Email, PPC/paid search, and social media marketing are all effective pillars of digital marketing. However, in terms of importance, none of those areas come close to search engine optimization. For that reason, the job of an SEO consultant is recession-proof.

Since millions of people turn towards search engines to look for answers, every business owner wants their website to show up on the first page for relevant search queries. However, wrapping our brains around complex Google algorithms and figuring out ways to play by the rules is difficult.

Take Pritish Kumar Halder’s guidance and get detailed knowledge about SEO.

What is SEO?

Simply put, SEO refers to the practice of optimizing a website such that it appears in top results on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), helping increase organic traffic to the website. For instance, you have started a blog about your services, but it does not rank high on SERPs. There could be different reasons behind it.

 

• Better content on your competitors’ websites
• Weaker keywords
• Poor link building practices
• Slow load time of webpage
• Lack of good user experience on your website

In order to improve your website’s ranking, you’ll have to adopt different SEO techniques. But, before learning the techniques, let us understand the common types – black hat SEO and white hat SEO.

 

What is Black Hat SEO?

Black hat SEO is the practice which violates the terms of service of a search engine. While black hat SEO can help in increasing page ranking temporarily, in a longer time, it can lead to the website getting banned from search engines and affiliate sites. This is because black hat SEO works against the terms of service of a search engine. Some of the techniques and practices used in black hat are:

 

• Stuffing of keywords
• Manipulation of links
• Creation of articles, pages, or site landing pages with duplicate content

Please keep in mind that while there may be a temporary increase and short-term success in terms of traffic to the website with black hat, in the long run, stringent penalties from Google will be levied to the website. This will have a huge aftereffect on the ranking and traffic of the website.

 

What is White Hat SEO?

In white hat SEO, the SEO tactics used are in agreement with the terms and conditions put forth by various search engines and are widely used without any risk of penalties. In simple terms, it is the opposite of black hat. Some of the techniques of white hat include:

 

• Creation of original content and services
• Creating a website that is mobile friendly
• Using clear and keyword-rich meta tags

White hat SEO is a surefire way of improving a website’s ranking on SERP and maintaining it. It will also help in maintaining the integrity of a website.

Who is an SEO Consultant?

An SEO consultant is an SEO expert who devises, implements, and executes a comprehensive SEO strategy – covering both on-page and off-page facets – to improve and maintain the rankings of their clients in Google, Bing, and/or Yahoo organic search engine results.

These professionals offer their SEO consulting services on freelance or contractual basis (just like a marketing consultant). An employer may choose to call their full-time in-house SEO expert a “consultant” on paper, but usually that’s not the case.

 

Startups and large Fortune 500 enterprises alike seek the services of SEO consultants. Furthermore, SEO consultants can serve a wide variety of niches, ranging from healthcare to real-estate.

 

Most consultants offer their services as a freelancer through different online platforms, independently as a registered SEO company/SEO agency, or both.

Different SEO Techniques and Strategies

There are two common types of SEO strategies – on-page SEO and off-page SEO. Continue reading to know about them in detail:

 

On-page SEO

Of the two types of SEO strategies, on-page SEO deals with optimizing website elements. For implementing on-page SEO, we must take certain factors into consideration, such as

 

Keyword Research

It is important to understand the keywords that you need to rank for, herein, extensive keyword research can help. Some components of keyword research include:

 

• Search volume
• Competition
• Relevancy
• Title Tag

This is the header title element that displays the website content summary on the search engine results page. This is one of the most important factors of on-page SEO. Search engines display the first 50 to 60 characters of the title tag.

 

Meta Description

This refers to a brief description of a web page’s content and is again displayed on the search engine page results below the title. Meta description can give a person a better understanding of a webpage they are looking for.

 

URL Structure

This means Uniform Resource Locator and using SEO-friendly URLs can help in understanding a webpage better.

 

Header Tags

They help in identifying headings and subheadings. Header tags also enable search engines to understand the content in a better manner.

 

Internal Link

Internal links help users in navigating through the website and ensure link equity.

 

Off-page SEO

Now that we know what on-page SEO is, let us take a look at off-page SEO. It is the process that helps in improving a website’s ranking on the search engine results page and strengthens its credibility. In this strategy, actions are taken outside of the website to improve the rankings on SERPs.

 

Some benefits of off-page SEO include an increase in traffic, better page ranking, and brand awareness. The purpose of off-page SEO is link building and the quality of the content is a key factor here. For other websites to backlink to your website, it is essential to publish original and well-structured content.

SEO Consultant job profile

SEO Consultants are responsible for planning, implementing and managing company clients’s overall SEO strategy. They usually cover a wide variety of duties such as web marketing, web analytics, content strategy planing, link building, and keyword strategy.

 

In order to attract SEO Consultant that best matches your needs, it is very important to write a clear and precise SEO Consultant job description.

 

SEO Consultant job description

We are looking for an experienced and knowledgeable SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Manager to join our Marketing team! As a SEO Manager you will be responsible for planning, implementing and managing our SEO strategy. As our online presence is extremely important for the success of business, your position will play a huge role in driving our business’ growth and success.

SEO Consultant duties and responsibilities

• Plan, develop and implement our SEO strategy
• Work towards organic search optimization and ROI maximization
• Regularly perform thorough keywords research
• Build strong relationships with cleints
• Ask for client referrals
• Identify possibilities for new clients
• Up-sell when appropriate
• Identify key SEO KPIs
• Monitor redirects, click rate, bounce rate, and other KPIs
• Prepare and present reports regularly
• Identify our buyer persona to better target identified audiences
• Identify problems and deficiency and implement solutions in a timely manner
• Suggest improvements for process and productivity optimization
• Work with web developers and marketing teams to properly implement SEO best practices
• Stay up to date with the latest SEO and digital marketing latest trends and best practices

How to Become an SEO Consultant

Becoming an SEO consultant requires a certain level of experience, technical know-how, and a diverse skillset.

 

Here’s what you have to do:

 

Gain Relevant Credentials – you don’t necessarily need to have a bachelor’s degree to be an SEO consultant, but formal education will give you a significant edge. Furthermore, having certifications that validate your skills is highly recommended (even more so than going to college).

Gather Ample Experience – at minimum, an SEO consultant needs to have between 3 to 5 years of experience of experience. This experience can be built in an agency or independently as a freelancer.

Build a Strong Skillset – a consultant should be proficient in different SEO tools and platforms, like Moz, Ahrefs, SEMrush, Google Analytics, etc. Some level of coding skills will also be a huge plus. Furthermore, soft skills like communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking are a huge plus.

Even if you don’t tick all of the aforementioned boxes, there’s no one stopping you from calling yourself an SEO consultant and starting your own agency. However, in order to stand out from the competition, the more prepared you are, the better.

 

How Much Do SEO Consultants Make? (What to Demand or Pay)

Online marketing professionals, including SEO consultants, are well-compensated for the expertise they bring to the table.

According to Ahrefs, most SEO consultants/companies charge their clients a monthly retainer fee. This fee varies greatly from country to country, but rarely exceeds $5,000 per month. Furthermore, the most popular pricing range is between $501 to $1,000 per month.

 

For SEOs – the more experience, better portfolio, and impressive credentials you have, the higher you can charge.

 

SEO Consultant requirements and qualifications

• X years of experience as SEO Consultant or similar role
• X years of experience with planning and implementing a successful SEO strategy
• Proven success in SEO
• X years of experience web analytics, marketing, and business development
• Experience with A/B testing and other testing metrics
• Knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• Ability to analyze data and provide evidence-based recommendations
• Good negotiationskills
• Some experience in sales is preferred
• Sense of ownership and pride in your performance and its impact on company’s success
• Critical thinker and problem-solving skills
• Team player
• Good time-management skills
• Great interpersonal and communication skills
• Degree in relevant quantitative fields.