Regardless of the specifics of any company, they are likely taking SEO seriously. Also known as Search Engine Optimization, this concept has become a cornerstone of internet marketing. While the basic definition tells us that indeed, a business wants to optimize their position on search engines, there is so much more to this subject that must be kept in mind. This is certainly something businesses strive to understand. SEO is straightforward, but it can also get complex, the further into the subject you dive.

All of this must be understood by freelancers in this day and age. If you are still struggling to understand SEO, there are a few things to consider to get you in the right direction.

Breaking Down And Defining SEO

As we mentioned earlier, SEO refers to practices designed to rank a website highly on search engines. Most of us do not browse our results beyond the first page or two. That is where a business wants to be. The higher up on the first page, the better.

SEO refers to organic traffic. It relies on creatively and organically using the keywords and phrases most commonly associated with your business. There are a variety of different ways in which these things can be implemented. For example, many businesses establish authority and relevancy by creating a blog that covers key topics in their respective industries. Such content offers a marvelous opportunity to use crucial keywords and phrases.

What Do I Need As An SEO Professional?

From the description above, you can start to develop an idea of where a freelancer such as yourself can prove useful. Becoming a generalist is easy enough. What we want to do is give you an understanding that will allow you to become an expert.

To begin with, even a basic course in web design and/or coding can prove useful. It gives you a deeper comprehension of how the backend of a website works. This is where SEO shines. It is important to work on your analytical side. SEO freelancers are responsible for gathering data, measuring it, and investigating it. You are going to become a problem solver, as you organize and visualize various types of data. All of this data has to be streamlined to create SEO content and measures that will produce results.

Concepts Every SEO Expert Should Know

Here are some of the most important concepts and terms for SEO experts to keep in mind:

• Authority: This refers to power and popularity of a website, with regards to search engine ranking. Strong research combined with inventive, organic development is essential.
• Search Engine Spiders (Crawlers): Search engines have unique little bots that crawl over websites. This is done for both analyzing and indexing purposes, which in turn influence rank. What do they look for? Title tags, hyperlinks, alt tags, and much more.
• Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI): When you search for something, a search engine will use its own understanding of how certain keywords work with the context of whatever someone is searching for.
• Keyword Research: This refers to more than simply looking for the best keywords and phrases. You also need to figure out the optimal choices, how often you should use them, and where they should be established in the text.
• Analytics: Onsite refers to the elements within the website that you can control. Offsite refers to stuff like links, which you cannot control. Both sides have SEO considerations. Not only do they have SEO considerations on their own, but it is important to also understand where they intersect. You’re looking for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and even threats in all of this data.
• Link-building: This is a tricky aspect of the best SEO practices. Link-building looks to long-term digital marketing goals. From reaching out to relevant sources, websites, bloggers, social media hubs, and more, to creating authority that encourages others to create backlinks to a website, the benefits of link-building should never be taken for granted.

How To Experiment With SEO

After a certain point in your education, you’re going to need to experiment. This is what closes the gap between what you know about SEO, and what you can bring to a business as an SEO expert. The best way to gain this experience, as you’ve probably imagined already, is to set up your own website and/or blog.

The website and / or blog can really pertain to whatever you please. However, even as you’re using it as a practice ground, remember that it also represents a unique opportunity to market yourself. Use these entities to establish your authority, build your reputation, and market yourself as an SEO expert.

What Are The Best SEO Tools?

Google Keyword Planner is a great example of easily-accessible SEO tools. You can use that tool in particular to not only analyze a website’s traffic patterns, but also how the keywords rank.

Both SEM Rush and MOZ have been praised for offering comprehensive SEO tools for all levels of experience. You should also check out Wordtracker Keyword Suggestion Tool, which is exactly as useful as it sounds.

How To Market Yourself As An SEO Expert

Here are some easy ways to stand out from the crowd as an SEO professional:

• Create/submit guest blogs to relevant publications
• Establish authority and networking by connecting your contributions to social media
• Check out networking sites, such as LinkedIn or UpWork
• Seek out groups dedicated to digital marketing/marketers
• Utilize backlinks with forum websites, including Reddit and Quora.

Where Can I Find Work As An SEO Freelancer?

Once you understand how to create a website that appears prominently in search engine results, you’re in the best position possible to begin seeking work as an SEO professional. It can be a bit of a challenge to break through, but the opportunities are certainly out there.

Facebook groups can be a great place to not only meet other professionals, but to learn about job opportunities. It is a competitive community, to be sure, but it is also a supportive one overall.

You also can’t go wrong with freelancer websites like Upwork.

Remember to be patient, flexible in what you’re willing to do, and ready to get to work for a client at the drop of a hat. Good luck!