SEO Specialist job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

16

O*NET task statements

O*NET occupation

Search Marketing Strategists

O*NET-SOC 13-1161.01

Preparation

Job Zone 4 of 5

considerable preparation

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

BLS 2025–35 · broader occupation

Median pay

$78,760

BLS May 2025 · broader occupation

Data Government data groups this job as Search Marketing Strategists (O*NET-SOC 13-1161.01; BLS series “Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists”). O*NET 31.0 lists “SEO Specialist” as a job title for this occupation only (evidence: O*NET job-incumbent data and employer job postings). O*NET figures on this page are for that occupation; BLS pay and projections are for the broader BLS occupation, labelled where shown. TryHired has no separate career page for this title yet.

1. Manage tracking and reporting of search-related activities and provide analyses to marketing executives. importance 4.5 of 5
2. Optimize digital assets, such as text, graphics, or multimedia assets, for search engine optimization (SEO) or for display and usability on internet-connected devices. importance 4.5 of 5
3. Participate in the development or implementation of online marketing strategy. importance 4.5 of 5
4. Optimize Web site exposure by analyzing search engine patterns to direct online placement of keywords or other content. importance 4.3 of 5
5. Coordinate with developers to optimize Web site architecture, server configuration, or page construction for search engine consumption and optimal visibility. importance 4.3 of 5
6. Assist in setting up or optimizing analytics tools for tracking visitors' behaviors. importance 4.2 of 5
7. Identify appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and report key metrics from digital campaigns. importance 4.2 of 5
8. Create content strategies for digital media. importance 4.1 of 5
9. Combine secondary data sources with keyword research to more accurately profile and satisfy user intent. importance 4.1 of 5
10. Collaborate with other marketing staff to integrate and complement marketing strategies across multiple sales channels. importance 3.9 of 5
11. Optimize shopping cart experience or Web site conversion rates against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). importance 3.9 of 5
12. Improve search-related activities through ongoing analysis, experimentation, or optimization tests, using A/B or multivariate methods. importance 3.8 of 5
13. Conduct online marketing initiatives, such as paid ad placement, affiliate programs, sponsorship programs, email promotions, or viral marketing campaigns on social media Web sites. importance 3.7 of 5
14. Propose online or multiple-sales-channel campaigns to marketing executives. importance 3.5 of 5
15. Evaluate new emerging media or technologies and make recommendations for their application within Internet marketing or search marketing campaigns. importance 3.5 of 5
16. Communicate and collaborate with merchants, Webmasters, bloggers, or online editors to strategically place hyperlinks. importance 3.5 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Working with Computers, Analyzing Data or Information, Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge, Making Decisions and Solving Problems and Getting Information.

Also part of the job

Supplemental tasks O*NET lists for this occupation: less central than the core duties above, and not done in every job.

• Implement online customer service processes to ensure positive and consistent user experiences.
• Develop transactional Web applications, using Web programming software and knowledge of programming languages, such as hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensible markup language (XML).
• Identify and develop commercial or technical specifications, such as usability, pricing, checkout, or data security, to promote transactional internet-enabled commerce functionality.
• Define product requirements, based on market research analysis, in collaboration with user interface design and engineering staff.
• Execute or manage banner, video, or other non-text link ad campaigns.
• Assist in the evaluation or negotiation of contracts with vendors or online partners.

Knowledge areas: Sales and Marketing, Computers and Electronics, English Language, Communications and Media and Mathematics.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Google Analytics, WordPress, Cascading style sheets CSS, Google Looker Analytics, Hypertext markup language HTML, JavaScript. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for the broader occupation.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists no typical on-the-job training once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 4 of 5 (considerable preparation). A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board.

The most common answer among O*NET's occupation experts for this occupation is a bachelor's degree (48%).

Job title: SEO Specialist
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring an SEO Specialist to employ search marketing tactics to increase visibility and engagement with content, products, or services in Internet-enabled devices or interfaces.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Manage tracking and reporting of search-related activities and provide analyses to marketing executives.
- Optimize digital assets, such as text, graphics, or multimedia assets, for search engine optimization (SEO) or for display and usability on internet-connected devices.
- Participate in the development or implementation of online marketing strategy.
- Optimize Web site exposure by analyzing search engine patterns to direct online placement of keywords or other content.
- Coordinate with developers to optimize Web site architecture, server configuration, or page construction for search engine consumption and optimal visibility.
- Assist in setting up or optimizing analytics tools for tracking visitors' behaviors.
- Identify appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and report key metrics from digital campaigns.
- Create content strategies for digital media.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in complex problem solving, reading comprehension and judgment and decision making
- Working knowledge of Sales and Marketing and Computers and Electronics
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Google Analytics or WordPress]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

For the broader BLS occupation Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists, the median annual wage was $78,760 in May 2025. The broader occupation's median hourly wage was $37.87.

BLS counts the O*NET occupation Search Marketing Strategists within Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists and publishes no separate wage for it, so the figure is for that broader occupation.

BLS projects employment in the broader occupation Market research analysts and marketing specialists to grow 7.0% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

• Read a real SEO specialist posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Manage tracking and reporting of search-related activities and…”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only SEO specialist work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (complex problem solving and reading comprehension): a real situation, what you did and what changed.