What is a SEO Specialist?

Similar Job Titles:

Marketing Manager, Digital Strategist, Internet Marketing Specialist, Paid Search Manager, SEM Specialist

The role of a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist is ever-changing, as the trends and algorithms of online search constantly evolve, so, it is important for an SEO Specialist to be able to think on their feet and stay ahead of these changes.

Because most companies today have a website or some type of online presence, they all need to have good SEO strategies in place to make their content more visible online. Therefore, an SEO Specialist role is relevant to any organization with a website or that publishes content online.

The overarching goal of an SEO Specialist is to drive more traffic to a website and improve the ranking of an organization’s content in search engines by analyzing and reviewing websites and implementing changes to those websites through better search strategies.

What does an SEO Specialist do, typically?

SEO Specialists must be good problem solvers and decision-makers. They should also have a good ability to recognize and prioritize what content will be relevant and engaging to audiences. Their daily responsibilities may include:

  • Monitoring search algorithms set by search engines to keep up with changes in the SEO landscape
  • Developing and integrating content marketing strategies
  • Using social media to distribute content and encourage external sites to link back to the site of the organization
  • Driving targeted and loyal traffic to the website through effective community-building
  • Employing user experience (UX) and conversion rate optimization methods to turn visitors into active users
  • Continually check search terms, rankings and analytics to monitor the performance of websites and make recommendations for improvement

An SEO Specialist is not:

A PPC Strategist

PPC Strategist is focused on purely pay-per-click, whereas an SEO Specialist is focused on both paid and organic search strategies and well as web optimization. See our full description for PPC Strategist here.

A Paid Media Specialist

SEO Specialists are largely focused on search and web best practices, and while search and keywords are included in a paid media specialist responsibilities, paid media specialists are more concerned overpaid and ad strategies across digital platforms. See our full job description for Paid Media Specialist here.

Important metrics for an SEO Specialist:

  • Organic traffic
  • Geographic location
  • Conversion rate
  • Number of keyword rankings
  • Position in search

SEO Specialist Salary

US Based, employer-reported data for a SEO Specialist:

  • 25th Percentile $63K
  • Average $70.4K
  • 75th Percentile $75.9K

SEO Specialist Job Description

Bonus copy for your SEO Specialist job description or job ad!

Copy the text below and paste it into your own job description, or, into our FREE downloadable template in the section that looks like this: <INSERT JOB DESCRIPTION COPY FROM BLOG POST HERE>

As an SEO Specialist at <company XXX>, you will get to do more than just implement keywords into a website. You will be responsible for the overall search strategy in ensuring good organic traffic and exposure for websites. More specifically, you’ll get to:

  • Monitor search algorithms set by search engines to keep up with changes in the SEO landscape
  • Develop and integrate content marketing strategies
  • Use social media to distribute content and encourage external sites to link back to the site of the organization
  • Drive targeted and loyal traffic to the website through effective community-building
  • Employ user experience (UX) and conversion rate optimization methods to turn visitors into more active users
  • Continually check search terms, rankings and analytics to monitor the performance of websites and make recommendations for improvement
Free Job Description Template

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