SEO as a life long career.

Hello all,
Is it okay to start a career in SEO?i mean are there ample opportunities avalaible abroad(i live in india) and how much salary does a seo guy take.I am a fresh graduate and i am doing seo for a job site.should i go for seo as my career or i should switch over to some other trade.I am very confused about the scope of seo.Please guide me.


I appriciate your time and effort.

Well all careers imply a desire to be in that career to the point of "forever learning" so that you grow with the industry.

There are lots of opportunity but you also must work at it and "the scope" cannot really be handed to you... you need to read alot and ask far more specific questions than "show me everything".

I agree 100% with fathom that you need to be willing to learn continuously throughout your career. Plus you must be willing to change how you do things and what you do - even if that means changing away from the career that you have chosen.

I entered a profession in 1970 and have changed career paths several times. Each time I was the one who made the decision for change. Sometimes it was to do something more interesting, sometimes I could see technology changing and jumped to something new before the old way of working was no longer viable and sometimes market demand started to dwindle and I changed to something that I thought had a more viable future. Few of my colleages from the 1970's have remained in the same discipline of work.

I doubt that SEO will exist in its current form for many more years. Today it consists of tweaking text, tweaking code, structuring a website and accumulating links. Already, I believe that search engines are starting to consider other things such as site visitor actions and information structure - things that an SEO might contribute to improving but which are largely determined by content creation and then tweaked after being informed by analytics. The SEO of three years from now will become far more complex and your skills and knowledge will need to be vastly improved.

Competition on the web (not just in search) is exploding.

Furthermore, you might consider if search engines will be the main deliverer of traffic just five years from now. I believe that other forms of getting information are already cutting into the search sector. For example, comprehensive sites such as WebMD, wikipedia are already get vast bookmark and type in traffic by people who would have searched a year ago. More and more of these comprehensive and specialized sites are being built - and visitors land there once and never search again - or search a lot less in the search engines because site search on these sites links you into a vast amount of information. Go to Google Trends and see how search volume is dropping for many many terms. Why search when you already know where you can get the information.

So, if you like SEO then do it but be ready to learn at a competetive rate, adapt to the technology of a new generation of websites, and be ready to change paths on short notice to a new line of work.

Fact of the matter is SEO doesn't exist apart from the small web site in obscure land. SEO needs to be characterised with special niche locations. You need to build on your existing skills and offer them to the world, (acutally no, not the world, to your target market.) Captilize on your own distinct capabilities and move from there. SEO is far to broad to actually dominate.... anyways, be ready to adapt bi annually too....

SEO is all about website traffic. You want to achieve search engine positions to enhance visibility and thus increase traffic. Adwords is also about traffic.

So I believe that the next big thing is to maintain that high rank through continuous SEO work, but what is becoming increasingly important is to convert that traffic into paying customers. So "Conversion Rate Improvement" through creatives such as content, banner, and offer related factors will assume greater importance.

So in the days to come a SEO guy also has to increase the conversion rate.

From a SEO vantagepoint - a tall order.

1. This would assume you have a traditional marketing background (rather than a coding background). Since you are naturally assuming the client (and client's staff) are not accountable for sales.

2. You are versed in all industries' products and services (or at the every least every one for your clients).

3. Gifted in research (not that "keyword research BS)... but market research.

Ranks provide awareness only... the "click" provides interest...

Conversions imply having mutiple careers (one for each client).

When you get to this level it is quite understandable that the "costs" are extreme... SEO isn't rocket science but making a business convert in superior numbers above what they do on their own "if only" given the exposure... "why are you working for them"?

If you are "THAT GOOD"... they can't afford you!

well it's never too early to start - a domain and any link building you do now will be worth a lot in the future as it ages - old sites and old links are precious seo resources! there may not be any instant rewards but if you learn about what you're doing from what people with skills and experience suggest, then you can find yourself sitting in a field of money trees several years down the line.

never too early to plant the seeds and nurture them

meh
seo is a fad
it will pass

One thing's for sure, if you want to make being an SEO specialist your career, then you have to prepared for a LOT of learning and a LOT of change. The search engine industry, or the Internet as a whole, is a fairly dynamic industry which evolves much faster than perhaps other industries. Not an industry where you can afford to take it easy for very long - you'd need to constantly keep tab on what's happening.

Hi subzero27,

I live in India and am into the industry for quite some time (Perhaps your psyghology will match with mine!). I have seen major companies in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. With due respect to all my business associates, I can simply tell you that "SEO is one of the prime area to start your career, but not all can be happy doing this...", meaning if you can hold your patience for a year or two your CTC will likely to zoom past 6 lakhs INR per anum.
Abroad? I had an offer from California exceeding 1.2 lakhs USD annually (could not join due to family reasons). The same might happen to you as well!

Good luck!

Kneoteric

That's why you do it for your own sites and sell your own products.

true. real success is independent of other people. when u're really successful u don't need to prove it to anyone. it's neither easy to help you nor harm you when u'r standing firmly on ur own feet.

Look at the number of posts the top 4 posters on this thread have made, and the time the have accumulated just on this ONE forum. I know each of them are also big posters elsewhere.

The key to success is right there in front of you. Spend a lot of time here, ask a lot of questions here, then come back 3-4 times a day and do it all over.

Repeat 7 days a week.

Tick the box that says to notify you when one of your posts is answered, subscribe to your most important threads and actually read them, setup google alerts to email you for terms such as "Matt Cutts", "SES conference", "webmasterworld" or other relevant queries. Learn about blogs, technorati, Diggs. Become a member of 6-10 forums and make it a daily ritual to visit them daily.

Pick your most respected members out and either chase them or get notification when they post and read their stuff. Wit, Fathom, EGOL, are a few. Search members, then sort by reputation.

I could go on forever, but take this much and incorporate it into your daily routine. You'll see things change quickly.

The most important thing I can tell you as an up-and-coming SEO, keep it clean and honest.

You can make great money as an SEO/PPC, but you have to be worth it.

GaryTheScubaGuy