I've gotten a lot of email recently from folks asking what they can do to get involved in the world of search marketing and SEO. Tonight, Mystery Guest and I attended the Seattle Job Social event and had a really interesting experience talking to people about SEOmoz, the positions we're hiring for (SysAdmins of the Northwest, please email us!) and the field of search engine marketing. The same issue came up again and again - how do I break into that market?
I want to be very honest with this post (and with all my posts), so I'll say first that I have only my singular experience to rely on. I haven't done lots of job seeking in the field (in fact, the last resume I have is from the 1990s, when I was too young to consume alcohol). However, I can share those skills that have proven valuable to me over time:
- An Analytical Mindset
Being analytical means collecting data, sifting through it, and recognizing patterns. It doesn't always mean exhaustive research (though that's a great trait to have as well). It can sometimes mean the ability to see an outlier, form a hypothesis and act on it with the right mix of impulsiveness and caution. - Knowledge of How the Internet Works
It took a few years for me to grasp how "the tubes" operate - everything from HTTP status codes to IP addresses to the ways in which a server can communicate with a web browser - once I did, my job became much easier, particularly when talking to developers reticent to engage in SEO projects. - Empathy with the Perspectives of Search Engineers
I've found that the more I think about things from an engineer's point of view (someone who cares far more about the search experience for a user in aggregate than the problems presented by a singular example), the more most (not all) search engine moves make sense. - A Solid Background in HTML
I don't think I could have ever been decent at SEO if I didn't intuitively understand the tags and markup that comprise web pages. 8 years ago, I could hand code a page from scratch, and while I would probably need some cheat sheets to do that today, viewing source code almost never stumps me anymore. - An Ability to Find Common Ground when Meeting People
Networking is critical to success in any field, but in SEO, where natural suspicion from potential clients, developers, other marketers, investors, etc. exists, I've found it to be the branch you hang on to when the river's about to drag you into the waterfall. - Strong Memory for Relevant Data
Pulling relevant examples off the top of my head - whether they're from previous experiences, the blogosphere, presentations from an event or observations in the sphere - has been a terrific contributor to my consulting and speaking. Now if only I could do a better job remembering names... - Illustration & Diagraming Skills
OK, so I'm not going to win any prizes for my art, but I can at least communicate quickly and intuitively in a visual way on a whiteboard or for a blog post. - Comfort Speaking in High Pressure Scenarios
I've told the story in the past of how I spoke at a conference in 2005 sandwiched between Chris Anderson from Wired & Meg Whitman from eBay. After I somehow, miraculously pulled that one off without making an idiot out of myself, I've never really felt pressure on camera or in front of an audience again. I barely even get an elevated heart rate on stage anymore (which has helped with dry cleaning bills, too). - Being a Stubborn Jackass
No, seriously! I refused to accept that, back when Gillian and I were under mountains of debt and couldn't pay the rent, we needed to pack up shop. I refused to concede that SEO was bullshit back when everyone around me in the web world told me it was. After I got into SEO, I refused to believe that there was no Google sandbox, even though far more experienced operators didn't believe it for a long time. After SEOmoz launched our SEO Tools, I refused to accept that we couldn't build our own web index, even when very smart people told me there was no way. Sometimes, sticking to your guns, even in the face of conventional wisdom, turns out to be the right move. - Humility & the Wisdom to Accept that You Will Be Wrong
There have been plenty of times when I've had to swallow my pride, admit that I was wrong, and accept that I'm probably going to be wrong again. I've never learned more than I have when I royally screw something up. And, as my wife likes to remind me - I'll never be important enough that I don't have to come home and scrub the toilet. - A Thick Skin
The SEO field is filled with a lot of unprofessional conduct (and I fully admit to being guilty of plenty myself, particularly in the first few years after I started this site). You have to anticipate negativity and be ready to not just not respond and shrug it off, but to be warm, courteous and hospitable even in the face of demeaning antagonism. It's not enough to turn the other cheek - you also need to reach out with a handshake. - Proficiency in Written Communication
Particularly since my experience began in SEO on forums and blogs long before I had a public face or persona, the ability to write well and effectively transmit a message to a curious audience has been, possibly, the greatest catalyst to my personal growth in the field.
I would be presumptuous to suggest that these traits will serve everyone well or that they are the "best" abilities to have. In fact, a huge missing component that I wish I could write on that list is the ability to code in a few languages. I think I'll always be a weaker SEO because of that, but I also know that the time it would take to plug it up is time I don't have (and I'm lucky to be surrounded by a team of 9 guys and JLo to help me out when programming issues arise).
Your turn! I would love to hear the traits that have helped you best in your own careers.
I would add "willingness to learn".
It amazes me how many people, in the face of change, will choose 'willful ignorance' in the hope that it will all go away.
That is probably the most important item, not just learning more SEO/SEM methods and changes, but the Internet as a whole is evolving at a tremendous rate, I feel behind if I don't read an article or learn something new everyday.
Most of those resonate with me - I think you've built a solid list there. It's funny how 'remembering stuff' is something I'm really good at in a business context, but really dreadful at in real life...
The most useful thing I learnt at university wasn't stats or probability (both useful!) - it was the ability to learn really hard things quickly. That's one of my biggest strengths (I think). The one I'm most lacking is any kind of visual / graphical ability!
From the two jobs I had before running my own company, the biggest skills I learnt were:
I've met a number of people who are supposedly "seo experts" but lack the most basic knowledge of HTML and CSS. Not understanding how a webpage is built whilst trying to optimise it is like a mechanic tuning your car without knowing how it is constructed. At best not a very good idea, at worst dangerous!
I agree.
I started SEO coming from a strong marketing background and quickly found out my basic skill set had to improve. I went through tidious html/css/php courses but at the end of the day I don't think I'd have been able to achieve the same kind of indepth knowledge without them.
My php is a little rusty now but basic coding skills are a must.
here ye, here ye!
Hehe. Or even, "Hear Ye!" :P
haha or that. :P
I really enjoy these types of posts as a good break from the pagerank /301 redirects etc type posts I read all day.
Although you touched on it in #5 and #10 , I think one of your strongest qualities is simply being a decent guy. There's a great deal of arrogance in this industry, and while it's great that people enjoy being the best, it can be offputting.
From my own perspective, I think the desire and willingness to try new things is the quality that serves me best. You can pick a great deal up from blogs, but without trying & testing new ideas, you'll only ever be following rather than leading.
Not to sound like a kiss up, but I agree that Rand being a decent guy has been a major aspect of his SEO career. :)
You're crazy - that Rand guy is a total butthole. He's all mean and stuff.
You're right, I AM crazy! But not on this point. :)
I love it when you write blogposts like this Rand, you should have a category called "beyond SEO" :) Inspirational, honest and straight talking!
I agree with all these points, I would possibly add 'Creativity' to the list, at least from my point of view. It has plenty of times where ideas has saved the day, espeically when it comes to link development. I was recently working with a client that sells memory foam mattresses. Now I had NO idea how competitve this market is in the SERPs, we misjudged how much time we would need to spend on link development. But after spending a few hours 'putting our heads together' we came up with a totally different strategy. We had to think of a different way of getting those links, something that would pull in referring traffic as well as slowly building up the links. We created an article about "sleeping during pregnancy" and the importance and the possible solution of using a memory foam mattress. The client even added a specific 'pregnancy support pillow' to the product range. A relatively simple idea helped turning the campaign around, it became a lot easier to negotiate links when we had something to give back. My point is that sometimes you have to be able to completely change strategy, be creative, really think about who the customer might be. Ideas are the pillar of any marketing. And Rand - you are full of ideas, heck you tought me all about linkbait to start with :)
'Bout the only one I'd add, Rand...is you also obviously have a true PASSION for what you do...while that one isn't included in your list, it is quite apparent to those of us who've read your opinions now for years....
Well done, lad! Nice to have you in SEO!:-)Jim
Great list. I'd like to add my .02.
Paying attention to detail
It's the one thing the Navy instilled in me (many years ago), and something I find useful every day. Makign sure that all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed is an underrated skill.
I would add 2 additional skills:
13. The ability to focus. This may fall under the "stubborn jackass" category, but most truly successful people, including SEO's, combine the ability to focus on a certain area of specialty (blogging, social media, link building, etc) but still learn as much as they can about lots other areas, because they realize that real expertise is about drawing on a broad range of sources, not just navel gazing. That new trick you learned related to social media may help your link building, for example.
14. Knowing how to deal with big (and small) clients or departments. Basically, knowing how to actually be effective. It's all well and good to know that you need to fix a redirect, but if you can't communicate that to BOTH marketing and IT in such a way that it get's done, you really are not doing your job, are you? This might fall under your "communication" category, but I tend to think of it as more of a political survival skill.
Great post, Rand, but I think you missed out the most important skill.
That is the ability to stand out from the crowd without getting in everyone's face. You do that extremely well. It's all about likeability, sociability, just getting on with people.
It requires that old marketing skill of being customer-centric. Think what other people will find valuable then deliver on that.
Great list I would definitely agree that Data analysis is the top skill set. SEO requires making decisions based on heaps of excel spread sheets. The better data modeller you are the more you can automate these decision.
One of the best tips is to LEARN EXCEL's vlookup(), hlookup(), and master conditional formatting.
For me I did my undergraduate in languages and that has served me well because keyword research for big multi-national companies tends to span several markets and languages.
Understanding the subtleties in English is a necessary skill but if you can look at a site and can geo target and optimize for 5 languages, then you make your skillset unique even within the SEO community.
Thank you for giving hope to us other stubborn jackasses.
Networking is completely underrated by a lot of SEOs. It's not enough to know a lot about the field. Technical aspects of SEO don't sell projects... relationships and feelings do. You have to build the relationship before you can get your message across. Thanks for another quality post, Rand. I feel like I know you.
The concepts and ideas behind SEO are easy to learn (other than powerful link building) and for the most part the information is free. With an abundance of oversea and domestic SEO companies costing a fraction of what the top agencies usually cost (while claiming the same results), a competitive advantage (C.A.) is often what tips the scales and is imperative to posses.
My competitive advantage is definitely my B.S. in marketing. Branding was always involved in almost every marketing course I took which is becoming more and more important with Google's brand affinity complex and the social media craze/fad. My education allows me to fully understand the true intents of users and the keywords they use. Link baiting has also benefited from my education along with my ability to write compelling, action inducing content.
-Always be looking for ways to add to your skill/knowledge arsenal..
..next on my list is PHP :)
I'm curious... What "stubborn jackass" idea are you stuck to now Rand?
Good perspectives there... regarding #9, "never let those who say it can't be done get in the way of those actually doing it".
And regarding coding, you can't do everything yourself - ultimately, being able to find someone who can do it better and quicker than you ever could is actually a more important skill, IMO.
Thank you for the great advice.
Some of these bullet points are great for any business, particuarly numbers 9 and 11 (IMHO).
For any entrepreneur, there are going to be naysayers, mostly from people who envy your courage to go out on your own. If you're pursuing a new revenue model or charging a premium for content and/or products that others are giving away (even if yours is WAY better), the criticism can be particularly strong.
Also, if your product or content appeals to one person, by definition it will not appeal to some others. There is a tendency for people to say things like "It sucks" or "It's not worth it" when in reality it may be totally valid and just not appeal to a particular person. And you are right, doing anything but turning the other cheek and extending a handshake seems to be counterproductive.
Good advice.
Agree with all of these. Not sure if these are in order, but if they are I'd put #12 up a lot higher. It hasn't always been this way, but lately I think there are many folks from the communications/english/journalism world moving into SEO and I think many companies like getting an SEO with this type of background (though plenty still prefer the engineering/programming background).
#5 is a great one (especially if you're on your own) and it's always been the most difficult for me (outside of the multiple language coding, which I also can't do, and like you, don't really have to because of the other folks I'm around).
One thing I think I'd also add is the ability to alter your approach. If you've got one set of suggestions and tell every client you have to do it this way you'll not only not get a lot of cooperation from the people who do the work, you might also miss out on specific opportunites or limitations that other sites might not have. If you're working on existing sites, you've got to be adaptive. Learn how and why the site and the people operating the site work the way they do then build your plan around that. You could probably throw in adapting to algo and search interface changes into this one (but I think that's pretty obvious). Kind of the opposite of your #9, but you've gotta balance both.
#6 is an awesome skill to have, the only problem is when the client asks you to show him how you got the info. Pulling the facts is easy for me, telling you where I found them is the hard part.
Sticking to your guns takes an incredible amount of will power. In this case it could have costed everything. I actually enjoy your notes of self evaulation.
Total agree with being analytical!
It touches on one of my favourite quotes;
"If you can't messure it... you can't manage it."
Peter Drucker
Something which has helped me in my SEO career is always being a student first. I don't put my nose in the air because I am a veteran, I listen and learn from everyone even newbies.
A must read for all SEO aspirants. Having good writing skills will surely catapult us to be a succefful SEO and will stand out from the rest. I completely comply with that point.
Nice summary Rand !
It’d be fitting to include what couple of guys suggested above: “Passion and Creativity.”
[ I would also add ability to optimize / promote WITHOUT leaving any obvious footprints of seo Or sounding obviously promotional ;) ]
AD
Hey Rand, yup...some great reminders on what it takes to start and then grow a business...any business, not just in the SEO space.
My tip? You can't grow and succeed without growing a great team along the way...choosing the best, recognising their successes (and not being too tough when they occasionally fail) and rewarding them well, not just financially but with recognition and career development opportunities...and then, don't over manage them...give them the space to succeed even if sometimes they don't...the upside is huge.
Hard to do in the SEO space..that unique balance between the analytical and the creative that is required to kick goals is hard to find, and the consequent nature of people in this space takes a unique approach to managing them ...my biggest advice when you are looking to grow and add another team member? Never compromise.
Our selection process is somewhat lengthy...apart from meeting the technical and experience requirements we pre-interview by phone to qualify, initial interview is with the CEO, then we set some practical tasks to be completed within a week, a review of these is then followed by peer interviews from team members at a similar level (this allows new prospective team members to see more of the company culture first hand as well as engaging your own team in the process) and a final interview with the CEO.
I’m sure this sounds like a challenging process but we did this from day one when we were tiny...and very few make it through...but to grow your business you need to attract, retain and develop the best...and our staff turnover over the last five years? Zero...
Wonderful post and very helpful to me. I've been a web designer for 7+ years and am transitioning to web strategy. Articles like this on SEOmoz have been invaluable to me as I learn more about search. Your point about understanding how the internet works is an interesting one. It's something as a web designer I should know more about, but have never really had to understand in great detail. I also like your point about speaking in public, most people could probably stand to develop this skill more, myself included.
One thing a few pros in my industry have mentioned is being passionate about what you do. If you have a real love of something in your field or business, you'll be more likely to succeed. Also, a hunger for knowledge is important. Technology and trends move quickly and there is always something to learn.
Thanks again for sharing your insight.
Rand, you may say that #9, being a stubborn Jackass... but I'd argue that instead, it's having a vision and sticking to it. Sometimes even when you have the clear conviction that you can see the way things should be done, it's tough to stay the course when no one seems to agree. It's easier to bow to peer pressure than to stick to your guns. But whether you call it being a Jackass or having clarity, it's just a matter of semantics, right? LOL! Great post, thanks for sharing!
Ability to find common ground, writing skills and a genuine enthusiasm for a huge variety of specialised interests have been the top weapons in my arsenal when it comes to link buidling.
It's fascinating to see how the SEO skillset has evolved from analytical and technical towards creativity and content.
I've taken a fresh look at this, with an extensive list of all the key SEO skills in a cool infographic:
https://www.digivate.com/blog/seo/16-seo-skills-ca...
#13 - The ability to tell a good story, and no I don't mean a furphy, I mean the ability to take your audience on a journey by painting a picture of possibilities.
Also, I'm sure that having a background in HTML would be advantageous, but as has been stated with the 'willingness to learn' point in one of the comments - this ain't a show stopper.
#13: A sense of humor
(Rand, can it be developed or were you just born with it?)
I like the story that you sticked to you convicitions despite other forces. And now you are the world most known SEO.
This remindes me a quote of Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who played a major role to defeat Nazi Germany in the Second World War).
He said: "Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
That's a great quote by Churchill mikka2008. It's a real help when you are having a really bad day/week. It reminds you to just grit your teeth and tough it out.
Nice Holstein on your shirt BTW.
Thank you
i feel like ive seen this before but i really agree with the part about how the internet works and empath towards search engines. i find that it alwase helps to think "how is googles spiders going to be reading this and how will they decide what is the most realevant result" i know that seems pretty obvious but its really what i think about most while doing seo work, well that and what are the searchers thinking i guess i should just say think about everyhting really hard iono
Excellent and inspiring post!
I'm looking for recommendations on books that cover #2
I completely agree with #4. Manually marking up semantically correct - web standards compliant pages is how I got into SEO in the first place.
I commend you for #10 - false pride and the inability to admit error will always hold somebody back, both personally and professionally.
#12 (Proficiency in written Communication) is something I'm actively working on. I find that participating in forums and blogs on topics that interest me is an excellent way to keep current with industry news, make friends and last but not least, stay literate!
Matt
Just wanted to say Rand; that your one of the few SEO' that keep me entertained and captivated when you speak on camera.
It's encouraging to learn that you were once "under mountains of debt and couldn't pay the rent". Things like that help me and I'm sure many others "stick to our guns".
Loving your point 9 - stubborness / never say dead is essential to succeed in any field we reckon. Unless you're absurdly lucky.
Slightly tangential but of similar ilk, a guest post we wrote about the unexpected lessons we learnt setting up our ecommerce business: https://www.trevorginn.com/10-lessons-for-life-from-will-wynne-of-arena-flowers/
Never had any doubt that you were a good man: it reflects in all those different "skills" you are talking about!
Being articulate - in my position it is not so much the written communication but more importantly communicating verbally. It a skill to be able articulate a point with the unknowledgable (executive staff, marketers, product managers) to usability to linguistics to niche engineers. And to have a passionate, charming tone to keep those folk engaged.
Great post!
I really think that #5, #8, and #12 are often overlook when dealing with technology based fields...but ultimately no matter what you do you have to communicate with real people!
Yep, good list Rand. I wonder what most people here would consider to be a measure of success or being a successful SEO. There are a number of possibilities I can think of these being...
Happy SEO
Rich SEO
Powerful SEO
Famous SEO
If you can achieve all of the above then perhaps you are a very lucky person. I am sure that the list that you produced is a route to achieving most of my above measures of success but I think you missed a few other important ones these being...
Luck: Everyone needs a bit of luck on their side to make the right decisions, to meet the right person at the right time, to answer that call.
Timing: Being a pioneer in an industry (Like you Rand) means you have a certain gravitas. Getting in at the very beginning helps. Its not the be all and end all, fresh SEO's coming through now are making tidal waves but certainly (in my opinion) it helps.
Charisma: Being in the right place at the right time with all the experience in the world doesn't give you charisma and again IMHO this is something that helps people to remember you and it opens doors. Getting your self a big personality will help, but be nice, being rude or arrogant is not the way forward at all!
Anyway thats just my 2 pence worth. Cheers for the post Rand.
Rand's posts are always eagerly awaited.
I have been in SEO since more than 6 months now but the 12 points were a very good insight. Especially No 9. :)
Will surely keep them in mind! Thanks Rand!
Thanks Rand, it was really interesting to read about the issues you had when starting out. I'm still starting out myself and have come across various issues you've described. I have a lot to learn and many of your points are ones I will take on board!
Very inspiring post Rand. Thanks for the insight.
No.9 is most important factor imo, nothing is impossible. There are only few people who can turn "impossible" to possible, glad you are one of them.
Good job!
Great post and some very useful tips in there for people looking to get into SEO and build a reputation for themselves.
Just posted on Sphinn too: https://sphinn.com/story/119168
What was your best resource for #2? I feel like I've read about how the internet works many times, but it still has "clicked" for me.
I am interested to know if people think you need a good knowledge of PHP. I have the html/css knowledge, and contemplating heading down the PHP road. The problem is time. Spending far too much time on this site doesn't help! But if feeds the seo addiction nicely.
PHP will definitely help your efforts in SEO.
Knowing the basics of the server side language in question can sometimes help when recoding a table-soup site or template, since it occasionally neccessitates moving some snippets of often badly written code around. Dynamic sites are often cursed with spider roadblocks such as duplicate content, identical title/descriptions, etc, so the more exposure to scripting languages the quicker you'll catch the typical problems.
I don't know how useful PHP would be towards developing personalized SEO tools or extensions, but this is the direction I'd be interested in.
Rand you mentioned the illustration part.
Briefly what is the process you take for your doodles. Doodle on paper and scan, or just using ai or photoshop right off the bat?
Thanks, great post
Interestingly, Rand uses Flash for his designs!
A very solid list here. I will admit that #12 is something I take seriously and feel that I have to constantly work on.
As a take on #6, I would add that being able to identify and apply relevant data to different situations is a strong asset to have. It seams that I answer so many questions from clients with “It depends on…”. In a rapidly changing industry like this, fixing problems and developing solid solutions that are current with today’s standards (think PageRank sculpting) will serve you well.
This is a brilliant list. While the examples you give are SEO related and resonate with your audience, the items you list are universal and the advice you give, if heeded, would help anyone succeed in any field.
Thanks for the great post!
Not trying to be a jerk here, but you could've called this list "12 reasons why I think I'm awesome" and prefaced the title of each point with "I Have" and it would've read just about the same.
I think that would be a misnomer - I'm not suggesting I'm "awesome" - just that certain skills have helped me in my SEO career, and hopefully these are applicable to others who want to get into the industry.
I tried to be as upfront as possible in my messaging in the post - these aren't necessarily the "best skills" to have, or the "only way" to have success as an SEO, they're just things that have helped me personally. The reason I didn't phrase this post as "the skills you need to have to succeed as an SEO" is because I don't know if that would be true - there could be people with very different skillsets who've had at least as much if not more success than I have in this field.
If you have other items to share that you think are equally valuable or more so, I'd certainly be interested and I suspect other readers and the folks who've been emailing and asking about this topic would too.
Maybe legacyintl was justing testing your proficiency on #11.
Thanks for the response, Rand. Maybe I came off a bit mean-spirited with my assertion of your list of skills as "reasons why I'm awesome' so let me clarify what I meant a bit.
Anyone of us who's done SEO for long enough has had to call on a pretty unique skill set to make their clients happy. Of the 12 "skills" on this list - only maybe 2, 3 and 4 are skills that are really specific to SEO. I just sort of wish the rest of list of was made up of actual learnable skills like "know HTML" or "understand servers and status codes" instead of personal traits or general business skills. I try to coach everyone I hire to be as well-rounded as possible in in their skills. I force them to learn to do basic things in Photoshop and know how to present SEO data on Excel, even if they specifically wont be doing that.
How about this indespensible skill: Knowing to how to set client expectations with something as inexact as SEO. How do you explain to your client that the shiny new site they just spent 100k on might not convert quite as well as their old one at first? I could write a whole book talking to your clients about metrics.
So again, I'm sorry I came off as mean spirited but I hope you can sort of see what I meant. Cheers.