How Young People or Women Returning to the Workforce Can Increase Their Marketability in Digital Marketing

by Emily Roberts, Guest Contributor

When you are wanting to have a career working in digital marketing, either as a solopreneur or in a digital media job, there are certain skills and experience required to get a foot in the door. Particularly if you’re wanting to initially operate alone, you’ll need to be a Jack or Josephine of all trades, which isn’t easy when it comes to computers and software.

---

---

Not everyone has the same skillset or experience working with software. It’s often necessary to cover the basics first and gradually move up to advanced software tools used in digital marketing or related fields. Accordingly, in this article, we’ll cover some of the basic essentials first and then move onto other skills that are useful to develop for success.

European Computer Driving License (ECDL) Course
Much like with a UK driving license, an ECDL course is designed for people who are either unsure about computers or are very rusty after several years out of the workforce. New software gets developed and released, and sometimes even a new version of existing software has a different graphical user interface that’s confusing. It can be hard to get to grips with software if you were familiar with an older version before. Microsoft Office is very much this way!

An ECDL course covers IT basics and adds in some information about security to keep your computer safe while you work on it. How to use email and related features connected to it is explained too. Learning to use Microsoft Office with its suite of apps such as Word for writing, Excel for spreadsheets, and Access for databases, as well as PowerPoint to create presentations, is very useful.

These software packages are often used daily in many digital marketing positions, so it’s always good to brush up. Your “Excel-fu” or “Google Sheets-fu” must be good enough to keep up with other people in the digital marketing field. No, we’re not kidding around.
You can use the findcourses.co.uk website to locate a nearby ECDL course that appeals to you. These are self-study courses. They can take up to 100 hours to complete and lead to one or more ECDL exams.

SEO for Clients
One role that’s come into prominence in digital marketing is search engine optimisation (SEO). The role of an SEO practitioner at different levels of seniority is based around helping a website to rank higher in Google and Bing search engines.

There are many facets to the process of helping to rank a site better. Some job roles run the gamut with seemingly every aspect coming under a single person. In other situations, like with an SEO agency rather than a corporate job, SEO roles are more often broken down into individual disciplines.

The individual roles might be, for instance, a Junior Link builder that spends their time acquiring new links to the website or a Content Manager who oversees the commissioning of new content from writers for subsequent publication.

Some SEO agencies may also perform social media marketing in-house rather than outsource it, using social mentions and images shared on Instagram and Pinterest as a way to drive new traffic to a client’s website.

SEO Tools and Techniques
To work in digital marketing, it’s necessary to go beyond basic computer skills. Expanding your knowledge into the types of websites and SEO tools used to source information is a vital part of securing a higher ranking for websites. This, in turn, drives higher targeted traffic to websites and eventually creates additional sales as the value added.

One of the main SaaS tools in SEO is AHRefs.com. They have one of the most comprehensive link scanning tools. It’s said that Majestic has the highest number of links in their database but AHRefs is more comprehensive. Their online interface – no mobile app – is easy to use and provides hugely valuable information on millions of websites. This paid tool can confirm what keywords a competitor’s page currently ranks for or what links are pointing to the site. There’s also a traffic estimate both per page and for the site as a whole, which clarifies how well a competitor is doing with a piece of content.

Developing Keyword Ideas Using Other SEO Tools
Other search tools like KWFinder, KeywordsEverywhere, and UberSuggest are useful to find new keywords that would otherwise go unfound. New unmined search terms that can help a site rank higher show up in these tools by trying out ideas and looking for longer worded (long-tail) search terms that are less popular but still valuable. With practice, finding a gold mine of untapped search keywords becomes easier and is a skill in its own right.

By skilling up on IT basics and then with tools used specifically in digital marketing, it’s possible for new job seekers and returning employees to learn essential skills. Armed with knowledge and practical experience using the latest tools, it’s easier to start working in the digital marketing field while avoiding unexpected speed bumps.

---