Looking to get started in your SEO career? You’ve come to the right place. Today we’ll be looking at how to get started in your SEO career, what businesses are looking for from an entry-level SEO, and how much SEO jobs pay.

How to Get Started in a Career in SEO in 5 Steps

Now not all of these steps are essential. Indeed, you can skip most of them and still get started in your SEO career. But all of the below will strongly help to get started in your career and help you to beat the competition for those entry-level SEO positions.

1. Earn a Relevant Degree

Earning a degree isn’t something you can exactly do overnight, and it is by no means an absolute necessity for a career in SEO. 

But it is one of the typical starting points: And can be helpful in getting your foot in the door of the digital marketing industry. The degrees that would be best for a career in SEO are along the lines of:

• Digital Marketing.
• Marketing.
• English or Creative Writing.
• Mathematics.
• Data Analytics.

Some agencies and businesses we work with will only hire someone with a degree relevant to the role they’re hiring for, but these are few and far between. So while they can be an advantage to starting your SEO career, they are by no means a necessity.

2. Earn Some SEO Certifications and Qualifications

One of the most important steps to starting your career in SEO is gaining the fundamental understanding of SEO and earning some certifications online to demonstrate this knowledge.

Earning certification shows businesses that you have that basic technical understanding of SEO, as well as the initiative and drive to earn the certifications in your own time.

Luckily, you don’t need to go out and spend hundreds or thousands on an SEO course. Because there are plenty of free online SEO courses you can take, from industry recognised bodies and businesses. Additionally, you can take courses in specific aspects of SEO and digital marketing: Outside of the generalist SEO courses:

• SEO Crash Course from SEMrush.
• SEO Certification Course by Hubspot.
• Google SEO Fundamentals from UC Davis (University of California)..
• Google Analytics 4 Course from Google.
• Technical SEO from Blue Array.

3. Keep Up-to-Date on Industry News

Seeing as you are just starting out in your career, it’s important to stay up-to-date on industry news. Not only to show that you’re proactive in your learning, but that you can support a business with the newest SEO strategies and understanding.

This means you’ll be able to continually learn as you read new blogs and guides: As well as have tailored news brought to you through newsletters.

Some great industry sources to follow include the likes of:

• Search Engine Journal – for SEO specific news.
• HubSpot – for digital marketing strategy, news, and guides.
• Search Engine Land – for SEO specific news.

4. Get Some Industry Experience

But undeniably the most important step in starting your SEO career is getting some hands-on industry experience in digital marketing.

This can be in the form of an internship, or through volunteer work. As even for entry-level positions, many businesses will look for candidates with some amount of SEO or wider digital marketing experience.

Additionally, the experience doesn’t even have to be in pure SEO. Experience in wider digital marketing will still give you an advantage over the competition when applying for SEO roles.

5. Get Started on Your Own Website or Blog

One of the best things you can do is to demonstrate your ability and expertise by showcasing your own website or blog.

An online digital portfolio is used typically by freelance digital marketers to showcase the work they’ve done for previous clients. But having a fully functioning website with your own blog can also be a great way for you to show off your design, SEO and copywriting skills.

You can read our guide on “How to Create a Digital Marketing Portfolio”, here.

What are some Entry-Level SEO Jobs?

When getting started in your SEO career, you may want to consider which entry-level SEO role is the right one for you.

SEO Executive

This is the typical title for an SEO working “in-house”, or “brand side”: Which are the terms for working in a business as part of their SEO team. In this role you will be responsible for SEO for the business you work for.

SEO Account Executive

Alternatively, you may choose to work for a digital agency as an SEO Account Executive. This is where you will deliver SEO services to clients for the digital agency, working on a variety of SEO campaigns and industries.

Digital Marketing Executive

Or, you may choose to start in a rounded digital marketing role, where you will gain exposure to multiple digital marketing disciplines. It’s not uncommon for an SEO professional to have started in a more generalist digital marketing position, or even in a wider content marketing position, before specialising into SEO.

Below, we’ll get into the typical salary and years of experience required for each level in your SEO career.

What Do Businesses Look For From an SEO Executive?

Businesses and digital agencies obviously want to see SEO skills and experience. Given that you’re just starting in your SEO career, these can be harder to come by. And pivotal to this, is understanding exactly what businesses are looking to see from a junior SEO.

But to better understand what businesses look for, you can look at the adverts for SEO Executives, to see what skills they’re looking for. The most common SEO skills we are asked for by the digital agencies for entry-level SEO jobs look like the following:

• Keyword research.
• Content Writing.
• Meta Tags Optimisations.
• Technical SEO.
• Link Building.
• Site Audits.
• Microsoft Excel.

Knowing this you can know which areas you have strength in, and which areas you should brush up on.

What Degree Do You Need to Become an SEO Specialist?

As we’ve discussed, getting a degree is not essential to becoming an SEO Specialist. The majority of businesses don’t ask for a degree when hiring for an SEO position: Because getting hands-on SEO experience and industry valued certifications like the ones we’ve listed above, are often seen as much more valuable.

Of course a degree won’t hurt your chances: Many SEOs hold degrees in English, Marketing, Creative Writing, Data Analysis, Mathematics… The list goes on.

When you’re just beginning in your career without much experience, holding a degree that evidences your writing, analytics, or all round marketing ability can definitely be a big help.

How Much Do SEO Jobs Pay?

How much SEO jobs pay depends on a variety of factors that we’ll get into in the section below. But a general outline for the salaries you can earn in each SEO position are below.

Graduate/ Junior SEO Executive

• Salary: £20,000 – £26,000
• Years of Experience: 0 – 1 Year

SEO Executive

• Salary: £25,000 – £29,000
• Years of Experience: 0 – 2 Years

Senior SEO Executive

• Salary: £28,000 – £32,000
• Years of Experience: 1 – 3 Years

SEO Account Manager

• Salary: £35,000 – £45,000
• Years of Experience 2 – 4 Years

Senior SEO Account Manager

• Salary: £40,000 – £55,000
• Years of Experience: 3 – 5 Years

SEO Director

• Salary: £50,000 – £60,000
• Years of Experience: 4 – 6 Years

Senior SEO Director 

• Salary: £60,000 – £80,000
• Years of Experience: 5+

Head of SEO

• Salary: £70,000 – £120,000
• Years of Experience: 5+

The Factors That Influence Your SEO Salary

Just some of the factors that can influence how much an SEO earns are: Location, years of experience, skills, and perks and benefits.

Location

The location of your job can have a significant impact on your salary. For example, for a role based in London where the cost-of-living is one of the highest in the UK, you can typically expect to be paid a few thousand more than other areas in the UK.

Conversely, roles that offer fully remote working typically pay less than their in-office counterparts.

Years of Experience

Typically, the more years of experience you have, the higher you can expect to be paid. However, it’s unlikely you will automatically be paid more just for having more experience. You will however, be eligible for promotions and be able to take on more responsibility.

Skills

The SEO skills you possess will go hand in hand with years of experience, in allowing you to progress in your SEO career.

The more skilled you are, the more employable and the higher salary you can earn. For example, an SEO who is strong in both technical and content SEO, will be more employable, and able to apply for higher earning positions.

Perks and Benefits

Some businesses may offer a slightly lower salary, in exchange for increased perks and benefits: Benefits like hybrid or remote working, increased holiday allowance, or a 4-day work week.

When You’re Ready to Start Your Career in SEO

When you are ready to start your career in SEO, we’ve got you covered with a some resources to help get you started. Including:

• A guide to CV writing for SEOs.
• The SEO interview guide.
• How to supercharge your SEO training when in-between roles.

The Very Best Thing You Can Do to Get Started in SEO

In our opinion as a Digital Marketing specialist recruitment agency, the very best and most important thing you can do to get started in SEO is get hands-on SEO experience.

Whether from an internship, through volunteer work, or through working on your own website or blog: Getting demonstrable, hands-on experience is the best thing you can do to kickstart your SEO career.

Digital Marketing Agencies and businesses often have a sea of candidates to choose from for entry-level SEO positions: And they will look for candidates who have been proactive and taken their learning into their own hands.

And if you are looking for that entry-level SEO role, you can have a look at your open SEO vacancies here, to kickstart your SEO career!