Must-have attributes of SEO practitioners

As I’ve mentioned in my earlier entries in this blog, not all SEO practitioners and specialists are the same. There are different kinds of SEO talents around but there are some things that must be present in each and every SEO specialist. And you have to have these attributes to be exceptional in the highly competitive and unpredictable field of SEO.

THE-SEO-Hacker-Sean-Si

You gotta have these attributes

Fast and independent learner

SEO is not a joke and we all know that the updates and changes that happen with Google and the internet is the only thing that’s constant in the online world. The changes are rapid and the changes are many. For one week you have a personal search feature and then you have Google caffeine on the next.

It is an unpredictable stage of competition – and if you’re not a fast nor an independent learner then you’re gonna get left behind. And getting left behind is almost equivalent to losing the game of SEO.

True, not all SEO’s are self-taught – but almost all have their own personal learnings and techniques. And so the most successful and competitive SEO specialists always makes sure that they are up-to-date with the latest changes in their target search engines, social networks, and other SEO tools that they can utilize their skills on.

Knows the importance of the little things

Meta tags, title tags, slugs, keyword density, image alt texts – these are just SOME parts of on-site SEO. And yes these stuff are very so often overlooked by bloggers, web developers or content producers alike. And if you don’t like detail, you won’t like taking care of these little things. And these little things are indeed important.

It takes a considerable amount of patience and obsessive compulsiveness to get through and fix all of these on-site details. And as an SEO specialist, you know that attention to these little details can be the make-or-break deal with Google regarding your site rankings.

Critical thinker and analyst

Being an SEO specialist means having to deal with a lot of data. Take Google analytics for example: You have to be able to analyze the mind of your traffic in order for you to successfully turn them into customers. Along with the skill to analyze critically, you have to think critically to come up with the best schemes and strategies to help the team optimize their output in getting traffic and links in order to be able to rank in the search engine results page.

An SEO specialist who thinks critically would also be able to predict Google’s next move or at least something that could lead to a change in the Search engine algorithm or in the way social networks affect SEO. There just can’t be any barrier for an SEO specialist who has the capability to think critically – these guys would almost always have the upper hand in regards to ranking in the SERPs.

Creative

A good SEO specialist knows how to work his way around keywords – getting into people’s minds and giving them the best and catchiest headlines to get their attention. SEO is not just about words and statistics. It’s about people and what they love and need. A good SEO specialists sees that and knows how to work his way around to achieve it – giving people great, quality and informative content that they love to read or see or know.

In SEO, creativity is vital.

Team player

An SEO specialist who works alone can’t be too productive. There is just so much to do when it comes to SEO that you really need to have a team. An effective SEO specialist needs to have the skills to be a team player – the right humility, the right people skills, task management, good communication skills and the list goes on.

The best SEO specialists know how to make their teammates as good as themselves to be able to allocate the work for them to focus on what they do best. SEO specialists know what job they can give others and what job they have to keep – simply because they’re the best at it.

Take my team for example: I give the web design to Kevin and client article management to Austin – not because I can’t do the work but because I know that I can do other things better such as applying SEO copywriting to the articles we make for our clients and optimizing the on-site factors. I also manage the social network marketing and the SEO Hacker blog.

All in all, you just have to know the strengths and talents of your team to be able to help each other be the best team players around.

Tips For Keeps: The best SEO Specialists and practitioners around are a combination of these attributes. True, they might not have these attributes all at once but that’s what makes them unique and valuable. No one SEO specialist has it all – that’s why you need a team. If you know you’re not there yet then you better start developing these attributes NOW.

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Sean Si

About Sean

is a Filipino motivational speaker and a Leadership Speaker in the Philippines. He is the head honcho and editor-in-chief of SEO Hacker. He does SEO Services for companies in the Philippines and Abroad. Connect with him at Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. Check out his new project, Aquascape Philippines.