Working Hours of an SEO Specialist
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a fast-paced field that doesn’t necessarily adhere to the regular definition of working hours. Many people work their Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm jobs that allow them to “turn off” and enjoy their downtime. On the other hand, SEO specialists are part of a very dynamic field that requires they always keep on top of their game. SEO is a competitive industry where sometimes thousands of blogs and websites are targeting the same audience, not to mention the fact that the rules for SEO are constantly changing. As such, these specialists are constantly learning and developing new techniques to provide their customers with the best possible search rankings.
Research
A typical SEO specialist will spend at least an hour every day researching SEO and internet marketing blogs and forums just to stay abreast of developments in their field. In fact, this research time is one of the most critical aspects of the job, as clients are paying for a specialist. SEO professionals cannot simply rely on the techniques of yesterday; otherwise we would all be optimizing our sites without even a moment’s thought for social media.
Link Prospects
From keyword stuffing to social media, SEO as a field is always evolving, usually at a rapid pace. Nevertheless, link building continues to be one of the key elements of SEO. Still, search engines are also more sophisticated, so back links need to be relevant and high quality links in order to have a positive impact on search ranking. On average, an SEO specialist will spend at least 90 minutes of every day link building.
Mentoring
With the exception of freelance SEO professionals, most specialists also have a team of helpers. In order to grow your SEO agency, you want to develop a staff of individuals who are sometimes at the assistant level, but also may offer unique expertise. Ideally, an SEO specialist will spend 30 minutes to an hour each day mentoring assistants to help with some of the basic SEO tasks.
Social Networking
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networks are a necessity in today’s SEO world. These platforms give business owners access to thousands of potential customers, especially when you consider Facebook has more than a billion users worldwide. Moreover, there are always new and different social networks popping up, and SEO specialists need to know how to benefit from these media. Indeed, social networking takes up at least a couple hours out of every day for an SEO specialist.
Webmaster Tools and Analytics
Finally, SEO specialists need to understand not only the techniques for improving search ranking, but also whether these techniques have been effective. Visitor numbers, the source of traffic, bounce rates, the type of visitors, social analytics, and conversion rate are just a few statistics an SEO specialist will analyze to track the progress of an SEO campaign. As such, his or her day will include at least an hour either conducting analytics or learning new tools.
As you can see, an SEO specialist has a very busy job. While you may only consider the end search engine results in your internet marketing campaign, there are actually a number of complex procedures and tools that an SEO specialist employs to make your site more visible.