Job specialism has been the default framework for the past few decades, but today you can also notice a subtle shift towards a mixture of general and specialized knowledge. One such area of connection seems to be the SEO field, where marketing meets programming. They don’t have to meet, of course, but their communication is what really makes you an SEO professional.
So what is expected of you in order to be considered a true SEO “expert”?
1. An Analytical Mind
The most basic requirement is actually not a technical one. You can learn to code and be quite good at it, and you can get used to all the tech talk, but at the end of the day it’s not about the syntax or about the libraries, it’s about being able to solve troubles. Knowing what information is essential and how to gather it, being able to understand it, map it in the context of a larger framework, noticing patterns, understanding long-term property of exacting decisions, having a knack for solving puzzles…the list goes on and on. These skills come into play at each and every step of the SEO process.
You don’t essentially need to switch jobs or focus entirely on programming, or assume that there’s no such thing as a marketer anymore. In fact, original ideas are still your best asset in the online world. But while a artistic mind can be a wonderful spring of ideas, what you’re really looking for is a sustainable system of irrigation.
And only analytical thinking skills can give you that. Focus on short-term gains and build your plan around passing fads and you will find yourself working more than you should every time Google rolls out an update to one of its algorithms.
2. HTML Coding
Most articles about what tech skills SEO experts should have agree HTML coding is one of the very basic fundamentals. While this is by no means enough, it is pretty much vital to your job. SEO is a whole new beast nowadays, not just about keywords or linking. But in a deeper sense, it hasn’t changed much, as it has always been about the same thing: building sought after web sites.
And the best sites, more often than not, are built in a certain way: they are accessible, they are easy to follow, and they are well-organized. In order to professionally deliver content to your audience, you need to know how to create and manage said content in a way that is in tune with the environment it resides in.
You’re in the business of creating marketable web sites, and for that you actually have to know the code and understand the syntax when you see it.
3. Web Hosting Experience
Choosing a class web hosting provider is a significant factor building a high-ranking website. Beyond that, though, there are other factors to consider. Web hosting choices must consider downtime, which refers to the amount of time your website is unreachable due to problems with the hosting server. If one of Google’s spiders tries to visit your site and it’s down, it will record it as such and move on.
The second important element is speed. While Google’s algorithms take into account a staggering number of factors, the loading speed of your website is likely one of them. Of course, the loading speed itself depends on many things, but important drops in speed might just be the fault of your hosting server.
4. Excel Know-How
There’s a lot of data to be analyzed once you start treating SEO as a long-term strategic attempt. And there are a lot of useful tools out there to help you make sense of the information you gather, but at a minimum you should be recognizable with Microsoft Excel. In fact, you should be more than familiar with it: you should know it at least at a medium level. You don’t fundamentally have to get to the level of using VBA macros, but knowing a little bit about search functions pivot tables, lookup functions, logical functions (if, and, or), and graphic objects will take you a long way.
5. Programming (PHP, JavaScript etc.) (Optional but Great Skill)
All of the technical skills mentioned so far are pretty much indispensable for an effective SEO. If, however, you want to go above and beyond, you should absolutely start looking into programming languages such as PHP or JavaScript. PHP has improved a lot since it was first introduced and is now a staple in creating dynamic websites. It can be integrated in HTML code and can help you access a wide range of databases, validate users to restrict access to certain parts of the site, encrypt data, auto-generate files and so much more.
6. Server Side Configuration (Optional but Great Skill)
Server-side refers to the server that runs the site. So a visitor’s request doesn’t get executed on their computer, but on the computer they requested the page from. The main advantage in using server-side scripts is the skill to highly customize the response based on the user’s requirements, access rights, or queries into data stores. You can use server-side scripts to enable automatic redirects from certain pages, or optimize MySQL so your database information can be accessed easily and quickly.
Conclusion
There’s a lot you can do in terms of SEO without getting too technical. But there’s so much more you can do with some technical knowledge. If you have a car, is vital to know how to drive but a really good driver knows all the intricacies of his vehicle. You need to understand and even know how to write a bit of code. Get recognizable with the engine (or, in your case, the server), the transmission and even the small nuts and bolts that keep it all together. In the long run, it will pay off. You will get more mileage, better speed, and you will attract more visits.
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