? Advanced SEO techniques, including page titles, META descriptions, META keyword sets, internal page cross-linking, search engine submissions, robots.txt files and domain name management
? Comprehends keyword weighting, proximity, density and related factors
? Search term ranking analysis
? Link popularity building research, management and strategy
? Online forum and industry newsletter monitoring
? National SEO conferences
? HTML and advanced programming languages
? Web site content writing
? Essential Web site usability practices
? Keyword research, including a firm understanding of language and the way people search
? Web analytics, including understanding common and complex metrics associated with visitors, unique visitors, page views, online sales, profitability and more
? Ability to see the big picture and not go so overboard with SEO practices that the web site gets banned from major search engines
? Appreciation for ethical standards (i.e. should know about cloaking, keyword stuffing and the differences and nuances associated with "black hat" and "white hat").
? Marketing and branding experience
? Project management, including ability to effectively communicate needs and foster cooperation from appropriate stakeholders
? Familiarity with pay per click (PPC) programs and how their performance directly relates to natural SEO results
? Management of paid inclusion (72-hour rapid indexing programs)
? How to adjust to the changing algorithms of search engines
The search engine optimization field is complex and ever-changing. To keep pace, you should have plenty of skills on hand. Overall, the SEO program process should be simple: set goals, choose the best keywords, optimize pages, submit to search engines and refine efforts in light of rankings and web analytics.
