Digital marketing is the medium that brands use to connect with potential customers via the internet or other forms of digital communication. The digital marketing strategy involves the use of multiple platforms like social media, email and web-based advertising. In short, if a marketing campaign involves digital communication then it is called digital marketing. 

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is one of the most popular digital marketing tools and has been defined as the ‘art and science of making web pages attractive for search engines’. SEO is termed a science because it involves researching and weighing different factors that help in achieving the highest rankings. SEO is a major contributing factor in content marketing. 

The ultimate goal of SEO is to achieve higher Google rankings. This helps in increasing traffic to the business’s website. SEO experts are tasked with researching words and phrases that consumers usually use to search for specific information online. 

We will now take a look at the various aspects of SEO marketing, the skills required for an SEO professional and its career scope in India and abroad. 

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

SEO marketing involves using multiple elements from certain words on your web pages to the way other sites link to your website. The structure of the site also matters in SEO. The key here is to remember that SEO depends to a large extent on the Google algorithm. There are some ways in which you can optimise the keywords.

Context indexing is the use of search engines to ‘read’ what the content on the site is. This is done by adding alt text for images and text transcripts for video and audio content. An SEO specialist is required to format links, URLs and sitemaps to make them easily accessible to site crawlers. It is also important to maintain a balance in the use of keywords. It is also bad to stuff the content with keywords and their variations. SEO experts recommend using keywords in the headers and a few times in the rest of the content for better ranking in search results. 

Qualification and Skills required for SEO Professionals

Everyone seems to be talking about Search Engine Optimization yet not everyone has mastered it or understood the various techniques to utilise it completely. There are certain skills that one needs to have for becoming an SEO expert. 

Critical Thinking

An SEO expert needs to have an analytical mind to identify the right terms for the content. It is important to stand out from other routine digital marketing content and this is where thinking differently becomes critical. 

Speaking & Writing Ability

An SEO professional should be able to write content that adheres to digital marketing criteria. The SEO expert needs to convince other teams to work together to achieve the desired optimization. 

Technical Skills

You need to have knowledge about concepts like page speed, rendering, microdata tagging and HTML tagging even if you are an SEO expert. This is critical for a cohesive work atmosphere with the developer and other people involved in the marketing of a product. 

Social Skills

This seems to have little relation with the job profile but believe it or not, the ability to develop a social relationship and be part of a community of SEO professionals is extremely essential for achieving all-around progress. 

Analytical Skills

SEO professionals need to learn the basics about using Adobe and Google Analytics. They also need to understand business KPIs for coming up with a proper SEO strategy. 

Is SEO a good career choice?

SEO marketing has created a large number of jobs. There are over 1 billion websites and each of them needs an SEO expert to create the best experience. An SEO professional is someone who specializes in the search engine algorithms that play an important role in determining the search engine results. SEO experts are important to help clients and companies appear in the search results. SEO is an integral part of digital marketing and certifications in the same can be available as part of various courses and programs. 

There is a good demand for SEO professionals as companies need to optimize search engine results. SEO specialists are also hired for specific marketing campaigns and projects. They are also recruited by web developers to generate web traffic and make a campaign successful. A career in SEO does promise you excitement and great growth potential. 

The top job roles for SEO professionals are:

Search Engine Marketing Specialist: Their expertise lies in Pay Per Click marketing, advertising and managing customer relationships. Search engine marketers have to ensure they reach the right consumers through the correct search engines. 

Business Marketing Consultant: They offer consultancy for individual clients. They are also responsible for planning and implementing marketing initiatives. Another critical responsibility is managing public relations. 

Digital Marketer: They help in utilizing SEO, planning content towards generating more traffic and utilising social media to advertise and promote a product. 

Marketing Analyst: These experts track an organization’s SEO performance. The analysts also generate forecasts and future trends apart from creating reports based on collected data. 

Content Marketer: The role involves creating web content, designing blogs, videos and graphics and taking decisions for executing marketing plans. 

SEO Manager: The main responsibility here is managing the search engines, coordinating with various teams for ensuring that the keywords are being utilised well. The manager is also responsible for strategizing with the sales and marketing teams. 

Scope of SEO in India: Current Scenario and Future

The scope of SEO in India is quite broad with tremendous career opportunities. There are numerous job vacancies in the SEO field. Companies are always looking for SEO professionals with different levels of experience. This career is becoming popular in India. There is a need for well-trained SEO professionals in the country. Most websites are now investing to achieve SEO top rankings.  

SEO has emerged as a lucrative career opportunity due to increasing digital awareness. There is growing online competition due to the increasing internet penetration in India. Learning SEO marketing can give you a good career start if you are passionate about marketing, websites, writing and learning new skills. 

Salary of SEO Professionals

With the demand for digital marketers on the rise, the salary scope is great for SEO professionals. The pay is justified considering the role is one of great importance in the company’s growth.

Reasons to choose SEO as a Career in India

According to industry experts, SEO marketing is going to be more relevant in the years to come. An increasing number of companies will be hiring SEO professionals and increasing their investment and marketing budgets. This is why graduates are picking up SEO courses. However, this is an area which sees constant changes and updates and hence it is important to pick up the best programmes on offer. 

An SEO marketing specialist should look at acquiring other skills like Google Analytics, Google Adwords and Content Marketing to be able to have a diversified profile. 

Let us break down the reasons to choose SEO as a career option.

Increasing demand for SEO services: Many companies are leaning towards adopting SEO marketing seriously for increasing traffic and thereby the returns.

Encouraging pay packages: The role of an SEO specialist is one of the highest-paid ones in the digital marketing arena. Social Media Experts and ad campaign managers also fetch lucrative pay packages. 

Scope of SEO experts abroad: Strong technical knowledge as an SEO expert will help you marketing jobs abroad easily. 

Popularity of paid media: The increasing popularity of earned or paid media has further increased the importance of the role of the SEO professional. 

SEO – A field with a great future

Voice Search has emerged as the ultimate future of SEO. Along with Artificial Intelligence, SEO will have renewed importance in the digital marketing arena. SEO’s algorithm has changed since the past decade. It has now assumed the form of an art. SEO specialists help develop and implement a strategy for their organization and will assume a greater role in the future.   

DigiAcharya’s SEO course is focused on marketers seeking to learn how to plan SEM campaigns. The course structure allows you to target the right audience and plan the strategies for better results. The course teaches you how to make a good ROI model, budget optimization, keyword research, target the right audience, and come up with the best SEM strategies. 

Enrol for SEO program 

Register for the SEO certification course with DigiAcharya. The highlights of the program are:

• Online Classroom Learning Options
• Live Sessions with Marketing Experts
• Research Oriented Projects
• Placement Assistance. 

Make the best of these facilities and enrol with DigiAcharya now.