You chose Brand A over Brand B because you’re convinced that “A” is the better value-for-money product in terms of price, features, and convenience. Likewise, it helped that “A” was packaged more attractively than “B.” Brand A’s marketing team put together a marketing strategy that influenced your choice.
Marketing is an important skill to learn as an entrepreneur or career option. Sales bring in business revenue, but the sales team will struggle to hit quota without marketing.
In the age of the Internet, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a key component of an effective digital marketing toolbox. SEO helps search engines find and index your marketing content.
You’re reading this article because you’re wondering:
“Is it possible to learn SEO if I have little to zero knowledge and experience in marketing?”
Spoiler alert: YES!
If you’re a fresh graduate, someone who wants to switch careers, or newly retired but plans to start a business, you can learn SEO and marketing.
Marketing is, first and foremost, a skill. Learning a skill requires constant repetition. In time and with consistency, you’ll only get better in SEO and marketing.
But first, let’s answer an important question…
Why Learn SEO And Marketing?
We’ll answer this question from the perspective of an entrepreneur and a career option.
1. Should Entrepreneurs Learn SEO And Marketing?
Yes.
Arguably, time is an entrepreneur’s most important asset. Time is a scarce resource, and to be successful, you must dedicate most of your working hours to managing the core functions of your business.
As essential as marketing is to the success of a business, it’s a skill-specific non-core function.
You should outsource SEO and marketing to a qualified, experienced, and professional digital ad agency so you can allocate more productive time for your business.
However, having basic knowledge of SEO and marketing is a good idea for the following reasons:
- Understanding basic SEO processes and terms such as keyword research, external links, internal links, anchor text, meta and title tags, crawling, indexing, user intent, People Also Ask (PAA), caching, site maps, and scraped content will help you communicate better with the ad agency.
- Knowledge of basic SEO will allow you to confidently provide input to the digital ad agency’s proposed marketing campaign.
We might be digital marketing professionals… but no one knows your business better than you. Your input matters to us! - Learning SEO will broaden your understanding of the capabilities of digital marketing. You won’t hesitate to increase your investment in processes that have consistently contributed to the growth of your business.
- SEO and marketing will help you understand customers better. You’ll have access to data on customer online behavior.
You’ll know what they like, where they come from, how much they spend, and why they often abandon their carts at the checkout counter.
With SEO and marketing as skill sets, the days of guesswork are over!
2. Is Digital Marketing a Good Career Choice?
Yes.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shared its outlook on a digital marketing career.
| 2023 Median Pay: |
|
| Annual Growth Rate: | 8%; faster than average |
| Number of Open Jobs: | 411,000 |
| Increase in Jobs: | 31,000 |
How attractive are these numbers?
According to the BLS, the average annual salary in the United States is $65,470. The median annual pay of a marketer is more than double the average annual salary in the U.S.
Is there a demand for SEO services?
A 2022 study by Visual Objects showed that 63% of small businesses invest in SEO. The number could be higher, but small businesses have limited capital and want immediate results.
Allow us to clarify.
There are two types of SEO: Organic and Paid.
- Organic SEO: Organic SEO is the process of growing a website by using unpaid channels, tools, or platforms.
Blogging is an example of organic SEO. If readers enjoy your blogs, they’ll willingly follow your social media pages and visit your website.
The keyword is “willingly.”
A user types a search query on Google. When they see your content on the search results page, they’ll click on it. The job of organic SEO is to get your content on the first page of the SERP. - Paid SEO: Paid SEO is the process of using paid methods to generate immediate visibility and traffic for your content.
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are a good example. Once someone clicks on your PPC ad, they’ll automatically land on your webpage. That’s immediate traffic.
You can find PPC ads on websites and social media networks.
A business that wants quick results might prefer PPC ads over consistent blogging. With PPC, the business owner’s website will generate traffic immediately.
The question is, will the user engage the website? If he’s not interested in the webpage content, he’ll click out. The user might have accidentally clicked on the ad.
Organic SEO takes time to bear fruit, but once it does, you have a greater probability of having a loyal, long-term customer.
If business owners were educated about SEO and marketing, they’ll understand why you need both organic and paid SEO. There’ll be wonderful synergy if entrepreneurs learn SEO and add to their knowledge of marketing.
4 Tips On Improving Your Learning Skills For SEO And Marketing
Learning is an activity we’ve been doing since the day we were born. It’s as natural as breathing air.
Just as 4-7-8, Pursed Lip, and Box are ways to breathe better, there are ways to become better at learning.
1. Adjust Your Mindset
Learning a new skill can be fun and exciting while at the same time intimidating and disconcerting.
It’s normal to doubt the significance of learning the skill or have concerns about your ability to comprehend new ideas. These thoughts create unwanted “white noise” that initially makes the learning process uncomfortable.
You can silence the white noise by adjusting your mindset.
Keep an Open Mind
If you’re hesitant to receive knowledge, you won’t. Information can’t be processed properly if you’re constantly challenging its value.
Keep an open mind by understanding that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by learning SEO and marketing.
Knowledge is always an asset. You might decide to outsource SEO or you might choose another career. However, when the time comes that you need to market or promote a product or service, the skill is available in your toolbox.
Unlearn to Learn
Entrepreneurs who grew up using traditional marketing methods such as distributing flyers, posters, Point-of-Purchase (POP) materials, and publishing print ads might hesitate to replace old school with digital marketing.
They might be intimidated by technology and think they don’t have the necessary bandwidth to comprehend SEO.
When we say, “Unlearn” we don’t mean to completely forget your knowledge of traditional marketing. Put it aside for now and focus on learning SEO and digital marketing.
Be Patient
There’s always a learning curve to overcome.
The curve is steep at the start of the learning process. As you become comfortable with the process, the curve continues to slope until the concepts of SEO become second nature.
The learning curve will take time to slope, but be patient with it. Don’t put a timeline and rush the learning process.
We all have different learning capabilities. Respect the learning curve and trust the process.
Embrace Failure
“What if I won’t be successful in SEO?”
“What if I can’t effectively apply the principles of SEO to my client’s business?”
“What if my SEO strategy doesn’t produce the desired results?”
Steph Curry shoots thousands of three-pointers every day. So why is his three-point shooting percentage only 41% and not 100%?
Like three-point shooting, SEO can be hit-and-miss. You can’t be successful 100% of the time. The cool thing about SEO is you can improve your strategy by monitoring its progress, reviewing analytics, and identifying what areas need improvement.
Focus on One Concept at a Time
Content writing, video marketing, technical audit, website analytics, backlinking, repurposing content, long-form blogs, long-tail keywords…
SEO has many concepts, processes, and techniques. It’s unrealistic to learn everything immediately. Focus on one concept at a time. When you’re adept at the concept, switch to one that’s relevant.
For example, learn how to conduct keyword research using Google Keyword Planner. When you’re comfortable summarizing high-ranking keywords in a spreadsheet, learn how to use the keywords to optimize content.
2. Utilize Various Learning Tools and Platforms
Technology has made it possible to learn new skills outside the confines of the classroom and the public library. There are various learning tools and platforms you can utilize to learn about SEO and marketing.
Online Research
Search was the number one online activity in 2024.
✅ 60.9% are looking for information.
✅ 51.9% are keeping up to date with news and events.
✅ 49.4% are learning how to do things.
✅ 46.1% are looking for new ideas or inspiration.
✅ 43.7% are researching for products and brands.
✅ 29.9% are doing business-related research.
The Internet is home to over 1.5 billion websites offering a variety of information. You can find almost any information you want on the Internet.
Search has been made easy by AI technology. Ask ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, or Microsoft Pilot a question, and the AI will have a complete answer for you in seconds.
Be careful about the websites you visit. Not all are reliable or legitimate.
We’ll do a blog about conducting research. A good rule of thumb is to use root sources or the origin of the data.
Here’s an example of how to use the data.
Forbes, CNN, BBC, The New York Times, and The Economist are reputable sources of information. Oftentimes, you’ll see their blogs hyperlink data to other websites.
Click on the link and check the source. If the website is the root source of the data, use it as a reference.
Also, websites with a “.gov” suffix are generally considered credible sources because the government supports these platforms.
Always Stay Informed
Set up alerts on topics related to digital marketing and SEO topics. You can also sign up for the newsletter services of your go-to websites.
Neil Patel, Gary Vaynerchuk, Jeff Bullas, Tim Ferriss, Ann Handley, Joe Pulizzi, Kim Garst, Mark Schaefer, Rand Fishkin, and John Jantsch are 10 of the most-sought-after digital marketing experts and social media experts in the industry.
Follow them on their social media accounts on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest to get these gurus’ latest SEO and marketing tips and tactics.
These strategies help you save time and update you on the latest in digital marketing and SEO.
Sign Up for Online Courses
Udemy, Skillshare, Google Digital Garage, Hubspot Academy, EdX, IIM Skills, and Digital Vidya are learning platforms that offer online certification courses on digital marketing and SEO.
Wordstream offers free certification courses on PPC advertising. EdX allows you to sign up for paid or free classes on the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing.
Attend Short Courses
If you prefer traditional, classroom-style, face-to-face classes, check the courses offered by nearby community colleges or tutoring agencies. Some offer short courses on digital marketing and SEO that you can complete in a few months.
Consult the Professionals
Do you have friends, associates, or contacts in your network who are career marketers? Consult with them and ask for their advice on digital marketing and SEO.
If your contact is a professional marketer, don’t be surprised if he books you for a paid consultation session.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice
Knowledge is theory until you put it into practice.
Content Writing
Write at least two hours daily. Start with short-form 300-word blogs. Once you’ve gotten the feel of optimized writing, increase the word count to 1,000.
Your goal is to complete a 2,400-word optimized blog within four hours.
Research
Practice two forms of research – topic and keyword. You can hone your research skills while you’re composing optimized blogs. Create a spreadsheet for your keywords and use them in your content.
Start with Google Keyword Planner as your keyword research tool. Once you’re comfortable with it, shift to SEMRush or Ahrefs.
Comprehension
A client might ask you to prepare a marketing campaign for a product or industry you’re unfamiliar with.
The best way to strengthen your comprehension is to read daily. Look for topics that read Greek to you.
For example, if you’ve always wanted to learn about succulents, this is your opportunity.
Read as many sources about succulents. Find a topic about succulents and create an outline. Finally, write an article.
Data Collection
If you follow Neil Patel on Facebook, you’ll notice he frequently posts graphics about various digital marketing topics. Neil is an amazing resource and his information is well-researched.
If you come across SEO information that could be useful now or in the future, download and save it in a file.
Asking Questions
User intent and content relevancy are key ranking factors in Google’s search algorithm. Often, keywords alone aren’t sufficient to identify the answers or solutions your target market requires.
For example, a user launches a search query:
“How do I cancel Netflix?”
Answer the question by asking a question:
“How many ways can I cancel Netflix?”
Based on your research, you found out that you can cancel Netflix on the website, mobile phone, and the app.
Thus, in your article, you can include headers for cancelling Netflix on the website, the mobile phone, and the app.
But the questions don’t end there.
What other questions do the readers have in mind?
“Are the cancellation processes on an iPhone or Android the same?”
You can revise the header on cancelling Netflix on a mobile phone by adding subheaders on cancelling it on an iPhone and Android.
When you’re researching topics, practice asking questions. If the answer isn’t provided by the source, look for it. The process of asking questions will create content that serves user intent and relevancy.
4. Become a Teacher
A great way to gauge your expertise on a topic is to teach it to others.
To be an effective teacher, you must organize and articulate information to your students.
- Create a course outline on the basics of SEO and digital marketing.
- Find a “student;” a person who’s interested in learning SEO and digital marketing. The person could be a relative, an office mate, or your business partner.
- Give a short 10-minute presentation on SEO. You can use PowerPoint, but focus on clearly articulating SEO principles to your student.
- Encourage your student to give feedback.
Another way is to actively participate during your meetings with the digital ad agency.
The terms used by the digital ad agency no longer sound foreign. You know what these SEO terms mean and how they relate to your business. Be more engaged in meetings and don’t hesitate to clarify information.
Conclusion
The Japanese have a saying:
“If you stop learning, you stop growing.”
Learning is an essential part of life. It has no expiration date. Learning new things keeps us young because our minds are constantly functioning.
We don’t have all the answers. Learning will help us find them. You can learn anything you want if you put your heart, mind, and soul into it.
It doesn’t matter if your background is focused on a by-the-numbers discipline like accounting. Everyone has the creative muscle to become good in SEO and marketing.
You don’t have to utilize all of the learning channels suggested in this article. If your current financial situation prevents you from signing up for SEO and digital marketing certification courses, online research won’t cost you a cent.
Follow marketing wizards like Neil Patel who actively provides digital marketing tips on social media.
Put theory into practice. Apply your knowledge in digital marketing and SEO by practicing their principles daily.
Why not freelance as an SEO practitioner? Work on a small SEO project. The experience will be worth more than the pay.
Don’t be afraid of failure. When you fall short of your marketing goals, analytics will show you where the problems are. Failure is part of the learning process! If we don’t fail, how do we know where our flaws are?
If you’re an entrepreneur, go ahead and learn SEO, then outsource digital marketing to a professional digital ad agency. We’d love to get your insights on our campaigns.
