If you’re looking online for SEO jobs then you’ve probably already discovered that different SEO consultants provide different specialisations when it comes to this vast area of online marketing. As SEO jobs have expanded in popularity over the years, so have the qualities and skills that employers search for in prospective employees. Here is a selection of the different SEO skill sets that are in demand, to help you decide which one best matches the career-path you’re looking for:

The Techy

Laden with server redirects, URL rewrites, site structure and lots of coding, the demands of making a site structurally search engine friendly and SEO sound will be perfect for you. If you have knowledge of programming and have previously worked in server management, then you might want to look out for more technical-minded SEO jobs. Your day-to-day role will likely involve the handling of content management systems and databases, dealing with structural issues surrounding websites and carrying out 301 redirects from old websites to new. Technical SEO jobs would suit someone with a background in programming, and an analytical mind-set.

The Geek

Unkindly dubbed geeky SEO by those in the field, this branch of SEO is even more technical than techy SEO jobs. If you want to work in this field of SEO, you should be very academically minded. A large part of your day will be carrying out in-depth research into search engine algorithms and carrying out cutting-edge analysis of SEO techniques. In this role you’ll also be testing the usability of client’s websites. Working in this role requires a high-level of understanding of the technicalities of search engines and online marketing management.

The PPC Specialist

If, in addition to your SEO skills, you have a good grounding in paid search, you might be interested in a position that integrates PPC with SEO. This is an often overlooked skill set that will enable you to take advantage of the inherent strengths and weaknesses of each to create an integrated search campaign, where one works in harmony with the other.

The PR Wizard

Sometimes SEO jobs can almost cross the line into PR and, if this is your strength, you can find yourself working with journalists or industry-specific marketers to create buzz about a client’s product or service. This area of SEO is almost predominately interested in building inbound links from news and articles, that provide SEO benefit too, and therefore your copywriting skills to create web-based press releases and articles, and using online influencers will be a large part of your job role.

The Marketing Guru

If you are looking for SEO jobs, that enable you to wear your marketing hat, this will be perfect for you. This role will allow you to focus on setting the online marketing agenda and defining the online strategies. You will certainly be involved in keyword research to identify online demand for services and products and then using the results to define the online battles that you will be fighting for. Your knowledge of what the market is looking for online and how to turn that interest into online conversions will be your tools of the SEO trade to ensure that a successful SEO campaign achieves online marketing objectives.

The Online Marketing Manager/Director

For this large role, you will need to be fully conversant in most of the above skill sets, because the essence of your job will be to set the overall online strategy and then liaise with and manage a team of outsourced SEO experts to achieve your objectives. To succeed in this role, you will need not only to be fully proficient in all matters online marketing but have managerial strengths and personal skills to be able to bridge the culture/communication gap that often exists between client and agency.

Author Bio: Gail Kenny is the managing director of Puregenie, an online travel jobs website. The site deals with online jobs in the ever growing travel sector, including SEO jobs. Although the site is mainly travel focused, it also displays vacancies in the hospitality and leisure industries.

Category: Jobs
Keywords: SEO jobs