your audience on social media, and increase backlinks to your site. There are various ways to build backlinks, including guest blogging and creating helpful content that naturally encourages readers to share. In addition, you can use tools like Ahrefs to identify link-building opportunities by analyzing competitors' backlinks and suggesting relevant websites to target.

4. Content marketing

Content marketing is the process of optimizing content and sharing it across online platforms to engage your target audience. The objective of content marketing is to build a strong relationship with prospective customers and ultimately drive more traffic to your business and increase sales.

To produce SEO-friendly content, you'll want to focus on creating quality SEO content that is valuable and relevant to your audience. This means conducting in-depth keyword research and implementing those keywords naturally throughout your content. You'll also want to optimize your content for readability by using headings and subheadings, bullet points, and short paragraphs.

To learn how to write SEO-friendly content, consider taking online SEO courses on Coursera or watching free YouTube content marketing tutorials. Social media platforms are also great places to learn from experienced creators and SEO industry experts.

5. SEO software skills

SEO tools like Google Analytics, Semrush, and Google Search Console can help you optimize web pages and improve website traffic.

‍Google Analytics provides insights on how visitors interact with a website. For example, it can determine which pages have the highest bounce rate and those that have the most engagement.

Semrush is an SEO tool that can identify keywords that are driving traffic, find new keyword opportunities, and even help outline and draft content. You supply the topic and Semrush can crawl the internet looking for competitor websites and offer actionable insights for your content.

Google Search Console provides insights on how Google will crawl and index a website. For example, it can analyze the website's performance in search results, including impressions and clicks.

These insights can be used to optimize page visibility and address any technical issues. To master these tools, resources like Google Analytics Academy, Semrush Academy, and Google Search Console Help Center provide comprehensive tutorials and courses on how to effectively use these tools.

6. On-page SEO

On-page SEO involves optimizing website pages to rank better in search engines and drive more traffic. It includes the following on-page elements.

• Content. Digital content refers to a web page's text and other multimedia components. Examples of content optimization tactics include creating original and relevant written and visual content and using bullet points and lists for easy readability.
• Keywords. Effective, natural use of keywords in your content can help search engines understand the content and purpose of your web page and improve your search engine rankings. For example, consider using relevant keywords in the page title, throughout the content, and in the meta description.
• Headings. Headings are used to organize content in your web pages. Proper headings can help search engines understand digital content to improve the user experience.
• Images. Images can make web pages more visually appealing for users. Ensure that images are compressed for faster loading times and that relevant captions and text are included around the image.
• External linking. External linking entails linking to other reputable websites from your content. Linking to other pages can help establish your web pages as reliable sources of information and also improve search engine rankings.
• Internal linking. This is the practice of linking to other pages on your own website. It helps to establish a hierarchy of information and improve website navigation to improve SEO performance.

7. Competitive analysis

Competitive analysis is the process of identifying your competitors, analyzing the keywords they rank for, and using these insights to optimize your own content. By searching for relevant words or phrases in search engines, you can identify websites and companies that are ranking well for similar terms.

After you've identified your competitors, you can use tools like Semrush to analyze the keywords they rank for and identify keyword gaps. For example, if you run an online Shopify organic clothing store and your competitors are ranking for the keywords "organic cotton clothing" but you're not, you can create new content that targets those keywords and optimize your existing content to include those words.

By targeting these specific phrases, you can improve your visibility in search rankings, attract prospective customers, and differentiate yourself from your competitors.

8. Local SEO

Local SEO involves optimizing your web pages to rank well in searches conducted by people in your country, state, or city. This strategy is beneficial for both online and physical businesses to attract customers from your local community and increase your visibility in local search results.

To optimize for local SEO, consider claiming your Google Business Profile listing to associate your business with a specific location. In addition, use location-specific keywords, such as city names, state names, and zip codes, in your website content, meta tags, and URLs to help search engines identify your business location and what it offers.

9. User experience (UX)

The UX design of your site includes navigation, layout, typography, and accessibility. A user-friendly website positions your web pages higher on search results, encourages users to stay on your site longer, and influences people to view your business more favorably. These benefits can lead to better conversion rates and increased customer loyalty.

To optimize your website design for SEO, consider simplifying the navigation by using clear menu options to browse your website. In addition, optimize your page speed by reducing file sizes where possible.

You should also ensure your website is accessible for everyone by implementing alt tags for images, headings to break up content, and captions for videos. Lastly, ensure your content is easy to read by using subsections, bullet points, bolded words, and enough white space to make your site look less cluttered.

10. Understand emerging trends

By staying updated on trending topics, you can tailor your content to reflect what people are searching for and, in turn, increase your website visibility online.

For instance, during the summer months outdoor activities such as biking and beach trips are popular searches, whereas in the winter people tend to search for winter sports or indoor activities. By adding relevant trending topics to your content, you can increase your website's ranking in search engines.

To find new trends you can start by checking news sources and social media platforms. News sources like Google News can give you an idea of current events and topics that are being discussed. Social media platforms like Facebook can provide insights into what users are talking about and searching for.

In addition, keyword research tools like Google Trends can help you find popular search terms related to your industry. With this information you can create content that is currently relevant, resonates with your audience, and improves your website's search engine ranking.

11. Data analysis

Analytics tools provide insights into the performance of your website. For instance, Google Analytics can provide data on website traffic, time on site, conversion rate, and number of backlinks. By analyzing this data you can discover areas that need improvement and make the necessary changes to increase traffic and improve your website's ranking in search engine results pages (SERPS).

Learning how to use Excel can also help you create SEO-friendly content. For example, you can use VLOOKUP to compare data from two separate sources and find any differences or inconsistencies. This can be helpful when analyzing keyword rankings or backlink information.

Another example is the use of pivot tables, which can help you analyze large sets of data and identify patterns. Creating these tables can be useful when analyzing website traffic or conversion data.

How to improve your SEO skills

One way to improve your SEO skills is by taking online courses from reputable platforms like Coursera and Udemy, which offer in-depth SEO courses. You can also follow online blogs like Moz to stay updated on SEO news and best practices.

However, theoretical knowledge alone isn’t enough to master SEO. You need hands-on experience working with real-world scenarios. One way to do this is by taking up SEO work on a freelance basis using websites like Upwork. Freelance work gives you an opportunity to work with real clients and gain experience in executing SEO strategies.

Find SEO jobs on Upwork

SEO professionals need to have a combination of technical and critical thinking skills in this field. By completing online courses and gaining real-world experience, SEO professionals can develop the skills needed to improve website rankings and increase conversions.

If you're looking to become an SEO expert or to simply strengthen your SEO skills, Upwork is an easy-to-use platform to find projects that match your expertise. You can browse through a range of job opportunities that will help you expand your knowledge and continue to build a successful SEO career.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.