in our last post, we talked about non-coding careers in IT and technology and introduced you to the fascinating world of content writing, a key element of Digital Marketing. This post delves into Search Engine Optimization (SEO), another aspect of Digital Marketing, to assist returning women rebuild a career in the IT and Technology industry, but, in a low/no-code role. Let’s recap a bit.
What is Digital Marketing?
All marketing efforts that use digital media to reach customers and promote brands, products, and services is called Digital Marketing. Some of the channels used to do this include websites, social media, search engines, email, text messages, etc.
As this is a vast area, there are many roles that go into the digital marketing function of a company. Role availability also depends on the industry, the marketing budget of the company, how mature the company’s digital marketing function is, etc.
One of the most important areas in digital marketing is SEO.
Table of Contents –
* Understanding SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
* Key elements of SEO
1. Keyword Research – Choosing the Right Topics
2. On-Page Optimization – Organizing our Website
3. Content Optimization – Creating a Compelling Website
4. Link-Building: Cultivating a Network of Recommendations
5. User Experience: Designing a Pleasant Interaction
* Entry-level roles in an SEO Career
1. SEO Assistant/Intern
2. Content Writer/Editor
3. Social Media Assistant
4. Link Building Specialist
5. Data Analyst/Research Assistant
* Recommended courses to kickstart your SEO Career
* Course Highlight
Understanding SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Do you remember your college library? All those rows and rows of tall stacks filled with books? And do you remember a label stuck on the spine of the book? (see the red rectangle in the picture?)
That label is called the Dewey Decimal Number and categorizes books by subject. All books in every large library carry this number. When you request the librarian to for a particular book, she looks up the Dewey Decimal Code, walks up to the right stack and magically finds you the book in no time – the book that you hunted for over an hour! 🤦🏽♀️
And why am I telling you this?
Because, the internet is just a gigantic library with billions of books (websites). Search Engine Optimization (SEO), is like the Dewey Decimal System for this massive online library.
When the librarian wants to place a new book in the library, she uses the Dewey Decimal System to identify the right stack for it. When she wants to find the book in the library, she uses the same system to locate it easily. Similarly, SEO helps optimize and organize websites so that search engines (like Google) can find them easily when someone is looking for information.
So, in simple terms, SEO is the magic behind making sure your website stands out in the internet library, making it more likely for people to discover and visit it.
Think of search engines like Google as the friendly librarians in our internet library. When someone asks the librarian for a book on a specific topic, the librarian uses certain criteria to find the most relevant and helpful books.
SEO is like giving a website a well-organized and informative book cover, a clear title, and a summary that accurately represents what’s inside. It’s also about making sure the website is in the right section of the library (ranks high in search results). The better the book cover (website) matches what the reader (searcher) is looking for, the more likely it is to be recommended by the librarian (search engine).
To achieve this, we use “keywords” in the title and summary (website content) that match what people are searching for. We also make sure, that the cover looks appealing and is easy to understand (user-friendly website design). The goal is to make the website the go-to choice when someone is searching online (exploring the library).
So, SEO is the smart librarian for our website, ensuring it’s well-organized, easy to find, and stands out among the vast collection of online information.
Now, let’s add another layer to this. Imagine that not only do we want our website to be easy to find, but we also want it to be recommended by others. In the online world, these recommendations come in the form of links from other websites.
Thus, SEO also involves building a good reputation for our website. The more respected and well-liked the website is, the more likely the search engine will recommend it to someone looking for related information.
To do this, we engage in some “link-building” activities, where other reputable websites link to our website because they find it valuable. These links are called backlinks. When our website gets a number of thoughtful and well-placed recommendations from respected sources, our SEO rank become better. This is like the number of stars in an e-commerce site – positive reviews and endorsements.
In summary, SEO is not only about making our website easy to find but also about making it the well-respected go-to choice on the internet.
Key elements of SEO
The five key functions in SEO are Keyword Research, On-Page Optimization, Content Optimization, Link-Building, and User Experience. These build on each other.
#1 – Keyword Research – Choosing the Right Topics:
Think of keyword research as deciding what topics we will cover in our website. We want to pick topics that people are interested in and actively searching for.
The better we match what people are looking for, by using the right keywords, the more likely they are to find and be interested in our website.
#2 – On-Page Optimization – Organizing our Website:
Now, on-page optimization involves organizing the pages within the website. Once we’ve chosen our keywords, we need to make sure our web pages are well-organized.
This involves putting the right labels (meta titles and descriptions) on our pages, making sure each heading is clear, and using the chosen topics (keywords) naturally throughout the content on our website. It’s about creating a logical and easy-to-follow structure so that both people and search engines can understand what our website is about.
#3 – Content Optimization – Creating a Compelling Website:
Content optimization is the art of writing a compelling and valuable web page. Content should not just repeat the selected keywords but also provide useful and engaging information. It’s making sure our website is a joy to explore.
The more people that find our content valuable, the more likely they are to recommend it to others (share our content), and the more likely it is that a search engine will recommend it when someone is looking for related information.
#4 – Link-Building – Cultivating a Network of Recommendations:
Think of link-building as cultivating a network of recommendations for our product. In the physical world, we look for reviews and ratings from customers who have bought and used the product. Positive endorsements from trusted sources make a product more likely to succeed.
Similarly, in the digital realm, quality links from reputable websites enhance our product’s online reputation. Seek out collaborations, guest posts, and partnerships to build a robust network of recommendations.
#5 – User Experience – Designing a Pleasant Interaction:
Consider the experience a user has on the website (navigating from one place to another, does the content render well on all mobile devices, are there broken links?, is information easy to find?) as the equivalent of creating a pleasant shopping environment.
Just as a well-designed physical store layout enhances the overall shopping experience, a user-friendly website design improves the digital journey for customers.
User Experience designers ensure that the website is easy to navigate, visually appealing, and provides a seamless experience.
So, in a nutshell, SEO consists of
1. keyword research helps us decide what topics to cover,
2. on-page optimization ensures our content is well-organized
3. content optimization focuses on making our content valuable and enjoyable to our audience
4. link-building recommends our website to others
5. user experience ensures that our website offers a pleasant interaction
Together, they constitute SEO that creates a well-optimized and attractive website in the vast library of the internet.
Entry-level roles in an SEO Career
In the field of SEO, there are several entry-level job roles that can provide a solid foundation for building a career. These roles often involve assisting with various aspects of SEO campaigns and working alongside more experienced professionals. Here are some common entry-level jobs in SEO:
#1 – SEO Assistant/Intern
Basic keyword research, on-page optimization tasks, and supporting more experienced SEO professionals
#2 – Content Writer/Editor
Creating SEO-friendly content is a crucial aspect of optimization. A content writer or editor incorporates keywords naturally and creates engaging, shareable content
#3 – Social Media Assistant
Creating and scheduling posts, understanding audience engagement, and implementing basic SEO principles in social content
#4 – Link Building Specialist
Building and managing links to improve a website’s authority. This role often involves outreach, relationship building, and understanding the importance of quality backlinks
#5 – Data Analyst/Research Assistant
Working with analytics tools, gather data on website performance, and contribute insights for optimization
Recommended courses to kickstart your SEO Career
All set to build a non-coding career in IT with SEO? Here are some courses that can get you started
Course Highlight
Best SEO Fundamentals Course (UC Davis) – 29 hours
Best SEO for WordPress Websites (Udemy) – 7-8 hours
SEO Certification Course (Hubspot Academy) – 2-3 hours
Best YouTube Tutorials (Ahrefs) – 10-11 hours
The r/SEO subreddit is a great place to ask questions and learn from other users. Google’s official documentation provides in-depth guides and the best practices to rank higher on Google.
Happy Learning!
Tell us the challenges that you are concerned about in changing tracks, upskilling and returning to work, in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.
Conclusion
A question that we hear frequently at indePenn is – “I worked in an IT Services company before my career break. I want to go back to the industry, but I don’t want to be a programmer. What can I do?” So we thought we would put together a list of non-coding careers in IT Services and Technology business. Every month, we will delve into one career track in the technology world that has virtually no coding required. We hope one of these will appeal to you and set you on the journey back to work.
A caveat though – to work in the technology world, you need to be comfortable with logic and computer programming languages. You may not write code, but you must be able to read it and discuss it with your colleagues.
If you’re already a reader of our blog or follow us on social media, you know that indePenn coaches and prepares women on a career break to rebegin their professional journey and build a second career.
We bring women back to work!
Visit us at indePenn.com and Sign Up – we’ll handhold you through the process of returning to work.
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