We’d all like to be on track, on schedule, and have everything go as planned.
However, the fact is that something will fail to work as intended or a resource will fail to reach.
That is why, to some extent, SEO is built on problem-solving in general.
Because SEO roadblocks and challenges are unavoidable, we must be prepared for them and know what to do.

Some SEOs are great strategists, others great implementers. Few excel at both. Everyone has different skill sets and talents, and levels of strategy development and tactical implementation disciplines also vary from person to person.
With so many stakeholders and variables involved in SEO, what does it takes to be a successful SEO expert? Here are 10 ways to become an SEO expert.

Recognize your stakeholders

SEO success (fair or unfair) is frequently judged by non-SEOs while also being held back or negatively impacted by others.
Problem-solving becomes easier when you understand the expectations, anticipate potential roadblocks, and have a complete context. Whether it’s company politics, varying levels of expertise in SEO subject matter, or dramatically diverse performance and timing expectations, you need to know all the actors and anticipate what problems may lie ahead.
The more you manage the stakeholder mix and expectations, the easier it will be to fix issues and stay on track. And, yes, that is a “when” rather than an “if.” I’m not being sarcastic, but nothing ever happens as planned.

Establish responsibilities and communication strategies

There are specific people with whom you collaborate in addition to the entire range of stakeholders. Your teammates, inside your agency, within your marketing department, and/or other agency or client-side functions may fall under this category.
You will need others to be successful unless you have the talents and roles of a writer, designer, developer, and approver in addition to SEO.
Define your roles and duties. Know who your teammates are & what you require from each of them individually. Learn about their methods and how they compare to yours.
Before you begin clearly study the difference between lead times and turnaround times. Convince your clients that unexpected demands and events may occur.
Make it clear what you know you need and what you might need and how timing and responsiveness will affect SEO success. Create allies and incorporate them into your problem-solving and troubleshooting processes, and strive to achieve as much agility as possible with your resources.

Establish baselines and objectives

In any SEO campaign, you want to have as much consistency and cause and effect as possible.
There are so many uncertainties and grey areas that, without any baselines and targets for where the effort is actually directed, you can get way off track with resources, why something isn’t happening as planned, and more.
There are frequently multiple approaches to achieving your objectives. We can become lost in a technical issue if we can’t connect it to a benchmark or influence a goal.
We can also take a step back and reprioritize our operations if we run into trouble or a bottleneck, such as learning that a development update to resolve a technical issue could take up to six months.

Make the most out of your strategy and plan

Firstly, I hope you have a clear strategy and plan in place. Take a step back and work on it if you don’t have it or your baselines and goals (mentioned above). Otherwise, it is challenging to be proactive and lead the SEO effort because you will continuously be chasing down issues.

Unification around a strategy and plan will help you determine how hard to press for a specific remedy versus moving on to larger impact items.
Change your expectation & move as per reality. In case, if the content writer is booked in advance, raise a red signal indicating how this can bring a change in the planned item and the expected timeline, and the effects will be reflected in the final outcomes.
Using your plan and any adjustments that occur to manage expectations will assist you in obtaining resources or engaging others who can assist you.

Be spontaneous and flexible

Even with the best strategy and all the resources available, things frequently develop in ways that we do not even predict or project. Yes, we go over all of the title and meta description tags and make sure they are “fully” optimized. However, we may discover that there are still issues with duplicate tags or how they are indexed.

Should we just tick the box and move on?
Should we run another optimization round?
Should we begin doing other things in the plan simultaneously?
Do we need to hire a developer or a copywriter?

Again, things don’t always go as planned. In such cases, we must go above and beyond.
Finding the right mix between modifying the strategy and being agile as you go and sticking to the plan is perhaps the most critical troubleshooting or problem-solving ability that an SEO expert can have.

Develop technical skills and/or resources

Knowing the “what” and “why” of an SEO problem is really beneficial. This is a step beyond relying on tools or performance issues as evidence that something is not operating as expected.

At the very least, you must be able to handle a situation by grabbing new knowledge. However, if you have the skills to solve problems yourself or speak the same language as others and be highly prescriptive and direct with your resources, you will have a better chance of finding a solution sooner. Finally, you will be a subject matter expert in SEO.

Make backup preparations for your content

One of the leading causes of changes in plans and performance is a failure to obtain adequate quality and volume of content.
I don’t know many SEOs who are still writing or editing content. Typically, SEOs rely on a customer, another resource, or a partner to write and produce content. Several businesses are shaped on the basis of considering legal & compliance factors.
Even if you have a content calendar still content resources can get filled up. What happens if your content resource is unavailable or deviates from the original plan?
Do you have a backup plan?
To compensate, do you dig deeper into technical and off-page optimization?
Being an SEO expert problem solver is one thing when content isn’t performing well. It’s entirely a different thing when you can’t find the content you require.

Be patient, but don’t wait

Be a team player who values your partners and the resources with which you collaborate.
Pushing too hard and/or being impolite will not work in your favor. Give some grace and patience, but don’t wait too long.
If you’re stuck on content (as mentioned above), a development edit, a technological update, or any other unique resources beyond your control, look for methods to reorganize things in the plan.
To keep things going, you can always prioritize link building, tag updates, or some other form of audit or update.
It may require some creativity, but don’t sit around waiting for others. Continue to make progress.

Consider roadblocks to be opportunities

My tone was probably quite aggressive since there will be difficulties, blockages, and issues to resolve. The nature of SEO & online world is this.
A problem-solving mindset is essential.
Accepting this fact and remaining positive in the face of hardships, being a realist, and convincing others of this harsh reality are all very crucial.
SEO is difficult for everyone. With our website and strategy, we strive to be the best among all.
Everyone would be good at it if it were easy, and we’d have a different set of difficulties.

Take the recommendations of experienced SEO professionals

Last but not least, you will confront a number of challenges on your way to becoming an SEO master. You will be disappointed, frustrated, and ready to give up sometimes.
Don’t be worried; this is very normal. If you read the stories of other people, you will see that none of them got who they are today by chance. It is the result of countless hours of experimentation and learning about SEO.
The following are 5 SEO experts you should certainly follow for inspiration and to learn how SEO can be applied on a scale:
• Neil Patel
• Brain Dean
• Eric Enge
• Joost de Valk
• Rand Fishkin

Conclusion

Everyone who works with a website or an online business should become an SEO expert.

Marketing managers, developers, webmasters, web designers, social media managers, PPC specialists, solo entrepreneurs, and eCommerce proprietors are among those on the list.

Why? Because SEO is the first step of all digital marketing activities. SEO principles not only ensure maximum exposure in search engines, but they can also help a website in other ways.
Becoming an SEO Expert is not so easy, but it is also not tough. There is a lot of reading, practicing, and testing involved in this process.

If you’re just getting started, the easiest approach to get all of the information you need is to take a good SEO course, use the right SEO tools, and, most importantly, start doing SEO. Learn from your mistakes and make necessary corrections.

Search engines and SEO will be around for a long time, and it is the best investment you can make in your business and personal skills.

Also Read: Content Writing VS Copywriting: Choose Your Side