7 Habits of Highly Successful SEO Experts

– Hey, in this video I'm gonna show you the seven habits of highly successful SEOs and also I believe habit numbersix is the most important to master, so make sureyou watch this entire video to see what it is.

Let's jump right in.

(techno music) So the first habit ofhighly successful SEOs is that they have an action first mindset.

You have to avoid falling into the knowledge acquisition trap, meaning, you're spending100% of your time reading and learning, but never taking action.

You have to take action to see results and I know that's a crazy concept, but it's so incrediblyimportant to understand and if you're a beginner, then you should spend 80% of your time, trying to understand the fundamentals and then spend 20% ofyour time, taking action.

This 80, 20 split shouldflip to 20% learning and 80% action after youunderstand the fundamentals.

Now, keep this in mind.

It doesn't matter how much you know.

Like Mike Tyson says, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

You can't learn and you can't adapt until you're in the mud.

The second habit ofhighly successful SEOs is that they took action before they knew what they were doing.

Now, this one may seem counter intuitive, but it's one of the biggestmistakes you can make.

You do not need to be anindustry leading expert to get more traffic from Google.

You just need to know morethan the average person and you just need to take action, using the informationthat's already in your head.

The truth is, tryingto get into the top 1% of SEO experts is a coolgoal, but it's not important for making money or getting SEO results.

Smart SEOs know that SEO asa skill is just a small piece of the growth equation.

At the end of the day, SEO ordriving organic search traffic from Google, is nothingmore than a vehicle to grow your company's revenue.

So that means you don't need to worry about being an expert.

Just take action andfocus on getting results with the knowledge that you already have.

So, third habit ofhighly successful SEOs is that they've mastered the fundamentals.

So if you're an absolute beginner, then you need to get base SEO knowledge.

And even if you have experience, you should still study andpractice the fundamentals.

This build knowledge reinforcement.

Now one of my favoriteways to think about this is a quote from Michael Jordan.

He said, “You can practiceshooting eight hours a day, “but if your technique iswrong, then all you become “is very good at shooting the wrong way.

“Get the fundamentals down and the level “of everything you do will rise.

” so like any other skill, SEO requires learning a few, important fundamentals.

Let me show you some of thefundamentals you need to learn.

Number one, are KPIs, analytics and date analysis.

SEO requires you to analyzekey performance indicators, also known as KPIs.

And don't worry, this doesn't mean youhave to be technical geek, or have a degree in statistics.

You just need to, A, knowwhat data/KPIs actually matter and B, how to use the date and KPIs to improve your campaigns.

And the number one toolyou need to understand how to use is Google Analytics.

And after that you need to learn how to use Google Search Console, because Google Search Console has an array of functions that GoogleAnalytics doesn't have.

And the final set of toolsyou need to learn how to use are backlink analysisand management tools.

The three most popular tools are Ahrefs, Majestic and Moz's Open Site Explorer.

The second skill you need to learn is keyword research.

Identifying the right keywords is one of the most critical SEOskills you can learn.

Number three, is competitor analysis.

Finding perspective keywordsis only the first step.

You have to actually qualify your keywords by analyzing your competitors.

Number four, is technical optimization.

Technical issues will killyour site's performance in Google and that's whyyou need to become a master at finding and fixing them.

Number five is page-level optimization.

You have to understandthe art of optimizing organic landing pages and these are the keyword targeting pages that you are trying to rank in Google.

And this is the easiestSEO fundamental to learn.

Number six is site architecture.

Understanding how to structure a website, is a fundamental SEO skill.

A well developed sitearchitecture does a few things.

First, it can help search enginespiders crawl your website more efficiently.

It can also improve your user experience.

It can reduce how manybacklinks you need to rank, because of the efficientflow of link equity as well.

Number seven is developing content assets.

You've likely heard theidea that content is king and this is true.

Content is one of the biggest elements of a successful SEO campaign.

And it is fundamental that you learn how to create keyword targeted content assets.

So if you get anything out of this video, understand this one thing.

Nothing is more important than studying how to create affective content.

Study as much as you canabout content marketing, writing and sales copywriting.

Number eight is relationshipbuilding and outreach.

To truly elevate your SEO performance, you have to learn howto build relationships.

And yes, that meansyou have to communicate with real people to be successful in SEO.

And I know this is atough pill to swallow, especially if you're an introvert, but it's necessary.

You can't get very far inthis world, being a recluse.

The number one tactic you need to know for building relationships online, is how to exchange value.

And value comes in many different forms, including content, money, physical products, etc, but if you try to getsomething for nothing, then you will likely fail.

So, number nine is link acquisition.

After content, backlinksare the second biggest ranking factor in my opinion.

And you can craft the mostbeautiful piece of content but without backlinksit will probably falter.

So knowing what a quality backlink is and then knowing howto get them is the key to becoming a real SEO expert.

I have a guide on backlinks which is the best way toget started, learning this, because it is so incrediblyimportant to your success in the SEO field.

Number 10 is conversion rate optimization also know as CRO.

Now understanding how todrive organic search traffic to websites is anincredibly valuable skill.

But knowing how to convert that traffic into actual revenue is even more valuable.

Now remember what I said earlier.

SEO is a means to an end.

CRO is how you can reach the end and the end being new emailsubscribers, leads and sales.

Number 11 are audits.

Every SEO expert needs to knowhow to perform SEO audits.

And audits help you identify issues that may be hurtingthe site's performance.

And I personallyrecommend running an audit at least every quarterand this will ensure that you're staying on top of things.

So, those are all the fundamental skills you need to learn to become an SEO expert.

Don't give up on learning whena concept goes over your head that's totally normal, this is a lot to learn and it's gonna take you some time, so just do your best, try to understand it and keep pushing through.

And after you've immersedyourself in these topics, it's time to take action.

So the fourth habit ofhighly successful SEOs is that they test.

So if you're new, then I recommendyou start a niche website and as I mentioned before, it's easy to start a niche site and it carries the least amount of risk.

So the first thing you have to do after you create a niche siteis to analyze your results.

But before you do, you need to understand one of the most importantrules of SEO analysis.

Correlation is not causation.

Now in layman's terms, don'tmake conclusions too fast.

Google's algorithm uses well over 200 different ranking signals and it's easy to make sweeping conclusions without looking at the big picture.

For example, you may saymy rankings for X fell because I changed thetitle on the landing page.

Now while this may be true, you don't wanna come toa conclusion that fast.

You need to examine allthe factors before coming to a conclusion and most important, you needto let the data guide you.

So whenever your organicsearch traffic increases or decreases, you should follow this simple five step analysis.

Number one, ask why.

It's important to questionincreases and decreases because you can learn from both.

Ask some of the following questions.

Did we acquire any new backlinks? Did we modify any on-page SEO? Did we change the site architecture? Did we add or subtract any internal links? Are we having crawl issues? Have there been any algorithmic updates? Or is our rank tracking software accurate? Number two is to develop a hypothesis.

So once you've identifiedsome possible culprits, you need to develop a hypothesis and this doesn't need to be rigid.

Something simple will work just fine.

You could say something like, “I believe our organicsearch traffic has increased or declined because ofthe following reasons.

Number three is just to wait.

That's right, you shouldn't take action on your hypothesis right away.

That's because Google'salgorithm is extremely volatile and sometimes waiting and not doing anything isthe absolute best solution.

I usually wait at least one week or even up to a month to seeif the issue corrects itself.

And if the decline continues, it's time for action.

Number four is to test it.

Only take action on your hypothesis if you are at least 90% certain.

Take one action at atime if you've identified more than one.

For example take an actionand then wait at least a week before taking another action.

Number five is to always use annotations in Google Analytics.

This is simply a checkagainst your hypothesis.

That way you can go back and see if the exact action you took, either improved or hurt your results.

And the next thing I recommend you do which I mentioned earlieris to run quarterly audits.

Next thing you have to do is pivot.

In most scenarios or SEOanalysis lead to micro changes, but there will be times when you need to revamp your entire SEO strategy and remember that every website's going to have its own unique SEO experience.

It doesn't matter how manySEO case studies you read, your situation willnever be the same as mine or anyone else's.

Now sure there are general principles that apply to every campaign, but how your specific campaign unfolds is completely unique.

Find the 80, 20 of every campaign.

What 20% of the actions aredriving 80% of your results and invest your time andeffort into those actions.

So the fifth habit ofhighly successful SEOs is that they build systems.

Now there isn't some set way of doing SEO, but you can build a loose system.

For example, this video is the culmination of years of experiencetesting, and understanding what factors have thebiggest impact in SEO, but I would never pretend that any system, including my own works 100% of the time.

Every website is different, every situation is different.

And your SEO system orstrategy should be 100% organic and no pun intended, butit's super important, because you don't wanna tryto create a perfect system, because that's impossible.

Create your system, testit and refine it over time and then at at certainpoint, you'll wanna stop doing time consuming SEO tasks.

If you truly wanna scaleor amplify your efforts, I remember when I first got into SEO, I did everything, but I quickly learned that there is no way Icould take my business to the next level if I wastrying to do everything.

Now, doing everythingyourself is a good approach in the beginning ifyou don't have capital, but as soon as you do, Irecommend you begin delegating time consuming tasks.

From day one, analyze everysingle task that you do, you'll see that over timeyou perform the same tasks over and over.

And these are all the tasksthat you must learn to delegate.

That is, as long as you havethe right system in place.

So at some point you'll likely have to go from begin an SEO expert to being a true businessowner and operator.

So here's a quick checklist on how you can scale your SEO efforts.

Number one is create processed, procedures and policies for everythingyou do in your business.

It's truly impossible to scalewithout taking this step.

Number two is test your processes, procedures and policies.

Have someone with littleknowledge of your industry work through your processes andprocedures and policies.

Now why would you wantsomeone with little knowledge of your industry to gothrough these processes? Well, it's because you systemsshould be easy to understand.

Convoluted procedures lead to confusion.

Confusion leads to time loss, because of unnecessaryclarifying or explaining.

That's why bringing in anoutside perspective is key to improving your systems.

What makes sense in your headmay not make sense to others.

Number three is to hire someone to fulfill your systemized tasks.

You can use Upwork, you can hire an intern or you can hire employees ifthat's the route you wanna go.

Give this individual their assignment and a corresponding procedure and just see how they complete it.

If they're bombarding you with questions, then you know you need toimprove your procedure.

Number four is to create backup systems.

So at this point you shouldhave removed yourself from many of the time consuming tasks and delegated them, but you would need to always prepare forthe worst case scenario.

For example, the person you're relying on to fulfill this work could disappear.

And that's why you mustalways have a backup solution.

Keep some freelancerson your on-call roster, and these are the peopleyou've build relationships with and you know you can rely on them.

Another backup system is to avoid relying on a single person.

Hire two or three or even four people to complete a pool of tasks.

That way they have to compete and even if one of them falls off the map, you still have all theother people on your roster.

And don't forget you havealready created systems at this point so even iftheir help disappears, you still have your systems.

That means you can quickly hire someone and get back on track really quickly.

So, number five is focus on actions that have the biggest impact.

Now, big impact actions in SEO are creating awesome content assets, building relationshipswith key influencers and promoting your contentvia link acquisition and even social media.

For example, I write content on GOTCH SEO because it requires my uniqueexperience and expertise.

I could outsource the writing, but no one could replicatemy unique perspective.

I know that writing content is the action that produces the most SEOresults for my business.

So, you must figure out whatactions you are best at.

Maybe you excel building relationships or maybe you're a master promoter.

Either way identify whatactions have the biggest impact on your SEO performance and then focus on those andoutsource everything else or delegate everything else.

So here's some SEO tasksthat you can systemize and outsource.

Number one, keyword research.

Number two, competitor analysis.

Number three, technical optimization.

Four, page-level optimization.

Five, content writing.

Six, infographic creation.

Seven, blogger outreach.

And number eight citation building.

And that's just a smallsample of the many many tasks you can outsource.

So the sixth habit ofhighly successful SEOs is that they never stop learning.

The SEO industry is so dynamic and it's always changing.

But while the fundamentals rarely change, it's important to stayengaged in the industry.

For general news and algorithm updates, make sure you read Search Engine Watch or Search Engine Roundtable.

I also recommend that you focusmost of your learning time reading top SEO blogs.

And don't just focus on blogs that align with your particularSEO philosophy either.

You can learn from theWhitest of White Hat SEOs and the Blackest of Black Hat SEOs.

There is not right or wrong way of doing SEO.

White, Gray and BlackHat SEO are all trying to achieve the same thing.

You can learn from everyone.

But most importantly, don't get cocky.

It's so critical that you stay humble.

Even when you've mastered the art of driving organic search traffic.

You should still actlike you know nothing.

Never stop learning and growing.

The truth is there's noend you're going to reach in your skill progression.

There is always room to improve.

So if you wanna learn SEO step by step, then make sure you check out my course, GOTCH SEO academy.

So the seventh and final habit of highly successful SEOs is that they're super patient.

SEO is not a get rich quick scheme.

It requires patience, perseverance and an extreme willingness to learn.

You have to take action every day if you wanna succeed in this field.

And to put it in perspective, I've been doing SEO non stop since 2012 and I still feel like Ihave so much to learn.

You have to remember thatRome wasn't built in one day, as cliche as it is.

Every single person who has aton of organic search traffic and awesome SEO results, started at the same spot, they had no traffic, no subscribers and no audience.

But because they took consistent actions and learned from their actions, they are now seeing thefruits of their labor.

Just remember that yourcurrent results are the product of the actions you tookyesterday, a week ago, a month ago, or even years ago.

Make a decision today to start working on the right things.

That way you can reap thebenefits in the future.

So, those are the seven habitsof highly successful SEOs.

So if you enjoyed this video, pleas like it and subscribe to my channel.

Because you'll be the first to get access to any new videos that I publish and als if you have anyquestions whatsoever, please leave it below.

Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video.

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