Level up your SEO Career: Where to start?

by Rilind Elezaj, Guest Contributor

If you are planning on starting a career in SEO, then you have chosen a great career path. This career is thriving now more than ever because of the rise of online marketing: Every e-commerce website wants to rank high on Google and other search engines. So if you feel like you have the right skills, then, by all means, enter the SEO business ASAP.

To succeed in this field, however, you will need more than skills.
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You will need to be dedicated, you will definitely use some help from the veterans, and you will need some high levels of discipline. This article expands on this topic by telling you what you need to do to level up your SEO career.

1.    Working with a life coach
Research shows that 99% of all professionals who work with life coaches go on to prosper in their careers. A reputable life coach will help you improve your work performance, confidence, and zeal. He or she will be your source of inspiration; the confidant with whom you share your fears and desperations.

Go to a life coach if you are battling with questions such as: How do I start my SEO career? Where do I start? How do I change my lifestyle and philosophy in order to succeed in this career? How do I develop a plan for losing approaching clients and getting them to trust me with their SEO needs? How do I prevent career failure?

2.    Take stock of what you have and what you need to acquire
What do you have at the moment that can aid your SEO growth? Asses your level of expertise and take stock of the tools, software, and any other small detail that would be necessary for your career growth. Do you need a website? Remember that having your own website will give you a great platform for testing your skills and also help you market your services. Stocktaking will help you to understand where you need to improve and the tools to acquire.

3.    Market yourself on SEO freelancing platforms
Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer are some of the SEO freelancing platforms that you can check out. There are many more, of course, so your choices are not limited. Once you have a profile here, start bidding on the hundreds of SEO jobs that clients post on these platforms. You will be able to create a strong customer base within no time.

And what’s more, you will meet many more seasoned SEO experts working on these platforms so you will have a chance to ask them questions and learn a thing or two. Also, there are many professional freelancers’ groups on social media that you can join. Such groups will help you with tricks of surviving in the business and advise you on what to do in case of a scuffle with fraudulent clients.

4.    Be dedicated
If you are working with an online freelance platform, you will be expected to go big or go home. If clients complain too much about your skills and services, you might be banned from working with the platform ever again. And if you receive too many low ratings, clients will stop trusting you with their projects. Your only option here is to work very hard and make everyone happy. Also, work for many hours so that you can earn more money and more 5-star ratings.

One more thing: Sell your services with utmost dedication. Talk with clients, ask them to hire you, thank them when they hire you and do everything in your power to make them love you. Remember that a happy client will recommend you to many other clients so you will grow faster financially and professionally.

5.    Add more skills
The worst thing that can happen to your SEO career is professional stagnation. Don’t allow money to blind you and prevent you from learning new skills. Without learning something new, chances are that new SEO experts with new skillsets will edge you out of business. After, new skills are perfect for your CV.

6.    Have a budget
Although you may not need a lot of cash to level up your SEO career, you will need a small working budget to keep you afloat in case of any unseen inconveniences. Save a few dollars in your account so that when your career hits turbulence (this happens everywhere, all the time) you will have enough money to sustain yourself.

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