The Search Engine Optimization industry was worth more than $65 billion in 2017. Business owners and corporations increasingly depend on SEO to bring in traffic and conversions to consistently grow their revenues. It is the age of SEO, and only now are companies realizing that it is an essential part of their online marketing efforts and not just an add-on to their digital marketing strategy. Your website may contain the best images and content, but if your SEO strategy is not in place, your traffic and conversion rate may be endangered. Or worse, if you employ bad SEO strategies for your website, it might not rank well and get buried in search results. This is exactly why you need experienced, reliable, consistent SEO experts working on your website. You may employ an agency, a consulting firm, or an in-house expert. For any of these options, ensure that whoever works for your website has these qualities.
Here are the top five traits of an ideal SEO employee/consultant/company.
1. Knowledge of All Layers of SEO
Years of experience will empower any SEO expert with enough knowledge of the website’s technical structure and how search engines crawl web pages. The other two aspects with demand attention from any responsible employee are on-page and off-page optimization. On–page optimization makes perfect use of keywords and HTML tags in the content to be appropriately accessible to search engine crawlers. On the other hand, off-page optimization can be quite elaborate and involve a team effort in building external links that lead to your website. Google loves your website when everybody else loves it. Link building is one of the potent methods to make sure of that. If your SEO expert has practical knowledge of practices in these three spheres, you can be sure that your website is in good hands.
Some of the other knowledge which is mandatory –
- URL Structure
- Problems with the website that affects crawling
- Basic knowledge of HTML
- Error-free writing capability for doing small stuff like updating description, a small bit of content, etc.
- Content marketing
- Social media optimization
- Landing page
- Conversion rate optimization and UI basics
- Basics of popular programming language could be an added plus
2. An Understanding of the Bigger Picture
SEO cannot be a motive practice. It is not just about keywords, crawlers, and backlinks. For an SEO strategy to be truly fruitful, one needs to have a broad understanding of the marketing plan, target groups, business goals, tone of communication, products, business models, and more. Only when you genuinely understand the company’s big-picture goals will a more thoughtful approach to SEO be penetrated its strategy. If you don’t understand these aspects and are technically sound, you may get some short-term success, not long-term. Short-term successes in the SEO universe have the potential to do more harm than good. A successful SEO strategy that reaches conversion targets and brings more business is consistent and has a long-term approach to it.
3. Ability to Communicate Complex Ideas Clearly
Since search engine optimization results can only be analyzed over a long period, an SEO employee must establish a clear communication channel with clients. Business & website owners may not completely understand SEO practices. Explaining their methods and objectives simply lies on the SEO expert’s shoulders. An impatient client who does not understand what goes into the SEO strategy may get frustrated and want to end the contract. Good communication skills can be of crucial use to the ideal SEO employee.
4. Ability to Work in a Team
Even if your SEO strategy is handled by a one-man army, he will need help from other employees on different fronts. Getting the on-page communication just right requires the aid of an effective content marketing specialist to go hand in hand with an SEO expert. Accurate analysis of the target audience, social media management and strong online public relations can and should contribute to an efficient SEO masterplan. An individual willing to work with all the other avenues in a company to create the best results will be an asset to your company.
5. Curious and Dedicated
The search engine world is ever-changing, and you never know when the search algorithms change or how the crawlers are going to affect your website overnight. A dedicated employee that stays updated with the latest Google and search engine trends is what you need. An employee passionate about SEO will always explore the possibilities of SEO and be easily adaptable to changing trends. It is better to have someone constantly learning and growing than someone with years of experience who stopped learning long ago. A passionate and inquisitive mind in your SEO employee can ultimately pay big dividends for the business.
Keep these points in mind when employing someone for your website’s search engine optimization to make sure that you get the right employee.
