Search engine optimization...or SEO...is basically an umbrella term for all of the activities
you can do to help your site rank better in search engines.
So when you ask what SEO specialists do, at a high level, you can say that they’re the
people who do all of those activities that help sites rank better in search engines.
If you’re asking what the SEO specialists that you’ve hired do...well, that might
be tricky to answer.
A crucial thing that any SEO specialist should do when they enter into a partnership with
you is to communicate their plans, progress, and how they’ll help you achieve your business
goals.
Anyway...
Before I get into what those activities are, I just want to explain that I’ll refer to
SEO specialists as “SEO professionals” and “SEOs” throughout this video.
These terms are interchangeable, so no need to wonder if there’s any sort of distinction
between them.
To explain a majority of the daily tasks that SEOs do, I’ll use the acronym, “ROCKET.”
Research, optimize, content, keywords, earned media and links—and last but not least—testing.
I should clarify...these are things that good SEOs do.
You can’t spell rocket without an “o” or an “e,” just like you can’t have
a complete SEO strategy without optimization or earned media.
Let’s break down the first letter of our acronym—R for research.
You can’t just jump into a website and make changes without understanding if you’re
making the right changes.
Okay...I guess you can do that.
But I wouldn’t recommend it.
An SEO specialist will first do their research so they understand completely your company,
your competitors, your industry, and your website.
A big part of the research is digging into your website to figure out the areas that
need the most improvement, also known as the SEO audit.
Maybe some important pages don’t load very fast, or you don’t have unique title tags,
or you have poor copy on a certain page.
At the end of the day, there are over 200 factors that determine where a website ranks
in search engines, so it’s important for your SEO specialist to be thorough.
Next up is O for optimize.
After figuring out where your site needs the most help, an SEO specialist will make changes
so that it’s perfectly optimized for search engines.
There are three main elements of optimization SEOs should be familiar with.
I’ll explain most of the details later in this video, but here’s an overview for now.
First is on-page SEO, which has to do with things on your site you can change.
Then there’s off-page SEO, which deals with off-site elements, and finally—my favorite—there’s
technical SEO, which I will explain right now.
Technical SEO refers to optimization tactics that make it easier for search engines to
crawl and index your site so that it shows up highly for searches.
This deals with your site’s mobile-friendliness, security, broken links, speed, and a host
of other things.
Alright, let’s move on to the C in ROCKET, which stands for content.
Optimized content helps your site rank and gets users to convert into customers.
Your website needs content to help it show up for keywords in search results.
So this content should meet people’s needs at every single stage of their buying journeys.
So an SEO will create informational content that responds to basic phrases like, “what
is” and “how-to” for users who aren’t yet ready to make a purchase.
Then, an SEO professional should create content that helps people who are in the process of
making that purchase decision.
So, let’s say that you’re a plumber.
Content that tells people why hiring a plumber is better than doing things on your own would
be a valuable asset to add to your website as a piece of content.
To gently nudge people through that purchasing process, an SEO would then create content
that’s designed to ultimately get conversions.
So, again, let’s say that you’re a plumber.
Content that highlights...maybe...your service awards and any testimonials that you have
from past work might be enough to help push people down to that bottom of the funnel so
they will end up contacting you for your services.
Having content isn’t enough, though.
It has to be optimized with the right target keywords, which brings us to the next letter
in our acronym.
K?
On-page SEO, which I mentioned earlier, deals with things on your website’s pages that
you can control fairly easily.
Keywords are a big part of it.
When people search for something, they type in a keyword.
Search engines then pull up the content they think fits that keyword search based on all
of their ranking criteria, and there is a lot of it.
To rank for keywords, you then have to use them throughout your website content so that
search engines truly understand what each page is about.
When an SEO is working on your website’s content, they should always write with these
target keywords in mind.
This means researching which keywords your competitors are using and which ones you’re
most likely to rank for, then sprinkling them in naturally throughout some of the headings
and text and other copy on your pages.
Once they’ve created keyword-optimized content, an SEO’s job is not done.
The next letter in our ROCKET acronym is E for earned media and links.
Earned media refers to activities that help promote content, the service, and business
that’s featured on the website.
So after the content is ready, an SEO will reach out to relevant websites or blogs in
your industry to see if they’d be willing to link to or share the content you’ve created.
The more high-quality links that point back to your content, the more trusted it will
seem to search engines and users, and the higher it can rank.
You do have to watch out for sketchy link building tactics.
Google has some guidelines for things SEOs cannot do when trying to get links, like buying
links on other sites.
If an SEO does that, your site can really face some serious penalties.
The last letter in our ROCKET acronym—T for testing—should not be ignored.
Otherwise, you’re stuck with ROCKE...and who wants that?
SEO is not a once and done thing.
SEOs continually test to see how they can take your optimization up a notch.
Maybe people would click on a button more if the text was different, or they’d stay
longer on a page if you adjusted some of the design elements on the page.
There’s always room for improvement, and the SEO you partner with should firmly believe
that.
If they don’t, give our team a call.
If you’re in need of a solid SEO strategy, we’ll rocket (said: rock it).
That’s everything I have on what SEO specialists do.
I hope you had a...I gotta say it..blast...learning all about the SEO world.
To keep learning about everything SEO-related, subscribe to our YouTube channel and check
out our blog for the latest in digital marketing.
See you soon!