Top Required
Skills for SEO
Specialists
Worldwide Research
FEBRUARY • 2019
SEO jobs
worldwide research
In 2019 SEMrush Academy analyzed around 3000
SEO vacancies on Monster and Indeed, two large
job search sites.
We analyzed job offers in the UK, Canada, the USA,
Australia and India to find out which skills employers
want to see in their ideal candidates.
We reviewed job vacancies for SEO Managers
and SEO Specialists.
2
The research geography
Number of job offers reviewed worldwide
Canada UK India
350+ 300+ 1500+
30+ 150+
USA
400+ Australia
250+ 50+
3
Most required skills
Google Tools
(GA & GSC)
41%
41% Google Tools 19% Link Building
39% HTML + CSS 10% JavaScript
30% Technical SEO 8% SEMrush
28% On Page SEO 8% Moz
24% Keyword Research 8% Local SEO
The above data represents the employer's requirements mentioned in the job offers and can differ for each particular job offer.
The percentage shows the number of mentions of a particular skill in the total number of SEO job offers.
4
TOP-10 skills required
in the SEO industry, 2019
USA India Canada
1 Google Tools (GA + GSC) 87% HTML + CSS 14% Google Tools (GA + GSC) 79%
2 HTML + CSS 85% On Page SEO 13% HTML + CSS 58%
3 Technical SEO 57% Google Tools (GA + GSC) 12% Keyword Research 58%
4 On Page SEO 52% Link Building 11% Technical SEO 34%
5 Keyword Research 48% Keyword Research 11% Link Building 32%
6 Link Building 36% Technical SEO 6% Ranking factors 18%
7 Local SEO 24% Ranking factors 3% Mobile SEO 18%
8 JavaScript 22% JavaScript 2% Local SEO 18%
9 Mobile SEO 15% Mobile SEO 2% JavaScript 13%
10 A/B 11% Local SEO 1% A/B 13%
Australia UK
1 Google Tools (GA + GSC) 61% Google Tools (GA + GSC) 74%
2 Technical SEO 54% Technical SEO 73%
3 HTML + CSS 52% HTML + CSS 61%
4 On Page SEO 43% On Page SEO 47%
5 Keyword Research 40% Keyword Research 32%
6 Link Building 25% Link Building 25%
7 JavaScript 18% JavaScript 20%
8 Mobile SEO 7% Mobile SEO 14%
9 Ranking factors 6% Local SEO 9%
10 Local SEO 6% Backlink management 6%
The percentage shows the number of mentions of a particular skill in the total number of SEO job offers.
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Most desirable
SEO skills in 2019
Being a great SEO specialist requires a wide range of skills.
All the mentioned skills are important for an efficient SEO manager, but it is
especially crucial to be familiar with technical aspects, search engine algorithms,
on page SEO and definitely to be able to work with tools that provide better
performance of SEO activities.
1. Analytical skills and knowledge of Google tools
like GA and GSC make an SEO specialist powerful
and help him to keep a finger on the pulse of the
most recent SEO trends.
2. Search engine algorithms are constantly changing
so it is important to be aware of the technical
aspects of SEO to be able to fix the issues and
achieve perfect visibility of a website. Among these
requirements knowledge of HTML and CSS are
almost obligatory, so do not overlook them.
3. Among other important technical SEO skills
are H1 and meta tags, status codes, XML sitemaps,
robots.txt, and solving crawl issues, which help keep
you ahead of the competition and show great results
during your everyday SEO routine.
6
SEO skills dynamic
There have been certain changes in employers` requirements
for the ideal SEO candidate.
In 2019 comparing to 2018, the percentage of SEO job offers where keyword
research and on page SEO are required has increased. Technical SEO skills are still
important, but in 2019 there are more requirements for knowledge of the HTML and
CSS elements of technical SEO, so the total share of technical SEO, HTML and CSS
mentions rose to 69% of analyzed jobs.
7%
6%
8%
11%
24%
21%
28%
26%
42%
42%
69%
49%
The percentage shows the number of mentions of a particular skill in the total number of SEO job offers.
Technical SEO is a crucial skill for a good SEO specialist, so visit the SEMrush Academy
to take a free technical SEO course
7
SEO tools
There are many SEO tools on the market that provide easier
and more effective implementation of SEO strategies.
Here are the top 5 most in-demand tools that employers want the ideal candidates
to be familiar with. Although depending on the country the ranking of the tools
differs slightly, the top 3 tools on the worldwide English-speaking market are:
SEMrush, Moz and Ahrefs.
USA India Canada Australia UK Total
20% 1% 3% 9% 17% 9%
21% 2% 13% 9% 11% 8%
4% 0% 3% 7% 17% 4%
11% 0% 3% 1% 4% 3%
11% 1% 3% 12% 14% 6%
The percentage shows the number of mentions of a particular skill in the total number of SEO job offers.
8
SEO tools dynamics
It is interesting to see the dynamics in the required SEO tools.
USA
In the US the percentage of SEO
jobs where knowledge of MOZ
or SEMrush is beneficial rose to 21%
and 20%, respectively. Other tools
also showed an increase.
India
In India, the strongest growth was
in SEMrush requirements, although
in numbers it is just 1%.
0% 0%
Canada
In Canada, a significant growth
in Moz popularity was detected.
UK
The SEO jobs market in the UK
has demonstrated the growth of
the demand for usage of Majestic,
SEMrush and Ahrefs tools.
Australia
In Australia, almost all of the tools
in 2019 are much more in demand
than 2 years ago.
2017 2019
The percentage shows the number of mentions of a particular skill in the total number of SEO job offers.
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SEO search queries, 2019
We decided to explore what people would like to know about SEO
using SEMrush and to identify areas that lack information.
The results show that most questions refer to SEO definitions and to the ways
of doing SEO. So, people wonder what SEO is and how to do it. Such questions
as “How to improve SEO?” and “What is SEO marketing?” are also in the top-10
list as well.
KEYWORD SEARCH VOLUME *
What is SEO 31 500
What does SEO stand for 4 090
What is SEO and how it works 2 890
What is SEO marketing 2 030
How to do SEO 1 541
How to SEO 1 540
What does SEO mean 1 260
How does SEO work 940
How SEO works 861
How to improve SEO 850
* Sum of average monthly search volumes for US, UK, AU, CA, IN
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Search query topics, 2019
We have also divided the most popular Google queries about SEO
into several topics.
According to the results, most queries are dedicated to definitions of SEO
and different areas of SEO. Searches for certain SEO skills rank second. The third
most popular group refers to the SEO process, where users wonder how to do SEO
to get better results. Then come educational queries and questions about jobs
and employment. Users want to know how to learn SEO on their own. Users
are also concerned about the prices of SEO and SEO tools.
TOPIC SEARCH VOLUME *
Definitions of SEO 53 070
Queries about SEO skills 19 020
How to do SEO 9 350
Educational 9 300
SEO Jobs 3 190
Prices of SEO 1 600
SEO Tools 1 490
* Sum of average monthly search volumes for US, UK, AU, CA, IN
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Key Takeaways
1. The most important skill for an SEO candidate
in 2019 is the knowledge of Google tools (Google
Analytics and Google Search Console). Around 42%
of the job offers mention these skills as compulsory.
2. Then, candidates should be familiar with HTML
and CSS (mentioned in around 40% of SEO
vacancies).
3. It is appreciated if a candidate has a high level
of technical SEO knowledge (31%).
4. A good SEO specialist has a broad outlook
and should be familiar with on page SEO specifics
(28%) and be good at keyword strategy (24%).
5. Employers give more attention to special tools that
can facilitate working on SEO strategies. SEMrush,
Moz and Ahrefs are the most popular ones.
6. Most Google queries are about definitions of SEO,
particular SEO skills and the process of doing SEO.
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Peter Mead
WordPress SEO Consultant at Peter Mead iT
“
The skills I consider to be most important as an SEO specialist are very much
centered around technical abilities. We're talking technical SEO primarily, including
some coding of HTML, CSS and Javascript. At a minimum along with proficiency
in a number of essential SEO tools for analysis and troubleshooting using GA and GSC,
and using a quality SEO suite such as SEMrush or Majestic. Continuous learning
is important, and then it's through gaining real-life SEO experience that these skills
really become a career-building asset.
Ross Tavendale
Managing Director Type A Media
“
It's not surprising to see that analytical skills are the most requested in the industry.
As an in-house SEO, most of the time you’ll face senior stakeholders that struggle
to make sense of digital. They’ll need robust reporting and a little hand holding to get
things done. In our experience, agencies tend to be used for search strategy, sounding
boards or to do heavy lifting in specialised areas, such as link building and digital PR.
So it makes sense that the most sought-after skills are technically led.
When interviewing candidates, we recommend putting them through a technical test
and a stress test. That way, we can see what their thinking and comprehension is like
when they encounter a problem that has multiple outcomes. We often find that
the fact that someone knows how to work a crawler or run reporting in GA doesn't
necessarily mean they have the deductive skills to make sense of the data and turn
it into actionable insights for their wider team.
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We prepared our free SEO Fundamentals Course
together with industry expert Greg Gifford.
This course will help you learn the basics of technical,
international and local SEO.
If you want to learn SEO fundamentals, take this course
to watch video tutorials and get practical advices that
every effective SEO specialist should know.
Enroll now
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