What Any SEO Specialist Should Know: SEO Skills From Junior To Senior [+ Infographics]

We also faced this problem, so we decided to publish a complete knowledge map for SEO specialists from Junior to Senior and will help you organize, deepen and evaluate your knowledge.
Contents
Skills required for SEO on a Junior level
Basiс knowledge
The first thing to know is the terminology. Key SEO terms are already collected in our SEO Glossary.
Next, we go to the training materials from the knowledge bases of the search engines themselves.
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Competitor analysis

Collecting semantics
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- synonyms;
- similar keywords;
- search suggestions;
- top pages by keyword;
- competitors by keyword.

Technical optimization
You should carry out a technical audit before launching a project, after a structural change, relocation or redesign. We also recommend analyzing the site for errors at least once every 1-2 months, even if visually everything is fine with technical optimization.
With the help of a technical audit, you can determine weaknesses and problems that hinder the site's promotion. For example, you can have a page that fully responds to a user's request and is optimized according to all SEO rules, but what if it is closed from indexing?
Read about the critical technical skills required for SEO optimization in the articles below.
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Types of markups and their customization
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External optimization: links
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- referring domains;
- malicious sites;
- inbound links;
- outbound links;
- link anchors;
- leader pages;
- batch analysis;
- donors intersection.

Basic site knowledge
Web analytics
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Algorithms
SEO skills for Upper Junior level and their meaning
Semantic core: top similarity clustering
You can do clustering automatically using the Serpstat Keyword Clustering module.


Technical optimization
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Site structure
Commercial ranking factors
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Web analytics
Google Analytics
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Google Optimize
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Marketing
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How the site works
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Algorithms
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SEO abilities required for Middle level
Web analytics
Technical optimization
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What is Senior SEO experience
Web analytics
Working with databases
BI platforms
Python
Bonus
Expert opinion: what a Middle and Senior SEO should know
For me, the level of a specialist is measured in independence. Signor works as autonomously as possible, regardless of the type of task, up to the automation of work. Middle needs help making difficult and important decisions and developing scripts.
In fact, all the missing knowledge can be filled when the task appears if the specialist is experienced enough to google and apply the information.
To sum up, Senior is an experienced Middle with knowledge of related areas.
P.S. I am not writing about things like knowing the basics, tools, strategies, etc. It goes without saying.
1. Know the file structure of popular engines: WordPress, Open Cart, CS cart.
2. Be able to find the necessary files for CMS sites.
3. Know basic queries in SQL.
4. Be able to implement elementary edits on the site.
5. Know and use various modules of popular CMS engines.
6. Be able to write and read elementary code on PHP.
Speaking about a set of knowledge, the main difference is in working with numbers, big data and the ability to automate it all. Junior promotes the site, Middle - promotes, analyzes actions and draws conclusions, and Senior - draws many conclusions and hypotheses, tests them with minimal costs.
When it comes to data volumes and analytics, these are programming languages, scripts, BI, and a thorough work with the main tools that serve as a data source.
Infographics
Speed up your search marketing growth with Serpstat!
Keyword and backlink opportunities, competitors' online strategy, daily rankings and SEO-related issues.
A pack of tools for reducing your time on SEO tasks.
Cases, life hacks, researches, and useful articles
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