1. Show, Don’t Tell
It doesn’t matter how pretty your resume is or how many years of experience you have. What SEO firms are looking for is evidence that you can do a good job pulling their clients’ websites to the top of search engines. Do that, and you’re in.
“What I want to look at is sites that they’ve optimized,” explains Nick Spears, the director of search for SEO firm Incredible Marketing. “And I am going to basically open up the source code; I’m going to look at how they’re optimizing title tags and things as simplistic as keyword meta tags and descriptions.”
2. Work For Anyone to Build Experience
Work on your own website. This is how both Spears and Canu got their begin. Spears says he used his first sites as “crash dummies” in order to test what worked and what didn’t work. Billy learned SEO while running an online DVD rental business. Working on your own website can be a great way to not only perfect your trade, but build a portfolio.
Volunteer to help a non-profit develop its SEO. You’ll be contributing to a cause you care about and building your portfolio at the same time.
3. Experience Trumps Degree
Since SEO is a relatively fresh field, most accreditation programs are relatively new, and universities are just now starting to offer classes on it. There are instructional programs offered through organizations like SEO company Bruce Clay and the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO), but your knowledge will trump any certification that you can buy.
4. Keep Learning
An SEO specialist’s job changes as fast as the Internet. The rise of social search and social media, for instance, has affected how SEO works.
“Someone who would come to me and say, ‘I have a very well understanding of Facebook and Twitter’ is going to be a step ahead of someone who just comes in and says, ‘I understand the SEO strategies and record and things like that,’ ” Spears says.
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