The Ins & Outs of SEO: A Deep Dive Into the Craft
To become an SEO specialist Martin Hayman in the digital world is to be a master of gardening. SEO experts optimize websites or adjust meta tags at the perfect time, just as a master gardener knows exactly when to sow seed or prune branches.
Imagine you are at an exciting party. Everyone is trying their best to stand out. Imagine your website competing with other websites for attention. SEO experts will help you craft a voice that will not only echo in the distance, but also reach your target audience.
Let’s first tackle keywords. You can think of them like the secret club handshake. Once you know them, you’re in. SEO experts invest hours in researching these magic keywords. They don’t just look for the most popular terms, but also the niche phrases likely to attract visitors that are interested and ready to engage with you or make a sale.
But this job involves more than just scattering keyword seeds around the web. These specialists will need to understand HTML, CSS and other web-related languages in order to implement structural changes and improve the user experience. Slowly loading web pages are no more appealing than cold coffee. They’re not wanted.
Link building, too, is an important task. You need to build pathways back to your site. Think of it as Hansel or Gretel leaving breadcrumbs. Instead of using breadcrumbs, search engines are told that the page they’re looking at is important by hyperlinks.
Content creation should not be neglected either. A specialist in SEO must be able write well or know how to spot good writing. The content must be compelling enough for people to want to read, share and hyperlink back to it.
Technical auditing is as dry as bread, but imagine it as detectivework where each clue helps to answer the question: “Why does my website not rank higher?” This includes checking for broken or dead links (digital deadends) and mobile responsiveness. After all, who doesn’t surf on their phones these days? It is important to protect the website from hackers.
SEO experts also require strong analytical abilities. They are like meteorologists who predict trends, adjust strategies and make predictions based on data analytics using tools like Google Analytics. They continuously tweak elements to optimize performance.
Everyday communication with customers is important. Imagine having to explain, without sounding like someone is lecturing, why investing in sustainable organic growth rather than spending lots of money on advertising is the better option. This requires patience, and the ability of translating ‘tech talk’ into a human language.
Google periodically changes its algorithm – the recipe book that ranks websites – and sends everyone scrambling. SEO specialists are required to react quickly and adjust strategies in order for their clients not to disappear from search results.
Although there is a lot of technical jargon used, being an SEO specialist comes down to understanding people. You need to know what they are searching for online, the way they navigate, and which content they find interesting.