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This is post is part of our summer blog series, “So You Want a Job in Advertising?” Check back for more intern insights or sign up for our RSS feed to be the first to know.

I may be slightly biased in saying this, but being a search engine optimization consultant is totally awesome. And with more companies upping their SEO budgets, it’s more important than ever to at least familiarize yourself with the basics, no matter what role you play in an advertising agency.

So here are my top tips for dipping your toes into the world of a search engine optimization consultant.

How you start makes all the difference. It all starts with the initial keyword list. These are the words you want your clients’ (or your own) site to rank in. There’s no magic, foolproof system for creating a solid keyword list, but sites like Wordtracker and Google AdWords Keyword Tool can give you the metrics to help make informed choices.

Know the tools at your disposal. Link building, content marketing, directories, local marketing — there are a lot of tools out there for the eager search engine optimization strategist.  However not all techniques are created equal, and being able to pick the most successful ones for your specific case will set you apart from the seo-wannabes. My personal favorite places to keep up with all the latest digital and seo trends is Moose’s very own blog and our digital case study repository, Moosetracker.

The landscape changes all the time — so make the time to keep up. One of the challenges as a search engine optimization strategist is keeping up with the changes and updates in Google and Bing. So to keep your Penguins and Pandas straight, find some industry sites you enjoy (for me, it’s Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Roundtable, and Occum’s Razor) and set aside time each week to keep up. In a digital agency, it’s important to make sure the advice you’re giving to your clients is as up-to-date and effective as possible is crucial.

Other people (sometimes competitors) will cheat. And don’t fret, they do get caught.  Some companies are willing to wager on what some people call “blackhat” tactics to get results fast. And there are some search engine optimization consultants that are happy to do it. A good advertising agency won’t tolerate that behavior though, and good clients won’t want the potential penalties that come with the results. Companies like J.C. Penney, Forbes and Overstock.com (and those are just the big instances I can think of) have tried to game the system and lost. And should you notice one of your competitors cheating, turn them in.

On a late night, these are the best tips I can come up with for the next group of search engine optimization strategists and digital marketing interns. They may seem obvious, but they’re the ones that have helped keep my head up and my mind optimistic.

Oh wait — there is one more tip that I have: if you come across someone that claims they’re a seo expert, this is your only appropriate response. Google and Bing have their algorithms locked down hard, and that dude is probably lying.