If you are not from an IT background, the chances are high that you may not know about SEO. It might be tempting to hear SEO all around you and several job openings for SEO experts. So what exactly is SEO? Do you need a college degree for an SEO career? You will get the answers to all these questions in this blog.
Do you need a college degree for an SEO career?
Not exactly. There is no formal training in this discipline. However, you can find crash SEO courses from industry experts. Frankly speaking, to become an SEO Specialist, you need to have the ability to demonstrate your skills and the versatility to adapt to the ever-changing environment of SEO.
No one is going to ask you for a degree directly related to SEO. Usually, job postings for SEO Specialists and Consultants ask for a Bachelor’s or equivalent diploma in marketing, IT, communication, or business. Even knowledge in marketing is a valuable asset as SEO Specialists work closely with the marketing team.
You have to be disciplined and possess a knack for learning and relearning to have a successful SEO career. To this date, the self-taught SEO specialists are the ones who rule the space. If you can write and build an online audience, you can definitely become an SEO expert.
Of course, there are other factors too that determine the success rate. You will learn gradually as the blog progresses.
Can you learn SEO on your own?
Yes, you can learn SEO on your own, but you have to be patient and dedicated. Many people do not discern that learning on your own demands great discipline and restraint. It’s all science and technical skills. You will become better as you learn, try, and try again.
SEO courses will help you a lot in the process and make things a little simple. Be careful of whom you choose to learn from. Your degree in business, marketing, or communication may help you along the way, but not enough to kick start your SEO expert journey.
You may lack many core competencies needed to work as an SEO expert. Similarly, an SEO career is a continuous learning process. You always have to refine your skill and knowledge. The SEO field is continuously evolving, and you have to evolve with it too.
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Is there any College degree for an SEO career?
No, there is no college degree for an SEO career. You may have to show a bachelor’s degree in fields like computer science, internet marketing, digital marketing, communications, information technology, or business administration.
During your college, you can look out for opportunities to be involved in classes like:
- Communications Strategy and New Media
- Analysis and Optimization of Digital Media
- Digital Analytics and Marketing Metrics
- Digital Consumer Search and Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Digital Consumer Behavior
- Fundamentals of Mobile Technology
- SEO Strategy
- Search Engine Marketing Analytics
The above topics will help you a lot and make you strong with your knowledge. Even if you take a digital marketing degree, all the above topics will never be covered. It is all about learning different things and combining them all to give the maximum result.
You can also take a training course for SEO from digital media companies in Kathmandu and around Nepal. Check out their performance and work before enrolling.
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SEO Certifications
Many institutions offer certificate programs in SEO. Do remember, not every training program may deliver the best result. You may get to know the skin, but to know deep infrastructure, you have to select the right SEO course.
You don’t have to spend a lot of time and money on the SEO certificate course. It is only valuable if the employers believe them to be.
Check out if there is any certificate employers are looking for while hiring SEO specialists on job portals. It will help you decide whether you should take a course or not just for the sake of the requirement.
Are SEO Certifications worth it?
Yes, if you want to make a career in this field and if you cannot learn on your own. Even though many have predicted the demise of SEO constantly in the media, SEO isn’t dead. The continuous evolution in the algorithm does have changed pretty much a huge space in SEO. But at the same time, better technologies and practices have taken place.
As per data, Google sees 3.5 billion search queries every minute. To get a pie of those searchers, companies spend hundreds and thousands of dollars.
The journey to SEO specialists doesn’t begin with a top-paid SEM professional unless you are exceptionally skilled and show the result. The average SEO specialist salary, as per the Pascale, is about $45,000, and the SEO manager is $98,000. You make more depending upon your skill.
We also recommend, do not limit yourself to search engine optimization only. Having skills like writing and being good with people may open further doors for growth.
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Comparing Best SEO Certification 2022
SEO Certifications Google
- Best for beginners
- 13 hours course length
- Free of cost
- Learn the key elements for creating an effective SEO strategy that includes how to select keywords and perform keyword research, consumer psychology, and search behaviour
- Learn to do on-page SEO analysis
SEO Certifications Online (Lynda, Udemy, Hubspot)
- Best for beginners to advance level
- 4 hours to 10+ hours
- Both free and paid
- Designed by industry professionals
- Offers beginner to advanced levels of training
SEO Certifications LinkedIn
- Best for beginners to advance level
- Half an hour to 14 hours long courses
- Several choices from short to long-range courses
- Both free and paid
Most Important Quality for an SEO Personnel:
Skill
There are three dimensions that you have to master; Technical (understanding the structure of the site to determine how search engines crawl and index the content), On-page optimization, and off-page optimization. All of the above skills help design strategy from the three principal angles for maximum result. No employer will want a one-dimensional SEO.
Furthermore, soft skills like building relationships, critical thinking, speaking & writing ability, social skills, analytics skills, data skills, and drive, motivation & adaptability also have great value in an SEO career. These skills will help land projects, understand clients, and analyze the needs of the business and its targeted audience to give the best results.
Adaptability to changes
Google always thrived to create a better experience for its users to explore and show the best relevant result. To do so, they regularly tweak their algorithm. And as an SEO specialist, you not only have to be updated with those tweaks but also adopt them in the website. Failure to do so will hamper the website’s ranking.
Conclusion
So, the answer is no. You don’t need a college degree for an SEO career. There are many free resources available on the internet that can help you kick-start your career as an SEO specialist. And if you think you need certified training to boost your SEO specialist career, then go ahead and join one. There are several free and paid courses to help you with it.
