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An SEO manager is a marketing and technology manager who works with companies to supervise and streamline their web-based business operations. Below introduces their primary job responsibilities and required skills.
Main Responsibilities
SEO managers will work with management to develop both short- and long-term SEO (Search Engine Optimization) goals and strategies for mobile and web-based operations. They will hire, manage and mentor the SEO technical team. As part of this, they will collaborate with the team to plan, execute and track ROI results from SEO campaigns. They will also have daily managerial tasks, such as measuring and reporting all organic sales and traffic across all device platforms. They must carefully ensure a proper balance between on and off page optimization. This will require them to supervise content generation and internal and external link building.
SEO managers must have a clear understanding of industry standard search algorithms. They must incorporate these components in the SEO strategy. SEO managers must continually review competitor trends and corresponding business intelligence reports. They must work with product or service managers to build strategic SEO roadmaps that are aligned with company goals. They will act as the primary liaison with software engineers and IT technicians to create new tools and innovative solutions.
Main Skills
An SEO manager must have relevant SEO experience and education, such as a degree in marketing, business administration or software engineering. Thus, they must understand programming languages such as CSS, HTML, Perl and JavaScript. SEO managers must have a strong knowledge of SEO best practices related to link building, keyword research, webmaster and standard SEO tools. Popular tools include open site explorers and Google Keyword.
Equally important, SEO managers must have a solid understanding of web design and development related to search engine algorithms and optimization. Related to this, they must have a working knowledge of popular Web Analytics tools such as Omniture, Coremetrics and Google Analytics. SEO managers must have excellent analytical, organizational and project management skills. SEO managers should understand the fundamental principles of e-commerce and how to manage multiple websites. Finally, they must have strong prioritization and excellent problem solving skills.
Suggested Education
Because of the novel nature of SEO management, there are very few programs available that comprehensively cover it. This is because SEO management combines the knowledge of Internet marketing with the knowledge of search engine optimization. However, there are online schools that offer marketing degrees that specialize in search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). There are also business degree programs that emphasis online marketing. Related classes will allow the student to gain important skills and knowledge needed to excel in SEO management. These classes will focus on core basics such as site structure, keyword research, content development and competitive analysis.
Students who want to work for large corporations may need a master’s degree in marketing or business administration. These programs will involve essential core MBA classes, but emphasize SEO management, online marketing strategies and strategic business planning. These unique programs will teach the student how to synthesize web data, consumer research and marketing technology into profitable results and productive work processes.
Students who wish to work in SEO marketing should take quality market, computer and business related coursework. Being an SEO manager is a uniquely challenging position that deals with cutting edge technology and online marketing strategies.
See also: How Can I Become a Marketing Director?
