Do you know that Google processes about 9 billion searches daily? That’s 99,000 searches per second, an insane number, we must say! Even still, some content will never be discovered by searchers owing to low rankings on the search engine. That can be frustrating to site owners, and that’s where your service comes in as an SEO expert.
As an SEO expert intending to move to oversea, you should know the top SEO skills in demand before making a move. Otherwise, you may not be considered when you get there.
In this post, we’ll reveal the top SEO skills you should know before moving to oversea. We will also let you know some other skills that may help increase your chance of employment in oversea as an expert. So, read on!
Table of Contents
Top 3 SEO skills you should know
Here are the top 3 skills you should know before moving abroad:
1. Link Building
Link Building is perhaps Google’s most important ranking factor. Link building is simply a way of acquiring links to your client’s website from other websites. With this technique, the traffic of the website will increase drastically, causing more sales.
Since link building is just a way of acquiring links from one website to another, you don’t need much to start it. Just ensure you have influential link-building resources like blog articles to build the links on.
The average annual salary of a link builder in the US is $55,186. You can even make double of that if your bargaining skills are high.
2. Keywords Research Skills
By definition, keyword research is an SEO strategy that involves finding and analyzing search questions or terms people enter into search engines, particularly Google. That means your goal as a keyword research specialist is to find relevant search query audience types in Google.
Keyword usage varies with regions and so your research skills should be international to succeed in a foreign country. For example, country domains are different even for search engines, and results from keyword searches would not be the same. The reason is each region of the world has its lingo structure, expression, specific phrasing, and distinct information needs.
Some of the important tools you need to succeed as a keyword research specialist are:
- Google keyword planner
- Semrush
- Growth bar
As a keyword research specialist, you can earn as high as $128,797. That’s huge, isn’t it?
3. On-Page SEO Skills
On-Page SEO is the process of optimizing webpage contents like HTML tags, images, articles, and headlines in a website, so the website can rank high in most search engines. To achieve this, the contents of the website must be of high quality and original.
To be successful in this SEO field, you must be good at keyword research and usage, URL optimization, and external and internal linking.
What other skills do you need as an SEO expert before moving to oversea?
Whether you are moving abroad with a sponsorship licence or not, you require some other skills to complement your SEO skills. Some of them are:
1. Web Analytics and Tracking
As an SEO specialist, you must know how to get feedback on all methods you’ve applied to increase traffic flow and optimization. That would also help you prove to your superiors that you have been working. As of now, no software rival Google Analytics. It allows you to get reports based on specific needs.
But that’s not all. You just must know how to read heat maps, use tracking mechanisms, and Google Tag Manager.
2. Technical and Programming Skills
Perhaps you haven’t seen the need for these in your country, but the probability is you’ll need these skills to work overseas. SEO professionals should be able to offer suggestions about page speed, rendering, lazy loading, and server-side redirects. You’ll also do well if you understand microdata tagging and basic HTML tags.
Another reason is that you may be working closely with developers, and the last thing you need is to look like a fool when they speak their jargon. Hiring is more competitive abroad, and you do not want to lack these weapons in your arsenal when going for a job interview.
3. Critical Thinking
We know there are different tools to use as an SEO professional, but these tools are only as powerful as the user’s mind. Since you intend to continue your SEO practice abroad, it is crucial to hone your critical thinking skills. The result is you will be better at creating reasonable hypotheses for solving your problems and getting a quicker result.
4. Defining the Audience
We know you’re good at what you do, but it’s a different ball game when practicing SEO abroad. SEO practices vary with countries and regions, so understanding how to research and reach your audience tailored to your destination country is crucial.
Knowledge of Google Analytics is not even an option. You should also know how to mine data from social media like Facebook and Twitter. That will help you know the topics your audience enjoys.
5. Social Skills
There is no one-size-fits-all technique to becoming an excellent international SEO professional. Your social mastery should be above par when relating with other SEO professionals if you hope to get some tips and tricks from them.
As a pro, you need to keep mutating with knowledge from others if you’ll remain in the game. We all know that SEO practices are ever-changing as search engines continually find new ways to be more specific about the content they provide their clients.
6. Data Skills
You wouldn’t get far without top-notch skills in data analysis and manipulation. The ability to pull data isn’t sufficient to prepare for the international scene. You’ll need advanced knowledge of regular software like Microsoft Excel. You should be able to create templates that can help solve problems.
If you can, enroll to learn advanced data applications like R and Python to do more with the data you mine.
Another thing you’ll need is a basic understanding of the statistical concept. This will help you know how to measure the effects of SEO practices.
7. Effective Communication Skills
Beyond writing articles, SEO professionals should be ready to speak in high-pressure scenarios. Non-SEO people want to understand what you’re doing to make some decisions. Believe it or not, most often, your fate would be resting in the hands of such persons at work.
Communication must be effective if you will convince internal teams and external clients, as the case may be.
Conclusion
Where are you considering plying your SEO career abroad? Should you have your mind on the US, you would need a US lawyer for immigration to guide you in getting your relevant document ready. More than anything, be flexible and learn to adapt quickly to changes because only a few occupations require this attribute more than SEO practice.
