What’s Expected In a SEO Specialist’s Portfolio?

All SEO specialists should have a portfolio. Even if you aren’t necessarily looking for work, having a website makes a statement about who you are, the story of your career, and what SEO means to you. And don’t worry, you don’t need prior SEO experience to have one. In fact, having one should show what you bring to the table, regardless of experience.

There are no real guidelines to follow in creating the perfect portfolio, which can make it challenging to start one. Don’t fret too much: focus on showcasing what you do have, even if it’s knowledge and soft skills to start.

It may help to think of it like any other virtual website. It’s like a virtual brand of what you’ve overcome and accomplished. Focus on presenting your experiences in a way that uniquely makes a statement about you.

What Your Portfolio Should Accomplish

A portfolio can accomplish three main objectives:

  1. Display previous case studies
  2. Present your achievements
  3. Showcase yourself to the world

It may seem overwhelming, however, if you already have a resume, you’re halfway there. A resume presents a candidate’s work experience, background, and accomplishments. A portfolio is a compilation of materials demonstrating that experience. It’s just an extension of your resume.

How Do I Create a Portfolio With No SEO Experience?

Here are a few ways successful SEOs built portfolios without experience:

Create your own case studies. Pick 2-3 brands or companies to cross-examine and audit their SEO as if they were your client.

Offer a free basic audit to 1-2 local companies. Don’t give away the bank here; focus on being straightforward whenever possible — it’ll also show you can be efficient. Don’t avoid using statistics to support the points in your audit.

Consider creating your own blogs to demonstrate your understanding and ability to integrate SEO. As an added bonus you’ll be able to experiment with new techniques and see what works.

Creating an effective website demonstrates the person’s soft skills are in alignment with the job description, so view it as an opportunity. Identify what sets you apart and leverage it to tell a story and make a memorable statement.

Case Studies: What You Need To Know

Your case study should also tell a story. What do data, marketing, and SEO have in common? They all tell a story. And as you may already know, telling that story can be the greatest creative challenge. Here are some points I focus on to help me:

What was the brand’s mission?

What were the campaigns you worked on?

What challenges did your team face and how did you solve them?

What were the results? (If you don’t have results, give projections based on whatever data you have available.)

As a freelancer or experienced SEO, it may be tempting to list all your previous work experience, as you would your resume. However, be concise and efficient. Keep it brief.

In terms of the order, you can list the most significant ones first, even if they aren’t your most recent experience. Your portfolio is a lawless creative extension of your resume: so again, focus on what’s important.

What if my Experience is Confidential?

You’ll need to know what is actually confidential. Most of the time this issue can be alleviated by censoring the name. However, you should confirm with your client that it’s okay to list the work you did for them without disclosing the name. I’ve seen professionals stick to listing their achievements, the relevant industry, and whatever else was relevant to the campaigns. At the very least, you should have no issues sharing your past achievements confidentially.

Presenting Your Accomplishments

I find looking over previous or current digital marketing campaigns and noting which metrics were notable was the best way to showcase what I’ve accomplished. Even if your analytics tool aggregates data (as most do), mentioning something is better than nothing!

So, what achievements are worth mentioning? Below are some suggestions from most important to least:

Relevant growth of revenue

New or converted leads

Differences in visitor or customer behavior (e.g. browsing the site more, for longer, purchasing more, etc.)

Social media exposure (e.g. engagement, impressions, clicks, and especially conversions)

You’ll want to consider listing these achievements with their meaningful impact on the overall case. Be sure the most important statistics are displayed neatly, your creativity can really help you here.

Also, consider using the main achievement of each case study in the title or the buttons instead of using “read more”.

Learned Accomplishments Count Too!

It’s worth mentioning that while reporting campaigns is expected in the role, it’s not the only way of demonstrating accomplishments. Again, present yourself by being who you are at the workplace. Did you double workplace productivity and efficiency by getting the team to switch to better project management software? If it makes sense, mention it.

Sometimes, an accomplishment can be what you learned by problem-solving a failing campaign. Remember, obstacles, challenges, and failures are a part of every marketing campaign, it’s what you learn or how you handle the challenges and problems prevalent in every industry that demonstrates your success in the field.

Disclaimer: Use Your Discretion

Despite pitfalls being apart of every career, you’ll want to be discrete about mentioning some on your site. The ones explained better in context should be mentioned during the interview and not on your website.

Each case can be different, so if you’re on the fence, consider asking a career counselor or try to reach out to me on LinkedIn. I enjoy helping others succeed and would be happy to be your second pair of eyes!

Show Your Personality

SEO portfolios can be straightforward, professional, and personable. It’s a misconception that it has to be dull. In fact, I think we can all agree the most memorable designs are the ones that leave an impression. Think of how to showcase yourself to set you apart from the competition as well.

Start by deciding what level of customization you want and choose the platform suited for you. Journo, Authory, Squarespace, and Wix are popular platforms, although these are harder to optimize and customize than others. If your goal is to rank or show your creativity in a competitive market, consider WordPress with its plethora of themes to choose from.

Weigh the pros and cons of each and decide which align with all of your goals. Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress have less cookie cutter options to choose from and can help create a unique memorable aesthetic with your resume. WordPress has thousands of themes, including the popular value packed GeneratePress and Astra themes (both of which have free versions, by the way).

As a bonus consideration: GeneratePress and Astra have consistently been rated for their ease of optimization, support, and ease of customization. This has been thanks to their incredible development teams and fast benchmarks.

If you have the time to spent customizing, WordPress is probably your best bet. If you need just a quick portfolio, Journo or Authory should be on your radar. Squarespace and Wix could be worthwhile considerations as well if you’re not concerned about optimizing for search engines. However, as an SEO, you’ll probably want it to be optimized.

Or, You Can Hire Out

So if you’re short on time but still want a website professionally done, there’s nothing wrong with hiring out! *hint hint* 😉 I am a firm believer that there is plenty of wealth to go around. And when you do good business, it comes back to you.

That being established, you’ll want to work with someone who completely gets what you do. That’s me! I’ve been in SEO for five years (web development even longer than that). I have even made websites in the past that have a) helped candidates get placed within 3 months and b) helped raise their interview offers by 8% (!). I have also worked with GEICO as a marketing consultant for their recruiting marketing campaigns in the past. Let’s get you set up on a call to discuss more about your background and what you do!