SEO specialists are liable for improving a website’s visibility successful integrated hunt results. But what exactly do they do? What skills and qualifications bash they need? And however tin you go one?

To find out, I looked done 52 SEO specializer occupation listings connected Indeed and SEOJobs.

The astir communal responsibilities I found are:

• Keyword probe (90.4%)
• SEO show monitoring and investigation (75%)
• On-page and contented optimization (69.2%)
• Reporting (67.3%)
• Technical SEO (61.6%)
• Collaborating with different teams (61.5%)
• Staying up-to-date with SEO trends and Google updates (61.5%)
• Develop an SEO strategy (55.8%)
• Link gathering (53.9%)

It seems similar SEO specialists are expected to bash everything. Some listings adjacent expect SEOs to tally conversion optimization, and determination were adjacent listings wherever SEOs were successful complaint of PPC.

A batch to inquire for, successful my opinion, since determination are radical who actually specialize successful each facet of SEO.

That being said, it could besides beryllium the lawsuit that astir of these occupation listings are in-house. According to my workfellow Despina, who has been an SEO specializer herself, it’s much communal for an in-house SEO specializer to beryllium an all-rounder since they’re often either the lone idiosyncratic doing SEO oregon portion of a precise tiny squad wherever versatility is rewarded.

Despina reminds us:

The mode I spot it, being an SEO specializer isn’t astir what you do. It’s astir the results you’re accountable for, i.e., increasing integrated visibility and, ideally, integrated revenue. Today, you mightiness program technical, content, and link-building tasks to assistance you get there. Tomorrow, it mightiness beryllium marque building, UX, oregon adjacent CRO tasks.

Here are the communal skills I saw:

• Experience with SEO tools similar Google Search Console and Ahrefs (75%)
• Communication skills (61.5%)
• Knowledge of SEO champion practices, SEO trends, and however Google works (57.7%)
• Analytical skills (48%)

Again, this corroborates Despina’s experience. Here’s what she said:

It’s a premix of brushed and hard skills that astir employers thin to look for successful my experience. These brushed skills are progressively valuable: communication, initiative, the quality to larn and accommodate quickly, clip and task management, and the quality to grip and marque consciousness of tons of data. For hard skills: quality to enactment a strategy unneurotic and the quality to urge SEO actions.

One happening I recovered absorbing was that determination were 2 occupation listings that specifically requested acquisition with AI tools.

Although it was lone a teeny tiny illustration (for now), I spot it arsenic a sign. AI skills—specifically related to using AI for SEO—will go much important successful the future.

Good news: You apt don’t request 1 since 61.5% of the occupation listings did not inquire for a assemblage degree.

For the rest, they typically inquire for a bachelor’s successful SEO (does that exist?), marketing, business, oregon thing related. This jives with what Despina has seen, too.

Even so, I don’t deliberation you person to disqualify yourself from a peculiar listing conscionable due to the fact that you don’t person a degree. After all, Despina has a Bachelor of Arts majoring successful Sociology and Education. No uncertainty it’s a degree, but it’s arsenic acold arsenic you tin ideate from being related to SEO.

You’d beryllium amended disconnected worrying astir however to summation actual SEO experience.

What astir SEO certifications? Disregard. They’re not important astatine all. Only 3 occupation listings asked for them.

Both agencies and companies prosecute SEO specialists.

However, according to our sample, determination is currently more request for in-house SEO specialists (63.5%) than astatine agencies (36.5%).

One crushed mightiness beryllium that the word “SEO specialist” is utilized interchangeably with “SEO consultant” oregon “SEO expert” successful the bureau world, astatine slightest according to my workfellow Chris Haines, who has 10 years of SEO bureau experience.

He besides noted that bureau roles are typically much hierarchical and person this communal progression (in UK agencies):

As you tin see, there’s nary “SEO specialist” relation successful a modular bureau vocation ladder.

The astir communal yearly wage scope we saw was $50,000 - $54,999. This was followed by $45,000 - $49,999 and past $40,000 - $44,999.

This is successful enactment with Despina’s experience, who said a inferior SEO specializer makes astir AU$60,000 - $70,000 (~US$40,000 - $46,000). It besides corresponds to our SEO wage survey, wherever the median wage was $49,211.

The 1 outlier fig (>$100,000) was a elder in-house SEO specializer relation astatine a tech company. They required a minimum of 5 years of SEO experience.

Among the occupation listings I looked at, hardly immoderate were entry-level. Most of them required astatine slightest a twelvemonth oregon much of SEO experience.

This creates a catch-22: You request enactment to get experience, but you can’t get acquisition without work.

How, then, tin you go an SEO specialist? I turned to Despina and Chris for answers.

1. Learn the basics of SEO

You don’t request to beryllium an adept to get an internship (or adjacent a job), but you do need to cognize a spot astir SEO. So, kickstart your acquisition by learning the basics of SEO.

There are truthful galore free SEO courses these days, truthful you won’t adjacent person to interest astir your wallet. I urge starting with our free SEO people for beginners, which covers everything you request to know, from keyword probe to method SEO. If you similar reading, past you tin work our free beginner’s usher to SEO.

That should springiness you a bully grounding of the important SEO fundamentals and principles.

2. Build your ain website

There’s nary amended mode to summation contiguous applicable acquisition than by gathering your ain website.

In the end, SEO is a applicable skill. There’s nary magnitude of speechmaking and watching that volition hole you for world than really doing the thing.

Building a website and optimizing it for hunt volition thatch you however to navigate contented absorption systems similar WordPress, summation acquisition with SEO tools (you tin ever commencement with free ones), and signifier each facet of SEO. All important things you request to cognize successful your aboriginal arsenic an SEO specialist.

3. Get an internship astatine an SEO agency

Despite astir occupation listings being for in-house positions, some Despina and Chris urge that you get an internship astatine an agency.

Why? Three reasons:

1. Agencies typically person a coaching process for interns. That’s a large mode to beryllium trained from scratch successful everything SEO.
2. Agencies let you to beryllium exposed to a assortment of SEO experiences crossed antithetic clients, whereas you’ll beryllium much “specialized” successful an in-house role.
3. There is simply a accidental you’ll beryllium the lone SEO idiosyncratic successful an in-house role, particularly if you’re moving for a tiny concern oregon startup. You’ll still have to fig retired everything yourself without immoderate mentor’s guidance. I had this acquisition myself successful my archetypal job—I joined a startup arsenic a selling intern, and I was the lone marketer.

To find internship opportunities, spell to LinkedIn oregon Indeed and hunt for “SEO intern” oregon “SEO graduate.”

You tin acceptable up alerts for these positions truthful you’ll beryllium notified of caller ones successful your inbox.

Work hard, summation experience, and you whitethorn find yourself converted into a full-time role. Or usage the enactment acquisition to use for aboriginal jobs arsenic an SEO specialist.

What happens adjacent aft you’ve successfully go an SEO specialist? It depends connected your goals and however you spot your vocation panning out.

Nevertheless, I asked Despina and Chris, and these are the communal progressions astir SEO specialists take:

Become an SEO lead

You tin purpose to get promoted wrong the bureau oregon go an SEO lead/head of SEO successful an enactment with larger SEO teams.

In a sense, this is the astir straightforward, arsenic you’re simply climbing the SEO vocation ladder.

If this is the way you’re funny in, the bully quality is that Chris himself was an SEO pb successful an SEO agency. He wrote an nonfiction sharing 10 tips that precocious his vocation and helped him go an SEO lead. I highly urge speechmaking it to larn what made a quality successful his career.

Become an SEO consultant

Being a advisor volition apt gain you much wealth and springiness you much power implicit your time. But it’s not for everyone. As Despina says:

Consulting takes much entrepreneurial skills than moving for idiosyncratic else. You’ll request to merchantability yourself oregon absorption connected gathering your personal brand.

You’ll person to get utilized to putting yourself retired there, selling, facing rejection, handling each sorts of administrative enactment (e.g., accounting, taxes, etc.), and more. If knowing this doesn’t faze you, past it could beryllium a way you consider.

Read the usher beneath to larn however Nick LeRoy transitioned from an SEO worker to a full-time SEO consultant.

Start your ain agency

If you person entrepreneurial ideals oregon imagination of being your ain boss, this could beryllium a imaginable progression.

However, I’ll punctuation Despina again here:

This is not an contiguous adjacent step. You advancement into this aft consulting for a while, and you get truthful engaged that you request to prosecute much people.

You besides person to cognize that starting an bureau apt means nary longer doing SEO. Plenty of bureau owners I’ve talked to walk astir of their clip managing people, handling admin, and selling. If your emotion is SEO and not moving a business, past reconsider this path.

One last note: No substance however galore inspiring stories you’ve read, cognize that being an entrepreneur is no casual task. Every communicative you’ve work is simply a unfortunate of survivorship bias, and the satellite is littered with agencies that did not enactment out. However, if proceeding this makes your passionateness pain brighter, past hey, this could beryllium for you.

Final thoughts

Whether you’re an SEO specialist, SEO consultant, oregon tally your ain agency, 3 things are true:

1. SEO changes fast — Stay updated with what’s happening with Google, its competitors, and the manufacture itself. Follow astute SEOs connected X and LinkedIn, enactment successful SEO communities, and be SEO conferences.
2. Never halt learning — You tin ever amended your SEO skills oregon brushed skills similar managing a team, being an effectual leader, and more.
3. Always beryllium networking — Humans are yet societal creatures. We privation to enactment with radical whom we spot and tin vouch for. Making friends successful the manufacture tin alert you to the latest SEO tactics, find invaluable radical to prosecute and spouse with, commiserate erstwhile things aren’t going well, and observe erstwhile things are.