Freelance SEO has become a huge field for a reason, attracting a lot of newcomers who want to break into the SEO world and take on jobs for themselves. However, going freelance is never easy, especially not in a fast-moving industry like SEO.
Getting started as an SEO freelancer means planning ahead and understanding the kind of market that you are about to walk into. Becoming an SEO specialist is not easy, but it also does not have to be hard – you just need to know which steps to take.
Start With the Basics
Freelance SEO requires a lot of training, but you do not need to do all of that training straight away. As long as you understand basic SEO concepts and how to use the most common SEO tools, you can start taking on SEO work almost immediately.
Start with the absolute basics – Google SEO courses, basic training materials, SEO report templates – and focus on the specifics later down the line. Jumping too far ahead only makes it harder to define your actual skillet.
Get Certifications
SEO certifications are invaluable for a brand new freelance SEO specialist. While they are no match for a portfolio of past work, they at least show commitment to the role and a desire to learn more, something that makes you inherently more hireable than a random person chosen from the internet.
There are a lot of free or cheap SEO certifications out there, including specialized options for niches like building backlinks and handling affiliate marketing. If you are starting from nothing, then a few certifications can make a big difference. You need to prove that you are not a mere Fiverr SEO service.
Be Flexible
The biggest mistake you can make as a freelance SEO specialist is to set limits for yourself. It is one thing to not want to take on certain kinds of work due to moral preferences (like avoiding SEO for gambling sites), but you do not want to focus too hard on a single niche as your primary goal.
The world of SEO is constantly moving, and so should your skillset. Do not stop learning new techniques, even after you take on your first freelance role. If a company is outsourcing SEO to you, then they will expect you to understand how SEO works, and that means learning multiple systems or SEO marketing methods.
Don’t Give Up
Becoming an SEO specialist can be a confusing task at first. SEO can be a very wide and deep field with a lot of different terms and techniques to understand, and very few people truly understand how to apply SEO in every possible situation. You are going to make mistakes, and things will not go as you initially planned.
The most important thing about freelance SEO is to keep going, even if you make a mistake. SEO is about learning from past experiences and applying that knowledge to new situations, so you need to get into the SEO field with a similar kind of attitude. A good SEO specialist does not become a good specialist without analyzing and reworking every single strategy that they create for their clients.