Is switching to being a WEBMASTER (SEO Professional) still possible?

Help from experienced SEO professionals can guide a lot!

[Ak4you]

Hi everyone,
it's simply a straight question. Can any newbie become an SEO professional in 2020? And I am not talking about those digital marketers who believe themselves to know a bit about keyword research and then they think that they know everything about SEO!

Actually, I started learning SEO online through various resources like online courses, blogs, forums, and a lot of reading material. I never planned to become a webmaster but now, after reading about SEO all day and night and following everything going in the industry, I really enjoy it!

But, despite enjoying it making, I am looking out for some genuine opinions from experienced professionals who have spent years in this field and know the industry ins and out:
1. As asked before, is it possible for a relatively new entrant to become an SEO professional?
2. What are the best ways to build up my portfolio keeping in mind I have no experience?
3. How to find an SEO job, or a freelance work or any volunteer work so that I keep applying whatever I learn?

I guess these might be very basic common questions but getting suggestions and opinions from professional webmaster community can really be of great help.

THANKS IN ADVANCE

[tangor]

@Ak4you ... Welcome to Webmasterworld!

!. Anything is possible!
2. Learn all you can.
3. Find a place to start ... and start!

Can't predict what comes after that, but I do know that if one keeps after something with good heart and perseverance good things can follow.

That said, the bar for who can be called "seo" or "webmaster" has been dropped so low via CMS like Wordpress that standing out will only be possible if you bring a good work ethic and see the web in different ways that aren't canned or cut-and-paste.

Good luck!

[Ak4you]

@tangor | Thank you for your inspirational words.

I am definitely giving in all to learn as much as possible. Although, I am definitely lacking the practical part due to lack of opportunity or maybe I am not really looking at the right place for work opportunities! ("This is a serious concern for me right now")

And yes, about the standards of SEO! I can tell you from the place where I come from, doing keyword research is the only SEO technique mostly I see being used. Or black-hat SEO techniques are followed more! I am saying this because, since I don't have any live project YET, I do take up some random sites from 3rd or 4th page of GOOGLE SERP and do SEO audits on them so that I can learn as much as possible (as in dummy projects)

In doing so, I have come across so many SEO training institute websites of my region that themselves lack SEO optimizations and are ranking just because of GMB.

Phew! Your answer reinforced my belief that it is better to be good at something even if it takes time rather than giving sh*t in the name of SEO.

[not2easy]

There are many years of webmasters' experiences in these forums. Reading can help a lot, searching for terms you want to know more about can be more helpful.

SEO is not a static field of factual knowledge so much as an understanding of what works and what does not. There is no set course of learning one must have. Experience matters and it is the best way to learn what you need to know. Without any experience you really have nothing to sell even though folks do that every day. Since there isn't a set curricula to be tested for, anyone can claim to be a "SEO". Great results to point to can help people see why they should hire you.

There are a lot of people selling SEO services, some know what they are doing, some are unemployed car salesmen. ;)

[Ak4you]

@not2easy

Yes! I agree. Nothing can beat the experience but the point is to have an experience you need to start somewhere. And that's what I asked in my first post that what could be the possible ways that I can get projects as a newcomer?

I know cracking any new work is not easy but that is the whole point of taking suggestions/opinions from the experienced PRO's.

[tangor]

Whatever aspect of webmastering you which to excel at, there is no substitute for "getting your hands dirty" in having a small site of your own where you can test out that you learn, learn what you don't know, and then know what more you need to learn.

Given that shared hosting can be as little as $10/year a small "passion" or "hobby" site will give you the opportunity to work your way through and gain experience along the way. In the process you will learn to "speak the language" and that goes a long way toward gaining understanding.

You also get to practice coding (server side), database, and much more. Play with javascript and similar. Make your mistakes on your property before you take your show on the road!

[Ak4you]

I guess this is what I need to do now! Get my hands dirty.

Some follow up Q:

1. Where in the world do you get shared hosting at $10/year?
2. I am not from coding background but still can manage HTML5 and CSS to some extent (Javascript not at all). Is it necessary to do coding for SEO?
3. No Coding means -> WP. That is back to square 1. Is it okay to learn SEO in the WP environment?

?

[Essex_boy]

Make sure you know what you are doing, Im dealing with an 'SEO expert' who actually knows nothing, none of his sites are higher than 38 on Google...... SO, set up a site and show the ranks you have achieved

[tangor]

Shared hosting that actually has meat on the bone are in the $6/month range ($72/year plus tax/fees as applicable) is the right place to start. Changing the disk space changes the pricing to varying levels/bandwidth/functionality. Find what you need bare bones for your site, then double that (storage) and price it from there.

Moving up to "pro" hosting (includes support) you start at $300/yr. Storage and bandwidth margins apply, which can change pricing a bit.

Moving to dedicated you start at $1200/yr. With greater amounts of storage and OFTEN, unlimited bandwith.

If that doesn't suit, then by all means host your own hardware, buy a dedicated IP/DOMAIN, and pay whatever backbone access you want through a provider to suit your traffic needs (the dollar amount for same is immensely larger than any of the above!)

Pick your poison!

[Ak4you]

@ Essex_boy They why are you dealing with him/her if you know he/she is not good at getting results.

[explorador]

Ak4you: Is switching to being a WEBMASTER (SEO Professional) still e ? (2020)

I believe it is possible, but not easy. There are lots of challenges and ever changing standards/procedures, it's not really clear in detail how something works (rankings or positions) as in the past. Yes you can figure things out by yourself but many things changed, it's not as easy... no I don't mean "EASY", I mean clear, as in the past. I don't know your background but just an example, semantics mattered a lot (still matter) but now it's not clear how much in the open field, there are gazillion factors even affecting experienced webmasters and SEO professionals.

Does it matter? yes. How much? great deal: the darker and confusing, the more difficult it is to explain something to the client, or to secure results, predictable results. You can possibly be more certain on how a fight against a bear could go Vs getting to X position on Google.

But as said, I believe it is possible. It just depends on your aiming, define your goals and target.

BTW I'm a certified professional on SEO working for big brands (won't tell), and if you want to hire me then yes, but you have to say yes to everything I say, I will take over, no discussion about it, and questions will be answered ambiguosly, first pay and then we talk, results are guaranteed, but can be different than expected. Well, you will find a lot of this, people talking magic even if they are serious, it's important to understand there are no guarantees, while math and algorithms matter a lot in this game, it's not a proven science.

Along the way something technical as this, often ends up becoming a different job: becoming a salesman, that's something different and not the original goal but it's what many end up doing, and that doesn't mean they are good at their profession. As you might already know there are lots of people offering optimization, best and first page results, traffic, etc and the only thing they have is a FB fanpage and a WP website with 10 visitors per day, still they manage to sell the illusion.

In my humble and honest opinion (again), I think it is possible, but more possible if you do your own thing and create your own projects, it's the only way you will have 100% control of your production and tests as you learn, and perhaps it can turn into a profitable business. Let's say you are an expert in graphic design, then you add SEO expertise, and now you want to play with it using a new website selling your designs on paper, well you might end up with a big business on your own, separate from selling SEO services to clients.

Ak4you:
1. Where in the world do you get shared hosting at $10/year?
2. I am not from coding background but still can manage HTML5 and CSS to some extent (Javascript not at all). Is it necessary to do coding for SEO?
3. No Coding means -> WP. That is back to square 1. Is it okay to learn SEO in the WP environment?

#1. Check on Youtube or search the web, there are some articles explaining how to host files on the web even for free. I can't talk about it as I do put money on it concerned on my files, so while it's something I came across reading, it's not someting I read fully. On the other side there are cheap services as low as US$1 per month BUT... welcome to the game, hosting is not as clear and easy as in years ago, most hosting packages are sold with *** meaning each * involves a but or hidden fees, long gone are the days where the websites stated US$100 including ABCDE... now it's full of * and the price might change after a month or a year.

Anyway some companies can offer you really low prices if you pay 1 or 2 years.

#2. Coding sure helps, let's say SEO means getting mail and products to your door, well, how fast and easy is also important, speed, optimization. Many people still discuss if speed is still a determining factor, well it is, check the thread about obsessing with page speed in this same forum.

#3. Just my opinion: yes you can start with WP, in fact many companies will look for webmasters or SEO advisors experts in WP, but beware of becoming good at SEO, not at WP, diff matters, WP is just a took (limited in my opinion). At some point as you evolve in the field you will have to decide to start coding or not.

Searching found one place (name includes: blast) offering hosting as low as US$1 per month. Sorry, we can't post links or recommendations on specifics. You could also try the official WP site and just get a domain, but that's too limited in my opinion.


Just an idea, an opinion: SEO can involve coding and understanding technology, but if you ask me, SEO involves a lot more of writing skills.

Good luck

[explorador]

essex_boy: Make sure you know what you are doing, Im dealing with an 'SEO expert' who actually knows nothing, none of his sites are higher than 38 on Google...... SO, set up a site and show the ranks you have achieved

That's unfortunate, and what you suggest it is valid, that's why I recommend people to play and prove with their own stuff/projects.

On the other hand, just a technicality, someone can achieve great ROI (return of investment) and sales in general, or whatever their goal is, even if they are not on the first page of results on G. On some cases even being at page #2, #3 gets the money coming, I'm not saying one shouldn't aim for first page and excellence, I'm just saying first page result are just first page results. On some markets the competition is fierce, on some others the clients will keep coming even if you are not on first page results.

[NickMNS]

SO, set up a site and show the ranks you have achieved

Let's assume I were that top "SEO", and I could set up a site, any site and make it rank #1. Awesome! right, you have your proof, I'm great, now you can hire me.
But you need to ask, as the top SEO, does the techniques or methods applied to the example case apply to any case, or even to your specific case. Yes awesome! All the more reason to hire top SEO. If your logical reasoning stops there then, all is fine, ignorance is bliss.

But you need to continue the reasoning one more level. Assuming the above is all true, then top SEO could rank any website, and we can take as a given that any website that ranks number one is almost guaranteed to make money, potentially a lot of money. And since we are talking about any website, top SEO could forget about websites that don't make a lot of money and focus only on the most profitable ones. Top SEO's talent in and of itself is a means to print money. Without you. So now one must ask, if top SEO is really so "top" then why does he/she need to look for work. The only valid answer is that top SEO will be requiring a payment greater than what would be possible to receive without being hired. Thus what he/she charges is necessarily more that what you can afford and still remain profitable.

Ridiculous! you say.
Yes ridiculous, not the logic but the initial assumptions. There is no guarantee that techniques and methods used to rank an "example" website are applicable to your specific case. In fact, based on the incomplete logic all that the top SEO would need to do is cheat, such as use blackhat methods, to make the example website appear successful. And even baring this cheating, assuming that the website is ranking based on its own merits there is no guarantee that this could be repeated in for your specific case. Because if this could be repeated with any degree of certainty, it could be done without you, netting the SEO more than working for you.

Passed success is a lousy predictor of future performance, specially in terms of SEO.

Instead one needs to focus on the methods applied. Agree on a set of methods, and a time frame, and then both parties share in the success or failure of the endeavor.

[explorador]

This came to mind while driving.

#1. Proof / portfolio / evidence / trust.
#2. A broken system? dangerous clients, SEO profession is doable but you better do it for yourself.

#1. Proof. Ever wanted to build something and found a video on youtube? the best videos start with the end: showing the final result, not just the process. You might already know the waste of time you might experience watching videos on how to build or fix something only to reach the end of the video and surprise yourself on low quality. It's the same with SEO, lots of people will try to sell you a business, not a result and you might discover this too late, if you put yourself in that position you will understand clients asking for proof and portfolio, it makes sense, it's fair.

#2. Broken system? dangerous clients. SEO, the best search engine results involve technology and content, you can't exactly focus only on content while having slow websites, and you can't exactly focus on speed without quality content. But what if... you being the expert working with a client, your client doesn't cooperate?, what if the client "doesn't obey?".

Several of us around here dropped working with clients because at times, they fit a recurring behavior: I want the best website raking #1, ok, let's do it!. Then you evaluate and their site is garbage, content garbage, CMS garbage, it's slow and lacking quality content, so what's needed is to rebuild everything with new text and pictures on top of a decent CMS with speed and optimization. What if your client refuses? and what if many clients fit this? yes you can chose the works you accept, but what if you have beeng working hard to become a white ninja but no town is worth rescuing?

Again, it's doable, but the only secure area where you have access and control over everything is your own work.