Thread by @GiordMarco96

Some of the best things to do to step up your #SEO game imho.

This is a list of considerations that are not often discussed. We tend to focus more on hard skills rather than spending some time to understanding ourselves.

This is a thread based on my personal experience 🧵

Read more about patents and understand what happens behind the scenes.

This is necessary to understand why certain phenomena happen and how search engines could evolve in the next future.

A lot of advanced stuff is buried there.

As usual:

seobythesea.com

Test different things and challenge best practices. Don't think of SEO as an immutable process, it's more of a flow.

This is the problem I have with checklists. Treating every scenario as the same and lacking the flexibility to adapt to new contexts.

SEO is unpredictable.

Learn concepts from different fields and apply them to SEO, if it makes sense.

This can be true for #DataScience in my case.

Some people are still scared to mix and try new combinations, I think this is the best way to position yourself tho.

Networking. This is self-explanatory if you're reading this on Twitter.

As an SEO you should have a network and meet friends who can help you with your projects. This goes for reciprocal support as well.

This is often forgotten by many.

Improving communication. This can span from presenting info in a different way to psychology.

Understanding the stakeholders is a must. What do they want? Where do I need to educate them?

Understanding someone doesn't mean they are right. Educate your clients/customers to increase transparency and prevent false expectations.

I think this is the difference between real professionals and the rest of the bunch.

A lot of people asking for SEO services are not proficient or knowledgeable enough to distinguish quality from crap.

It's your mission to teach them how to be safer in such an environment.

Time management/automation. How can I do more by working less?

What are the processes that add less value to what I do?

#Python is great for this but my next point will show you another perspective as well.

Time mgmt is a great way to learn how to handle yourself.

Data analysis is an underrated skill in the SEO ecosystem. We have tools for everything, yet we have a lot of questionable case studies roaming around.

Spending some time to figure out how to analyze data is definitely a game changer.

Exploring new industries. I was used to the tech/pop culture niche and I am still working on a website where I need this knowledge.

Now I am getting used to B2B Construction, something completely different and way harder for someone like me. The same goes for travel!

Get different SEO perspectives. I am not fond of a heavy use of backlinks but there are people bringing awesome results with this strategy.

I am more into Semantic SEO and content, that's why they are not my top priority. Both strategies work, it depends on the context.

Study Technical SEO. Probably the hardest part for many and definitely one of the gems when it comes to e-commerce and large websites.

Some may include data as well, for me they are just loans from other subjects.

Learn your industry. This is mandatory for e-commerce SEO or if you have a very active role in online journals.

Sometimes you don't even need keyword research if you know exactly what people want, e.g. news SEO and you don't have time to do research.

Be cold and analytical. Google updates can hit hard, it's better to keep your cool and check what happened.

You have plenty of options to investigate and a vast literature on the topic. Other times it's just Google reshuffling results for some days, it can be everything.

Find alternatives to SEO tools that you are not using that much (or you are planning to replace).

If you need to scrape something, build your own Python script instead.

Don't pay for stuff you don't need, you will learn to love tools even more with this tip.

Find your way. #SEO is huge, it's better if you decide where to steer.

In my case, I have chosen data and content over anything else. Other people have different routes.

I am not a fan of learning everything, focus on key concepts and repeat.

Develop methodologies, while avoiding stasis. This means you shouldn't obsess over details or useless checklists.

This is something I am working on. Notion is a great help to improve productivity and develop efficient workflows.

Documenting processes and having a clear idea of what to analyze/report is a must.

This is not taught so often, I had the luck to grow with this information and to learn even more from other people. This should be taught to everyone.

Destroy what you know from time to time. Challenge your set of beliefs, destroy it if necessary.

What if something you've always done could be improved?

Going by inertia is not the proper method to improve your life.

Read a lot. Go big, read at the least 5 articles per day, even 10.

This is why I usually tell people to master quick reading. The more info you process, the faster you are going to learn.

There are some exceptions and caveats but let's say it holds true for most cases.

I use Notion to record my reading list. Have the edge over other people by reading a lot and being curious.

This is something that you understand easily if you have ever studied Greek/Latin classical books.

One example could be the "curiositas" expressed by Ulysses (Odyssey) . He is the emblem of wit, curiosity and cleverness.

However, this curiosity can lead to dangerous situations as well, and that's why you have to limit yourself.

A possibile danger could be Decision-Paralysis. You know too much and have a lot of scenarios in mind.

As a consequence, you don't act and waste time. Just do it and see what happens.

Abstraction. The most important skill out there imho, it allows you to move from events to ideas.

Find general rules or situations instead of focusing on that super specific case.

This can be useful for getting the big picture.

Testing foreign markets. Replicate what you did in other countries and see if it works. What are the main differences? Is the competition tougher this time?

Use this as an opportunity to learn more about geopolitics.

Define a long-term plan and see where you want to be in the future. You can track your progresses once in a while to see where you are currently at.

Don't measure too much, just be sure to see if you are doing what you like.

It is fine to change ideas or be disheartened at times. Be sure to live to your true self and do what you enjoy.

I love to keep track of what I do in Notion, it's my definitive tool.

That's it, I hope you liked it. Improvement doesn't necessarily go through technical knowledge.

Sometimes it's just turning on that switch in your mind. This process can even take years.

When you read something, apply it asap. You have to embody what you learn.