Career Trends: May 6, 2022
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Content Credit:
- Article by Helen Pollitt, published on searchenginejournal.com. Original article link.
- With some excerpts from article published on optimizely.com. Original article link.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of getting pages to rank higher in search engines such as Google. Search is one of the main ways in which people discover content online. Ranking higher in search engines can lead to an increase in traffic to your website/digital platform. Search engines such as Google use an algorithm or a set of rules to determine what pages to show for any given query.
An SEO consultant is a specialist in search engine optimization who works outside of typical contracted employment. For instance, they may be freelancers who work with their own clients or within an existing team but not as employees.
What essential skills do you need to be a successful SEO consultant — beyond being a good SEO professional? Let’s take a look.
Demonstrating ROI
- When you join a new company as an employee, you will likely have a probation period – a few weeks to months where the company assesses your fit and competency.
- It will be a time when you can work to fill any gaps in your knowledge and develop a training plan.
- As a freelance SEO, you won’t get this chance.
- A skill you will need to develop early on as an SEO consultant is demonstrating the return on investment of working with you.
- This means understanding exactly what you are expected to deliver and making sure it is reasonable.
Budget Management
- You may be used to managing a budget in your employed role, checking profit and loss for your department.
- However, additional, unforeseen costs can crop up when working as a freelancer.
- There may be ad-hoc costs, such as initial legal advice, and ongoing costs like retaining an accountant.
- You will have to cover the cost of any marketing collateral and of hosting and developing a website.
Time Management
- Although any job requires a degree of time management, being an SEO consultant means you’ll have multiple balls in the air at any given time.
- There is also a lack of structure, support, and resources that come with an employed role.
- Due to this, time management becomes even more important.
Pitching & Closing
- From marketing your skills to pitching to and closing a new client, you will need to be able to manage the entire cycle of bagging new work.
- There won’t be a business development team supporting you.
- You will also need to become an expert at marketing yourself in other ways. That means picking up potential client leads through social media, events, and word of mouth.
- Not only will you need to source potential client leads, but you will also need to effectively convert them. That means working on pitch decks, negotiating fees, and securing sign-off.
Contract Negotiations
- A part of being an SEO contractor is the need to be able to negotiate contracts.
- There may be an expectation of a certain level of compromise, especially if you want to work with smaller businesses with limited budgets.
- When looking long-term at the next six to 12 months of your proposed contract, you will need to be able to predict how those compromises might affect your profit and quality of life.
Understanding Financial & Legal Aspects
- Being an SEO consultant means owning your own business.
- However, it also means being solely responsible for ensuring you are in full legal compliance.
- This means understanding which business laws apply to you in your state or country, but also, if you have clients elsewhere in the world, understanding how their laws affect you.
- How you store information about your clients will need to comply with these regulations.
Stakeholder Management
- Another essential skill is good stakeholder management. This includes communicating deadlines, chasing for invoice payments, and ensuring client expectations align.
- When you are a consultant, your stakeholders aren’t just your clients but also your accountants, lawyers, suppliers, and other consultants you’re partnering with.
- In a larger business, these stakeholders tend to communicate with various team members, but as a freelancer, you are the only point of contact.
Fitting In
- When working closely with other members of your client’s team, what they think of your work ethic and personality may well impact the length and recurrence of your contract.
- It is not just about understanding the business; you need to get on reasonably well with your new colleagues.
- Focus on Personal Branding: If you are looking to become an SEO consultant, understand your local market, the needs of the businesses who may work with you, and what you can do to be most attractive to them.
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Have you checked out yesterday’s blog yet?
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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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