The first thing that might have come to your mind is – What does SEO mean?
Is it some kind of a department in an organization? Or is it some kind of a marketing technique?
Hold your horses my friend, let’s take one thing at a time.
The article to follow will throw some light on the few things discussed above along with the skills required and prospects an individual has in this field of employment.
What is SEO?
- SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is nothing but getting as much online traffic as possible from “ organic”, “free” or “natural” search results on various search engines.
It is an effective marketing technique to let your website or web services appear foremost in the search results of any search engine.
- For instance, search engines like Google and Bing have information collected about every page on the web, which is provided to the user at his disposal. But there is a definite algorithm followed by these search engines to convert every piece of information into a search result.
A website ranking higher in the search results has more number of people finding it, hence making the website being visited by users more often.
Now, the key to higher rankings is making sure the website has all the ingredients that search engines need for their algorithms.
The process of ensuring the same for a website is known as SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION.
- The ingredients a website needs to ensure higher rankings are the words in the content, the hidden title of the web page, the number of back links provided and the reputation it holds on the basis of previous record.
- In layman’s language, it is the process of affecting the visibility of a website to direct online traffic towards it. This marketing technique ensures that maximum users are able to reach out to the services or products a company’s website is providing. Hence increasing the business it makes.
What skills do you require?
There are various skills you require once you decide to enter this field. Some are discussed below.
Excellent Analytical Skills
This is the most fundamental requirement in this field and yes it is not a technical one. It’s not only about coding or syntax related problems, a major role that a professional in this field needs to fulfill is solving problems at the earliest. Knowing the information which is necessary, mapping it and making timely decisions are some steps the process of problem solving includes.
To improve analytical skills you need to build strategies, focus on all possible alternatives and plan accordingly. This plays a major role in increasing work efficacy.
Coding in HTML
Proficiency in HTML coding is one of the basic prerequisites required in this field of employment.
In order to deliver quality content to your audience, it is quite necessary to have a know-how of managing the content and that too in a way that it stays apt according to various online marketing trends.
Substantial Experience in Web Hosting
A person looking for a job in this field has to have some substantial experience in Web hosting along with the knowledge of various web hosting providers.
Web hosting also includes an important element called speed. Various search engines have algorithms which take numerous factors into account before making a content piece live, the loading speed of a site is one of them. Hence, prowess in these technical skills is quite significant to secure a job and survive in this field.
Knowledge About Content Marketing
Content is the only thing that engages a reader and is the most efficient way of getting users in your marketing funnel. Hence, being in the field of SEO it is quite necessary to be proficient in this skill.
It mainly comprises of 2 parts: Content Creation and Content distribution. As an SEO professional you should have the basic know-how of Content creation and in-depth knowledge of content distribution.
It will be your duty to act as a gatekeeper and support ideas that add quality to your content and are beneficial for the users. Skills like Keyword research, finding content gaps and distributing content also prove to be helpful.
Knowledge about Social Media Marketing
In a world where things like eating a sandwich or watching a movie become reasons for a status update on Facebook or any social networking website, it is quite necessary to have social media skills in order to excel in this field.
These skills need not be limited to maintaining Facebook and Twitter accounts, but the competency to divert traffic from these social media websites.
Employment Scope in this field
Getting into this field , there are various avenues you can discover. Some prominent ones are discussed below.
SEO Executive:
This positions offers a learning experience to an individual in SEO best practices and methodologies. Duties that come with this post include managing taxonomy/URL structures and domain level directs, maintaining keyword mapping for monthly optimization and prioritizing and implementing content changes along with the content team of the organization.
SEO Consultant:
An SEO Consultant working in the marketing division of any organization has the responsibility of keeping the SEO budget on track and managing the campaign budget expenses. He has to remain knowledgeable regarding the industry business niche and the customer’s search marketing objectives too.
SEO Manager:
A professional holding this profile has a team of various SEO executives. His job description comprises of managing this team and ensuring efficient content management and utilization to increase the business his organization makes. Working as an SEO Manager you can earn ₹3.5 to₹7 lac per annum (as in December 2013).
SEO Analyst:
An Associate search analyst has the duty of working with the copy writers, information architects and designers to form a search engine friendly website structure with a maintained balance between keyword density, form and function.
He also provides various SEO recommendations and keyword analysis to improve the position in organic search results. An SEO Analyst earns ₹ 1,45,270 per year (as on 2nd Sep 2014).
SEO Specialist:
The job of an SEO specialist is to maximize the online traffic to a site by developing original content to include keyword or phrases that’ll proliferate the traffic to a website.
Many small companies hire an SEO specialist instead of the whole time to look after this sphere of marketing. In India a job of an SEO specialist on an average will fetch you ₹ 1.8 Lac per annum (as in December 2013).
With private companies wanting to maximize their base in the country, this field is the most essential one to grow. All you need is to find the best fit for yourself.
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