What Is an SEO Specialist? Experts Answer Your Burning Questions!

If your site won’t rank and your leads tank — who you gonna call? An SEO specialist!

Equipped with proton packs an arsenal of marketing tools, SEO specialists can get your site to the top of search engine results, so you earn more leads and revenue.

But what is an SEO specialist, and what does an SEO specialist do?

Whether you want to hire an SEO specialist or you’re looking for a career in SEO, this post answers all your burning questions.

If you want to speak directly with an SEO specialist, give us a call at 888-601-5359, or contact us online!

Otherwise, just keep reading, or choose an option below to get started!

I want to learn what an SEO specialist is
I want to hire an SEO specialist
I want a job in SEO

What is an SEO specialist?

SEO specialists create, implement, and analyze on-page and off-page optimization strategies to help sites rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Good SEO specialists will work with you to:

Audit your website and existing SEO strategy
Identify and implement optimization strategies like:
- Creating keyword-rich SEO content
- Building valuable backlinks to your site
- Optimizing technical SEO elements like your site code and page speed
Use data to evaluate and improve SEO and rankings
And more!

Some SEO specialists have different expertise, focus areas, and processes — especially in-house vs. agency SEO specialists.

WebFX delivers measurable SEO results

WebFX has helped us expand our digital footprint not only in Central PA and the mid-Atlantic, but also throughout the Continental U.S.

All Pro Trailer Superstore

See the testimonial

113%

YTD SEO

Conversion Increase

46%

YTD SEO

User Increase

Insights from the experts: What’s the role of an SEO specialist?

To give you an inside look at what an SEO specialist is and what SEO specialists do, our experts weighed in.

Trevin Shirey
Senior Director of Business Development

“An SEO specialist is somebody with a wide range of skills within the SEO realm: The ability to make changes to a website to help it perform better in search engines.

This could involve many things, including making changes to the content of a website, making server-level code changes, adjusting the structure of a site, and more. Search engines take a look at many different factors when they evaluate a site, so an SEO specialist needs to have a variety of skills to help improve search visibility. A talented SEO specialist has both technical skills and marketing know-how.”

Cheyenne Ford
Senior SEO Consultant

“The role of an SEO specialist is to monitor trends and new releases related to the core algorithms for key search engines such as Google and Bing to determine a strategy for ranking websites better in organic results across the web.

Based on this analysis and industry research, we then determine the best course of action for the website and make updates to things from the page content, headings, and user experience — all the way to more technical items such as page speed, HTML code, title tags, meta descriptions, and more.

Ideally, the goal is to meet the expectations of a user based on their search query with the information that we provide on the page that they land on.

On a day-to-day basis, we monitor websites to ensure there are no overarching issues, perform competitor analysis, review rankings, dive into Analytics tools to track traffic and performance, and monitor lead/revenue data and then report back to and update clients on the actions taken.”

Video: What does an SEO specialist do?

Check out our video with Trevin below to learn more about what SEO specialists do and how they can help grow your business!

How do I find and hire an SEO specialist?

Want to work with an SEO specialist to boost your site rankings but not sure how to get started?

We have a few helpful resources:

What Does an SEO Company Do?
5 Biggest Benefits of Hiring an SEO Company
SEO Professionals: 5 Reasons to Hire an Expert
5+ Questions to Ask Before Hiring an SEO Company
In-House Marketing vs. Agency Marketing: Pros, Cons, & Cost

Pro tip: Before hiring an SEO specialist, make sure you know what their plans and pricing include.

At WebFX, our SEO experts follow the R.O.C.K.E.T. SEO process, which includes:

Research
Optimization
Content
Keywords
Earned media and links
Testing

To learn more about our transparent pricing and what it’s like working with SEO specialists at WebFX, check out our custom SEO packages!

Independent research from Clutch has named WebFX the top SEO company in the United States.

Over 200 WebFX clients have been interviewed by Clutch to discuss their experience partnering with us.
Check out more Clutch reviews

How to become an SEO specialist

If you’re looking to kickstart your SEO career, we have some tips for you too!

To become an SEO specialist, many people pursue a Bachelor’s degree in:

Business
Marketing
Journalism / Communications
Computer Science
Information Systems
Statistics
Or a related field

However, the specific requirements for working in SEO vary depending on your employer and SEO focus area.

SEO specialist job description

SEO specialist job descriptions also vary based on the type of company and whether the position is in-house or with an agency.

SEO specialist job descriptions typically include responsibilities like:

Conducting keyword research
Analyzing competitor websites
Consulting with clients about their business goals
Optimizing client websites for search engines
Calculating ROI and preparing monthly SEO campaign reports
And more!

What skills does an SEO specialist need?

Our expert SEO recruiter, Cat, shared the top skills you need to succeed as an SEO specialist.

Cat Maniscalco
SEO & Digital Marketing Recruiter

Analytics skills are definitely a plus with SEO! We always recommend pursuing certifications if a candidate is interested in learning more, but specifically, I’d say Google Analytics and Google Ads are particularly helpful to have under your belt!
Ability to read and understand data! Using data to think critically and make optimizations moving forward.
Familiarity/comfortability with Microsoft Office Suite
Ability to conduct A/B testing is a plus!
Some programs to explore/look into/read about: GTM (Google Tag Manager), Google Ads, SEMrush

To learn more and view open SEO positions at WebFX, head over to our careers page and apply to join our team!