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Finding a career in SEO and digital marketing

1 Reply MattRawlings

If you’re looking to move into a career that’s only getting bigger and more influential in the IT industry, then look no further than SEO and digital marketing agencies. The industries are growing rapidly, with more and more opportunities for passionate computer and content enthusiasts to make a difference to the online world.

SEO Graph - GoogleSEO – or search engine optimisation to give it its full title – is the process of creating websites that are viewed favourably by Google and meeting the requirements of its algorithm. Get on Google’s good side, and you’ll find the site you’re working on ranks in the highest positions, but get it wrong and the consequences could be disastrous.

Getting it wrong could be anything from over optimizing the page with key terms and phrases that you want the site to rank well for, as Google will see this as an almost ‘spammy’ attempt at manipulating the rankings; or linking to poor authority or frowned upon websites, such as adult entertainment or gambling.

Digital marketing is an area of SEO that has grown out of the main search campaigns, and become one of the most influential strategies going at improving web traffic. In the past, it was a case of blogging on the site itself being crucial, to show that the site is being regularly updated with high quality content on a frequent basis, as opposed to a flash in the pan campaign around peak times.

Now, it’s all about creating the high quality content and distributing it to high authority websites with strong domain rankings, page rankings and more, and linking back to the site you’re working with to build up a backlink profile that Google’s crawlers take one look at and think – yes, I like what this site is about and doing, they can rank highly.

These two areas of the tech world open up a variety of career opportunities for a wide range of people. From those sitting at home having graduated from University or left college, searching the web for jobs in Portsmouth in an attempt to get their foot on the ladder; as well as those in the big city already established in online or ICT careers. For those with a passion for writing, there are content writing positions springing up – either as full-time or freelance positions – and also opportunities for those looking to do something more pro-active with websites and the Internet, challenging yourself to overcome the challenges set by the site owners and Google to achieve what your client demands. This is usually the number one ranking for their “key term”, or the first page of the search results.

SEO: certainly not DIY

10 Replies MattRawlings

While many of us fancy ourselves as DIY experts; sawing, hammering and nailing bits together to create a new set of shelves, or putting a picture on the wall, SEO is not something you can ‘blag’ your way through. There are just too many complicated and frequently changing factors involved that require expertise as opposed to an instruction book.

A lot of people in the IT industry, or working “in IT” for large businesses feel as though their limited knowledge of SEO is enough that the firm doesn’t have to bring in experts in the field, and that they can do it themselves. However, history and case studies show us that this is the start of a slippery slope. A lot of businesses who opt to do their own SEO soon find that they’re being penalized by Google for over-optimisation of their site, essentially ‘spamming’ the site with the terms that they want to be seen ranking highly for, and Google subsequently prevents them from doing so, knocking them down the rankings or not including them at all.

One of the main reasons that firms opt against bringing in so-called SEO experts is that they believe all of the best firms are based in the United States and that they charge overwhelming amounts. However, there are plenty of British and Irish SEO agencies who are gaining reputations for being among the very best in the industry, and, what’s more, they don’t charge the substantial American fees and – for those based in the UK and Ireland – they’re working at the same times as you, there’s no time zone changes, meaning that if you have any issues or need to contact them for an update, they should be on-hand whenever you need them.

An upwards arrowFor those still not convinced on the advantages of bringing in an SEO firm, you have to question how you want to get to the “next level” in your industry. You might be doing very well, but you always want to be doing better – ambition is only natural with any business. But sometimes, no matter how good your existing in-house IT team may be, they don’t have the expertise in SEO to find the strategies to take you from the top 20 search results for your key term to the first page, top 5, number one, wherever it is you want to be.

With so many strategies in an ever-evolving industry, there’s no way this is a DIY job. Reaching the next level is serious stuff and therefore needs the best in the business, not the amateurs.

Some ideas as to how you can write engaging articles

2 Replies Christopher Roberts

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Grabbing the attention of a reader – and keeping it – can make or break a blog. Usually, bloggers become successful and well known within a particular niche not by writing in essay style about a subject, but by approaching and executing a piece of content in a particular way.

Here’s how…

Decide on an interesting topic

The first job is arguably the most important and that’s picking about something interesting to write about. Engaging content can come in many different forms, with the most common being interviews, lists, news, opinion, research findings, infographics, cool images and graphics.

Have a catchy headline

Decide on a title that’ll immediately make somebody sit up and take notice as they scroll down a page. There’s no point crafting a brilliant blog post if you can’t get it under the noses of your target audience. Keep it short. Keep it snappy.

Develop your own writing style

Different bloggers have different writing styles – and it’s important to find what works best for you. Don’t just copy the style of blogs you read, develop your own style. Remember, blogs are very personal things – so personalise yours!

The text: different writing styles

Think about your target audience

Before you start writing a piece you should really take five minutes to decide who the target audience is. Ask yourself: who is going to read the article? Why will they want to read this? What’s the ‘hook’ that will ensure this article is seen?

Consider how the information is displayed

As well as being pleasing to read in terms of the content, it needs to be pleasing on the eye as well, so use images, subheadings and short paragraphs. A big chunk of text is likely to put readers off, so make your blog posts as easy to read as possible.

Show some link love

Link to relevant external sources within your blog posts if applicable because this adds value to your articles and acts as a way of recommending other pieces of content that may be useful to the reader. You never know, somebody could link back to your article one day.

At the end of the day these are principles that can be applied to your blogging whatever your niche.