Do you want to dive into the world of SEO (search engine optimization) but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, there is no need to panic. The digital world is notorious for being vast platforms of knowledge, content, marketing, information, and more. There really isn’t any real palace to start as an SEO analyst, your best bet is to just start. And so, whether you are an entrepreneur, freelancer, or a person looking for a career shift, if you want to start with SEO then the best time to start is right now. The beauty of SEO is that certain industry norms and practices are constantly changing. Search engines like Google are always modifying and adapting their algorithms to meet an ever-changing marketplace and user experience. So as an SEO analyst, you can get in at any time, and still have a sort of level playing field, because everything is always changing. So without further ado, and to not drag this introduction on any longer, here are the 5 ways to become an SEO analyst.

#5- Learn How Search Engines Work

Your first step to becoming an SEO analyst or SEO expert is learning how search engines work. And by that, I don’t mean learning how to use search engines by typing in an inquiry and clicking on the result. I mean learning about the back-end workings of search engines. For instance, search engines do something that is known as crawling. Crawling is when search engines will send out web crawlers to the internet and “craw” content in order to determine the nature and context of that content.

Once content has been crawled, it can be successfully indexed on search engines. Indexed is when a piece of content gets successfully placed on a search engine. Before being indexed, even if you publish a piece of content, if it hasn’t been crawled and indexed, then it will not appear on the search engine’s results page (SERPs). If it’s not on the search engine results page, then it will be extremely difficult to find online. That is why getting indexed is important.

After it’s indexed comes a content’s ranking, which is how high a piece of content is ranked on the search engine. As an SEO analyst, your job will be to understand all this, and also understand how to optimize a piece of content, or website, for each stage of the search engine introductory process, so that those search engines can read, index, and understand the content of your website without incurring any problems.

#4- Understanding the Marketing of SEO

The best SEO analyst knows that there are certain tools and techniques that you simply don’t apply when pursuing search engine optimization. As an SEO analyst, you are working with someone else’s website, brand, bread, and butter. So you need to be careful with the methods you use, because those methods may be frowned upon by search engines like Google. In the case that you have breached a certain rule, or committed certain algorithm abuses, your website will be fined by Google. In which case, you risk being deranked, or de-indexed altogether. That would be a big loss for the website, which could see it lose its entire business.

Before venturing into SEO, you should have a clear idea of what SEO is and what tools, websites, platforms, and techniques you want to use in your pursuit of SEO. As mentioned earlier, the digital world is a vast and endless one. There are lots of tools at your disposal that you can use to achieve your goals online. SEO is one of those tools that you can use. The point of SEO is to climb the search engine ladder in an organic and natural way. By publishing high-quality relatable content, you are doing just that. However, there are other means for you to pursue to reach the same goal. PPC (pay per click) is another online marketing tool that requires you to pay so that your ad appears at the top of the paid search results.

So which path you decide to take depends on you. However, with SEO, the positive is that you don’t have to spend tons of money trying to compete with other paid advertisers. You can simply have a solid strategy and smart solution to reach the top of the search engine’s results page.

#3- Keep Up to Date With the Industry Changes

We mentioned earlier in the blog that Google is constantly changing its algorithms to meet an ever-changing market. In fact, Google alone conducts more than 250 changes to their ranking algorithms per year.You can imagine how much the industry as a whole is constantly changing. This is why as an SEO analyst if you want to be truly competitive at your job, you need to stay up to date with the latest changes, tweaks, and updates. In fact, not doing so can jeopardize your entire business. If you continue to apply the same tactics and techniques, which have since been outdated, then search engines may flag you for abuse, and de-rank you.

A good way to keep up to date with the industry is to follow some of the leading figures in that industry. Neil Patel is the best one out now. There are many other SEO experts you can follow. Reading their blogs, newsletters, subscribing to their emails, are easy and convenient ways for you to get a steady stream of information about the SEO industry.

#2- Practice Makes Perfect

Although SEO may seem like a lot of theories and theoretical work, in reality, SEO is about trial and error. When it comes to search engine optimization, practice makes perfect. Knowing which keywords to use, which one of them work, which websites to link to, which ones to not link to. All these take practice to hone and perfect.

Every website is unique and unlike the other. What may work you may not work for another website. There is no such thing as a blueprint solution or tactic. That’s why it is important to really practice SEO and not remain theoretical.

You can read up on other people’s tactics, case studies, strategies, but to truly maximize your search engine performance you need to see what best works for you and your business.

As an SEO analyst, you need to continuously practice so that you can get better at what it is you do. Practice by not only working on websites but by writing blogs, creating content, reading up on the industry and its norms. Also, networking with other SEO professionals will help you not only build a solid foundation but help you with your link building as well. Continue to practice your craft so that you perfect it and are able to evolve it.

#1- Patience is Key

All the previous points trickle down to this one major point of search engine optimization and that is patience is key. The best SEO analyst knows that you can take a website to the top of Google’s search engine results page overnight. It takes months of hard work, content creation, link building, and more to get your website and webpage linked atop of the search engine ladder. That’s why patience is important. It’s easy for you to give up and scratch all the work you just made. But that would be putting a proverbial nail in the coffin. Have patience in not only the results but in yourself. Trust that what you did is working and will reach the results that you intend for it to reach. Once you practice persistent patience then you will begin to attract the results that you’re looking for.

Final Thoughts

It may not seem easy to be an SEO expert or SEO analyst. In fact, it takes a lot of hard work, focus, dedication, and knowledge to truly be the best of the best. The beauty of it is that SEO knowledge, expertise, and insight are in high demand right now, and only look promising for the future. Companies, businesses, and entrepreneurs have begun to realize the importance of SEO, and what it means for their business. That’s why the demand for SEO experts is high right now. And because it doesn’t look like search engines plan on going away any time soon, that demand for SEO experts is only going to grow in the future moving forward. So getting into the SEO industry right now is the best choice you can make. With more and more businesses moving towards digital operations, the demand for SEO has gone through the roof. Companies realize the value search engine optimization tactics have for the overall marketing strategy, and effectively, sales, and the overall business.

By following the steps laid out to you in this article you already have a blueprint from which you can follow. Once you start, you decide the heights that you want to get to. The important thing is that you take that first step in becoming an SEO analyst and building your SEO agency.