It's a pretty exciting time to become an SEO. The convergence of SEO, content marketing and social media means your job description will include many diverse tasks and responsibilities. And if we're getting real here, the pay isn't half bad either.
However, not everyone has what it takes to succeed in this industry. There are certain skills and traits that you pretty much have to have if you want to become an SEO; and while you might succeed in the short term without them, you'll never achieve great success in the long term.
Following are 8 signs you're just not cut out to be an SEO!
1. You're not interested in the technical side of SEO
Some people are under the impression today's SEO is all about content and on-page optimization. They think that creating excellent, well-optimized content is enough, and that technical SEO skills are no longer important to achieving high rankings.
However, a solid SEO strategy will always consist of 3 integral parts: on-page, off-page and technical optimization. Technical optimization will include making sure your site:
- Is crawlable by the search engines
- Is mobile-friendly
- Has a fast TTFB (time to first byte)
- Has both HTML and XML sitemaps
- Uses redirects in a way that maintains site rankings
- Uses a search engine friendly URL structure
In addition, a basic understanding of HTML, CSS, Javascript, etc. is a definite "must have." While you don't need to be an expert coder, you do need to be able to troubleshoot basic coding problems and be able to communicate them to experts who can help.
2. You're not really a people person
In the past, SEO could be carried out in a bit of a vacuum. SEOs were often "techies" who would spend most of their time working alone, optimizing content and submitting link requests. For that reason, professional SEOs didn't necessarily need stellar social and communication skills (although the ones who did were definitely at an advantage).
To succeed as an SEO today, however, excellent people skills are a must. You'll need them for professional networking, as well as for dealing effectively with clients. You'll also need great online social skills to communicate with blog commenters, social media followers, influencers and other marketers.
3. You're not analytical
A great SEO will be able to identify patterns and see the "big picture" when looking at analytics. They will spend time combing through data, and will use what they've found to inform their decisions.
While technical skills are important, it's an analytical mindset that will help you spot potential problems or issues, and understand how these relate to the site as a whole. And it's only at that point that your technical skills will come in handy - allowing you to fix the problems you've just identified.
4. You don't understand the importance of social media to SEO
Old-school SEO was quite insular. You could often successfully optimize a site using on-page tactics, and didn't need to give much thought to other marketing or distribution channels.
However, to be a successful SEO today, you need to understand how social media and SEO work together. While getting your content shared on social media may not offer direct SEO benefits, the indirect benefits are huge. As your content gets shared by more people, you get increased traffic and acquire more opportunities for getting links; and these do have a direct SEO benefit.
It's also important to remember that social networking sites are search engines in and of themselves. Customers aren't just going to Google to search, they're also going to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and the App Store. Optimizing your profile on each of these sites is critical for getting found via on-site search.
5. You have poor writing skills
With the convergence of SEO and content marketing, having decent writing skills is a must in this industry. Even if you can outsource or delegate most of your writing, there will be times when you need to edit or write at least portions of your content.
Link building and email outreach will also require passable writing skills. You'll need to be able to communicate your requests in a professional way if you have a shot at making those important connections.
Fortunately, writing is a skill you can develop over time. Regularly following online writing blogs like CopyBlogger and ProBlogger will give you a good foundation, or will help you beef up your existing online writing skills.
6. You're impatient
SEO is a long-term endeavour. While in some cases you might start seeing results immediately, more often it takes many months.
In an Inc.com article, digital marketer Josh Steimle writes, "Many SEO firms will tell you that it takes 4 to 6 months to start seeing results. That's generally accurate, but bear in mind this is when you start seeing results, and SEO results grow over time." In other words, the hard work you do today will most likely start to pay off in about half a year. If you don't have the patience to wait this long for results, SEO probably isn't a good fit for you.
7. You don't work well with others
To succeed at SEO you need to have a basic understanding of all aspects of marketing: social media, PR, content marketing, email marketing, etc. However, no one can be expected to be an expert in everything.
Invariably, you'll need to work with others somewhere along the way. If you're not able to collaborate and be a team player, SEO probably isn't the right field for you. However, if you enjoy working with others, and recognize that working with other experts will help you achieve optimal results for your clients, you're on the right path.
8. You're not a lifelong learner
Google is constantly testing and tweaking its algorithm to ensure the highest-quality search results. As an SEO, you need to stay on top of these changes if you want to do your job effectively.
This will mean staying up-to-date with industry blogs like Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Land and Moz, as well as attending SEO conferences like SMX. You'll also need to stay on top of more general marketing-related news and changes, including those related to pay-per-click, and email and social media marketing.
If you have a passion for knowledge and love reading and researching all-things-marketing, you'll do just fine in the field. However, if continual learning and professional development just aren't of interest to you, SEO likely isn't the best fit for you.
So, what's the verdict? Are you cut out to be an SEO? Share below!
