There’s a lot of buzz around SEO and digital marketing in general. With more and more people aiming to join a fast-growing industry, many don’t understand whether becoming SEO consultants or practitioners is the right choice.
Thankfully, you can evaluate how suitable and ready you are to embark on this journey by researching the needed skillset, looking into educational and job opportunities, and getting inspired by the benefits of the niche.
This is a comprehensive guide on whether the SEO career path is for you. We’ll look at its benefits, the required skills for the job, multiple SEO jobs, their salaries, and more!
What Is SEO and Is the SEO Career Path Worth It?
SEO or search engine optimization is the process of increasing the online visibility of a website to get more traffic. It’s a widely encompassing job in terms of skills, both hard and soft. It’s a niche where analysis and strategy unite with creativity.
Is the SEO career path worth it? Let’s see.
The global SEO services market is expected to reach $51.25 billion this year. Compared to 2021 stats, the compound annual growth rate is 22.1%. By 2026, the industry will grow and may reach $108.89 billion in value with a 20.7% CAGR.
The growth is rapid since so many businesses have discovered the benefits of digital marketing and online visibility. So, if you’re a skilled specialist, you’ll always have a client.
Starting Your SEO Career Path
We’ll overview what you need to become an organic SEO expert in terms of education, skills, and experience.
The Required Skills to Become an SEO Expert
On your SEO career path, you’ll need to be familiar with:
- Data analysis
- Web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) – basics
- Keyword research
- Competitor research and analysis
- Content-writing
You will also need to know how to use vital analysis and SEO tools such as:
- Google Search Console
- Google Analytics
- Google Data Studio
- SE Ranking
- Screaming Frog
- Spreadsheets
- Custom code, and more.
Tips for Starting an SEO Career
Here are some essential recommendations for applying for SEO jobs:
- Get certified.
If you have little to no experience with SEO, you should enroll in a course and become certified. For example, SE Ranking offers a great way to enrich your knowledge and get a legit certificate. Its SEO academy has various courses that cover the key aspects of search engine optimization in a relatively short time.
Add your certificate to your CV and LinkedIn profile, and you’ll have more authority as an applicant for an SEO position. - Create a portfolio.
You may have your own website you can test your skills on or work on while learning SEO. Any work connected to website optimization or digital marketing, in general, deserves to be in your portfolio. Include internships, SEO-friendly blog writing examples, client websites, jobs, etc.
You can clean up the portfolio later and leave only the best results there. - Gain some experience.
Look for a mentor using social media to get a background in SEO; many people online won’t mind mentoring a newbie. You can also look for internships to get your first cases. Some may allow you to remain on the job after successful program completion.
What Does an SEO Specialist Do Daily?
To delve deeper into your potential future job, let’s see what you may do as an SEO specialist:
- Keyword research and prioritizing – looking for new key term ideas, clustering them, creating lists, and choosing the focus ones.
- Trend monitoring – algorithm alterations, searching trends, industry news research.
- Analysis – specific web pages and those of competitors, as well as suggesting fixes for potential issues.
- Content tasks – brainstorming ideas, researching them, partially controlling the creation process to fit SEO needs.
- Usability improvements – working on website speed, design responsiveness for different devices, etc.
- Off-page SEO – everything concerning backlinks.
- Indexing and crawling – looking for potential issues and pages that haven’t been crawled or indexed.
- Technical SEO – checking the website for all possible tech SEO issues.
- Measuring metrics – measuring and monitoring website engagement, traffic, and conversion.
That sounds like a lot of work, but it becomes much easier when you know how to do it all together and what digital tools to use for help.
Why Is the Digital Marketing Industry a Good Career Path?
So, why do so many people support the idea of joining the digital marketing industry? Because it creates many opportunities, including comfortable work, plenty of positions to fill, and more.
- SEO is always in demand.
In 2021, the average click-through rate for the first Google Search result was 29.17%. Compared to 15.29% for the second place, this is a good CTR. Businesses realize this and require skillful SEO specialists who can help them reach a higher ranking.
SEO is a powerful tool that increases online visibility, and people who know how to do it well will always have an opportunity to find a decent job. - Lifetime opportunities to learn.
If you think optimization becomes boring once you learn everything about it, think again. The SEO field changes year after year due to Google algorithm adjustments and technological progress. - Opportunities for testing, making mistakes and learning.
As a digital marketing expert, you can test theories and find out new formulas that provide the best results for you and your clients. Mistakes are fixable, and the experience is priceless. - Networking opportunities.
Most aspects of a website involve SEO, which means you’ll be working as a part of various teams and making new contacts. A rich network can help you find new opportunities and stay up-to-date on digital marketing events, trends, etc. - Remote work opportunities.
You can do SEO anywhere, from an office to a cozy coffee shop or even your bedroom. Many businesses look specifically for remote employees to save office space and work with specialists worldwide. - Business opportunities.
As you evolve into a top expert, the next step in your digital marketing or SEO career path is starting your own agency. This is partially passive income, jobs for more beginners, and even more life possibilities for you.
And before you’re ready to start your own digital marketing company, let’s find out what positions there are for you in the industry.
TOP SEO Career Paths (With Salary Ranges)
See if any of the following jobs resonate with you. Don’t forget to pay attention to the SEO specialist salary we specify.
- SEO Manager, Analyst, Strategist, or Head of SEO
The average salary is ~$72.7K
An SEO manager leads the team of specialists in optimization and coordinates them with content, data, user experience teams, etc.
An SEO analyst is responsible for increasing the website’s online visibility through data analysis.
An SEO strategist is a person reviewing and implementing changes on the website.
A Head of SEO is the person leading the team of SEO specialists. - SEM (Search Engine Marketer)
Average salary ~$50K
If you want to go bigger than SEO, SEM is the way to go. It involves optimization, PPC (Pay Per Click marketing), customer relationship management, advertising, etc. They often focus on paid search to get more sales for clients, but it’s possible to combine SEO and SEM in one project. - Digital Marketer (SEO, SEM, PPC, and social media)
Average salary ~$69.5K
Digital marketing is the ultimate combo for online promotion. In addition to SEO, SEM, and PPC, you’ll be working with social media marketing. Of course, the job comes with a higher salary. - Marketing Analyst
Average salary ~$58K
If you work well with numbers, the marketing analyst job is for you. It involves using data to monitor campaign performance, see where the business can fit more initiatives, build reports, estimates, forecasts, etc. - SEO Copywriter.
Average salary ~$54K
A copywriter researches relevant information and writes engaging, SEO-friendly articles on topics people actively ask about online. They can write anything from a 50-word product description that will make it look better to a 5K-word guide for specialists in a niche.
Is SEO a Good Career Path: The Final Note
SEO is a great career path if you want a versatile job that keeps you constantly learning and evolving along with the industry. It’s a good pick if you’re looking for a remote job or one that will be in demand for years to come.
SEO isn’t just about looking for keywords. You can take up on-page, off-page, and technical optimization and learn how to use dozens of digital tools that will help you with measurement, monitoring, and analysis. You can work with many different teams, from website developers to creative writers.
The niche opens a lot of doors for networking, financial independence, career growth, and potentially starting your own business.
Besides, there are many courses for any level that will help you improve as a professional or become one. Start by taking a course and getting a certificate. Then, look for an internship, close your first client, add cases to your portfolio, and you’ll keep up with the flow!
