The Role of the Organic SEO Consultant

The role of the SEO Consultant has evolved at an extreme pace over a very short period of time. And I suppose in a bid to keep up with ever changing responsibilities the SEO guy has been given many titles. In the Rogerwilco garage, I'm the SEO Ninja. Whatever, it will change by year-end, I'm sure. The purpose of this post is to give an overview of the responsibilities of the organic SEO Consultant (that's the title on my CV). Organic SEO refers to regular free search results. The results in Google that you click on 80% of the time.

So let's get to it right away! Outlined below are 10 juicy functions of SEO Consultants. I believe these will be around for very long time despite the rapid changes to the game.

Site Accessibility

They have to ensure that your site can be crawled and indexed by the search engines. This goes far beyond just making sure the robots file is in order. Websites don't just appear on Google by themselves. Well, not all the time. The first goal is to get on then to get high.

Industry Research

The SEO dude must learn the client's basic industry lingo. If he is doing SEO for a local travel website it will be very handy to pick upon the buzz words, read some forums, engage in relevant online communication and speak to people in the know if possible. I love doing research for travel companies because I get to...and the company pays.

Keyword Research

Using the profusion of KW research tools available, he has to establish EXACTLY what people are searching for. SEO Consultants have no purpose if they cannot determine key search phrases and get into the searchers mind. This process is super crucial. It needs to be done thoroughly and continuously otherwise the entire SEO effort will come to nothing. Rogerwilco has Keyword Research Specialists, drop us a mail to ask about it.

Content Strategy

After establishing what key phrases he will target, he needs to produce a solid content strategy. As you may have guessed little grasshopper, after drilling down to specific keywords, the website content needs to include these. This needs to very well structured together with a blueprint of how this content will reach prospects.

META Optimisation

A website’s META data needs to be optimised. Meta Titles need to include the keywords being optimised for. Descriptions need to encourage users to click through to the website. At the same time I do need to say that Google will display any website content it desires as META data so don't be alarmed if your carefully engineered META description does not show up on the SERP.

On-page Optimisation

Images, Header Tags, Links and Videos need to meet the latest standards and follow protocol. By the time I am done with this article and it has been to the head mechanic for approval, new standards may have been set. This game changes all the time! It's the SEO chap's duty to keep up.

Link Building Strategy

Most SEO companies employ people specifically to handle this. Google loves your site if it notices that other sites loves your site by linking back to it. The challenge is therefore to find relevant web properties that will permanently link back to you. A complex task, but the the most important aspect in building your site's popularity with the search engines.

Social Media Management

A proactive approach to engaging with clients is always best. They are on Facebook, your business should be there as well...and Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Reporting

Let clients know what they are paying for. Show credible proof of how their websites are performing. Reports should compiled with an action plan for the following month. The SEO process is ongoing and needs to be evaluated almost daily. Goals need to be set, results need to be measured, you need to keep up with the trends and you need to have your ear to the ground (or eyes to the screen) to know when Google changes the way it harvests information from around the world wide web.