So, you are a fresher or newbie who wants to make a career in digital marketing as an ‘SEO’ professional but confused about the scope, growth, and future. If yes, read on…
As being an SEO professional, it’s still not easy for me to write about the future scope of SEO in India because many individuals, experts, and professionals working in SEO industry might disagree with the figures, facts, and salaries mentioned in this article. But, they surely would agree that SEO should be on the top-list of job-seekers and it’s a career of life-long learning.
Here is the outline what I’ll discuss here:
– What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
– Qualification and Skills Required For Becoming an SEO Professional
– Role and Salary of SEO Professional
– Scope of SEO in India: Current Scenario and Future
– How to become a ‘Modern SEO’
SEO – Search Engine Optimizer or Search Engine Spammer?
Before you move ahead, clear your mind about SEO techniques and professionals. SEO professionals are not spammers, cyber criminals or online salesman and Search Engine Optimization is not a scammy strategy.
Here is what Matt Cutts of Google has to say about SEO:
I wanted to take a minute and talk a little bit about search engine optimization and spam, and answer the question does google consider SEO to be spam. And the answer is – NO. We don’t consider SEO to be spam. I just wanted to dispel that misconception that some people think Google thinks all SEO spam and that’s definitely not the case.
There are a lot of great SEOs out there and I hope you find a good one to help with your website
What is SEO?
SEO, short for Search Engine Optimization is one of the digital marketing activities that help you better optimize and rank your website in search engines such as Google, Bing and help users find your website easily. The ‘Optimization’ can take many forms such as your on-site content and web page optimization or your website backlink optimization.
SEOs (Search Engine Optimizer) not only aims to rank better websites, drive quality traffic but also help build brand visibility in the online world.
Qualification and Skills Required
The minimum qualification for becoming an SEO in a good company requires graduation or a diploma course in digital marketing. However, to work in SEO, you don’t need a degree or higher education in the most cases because it’s something that requires a diverse skill set and cannot be defined by the traditional examinations.
SEO is progressive and requires a lot of skills to keep the career growing. Here are just a few skills that are the prerequisite:
- A good knowledge of HTML and CSS
- A sound knowledge of how search engines such as Google work
- A good analytical and logical skills
- A good written communication skill (such as writing emails, blog comments, website blogs, etc.)
- A basic knowledge of photo and video editing
- A basic knowledge of creating presentations and reports
- A sound knowledge of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- A basic understanding of user experience and customer behavior in online world
Role and SEO Salary
Role and salary are always the cause for celebration to everyone doing or wanted to have the job. Here I’ve listed some job titles and the respective salary range that are common to the SEO world. Note that the salary can vary from geography, experience and the demands of a company. All salaries are per month and in Indian Rupees (INR).
[table id=5 /]
Scope of SEO in India: Current Scenario and Future
The scope of SEO in India is very broad and have a very bright future. According to Times of India, digital marketing areas such as Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, and Analytics will create more than 1.5 Lakh jobs with the salary range of Rs 4.5-5.5 Lakh by 2016 and in the coming years.
India is now the fastest growing economy and has a bright future in terms of employment generation and business growth. Companies are now realizing the potential of SEOs for their business and the how these professionals can play a crucial role in decision-making.
And this is just the beginning!
Most people argue that SEO field is dying since Google has a love affair with content marketing but, actually, that’s not the case. In reality, they work in collaboration. According to the LinkedIn report, SEO/SEM was the hottest skill that got people hired in 2014.
So why companies need SEO professionals? All they need is just a website to be in the digital world. Right?
The future of search is uncertain and rapidly changing. For example, Google says more searches take place on mobile devices than on computers. The businesses who want to remain competitive on the web and require attention and placement in organic search, can’t ignore the importance of SEOs because those are the professionals who have experience and knowledge to achieve these business goals.
Freelancing Opportunity:
Digital marketing brings many freelancing opportunities. According to the Elance report, sales and marketing category offers 70% of freelancing jobs, and India ranks #2 in doing freelancing jobs after the United States. The stats shows digital marketing skills are favorite among the freelancer community.
So what options do you have to earn good money as a freelancer in SEO or digital marketing?
You can start freelancing in social media, content writing, link building, local listing, SEO, copywriting, Google Analytics, Google Adwords and lead generation.
How to Become a “Modern SEO” Expert?
So, what if you are going to pursue your career as an SEO? Is just becoming an SEO is enough? And what skill set do you need to increase the chances of getting the higher salary?
These are some of the questions that you already have in your mind or would ask later in your career. In future, being a ‘Good’ SEO is not enough, you need to adapt with the changing search engine technologies, customer behavior, business processes and goals.
The introduction of Google’s Hummingbird update has made a significant industry-shifting change in SEO world. The latest updates such as Mobilegeddon, Panda, and Penguin also have made SEOs maintain the quality and integrity in everything they do online for their website.
The responsibilities of a ‘Modern SEO’ are not limited to keyword research, link building, site accessibility, but is much more than what we can think of as the classic SEO. This may include (directly/indirectly):
- Technical SEO
- Social media
- Voice search
- Local search
- Mobile search
- Online Reputation Management
- Secured sites (HTTPS)
- Content Strategy and Marketing
- Knowledge graph, answer box, and entity search
- User experience testing
Your turn, what do think about the facts, numbers, and opinion I listed above? Anything to add? I’d love to hear you all in the comments.
Great article! I’m looking for the job in online marketing field where I want to work on social media as well along with SEO. I’m confused about these two, what profile should I choose aa career – SEO or Social Media?
It really depends on your interest. Social media is a good choice but I’m not sure it’s not what someone would want to do solely. My advice is to focus on other skills as well such as SEO and analytics to give yourself a broader scope of skills and career opportunities. Start your own website to practice those things.
According to LinkedIn’s latest report, SEO dropped five spots from #4 to #9 among the top skills that can help you take a job in 2017 and beyond. It shows the demand for seo/sem professional is slowing, don’t you think?
https://blog.linkedin.com/2016/10/20/top-skills-2016-week-of-learning-linkedin
Good catch! According to LinkedIn, the demand for marketing professional is slowing because the supply of people with marketing skills has caught up with employers’ demand for people with marketing skills. However, SEO/SEM demand is still strong in countries such as Australia, Singapore, Germany, Netherlands, and India.
SEO is expanding into a common skill among different roles in the modern businesses that can be a reason for the slow demand. It might sound alarming for those who are going to start a career in the SEO/SEM field, and I hope it might not be as bad as it sounds.
The 2015’s report from LinkedIn highlights that SEO/SEM is one of the top skills that can get you hired in 2016.
Great post Deepanshu! I’m looking for a job in online marketing. Is there any certification or training that can help me getting a job or in my future?
Hi Rohan, thanks for commenting.
I personally believe that certifications play an important role in developing one’s skill set and technical perspective. The addition of certifications on your resume will put you one step ahead of other applicants and get the better salary.
Training courses from Moz, Distilled, and Hubspot can help you master the art of search marketing. Here are the links:
https://www.distilled.net/u/
http://academy.hubspot.com/broadcasts/search-engine-optimization
https://moz.com/academy
Thanks for these resources. Does Google provide any certification in online marketing world especially in SEO?
Google does offer certification for paid advertisement i.e. AdWords, and web analytics i.e. Analytics. For SEO, Google does not provide any certification.
I’m in my final semester of graduation. And want to start my career in online marketing. I’ve heard seo a lot about. Should I start with an seo agency or an mnc? I’ve heard that mncs provide a limited scope of learning. please help
Hi Mohit, thanks for your comment.
If you are new to SEO and more interested in learning, I would recommend applying to a specialized SEO agency as opposed to MNCs. I’m not saying that MNC don’t have SEO in place or provide the growth and learning but they provide you a limited scope of learning and trying out new things and interconnected fields. You’ll be given less/no exposure to other marketing things such as Social Media, Content, PR etc. in MNCs.
On the other hand, working with a small company, startup, or SEO agency, you’ll have a lot of advantages such as:
– you’ll do more work, research and learn new things
– you’ll get a better networking with people of interrelated domains
– you’ll be required to fulfill more roles in the SEO agencies or startups that will help you learn and execute different things
However, the benefits packages such as salary, insurance, health etc. are smaller as compared to MNCs.
Before joining any agency or MNC, speak to them and ask questions related to your role, training, and support you’ll receive.
Hope that helps,
I’m working in SEO for a company located in Ludhiana since 2011 and have a salary of 15000/month. There is no growth in this industry. Business owners don’t take SEOs seriously and don’t want to invest in. There is actually no need for SEO professionals.
I’m going to change my career to Java development.
Thanks Deepak for your comment. As I already discussed that SEO salary varies from location to location, company to company and according to your skills and job titles. Working in cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Banglore, Mumbai, Pune, Noida and other NCR areas, offers more salary compared to small cities such as Ludhiana.
Companies are still spending a lot of money in their marketing efforts. And they are ready to pay a good amount to those people who (SEO professionals) can help them adapt to the changes of online world or search engines.
Hope that helps,
I’ve just started my career in SEO field. I was looking for the resources on Google that can help rich my SEO skills and I found your blog. Great work!
Can you recommend few informative resources or blogs that can help me in doing and keeping myself up to date in SEO?
~ Anuj
Here is my recommended resources for learning SEO and to stay up-to-date:
Blogs
1. Google Webmaster Guidelines
2. Webmaster Central Blog
3. Moz Blog
4. Search Engine Land
5. Stone Temple Consulting Blog
6. Search Engine Roundtable
7. The SEM Post
8. SEO by the Sea
and,
9. My Personal Blog too!
Guides
1. Google Search Engine Optimization Guide
2. Moz’s Beginner Guide to SEO
Forums
1. Google Webmaster Forum
2. Moz Forums
Hope that helps,
Sir i am working as a seo traiee in gurgaon..i have done b.tech in computer science but i m confused that with a degree of b.tech can i choose seo as a career…i am working as seo trainee from 4 months and my salary is 10000…can i choose SEO as a career option for better scope and better salary with a degree of b.tech….plz reply
Thanks Ritesh for your comment.
As I already discussed, SEO does hold a bright future in terms of scope, learning, and salary. Please refer to the sections:
Role and Salary
Scope of SEO: Current Scenario and Future
But it depends on your ability to implement things, solve problems, communicate with clients and hard work that will help you rise up your position in a company to earn more. Salary, Trust, and Position – are the things that are gained with the time and in the situation.
Hope that helps,
Hi Deepanshu,
Nice article ! Your thought about future of SEO in India is right. Your article is really informative and attracts people to learn SEO because beginner to professional SEO has great opportunity to earn.
Thanks to write this post.
I have been doing SEO for last 10 years and SEO industry is doomed. It is the time for for marketing automation and artificial intelligence. SEO is a very low budget profession right now, foreign investors don’t like to invest in SEO’s any more. If you are depending on local market, I’m sorry to say Indian market is not up to that financial standard. How many local people will invest 25k /monthly for SEO. Instead people will invest in laptops and mobile phones.
Great post Deepanshu! Can you please recommend a good SEO book for beginners that cover all aspects of search engine optimization?
Books are a great way to acquire knowledge. They can really help you understand the concept and idea. I personally believe, in SEO world doing things is the best to learn because of dynamic nature of SEO.
However, I would recommend to start with the Moz’s Beginner Guide to SEO and The Art of SEO.
Hope that helps.
Interesting article! I’m looking for an SEO company for my startup website. Can you please tell me which company is best for SEO in India? Currently, I’m living in Delhi-NCR.
Hello Deepanshu. I am business developer and hire projects related to Web designs and development.I have 2 years of experiences. I want to learn seo.There are two reasons why I want to learn seo. First want to acquire additional skills.Second I think if I learn seo and do 3-4 projects in seo.it will help me a lot. As my working on live seo projects will grab my knowledge in seo.So as a business developer I will be able to understand the client’s job requirements in better way(jobs related to seo). So I would be able to write quality proposal(Direct solution to client’s requirements) and thus will get more leads on Upwork etc. I will be able to answer technical queries of client’s as well. So there will be more chance to get projects.One other point as we can do both proposal writing and seo from same computer I will be able to handle two roles(seo as well business development) at same time.Let me know what do you think.I am eagerly waiting for your reply. I shall be very thankful if you reply on my email as well. My emails id is:nareshdevelopers101@gmail.com
There is a lot of discussion on SEO on Internet. Some say it a good career and some bad. I’m really happy and satisfied with the information in this post. But can’t find your tips on how to start a career in seo, especially in India.
Can you please provide your views on the same. Thanks – Prateek Seth
Well, how to start a career in SEO, itself a big topic. I’m going to do a blog post about the same very soon. Thanks for the idea. 🙂
What I believe, if you are sure about SEO as your career choice, the first thing that you should know about its scope, opportunities, and role. The second thing is how to educate yourself and try and experiment those things. Do you want to do it yourself or want to work with some experts in a team? The third thing is to network with people of same interest and join their group to learn, find new opportunities and showcase your skills and expertise.
Hope that helps.
Update: Here is my blog post on how you can start and build a successful career in SEO:
http://www.deepanshugahlaut.com/blog/how-to-start-a-career-in-seo/
Hi, what do you think what will be the scope of seo in 2019 in India?
There is no doubt that E-commerce and internet is a growing trend in India. This new economy is giving birth to new job titles such as digital marketers, outreach experts, data analyst, UI/UX developers etc.
Another major shift that is happening right now is digital transformation of everyday services such as food delivery, transport, and many others.
Government is also taking initiative under their ‘Digital India’ program aimed at the mobile and digital connectivity of services for people that is expected to create job opportunities for Indians.
I believe 2019 and the coming years are going to be a golden era for Digital Marketing, especially SEO field.
What’s your thoughts?
Seo has a very bright future. it depends on the person to person. how they are taking it. you shared great information on seo. thanx for sharing such kind of information
Such a great article about scope of seo. Everyone should follow this blog.
thanks for the wonderful information about SEO. it is a nice post.
Great blog post you have shared here about search engine optimization which is really very powerful activity of digital marketing and I read many blog posts but here i found something new and informative so thank you very much for sharing such kind of blog post and keep posting.
What do you think about SEO career in 2020? Is it still a best career choice?
Anu
Almost every business today wants to be found on search engines such as Google. Isn’t it?
According to Statica, in 2018, India had 483 million internet users and this figure is projected to grow to 666.4 million internet users in 2023.
Whether it is e-commerce, fintech, travel or hospitality, all businesses are still looking for ways to tap untapped Indians to grow their business. SEO is one of the best ways to do so.
SEO might not give you a handsome salary as other IT jobs such as application development or IT security. However, the market desperately needs specialists in SEO professionals and 2020 will be the year of demand in SEO jobs.
I personally believe that SEO is still a great career choice in 2020. The enormous increase in Google search on both mobile and desktop is what gives birth to SEO demand. It’s one of the most versatile careers, as it allows you to choose from many SEO titles including SEO Analyst, SEO Strategist, SEO Consultant and many more.
I found your article very informative and you had great use of facts throughout the article. I totally loved the concepts explained in this blog post.
Thanks for sharing
After reading this article I have a broad idea of the professional skillset and qualifications required to succeed as an SEO expert, the responsibilities of SEO practitioners. You have also have given enough literature on the scope of SEO in India now and in the future. Your tip on how to become a modern SEO expert is also worth mentioning. It is comprehensive and complete to help a newbie like me to update and upgrade my skills. Thanks.
What a great idea! thanks for valuable content. 🙂
This is the best article written on future of SEO. I am looking forward to 2021.