How a Real SEO Professional is like a Babysitter for a Website

Times are changing, and they are changing fast for SEO professionals. What used to be a fairly simple job of building links via easy tactics like directory submission or article syndication is now turning into a job that requires more than full time commitment, since Google has gone as far as declaring over optimization to be a possible reason for penalty.

So you can’t over optimize because you will be penalized by Google, but you cannot under optimize because you will be outranked by your competitors, you need to keep it in balance and the balance will differ from one website to another. In short, the job description for an SEO professional has drastically changed, and there are many new roles and responsibilities in addition to what an SEO professional was supposed to do back in the olden days of SEO.

These days, an SEO professional is supposed to be more like a nanny for the website. They need to take care of their websites or online business just like you will take care of a child. If you are still one of those SEO guys who are focusing solely on building third class links, then you are not doing justice to your job. Here’s why I think an SEO professional is more like a nanny …

Care:

The first and the foremost duty of an SEO professional is to take care of the website and keep it out of trouble, just like a babysitter is required to keep an eye on the child and make sure they are safe. By safety, I don’t mean shielding the website from hackers,instead you are supposed to foresee a Google penalty or update. Even though Google doesn’t really announce that they are going for a tweak in their algorithm in the coming days, but if you are a frequent at SEO blogs and webmaster forums, you will be hearing about an update which is around the corner. Apart from the updates, you can easily tell when a website SEO practices are pushing it towards a Google penalty, and it is your duty is to take preventive actions.

Feed:

If you have worked as a babysitter, you will be aware that in most cases it’s not limited to keeping an eye on the children, but feed them as well, so you should know what’s healthy and what’s not for the kids you are sitting for. Same goes for the SEO guys, you need to feed your website with relevant content on regular basis. Not only that, but you should make sure that you are feeding it the right type of content (i.e. unique, fresh, keyword rich) and not junk (e.g. copied, spun, or dull).

Teach:

As a babysitter, especially a full time nanny, you need to help them with their homework and all, and you will be appreciated if you can help them learn some good manners and all. Similarly, even though it is not always your duty to guide your clients with other aspects of Internet Marketing, for example improving their conversion rates, but helping them out with other areas will help you win their trust and admiration.

Be Skilled:

Even though, you don’t need a degree to babysit kids in your area, still babysitters should equip themselves with all sorts of information or skills that they might need in different circumstances like first aid, or emergency numbers and all. Similarly, an SEO professional must equip himself with skills like basic Web Development or content creation. You might not need to employ these skills in most cases, however, knowing them is a must.

Ethics:

This one is not a responsibility, but a very important trait that all SEO professionals need to have. You will never be able to bring out the best in you and move to the top cadre of SEO professionals, if all you are looking for is the money. Just like babysitters, once you have accepted a job, you must give your hundred percent, there’s no room for negligence because your negligence can result in a big loss for your clients. If the remuneration isn’t good enough, you should simply refuse the job instead of accepting and doing it halfheartedly.

Seo London