If you have a genuine appetite for search engine optimization as a craft, read this to the end: it covers what the work is, what it pays, and how people get into it.
Marketing and advertising budgets keep moving out of traditional media and into channels that can be measured, and they are still moving. For companies that want to be found in the organic results, that means a steady demand for SEO specialists. This is a close look at a role that has shifted the ground under the advertising business.
Welcome to the start of your career in SEO. I hope the obstacles stay small and the work takes you where you want to go.
Türk SEM – SEO Manager Tahir Dinç
If you are thinking of becoming an SEO specialist, the first thing to do is understand the skills you will need and start building them. We publish on this constantly at Türk SEM. Read this short guide carefully: it sets out the 10 skills an SEO specialist needs. We will go through what an SEO specialist is, what the job looks like day to day, and which skills decide whether an SEO manager succeeds in the role.
Note: if you want to work as an SEO specialist at Türk SEM, go to the application section.
What is an SEO specialist?
An SEO specialist is a search marketing professional responsible for designing and running the SEO strategy of the organization they work for. An SEO manager can sit inside a marketing agency or inside a company's own marketing team.
How do you recognize a good one?
We covered exactly this question on our podcast. You can listen below; the recording is in Turkish.
SEO specialists work at three levels at once: strategic, tactical and operational. To build a considered strategy for their organization's websites they carry out market research, keyword research, competitor analysis and a good deal besides. And they work to create the kind of link building opportunities that raise the authority, trust and credibility of the organization.
The 3 core areas
- Technical SEO
- On-page SEO
- Off-page SEO
In many organizations the SEO manager also has to lead. That can mean heading a team of specialists, training and guiding them and handing out the work. All of it happens in close contact with the owner or the general manager, so that marketing activity and business goals stay aligned.
What does an SEO specialist do?
Keyword research
Whether the SEO work is for your own organization or for a client, a specialist runs keyword research to decide which terms the organization's SEO and site content should be aiming at. There is no shortage of tools for it.
On-page, off-page and technical SEO
SEO specialists are responsible for growing website traffic through all three: on-page, off-page and technical SEO. The method is to optimize individual pages around a chosen keyword so the site earns more search traffic from queries containing it. Auditing and improving the technical side of the site belongs to the job as well: making the site as good as it can be for people and for search engine crawlers alike.
Running the content strategy
SEO specialists are responsible for developing and running the content strategy. Content marketing is a digital marketing discipline aimed at producing and distributing content that is insightful, useful and ultimately valuable to potential customers. Done well, it positions the organization as a trusted authority inside an industry or a niche. Content marketing is what turns customers into people who champion the brand.
Specialists take part in shaping that strategy, and they may spend their time setting briefs for a “content writer” or writing the content themselves.
Client meetings and reporting
Specialists report to the managers of the business behind the site, to discuss strategy, set priorities and keep marketing activity aligned with the client's business goals.
Data analysis
They use traffic data, through tools such as Google Analytics, to work out which pages and which queries produce the most traffic, leads and sales for their clients.
Decisions about which keywords to target, and where to scale the optimization effort for the greatest effect, have to come from that data. Nearly everything in SEO is a mathematical term.
Now to the main point
The 10 Skills an SEO Specialist Needs
If you see SEO as the profession you will spend the rest of your working life in, here are the ten skills to build on the way. They come up again and again in job descriptions for SEO specialist roles, and they are what our own specialists, Tahir Dinç among them, use every day to produce real results in search marketing.
- Content marketing – designing, planning, producing and distributing content that is worth something to a potential customer.
- Technical SEO – the work of optimizing the technical build of a website to raise its organic visibility.
- Link building – the set of specific techniques and methods that encourage other trustworthy websites to link to the client's site.
- On-page SEO – optimizing individual pages to raise their visibility in the organic results.
- Website management – knowing your way around content management systems well enough to publish optimized content, manage comments and handle the administrative side. Knowing the WordPress admin panel, for example.
- HTML and CSS – the languages that define the structure, style and format of content on a web page. A specialist who reads HTML and CSS can make simple changes to a site without waiting for a developer.
- Conversion rate optimization (CRO) – using dedicated software to run experiments on content in order to lift conversion rates and revenue.
- Copywriting – producing informative, engaging website content, guest posts and other creative media, with a firm command of the language you are writing in.
- Project management – planning SEO projects, setting realistic timelines, keeping stakeholders informed, allocating resources, clearing obstacles and presenting (and measuring) results.
- Client relationship management – meeting clients regularly to keep marketing activity aligned with business goals. It means setting realistic expectations and then delivering.
How to Become an SEO Specialist in 3 Steps
If the idea of working every day to grow organic traffic for your clients appeals to you, here is the good news: you are only a few steps from doing it.
This is how you start.
Build the skills and get certified
Before you can call yourself an SEO specialist you need to spend time building the skills. One of the best ways to start is a course that ends in a certificate. Our own On-Page SEO Certification is taken and issued in English, so it travels wherever you work. If you would rather learn one to one, you can enroll in the Türk SEM individual SEO course, which is taught in Turkish.
Aim for entry level SEO jobs
You can get in by taking on SEO responsibility at an entry level company, even if the pay is low to begin with.
Look for internship programs in marketing roles such as “digital marketing specialist” or “SEO specialist”: they give you experience of optimizing pages for the major search platforms, running search marketing projects and working with clients.
And now you are an SEO specialist
After the course, the internship and a first job at entry level, you can put SEO specialist on your business card. Expect the whole path to take somewhere around 24 months.
By that point your background should show deep technical knowledge of SEO, plus a sound grasp of how to run projects and how to work as part of a marketing team.
As an SEO manager you will earn well, while you keep building your skills and making a real difference to your business and your clients.
What Does an SEO Specialist Earn?
Pay depends entirely on the market you work in, so the table below is one market read closely rather than a global average: these are the bands we see in Türkiye, in Turkish lira, gross per year. Use them as a shape, the way seniority multiplies earnings, and compare that shape against the rates where you are.
| Level | Role | Experience | Average annual salary, Türkiye (TRY) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Jr. SEO Specialist | 0-2 years | 200,000 – 300,000 |
| Mid | SEO Specialist | 2-5 years | 300,000 – 450,000 |
| Senior | Sr. SEO Specialist | 5-8 years | 450,000 – 600,000 |
| Lead | SEO Manager | 8+ years | 600,000 – 800,000 |
| Director | SEO Director | 10+ years | 800,000+ |
Work as an SEO Specialist at Türk SEM
We have been doing search engine optimization since 1999, and our projects run across several markets rather than one. If you want to work on international search with us, our careers page carries the open roles and the application form. Tell us how long you have been doing SEO and what you have worked on; that is what we read first.
Summary
Becoming an SEO manager takes a broad set of skills and a deep understanding of a field that never stops changing. The responsibilities run from technical optimization to content production and link building. If search marketing genuinely interests you, we hope this article gives you a reason to learn something new, push your limits and take on a role as an SEO manager, either inside a marketing team or at an agency. Keep working at what you want.
The Türk SEM team will carry on writing pieces like this one. If you have read this far, you can do this work. Carry on with our What Is SEO guide.
Enjoy the work.
If a question comes to mind, do not hesitate to reach us and ask it.
