1. Become familiar with the fundamentals of search engine optimization (SEO), such as how search engines function, keyword research, on-page and off-page optimization, and so on
— What have I accomplished?
The primary assignment of a search engine optimization analyst is to make sure that the client’s goods and services can be easily searched for and found for various keywords in relation to the product or services. It was therefore necessary for me to familiarize myself with and further understand the various tools and their key applications in the various levels of optimization. I was able to achieve this by first creating a subdomain olusola.learnersupdate.com on a domain “learnersupdate.com” I already bought a few months ago and then installing the popular WordPress CMS on it to manage my content. This enabled me to create several testing pages in the course of my research to further understand how optimization and keyword research works.
I enrolled on two paid courses, “Crawlability and Indexability” and “Keyword Research” after which I could now moderately use keyword research tools such as the “Ahref keyword generator” and Google Planner among others. With this knowledge, an SEO Analyst can be confident that the products and services of his client won’t get lost in the depth of Google’s or other search engine’s algorithm.
2. Get a good grasp of more sophisticated SEO strategies such as mobile optimization and local SEO
— What have I accomplished?
It is important to optimize your business page or website for mobile because a larger percentage of potential users of your product or services will search for it from their mobile phones. I learnt to use tools like the Google-Mobile Friendly report tool and the Page Speed Insight to monitor the site’s responsiveness and speed regularly and adjust accordingly.
3. Master the use of SEO tools including Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEMrush, and Ahrefs
— What have I accomplished?
I can now confidently use the free versions of the various analytical tools particularly Ahrefs and Google Search Console to measure changes in trends and traffic and also to be able to tell which aspect of the site needs immediate attention. This could be in terms of broken links, or missing alt or canonical tags.
4. Tracking and Measuring SEO campaigns
— What have I accomplished?
This requires creating a page for the business on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram depending on which is more relevant to the business strategies. This is something I had known how to do from previous experience. I have a vast knowledge of creating social media content and running a campaign.
5. Improve valuable skills in HTML and CSS
— What have I accomplished?
Because of my background in Computer Engineering, I have some level of knowledge of Cascaded Style Sheets and the latest HTML. But for the sake of this project, I had to revisit and relearn some basic skills which are evident in the entire design of this e-portfolio.
6. Develop effective SEO strategies that align with business goals
— What have I accomplished?
I believe that this is going to be continuous as there is usually change to trends and what people are searching for. For the main time, I have learnt some strategies that seem to be working on Proto Music but search engines like Google often release core algorithm updates sometimes twice a year which is another reason why I believe that this part of the contract is continuous.