24 Core SEO Skills Checklist

SEOChallenge.
co
24 CORE
SEO SKILLS
Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

SEOChallenge.co Keyword/Intent research
Competitor research
On-page SEO
HARD SEO
Technical SEO
Mobile SEO
SKILLS Link building
Google algorithms
HTML
CSS
JavaScript
SEOChallenge.co
Curiosity
SOFT SEO Critical thinking
SKILLS
Strong communication skills
Networking
Responsibility

SEOChallenge.co Google Search Console
Google Analytics
Google Tag Manager
SEO
Google Data Studio
Google Sheets/ Excel
TOOLS Screaming Frog
ADDITIONAL
Moz
Ahrefs
SEMrush

SEOChallenge.co HARD SKILLS
Hard SEO skills are actually not that hard (pun intended) when you master them. They’re all essential to your
success as an SEO.
Keyword/Intent research Competitor research

It’s very important not just to look for keywords While you don’t want to copy your competitors,
but for topics that will match user intent. User you need to be aware of the tactics they are using.
intent is what a person expects to see when It will help you see how to improve your strategy.
they’re looking for this online.
Note that a competitor is not necessarily
Are they looking to buy? Get more information? someone who has the same business, products or
Looking for directions? services as you do. Websites ranking for your
main keywords in just one or a few areas are still
Understanding user intent and aligning your your competitors (even if their core business is
recommendations with it is the key to ranking different).
pages.

On-page SEO Technical SEO

Your website is something you have full control Technical SEO is essentially about helping Google
of. crawl what it should and helping it to stay away
from the content that should not be crawled.
You need to understand how to optimize it using
best practices as well as experimenting and To do that, you need to master your
seeing what works for you or your client. understanding of things like crawling, indexing,
canonicals, meta tags, etc.
Mobile SEO Link building

Google now cares only about what it sees on the Links are still important in SEO.
mobile version of the website, not the desktop.
You should know how to earn them using white-
As an SEO, you need to know how to check if your hat tactics as well as how to analyze backlink
or your client’s website will perform well profiles of websites.
considering the mobile-first approach.

Google algorithms HTML

Google releases a few hundreds of algorithms per You need to understand basic web standards
year. You don’t need to know each one of them such as how links are added to the pages or how
(most are not even announced). But you need to images should be placed on a page so that
understand the main ones and be able to analyze Google sees them. Knowing HTML also ensures
if your or your client’s website was hit. that you’re not scared to inspect elements on the
page and look at the page source code.
You don’t need to code pages from scratch as an

SEO (though it’s a nice skill to have!).
JavaScript
With the rise of technology, there’s a fine line
between creating a great website that ranks well
CSS
and a website that Google can’t even see. Knowing what CSS is and understanding how it
helps create and style pages is important.
As an SEO, you should be able to properly check if
JavaScript content is properly indexed by Google But you can relax, you don’t need to add CSS or
and know what to recommend if it’s not. style pages from scratch as an SEO.

SEOChallenge.co SOFT SKILLS
Mastering hard skills is what makes you good at SEO.
Mastering soft skills is what helps you show that you’re good at SEO as well as continuously grow as a
professional.
Curiosity Critical thinking
SEO is a very dynamic sphere. If you want to stay As an SEO, you need to be able to use your own
on top of it, you need to be eager to learn judgement first of all versus relying on anyone
something new every day. else’s.
You will have to solve complex problems and There’re many ‘it depends’ in this industry, and
develop unusual solutions. So you need to be able your task is to transform one of these ‘it depends’
to analyze data, see patterns and understand into actionable steps in a particular scenario.
what’s working and what’s not.

SEOChallenge.co SOFT SKILLS
Networking
Again, this skill never hurts no matter what sphere
you’re in. It’s always great to meet new people and
Strong communication skills
have someone by your side.
First of all, being able to communicate your

The SEO community is very welcoming and fun!
thoughts is valuable in any sphere.
In SEO, you’ll need to be able to explain your

strategies to non-tech people so that they
understand and listen to you. And you will also
Responsibility
need to explain things to tech people (e.g.
developers) so that they implement what you’re You need to understand that as an SEO, you
recommending. impact the whole business. The website is usually
the main source of leads and sales for all online
You’ll need to convince both. businesses. You should be aware of it and be
responsible for your actions.
As an SEO, your goal is to create a long-term

positive impact.

SEOChallenge.co TOOLS
The tools are your friends that will help you on your way to optimizing websites.
There are plenty of SEO tools and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by them. You don’t need to use 10-20 tools. You
need to start with must-haves. Find them below.
Google Search Console

Google Analytics
GSC is the best place you can find first-hand data If you can’t track it, you can’t optimize it.
on your website right from Google. If you want to © Yours truly
be a good SEO, you need to master it.
As an SEO you must be able to look at the default
and custom GA reports, slice data as you need to
Google Tag Manager find nuggets that will point you in the right
direction.
Google Tag Manager helps you track meaningful
actions on the website that are then reported in
Google Analytics (see above).
A good SEO can set up at least basic GA event

tracking that can be used for creating goals in
Google Analytics.

SEOChallenge.co TOOLS
Google Data Studio Google Sheets / Excel
Google Data Studio is an awesome free tool that Google Sheets (or Excel) is the best friend of every
helps you create evergreen reports. SEO. You can export information there, use add-
ons to add GA and GSC data, and build reports.
Gone are the days when you’d need to go use You don’t need to be a Google Sheets master, but
multiple GA reports and manually go through you can at least be able to sort lines and remove
Google Search Console to find the right numbers duplicates.
to put into your monthly report.
Now you can just connect the needed sources Screaming Frog
(like Google Analytics and Google Search
Console) and build a report that will be up-to-date This tool is especially great to have under your
24/7. belt if you choose to go the technical SEO path.
I know this sounds like an ad but it isn’t. I just love Screaming Frog crawls websites and shows you
this free tool from Google valuable data so that you can quickly spot issues.
There are other alternatives like SiteBulb,

JetOctobus and others as well.

SEOChallenge.co
GOOD LUCK,
FRIEND! If you Want to know More about these essential skills and SEO,
Follow me for more tips:
@AZARCHICK
Kristina Azarenko

24 Core SEO Skills Checklist

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SEOChallenge.

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

SKILLS Link building

SOFT SEO Critical thinking

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

Google Tag Manager

Google Sheets/ Excel

TOOLS Screaming Frog

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

Keyword/Intent research Competitor research

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

On-page SEO Technical SEO

Mobile SEO Link building

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

Google algorithms HTML

You don’t need to code pages from scratch as an

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

Curiosity Critical thinking

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

First of all, being able to communicate your

In SEO, you’ll need to be able to explain your

As an SEO, your goal is to create a long-term

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

Google Search Console

A good SEO can set up at least basic GA event

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

Google Data Studio Google Sheets / Excel

There are other alternatives like SiteBulb,

Created by Kristina Azarenko (marketingsyrup.com) @AZARCHICK

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