2013 may be known as the “Year of the SEO Analyst.”  Studies have confirmed a 112 percent increase in demand for SEO professionals over the past few years and starting salaries as high as $94,000.

In another survey, 93 percent of all business respondents expected their SEO businesses to grow by the end of 2013.  Of these, 82 percent reported plans to hire more SEO staff by year’s end.

A career as an SEO analyst can very rewarding.  Unlike many technology jobs, stress levels are relatively low and employment opportunities are at an all-time high.  Mid-level employees can expect salaries around $60,000, and senior analysts may earn as much as $100,000.

What Do I Need To Become an SEO Analyst?

In order to become a successful SEO analyst, you should have certain qualities that lend themselves to the performance of SEO analytic tasks.  These qualities include:

• Excellent communication skills.  SEOs must communicate with both marketing and IT co-workers and must be able to translate what each type of expert says.  SEO analysts must also be able to communicate with clients and review content for appeal to average readers, so they must be fluent in many forms of communication.
• Thorough understanding of programming languages.  HTML, CSS and other web programming languages are important to SEO analysts even if they do not program.  The must understand these codes in order to be able to manage SEO projects and review work by others for consistency or errors.
• Knowledge of Google Analytics.  Google Analytics changes consistently, so SEO analysts must stay abreast of the latest updates and changes.

It is helpful if an SEO analyst has at least three years of SEO experience before taking an analyst position.  Experiences should include testing optimization, interacting with search features, studying Google rules and guidelines and interacting with clients.

Where Can I Find SEO Training?

Although most SEO analysts have some type of background in computers, very few have a specific SEO degree.  SEO is still one of those job fields in which experience is far more important than initial training.  However, workshops and seminars are available that can build on general SEO experience to help an individual pursue a higher-level job in SEO analytics.

What Is The Job Outlook for SEO Analysts?

SEO analysts will find jobs everywhere, but certain cities are much more likely to have jobs than others.  According to recent surveys, the top ten cities for SEO analyst jobs are:

1)    New York

2)    San Francisco

3)    Los Angeles

4)    Chicago

5)    Boston

6)    Washington

7)    San Jose

8)    Seattle

9)    Atlanta

10) Dallas

Salaries range from around $44,000 for entry-level positions to $96,000 for executives.

Searching for an SEO analyst job may be challenging, and you may find yourself taking a variety of positions as you work your way up the ladder.  However, the more you refine and hone your SEO skills the more productive you will be and the more opportunities that will open themselves to you.

Google’s AdWords is also changing and adapting to customer needs.  Hopefully, these changes will be useful in the long run for both users and marketers.  Known as Enhanced Campaigns, these changes mark Google’s efforts to bring more users into contact with websites that meet their needs.

The new Google Group, marked by hashtag #enhancedcampaigns, that carries a continuing conversation of Google’s changes in this regard.

The Realities of AdWords and Marketing

Every day, people use phones, tablets and other devices to connect with those they want to meet, including businesses.  This trend will not change; in fact, the user-friendliness and ubiquity of devices of all types will only continue to grow.  Users can now move between devices effortlessly, and these devices are becoming a necessary part of most people’s lives.

However, users do not simply morph magically into device users.  At least 90 percent of users research across multiple devices before making a purchase as they continue to familiarize themselves with the capabilities of their new technology.  As they engage in this research, they learn for themselves which devices are convenient and lend themselves to certain types of searches and uses.

The Intersection of Intent and Context

Where intent and context meet is where you find users searching for information.  Enhanced Campaigns uses a context-based approach to help websites reach customers across devices.  The development of new ads incorporates both the intent of the user and the context in which the user searches to specifically target users.

Google AdWords allows you to bid for contexts with adjustments.  The information available includes device, location and time to determine the bid adjustment.  For example:

Device: +10% on phone
Location: +20% in Palo Alto
Time: +5% 7:30 PM Friday
1.39x bid

You can also improve your results with location-based optimization on your bids.  When campaign performances differ by geography, location details can be used to vary bid distance.

Ads and extensions should also be selected for mobile context.  The extensions, both local and general, for a mobile device are available in the “Device Preferences” box so that you can see where someone is browsing from.

Group level extensions can be even more targeted than individual extensions.  Group extensions can be created for ads that allow you to schedule them for different times of the day.  This can come in very handy for timed sales or new product launches.

Offer extensions can be used to drive traffic to bricks-and-mortar stores and encourage offline purchases.  However, AdWords is not yet equipped to report in-store purchases as conversions, although Google has promised that it will happen eventually.

Google is also offering advanced reporting measures such as alls, digital downloads, and cross-device conversion in the future.

If you want to use Google AdWords optimally, consider the following tips:

1)    Embrace the multi-device phenomenon.

2)    Optimize bids for location and time.

3)    Take advantage of improvements in ads and extensions.