As I wrote a long article about the top SEO positions available right now at eBay and at Amazon, I’ve seen a couple of relevant search referrals bringing traffic (the ones not obscured by Not Provided!). And curious as I am, I did a couple of searches where I stumbled on something interesting on the search for SEO Job Description.
Crap Answer from eHow on SEO Job Description
There is an eHow article ranking on the first page (at least for me) about the term SEO Job Description. The content on the page is as expected, pretty shallow and not really helping anybody how to write a smashing SEO Job Description! What is more interesting is the following paragraph (link to article nofollow as I don’t vouch for eHow):
There are no set-in-stone qualifications for careers in SEO, in fact, many employees in the field are self taught. Qualifications an employer may seek include experience with search engine optimization and a degree related to the job, such as computer or information science.
So essentially the article does not give any value, but is just fluffing the page with words containing the keywords. What eHow could have done here, is take notice for the job openings at Demand Media, where the company is looking for a Director of SEO. In this job description more qualifications are described (link to job description no-follow as I don’t vouch for DM):
Qualifications
- At least 7 years significant product management and SEO experience. At least 2 years direct management experience
- Advanced understanding of the search engine industry, SEO best practices, search engine algorithms and ranking strategies. The ability to communicate these items to colleagues and management teams
- Exceptional leadership skills with a successful track record leading projects end to end
- Must establish credibility within teams as an SEO expert, a knowledgeable, effective leader that knows where projects are today and where they need to go
- Working knowledge of the product development stages and process, and the technologies being applied to implementation of products
- Exceptional communication, prioritization, and problem solving skills
- Familiarity with programming languages including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and web technologies including online video, AJAX, RSS
- Sound understanding of how websites work and user experience for the web
- Must be a committed team player, able to work both independently and interact with management and other staff members
- Knowledge of Omniture web analytics a big plus
Even worse, the eHow article continues to make itself ridiculous by describing the tasks of an SEO as:
The tasks involved in SEO include submitting web pages to social bookmarking sites such as Digg and Reddit. Additionally, the employee will enhance the content of web pages to include targeted keywords and keyword phrases.
Really, that’s all we do all day? Post links to Reddit and Digg, after which we spam our own content with some keyword stuffing…? Something tells me the Director of SEO at Demand Media is going to be bussy!
One last point, I wonder how the shareholders of Demand Media look at the Benefits an SEO position might bring according to eHow. Demand Media stock has not been a winner since their IPO!
A career in SEO will give you a deeper knowledge of how the Internet works behind-the-scenes. The field is constantly evolving due to the frequent algorithm changes by search engines, providing a challenging workday.
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