The Fun Side Of The Island - Let me in!
-
I need to ask you a huge favor.
Like many of you here, SEO and related digital/business topics are a passion. This Easter weekend, I made a huge decision, to make this industry my life and not my hobby. I am already a successful expert in my current field, but its time to join an industry with an exciting future - Its time to join you.
For those of you who love, live and breathe this industry I would be grateful for any seeds of wisdom you might have to share about your first steps as an independent professional.
-
Choose your clients carefully Simon especially the ones that don't pay you a lot of money. They are the ones that expect the most amount of work to be done for them and will be on you everyday demanding proof of work. Manage the client's expectations with results from day one. Good, clean SEO takes time and delivers long lasting results. It's all about the education and transparency with the clients.
All the best.
-
That's amazing! What a leap of faith! My recommendation/advice is to read, read, read. Get your hands on books on UX. Read up on how to perform a content audit. Read through as much about SEO as possible. SEO has been my passion for nearly a decade and I'm still learning.
Also remember not to take yourself too seriously. You WILL have clients that think they know everything. You WILL have clients that make you want to rip your hair out. It's normal. Pick your clients carefully. You're the expert, not them. And never call yourself a 'guru'.
-
Don't start out trying to be all things SEO to all people. Find your niche. What subset of SEO are you passionate about? What are you particularly good at? Where is there a need?
If you have a reputable and respected SEO firm in your neighborhood, look to get hired. Ask for a mentor. Learn from him or her and thru osmosis.
-
Try to read Inbound.org daily and get a sense of the "current" state of the industry. Follow the blogs you see pop up on there over & over again.
Learn Excel. No matter how good you are in Excel, go learn more.
Test everything. Trust is fine but test, test and then ... test more.
You won't really understand it until you do it so go do it.
Find a couple good Twitter SEO lists and follow them.
Write as much as you can, even if you don't publish it. Get better at writing so you can express what you are learning to others.
Learn to use tools that make you faster. Bookmarklets, Chrome Extensions, Firefox Add Ons, Excel SEO Tools add on, Moz, Woorank, Ahrefs or Majestic, and social tools (Hootsuite, Tweepi, etc.)
-
Hi there Simon,
Welcome and hope you are ready for an adventure.
MOZ Learn is a great way to start and its free. So read up on all 10 chapters on The Beginners Guide To SEO and from there on you will know what to do and what to ask to become a SEO CHAMP.
Hope this helps,
Rickus
-
A great move Simon - welcome to the madness
One tip I would give, is to make a name for yourself. If you are planning on becoming a consultant, then your name is everything and the strongest marketing tool you will have at your disposal. Yes, stronger even than your MOZ subscription
Be active everywhere. Go networking, be active on Twitter with other professionals, offer free advice if someone is stuck, connect with other professionals on G+ - and have a great website that will inspire people to take you seriously.
If you do have any particular questions, happy to answer them
-Andy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Help regarding Backlinks DA
Hey I'm doing web optimization of my site Best Blender under $100 My inquiry is with respect to Backlinks. There are 2 things which can be seen in MOZ announcing 1. DA(Domain Authority) 2.Spam Score Presently how might I choose from which site would it be advisable for me to get Backlinks? From higher DA and Low Spam Score or Higher DA and High Spam Score? Does Spam Score will affect my Rankings or not? Also, my last inquiry is what number of Backlinks would it be advisable for me to make on everyday schedule? Respects,
Industry News | | Salman425520 -
Should I buy an expired domain that has already been redirected to some other website? Can I use it or redirect it to my own site if I purchase it?
I was going to purchase an expired domain but then I came to know that it has been redirected to some other website. I have two questions: Can I build a website around this domain if I purchase it? and will the Domain Authority remains the same ? Can I redirect it to my own site? and will all the Link Juice flow to my site?
Industry News | | Kamranktk0 -
Community Discussion: The hardest (& most surprisingly valuable) thing you've gone through for your SEO career?
In the comment discussion for Thursday's blog post, An Essential Training Task List for Junior SEOs, there's been mild debate around some of the items, such as having a Junior SEO build a website by hand. It's a fantastic comment discussion (the kind that makes a blog manager's heart sing), and it's got me thinking. We've all gone through the wringer when it comes to boosting our careers. Heck, I was a poetry major and found myself learning SQL last week. What hurdles have you jumped that have been painful and challenging, but have taken your career to the finish line? Maybe even gotten you the gold?* What would you recommend to newbies just starting out (or warn them about)? *Yeah, I got Olympic about it. I went there. 🙂
Industry News | | FeliciaCrawford6 -
When a company lets you go, what is the standard practice for a moz account? Do you simply turn it over and lose all access and moz identity? Or?
Since MOZ is a community, it seems odd to simply turn over my moz account now the company has let me go. Do people typically do this and simply start a new account every time they work someplace new? Or what? I wanted to seek out what the community thought about this -- so that I would have a better idea of how to handle this now and for the next time.
Industry News | | CCFilson0 -
Spanish equivalent of MOZ? need help with understanding Google.es
I try to keep up to date with everything SEO to ensure my sites rank well.. marblerenovation.com & Trailersafe.co.uk I now have a spanish site that I am having trouble ranking well for clima2000egara.es I have recently found out (by asking our lovely moz community) that googles algorithms are not rolled our world wide. SO I have no idea where I am at with Google.es. Does anyone know how I can find out at what stage google.es is at? and what the last update was? and whether there is an equilalent community like Moz for Spain? I am fluent spanish so the language won't be a problem.. Thanks in advance for all your help
Industry News | | david.smith.segarra0 -
How to Find A SEO Guru?
How to find a SEO Guru I am a looking for a SEO to take over our SEO needs for our website.I am not interested in learning SEO and would rather leave it to the pro's.We already have great traffic 800K+ monthly but we need to take it to the next level and beyond. I have searched through SEOMOZ and read articles everywhere and done all that, I think I am more confused now than when I started on how to find a great SEO. While their are plenty of great SEO guys out their a lot of them I don't feel comfortable putting our business in their hands.Their are some smaller SEO's and some shady SEO's that won't work for us.Then some just don't have the credentials or background for us to hand over our hard earned money and have the future of our businesses in their hands. We want someone who has worked on big projects and had great success and is a industry leader but is willing to work with me and be hands on just not send me reports and suggestions. I am Trying to find SEO guru who knows his stuff and knows it well.I know i will pay good money for this but would like to find some up and comers so I don't have to sell unborn children to afford their services. What would be a good way to a great seo maybe even a guru? Finding the right SEO has become a daunting task.
Industry News | | chrisyak0 -
What SEO topics would you cover if teaching a College webdesign class?
Later this month I am guest teaching a class on best SEO practices for web designers at a local College. I wanted to see what topics others would include if you were doing an overview.
Industry News | | BCutrer1 -
What is your Biggest SEO selling point to prospective clients?
Typically, our SEO questions are around "how to's" and etc. So, to change it up I will ask a business question: What is your biggest selling point when presenting your SEO services to a new client? In a spirit of transparency, I will tell you mine ahead of time. With PPC, TV, Radio, and Print at some point in time that ad comes to an end. When it ends, that is it. There is no residual from that advertisement - or very minimal at best. With SEO, once you are ranked well and well optimized you continue to get clients for a much longer period of time. With clients who TV and print, this rings especially true and is easily provable. I can't wait to hear yours.
Industry News | | RobertFisher4