How to Become an SEO Expert [Complete Guide]

Are you wondering what steps you need to take become an SEO expert?

Perfect because this guide is going to show you everything you need to know. Becoming an SEO expert isn’t as complicated as you may think.

All you need to do is follow the framework I’m going to show you and take action.

The Value of Being a Real SEO Expert
Start with the Right Mindset
Acquire Base Knowledge
Take Action
Develop a System
Stay Informed
Be Patient
How to Reach the “Next Level”
SEO Expert Action List

The Value of Being a Real SEO Expert

When I say a “real” SEO expert, I mean someone who can grow organic search traffic on a consistent basis. “Expert” level also means that you have enough knowledge to combat unexpected outcomes. Getting to this level takes time and effort.

The beauty of knowing how to do SEO is that there are many ways to monetize your skill.

Option #1: DIY

ANY business can benefit from SEO. Doing SEO for your own business has a few perks.

You don’t need to invest in an SEO agency. A quality SEO agency will cost you at least $2,500/month and will need a 6-12 month commitment.
You are responsible for your own success. You can work as hard or as little as you would like on SEO.
You can allocate capital towards whatever you want (since you won’t be investing in an agency).
You’re forced to focus on what will have the biggest impact. You have a business to run and grow. That means you can’t focus much time on the minutiae of SEO. This forces you to enter deep thinking and figure out what matters most in SEO. More on this in a second.

The beauty of learning SEO is that you can use it to grow every new business you start.

Option #2: Get Clients

Getting clients is the single fastest way to grow your income from SEO. It’s also a great way to get immediate cash flow, which you can reinvest into other SEO projects.

On the flip side, it’s also the best way to go mentally insane. I explain a lot of these issues in my SEO agency article. But I will also list a few of the issues of working with clients.

Unrealistic expectations. This is usually the product of a weak client application or vetting system. If you don’t establish realistic expectations, you will regret it. Don’t exaggerate what’s possible to meet your sales quota.
Clients can be unreliable and can hurt your cash flow. It doesn’t matter how good your collections system is. There are going to be clients who play games when it comes to paying.
Operations is a headache. Running an SEO agency is challenging because each campaign is unique. That means each campaign requires different actions. This makes it challenging to create solid systems, which as a result, makes it hard to scale.
Requires human capital. To scale an SEO agency, you need to hire people. You can only take it so far by yourself. New challenges arise when you bring employees on, but that will be a subject of a later blog post.
It’s a job with many bosses. Working with clients often feels like a job and not a business. Of course, you can fix this by taking yourself out of the equation. But, that’s easier said than done.

Option #3: Start a Niche Site(s)

A niche site is a website that focuses on a single topic such as “undercounter ice makers” or “baby monitors”.

Niche sites are how I got into SEO.

I believe starting a niche site is the best way to learn SEO. The reason is because you have to figure it out and there isn’t a ton of risk involved. Another reason why niche sites are a good place to start is because they don’t need much capital.

You can get started with less than $100.

Also, if you do keyword research right, you can find niches with lower competition. This increases your chance of success.

The biggest risk you can encounter when creating niche sites is time loss. But if you are trying to improve your SEO skills, then that time will be valuable in your progression.

But like anything else, there are some downsides to niche sites:

Lower revenue potential. That means you would need to create more than one niche site to generate a decent amount of revenue. And when you add more niche sites, you add more complexity to your business. Building one successful website is hard enough. Developing and trying to grow many niche sites can be an operational headache.
Decreased profit margins as your portfolio grows. That’s because you will have to spend more time managing your sites or you will have to outsource much of the work.
More volatility than authority websites. The EMD and Panda updates have proven that Google doesn’t like micro-niche sites. But to be fair, many of the sites affected by those updates, gave little value to users. And many had duplicate or thin content. You can decrease your niche site’s volatility by creating true value like I explain in this SEO strategy.

Option #4: Develop an Authority Site

I love the authority website model for a few reasons:

They have more opportunity for growth
They have less content restriction
They are more “linkable”
They have reduced penalty risk/algorithm volatility

An example of an authority website is Gotch SEO because it focuses on a large topic like SEO.

Like the other options there are some downsides as well:

Greater time investment. To create a great authority website, you need to have expertise in the niche you’re targeting. Producing surface level content won’t help you build an authority site. You must invest your time into becoming an expert or at least top 25% in your industry. Then, you can create an exceptional authority site.
Bigger capital investment. This won’t affect you if you’re writing your own content. If you plan to outsource it, then it’s going to be capital intensive. That’s because producing “authority” content requires quality writers and larger word counts. Both of those factors increase your costs.

Option #5: Flip Websites

There are two ways to flip websites:

You can start a website from scratch, build it up, and then flip it.
You can acquire an existing website, improve it, and then flip it.

Each option has it’s own unique challenges that I won’t get into.

However, let me say that flipping websites is an amazing way to get instant capital. You can then use this capital to reinvest into other income generating SEO projects (recommended).

Or, you can spend your money on some type of depreciating asset like a car (not recommended). To each their own!

Here are some guides to get you started on flipping websites:

The Modern Investment: Website Flipping and Virtual Real Estate For Beginners
How To Flip Websites In 2016 – Flipping Websites Made Easy

Option #6: Sell Leads

Creating lead generation websites is a decent alternative to taking on clients. I have never taken this route, but know many that have. In essence, you first identify a local keyword like “Los Angeles plumber”. Then you create a website to rank for that keyword. Once the site is ranking, you can sell the organic leads to actual Los Angeles plumbers. Or, you can sell the website to a Los Angeles plumber.

Option #7: Become an Employee

I know this option isn’t ideal for everyone, but it’s a good way to get your feet wet. There are all kinds of businesses looking to hire in-house SEOs.

One way to go about this is to get hired and get some experience. Then, on the side you can work on growing your own SEO business or working on other projects. This way you won’t have to stress out about income.

Also, if you want to take the client SEO route, being an employee is a good primer. Your boss will give you the experience and backbone you need for having many bosses at the same time.

Option #8: Diversification

This is my favorite option. Use your SEO skills to make money in many different ways. This reduces your risk and reliance any single method.

Here is the clear video clip of it:

Start With the Right Mindset

I’m not going to bombard you with personal development guru talk, but there is no denying how important your mindset is for achieving anything in life.

Let me start with this one important fact:

SEO is a Means to an End

The only reason why SEO is valuable is because it is a tool for growing revenues. Sure, it has other purposes such as branding, reputation management, and even deception. But most people use SEO to increase organic search traffic and grow revenue.

Never lose sight of the fact that SEO is a TOOL.

Sure, it’s fun to mess with algorithms, but always remember that MORE MONEY is the goal.

But before you can make some dough, you need to acquire base SEO knowledge.

Acquire Base Knowledge

If you’re an absolute beginner, then you need to get base SEO knowledge. And even if you have experience, you should still study and practice the fundamentals. This builds knowledge reinforcement.

Here is a simple Concept of it:

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