Do These 10 Skills Make Up The Perfect SEO Manager

Do These 10 Skills Make Up The Perfect SEO Manager Last year I promised to dig more into Bubbles vast wealth of digital job data to  try and pin down the latest digital recruitment trends and identify exactly what employers are looking for when recruiting in the digital space but as avid readers of this blog will know, Ive not really produced as many blogs as Id have liked on the topic. Today I thought Id change that  and shine the spotlight  on what employers are looking for when recruiting for a particular candidate and with Brighton SEO kicking off today, I thought Id take a look at the most in-demand skills employers are looking for when advertising for SEO Managers. Now at this stage, its worth pointing out that I compiled this list Now that weve got that out of the way, its time to look at the top 10 skills that could make up the perfect SEO Manager 1. 3+ Years Of Hands-On SEO Experience: Hands-on experience in a previous SEO role was always going to feature on this list but interestingly the amount of experience required seemed to differ from employer to employer. Some employers called for a minimum of two years, however the majority seemed to call for candidates with at least three years of experience, with a large number favouring previous agency experience rather than client-side experience. This could be because the job in question was for a digital agency, or it could be because SEO Managers with agency experience are seen to have more experience and more diverse experience 2. Strong Communication/Reporting Skills: All the roles I looked at called for candidates with strong communication and reporting skills for obvious reasons but what was interesting to note was that a lot also called for candidates who were strong in areas of online content production and blogging. Now, while this is hardly surprising given Googles recent algorithm updates and renewed focus on quality content, I thought it was interesting to see that employers now want their SEO Managers to be strong in the area of content too backing up our recent theory that employers are now looking for digital candidates who are a jack of all trades. On this point, its worth noting that a good working knowledge of CMS systems was also called for in a few ads. 3. Proven SEO Success: Just like anything else in digital marketing, when it comes to recruiting for SEO Managers its all about stats and the job adverts I looked at all called for candidates with a proven track record of implementing successful on-site and off-site SEO strategies for a range of clients. In particular, employers seemed to be looking for candidates who were particularly strong with link building strategies,        suggesting the focus for many employers still lies with building up and rounding out their backlink  profile. 4. Good Working Knowledge of On-Site SEO Elements: Now, I was quite surprised to see a good knowledge of on-site elements like H1s, URL structures and metadescriptions mentioned in some of the adverts I looked at because, to me, thats a given, however they were and not just in one ad but in a couple. So I thought Id stick them in the list! 5. BA Degree In Marketing/Communications/Journalism/Computer Science: This one took me 6. Good Working Knowledge Of The Wider Digital Marketing Mix: Social Media, PPC, Affiliates you name it, a good working knowledge of them and how they can work alongside SEO was called for in nearly all of the adverts. 7. Intermediate HTML Skills: Just like a lot of other digital roles at the moment, intermediate HTML skills were required for a lot of the job adverts I studied but interestingly, a knowledge of more complex server side scripting was also called for in a couple of the ads suggesting some employers want candidates who are quite skilled both from a technical and an analytical aspect which leads me nicely onto point eight 8. Strong Analytics Experience: An analytical mindset and a good working knowledge of the main analytics programs  (mainly Google Analytics) was always going to feature in this list. 9.  Ability To Conduct Site/Competitor Analysis: Conducting site and competitor analysis and reporting is a common responsibility in most SEO roles so its hardly surprising that employers are looking for candidates who have proven experience and skills in analysing sites and reporting their findings. 10. Strong Knowledge of Authorship In-Depth Articles: Now this last one really took me So there you go; a list of the top 10 skills which are currently being called for in the UK when it comes to recruiting new SEO Managers. As ever, Im keen to hear your thoughts. Do you agree with the list? Do you think anythings been missed out? Do you think BA degrees are actually that important for SEO roles? Leave me a comment or tweet us @BubbleJobs