Search engine optimization is essential in today's competitive market and the demand for SEO professionals has never been greater. From freelance opportunities to positions within web design and development companies, lucrative SEO careers are within anyone's reach. As a search engine specialist for my company, here are some features and skill set that I was looking for in a new employee.
Be prepared to learn
The search changes every day. What works well today may not work tomorrow and may have a customer site penalized next month. It is essential that anyone thinking about the SEO career be ready, eager and eager to stay abreast of new developments from Google, Yahoo !, Windows Live and Ask.com. Any potential employer expects you to know the latest news about the industry so be sure to study before attending any interview.
Write well
Much of the search engine optimization today boils down to copywriting. You will need to write copy webpage, press releases, case studies, newsletters, and blog posts. You definitely do not need to have an English degree but writing is part of this business and you should both appreciate it and be prepared to do it on a daily basis.
Be Creative and Curious
What I love about search engine optimization is that it offers the opportunity for almost endless creativity. You will be researching and analyzing keywords, brainstorming linking tactics, running pay-per-click campaigns, investigating your customer's industry and online competition, and many other " Detective work ". If you do not like digging, investigating, testing and discovering the best way to rank your client's web pages, then an SEO career is not for you.
Be proactive
The reality of this business is that very few person you will be working with will understand how SEO works or be able to offer you a lot of tips as you optimize a site. This is especially true if you are looking to start your own SEO business where you absolutely must be a self-starter to be successful. But, it is also true if you are looking to be hired in somewhere as well. I would like a mine employee to take an SEO assignment and be able to achieve it with little or no input from me. After all, if I wanted to do it myself, I would not have hired you!
Do not let the absence of a degree hold you back
One of the great things about the web design and development industry is that results and work product matter more than education. While having an associate or bachelor degree certainly can not hurt your ability to educate yourself to understand and perform the search engine optimization job is far more important to your SEO career than a degree.
The truth is that I am self-taught in SEO and I would be more willing to hire someone who is self-taught on someone with a university degree all things being equal. After all, much of this work is self-motivated self-education and developing the necessary SEO skills without attending a university where you are fed spoon of information says a lot about your potential for success in this field.