The demand for search engine optimization (SEO) professionals has risen significantly in recent years. Nowadays, almost all companies, regardless of size, industry, or location, place some degree of importance on expanding their online presence. Implementing a strong SEO strategy significantly grows website traffic, and consequently increases sales exponentially.
However, despite the growth of SEO roles in the job market, this doesn’t mean that it’s easy to get one of these jobs. Many companies have strict requirements for these positions, and competition can be fierce. Read on to learn more about what kind of positions require an SEO resume, and all the points you need to take into consideration to create the best possible resume for this field.
What Is an SEO Resume
Before diving into the characteristics that make up a winning SEO resume, it’s important to brush up on who should be using this kind of document. SEO resumes are for people that are looking for a job in either the SEO or marketing field. This written document is typically either one or two pages long, and it should highlight your experience, accomplishments, skills, and show why you’re a fit for the position you’re applying for.
Some of the main jobs for which an SEO resume is helpful are the following:
- SEO manager
- SEO analyst
- Content marketer
- Marketing analyst
- Search engine marketer
- SEO strategist
- Digital marketer
- Marketing manager
- Digital marketing manager
Checklist to Create the Perfect SEO Resume
In this section, we’ll explore all the necessary points you should include to create the best possible SEO resume. Regardless of the specific SEO position you’re looking for, following these guidelines will greatly increase your chances of getting interviews.
Use a Professional Design
A resume is more than just a document presenting your skills and experience. Resumes can be seen as marketing or sales tools, only that the product being sold is yourself. This means your SEO resume must be engaging and aesthetically pleasing for recruiters to read. Considering that SEO is within the area of marketing, it’s important to show that you’re able to market yourself. If you can’t market yourself, how could you market a product? Your resume should clearly present your name and contact information at the top and use bold headings to highlight different sections. Make sure to include a good amount of white space on the page, and avoid large or dense blocks of text. A great way to ensure that your resume is well-designed is to use an online resume builder. These tools let you pick from a wide variety of professional resume templates, which you can customize to suit any SEO application.
Keep It Short and Concise
Studies have shown that recruiters spend only an average of 7.4 seconds looking at each resume they are sent. This means that you have little time to impress hiring managers and that you have to quickly stand out from the crowd. One of the ways to achieve this is by ensuring that your resume is short and to the point.
An excessively long-winded or text-heavy resume can put off recruiters, who often have to read hundreds of resumes per day. Include only the most relevant information on your SEO resume, and use bullet points to describe your experiences. Every sentence on your resume should reflect how you’ll be able to fulfill the tasks required of an SEO professional.
Add Relevant Experience and Education
It goes without saying that your resume should include any education or experience which is relevant to the SEO field. Don’t exclude positions that are not strictly within the SEO field, but that are related in some way. For example, experience with search engine marketing (SEM) may show that you have some knowledge of how the Google search engine works, even though it’s for a different purpose. When adding your experience, make sure to elaborate upon it with relevant examples, numbers, and any achievements you attained. Also remember to use action verbs when explaining your work history, as they help showcase the impact you had performing each task. Furthermore, when including your formal education, it’s worthwhile to also add any courses or certifications that you’ve taken which can help show your competence with specific SEO functions.
Include Important SEO Skills
As mentioned, SEO positions often require specific technical skills. These can vary from company to company, but there are some fundamental capabilities that are usually asked for. It’s important that you mention all your SEO-related skills on your resume, as well as any skills from other fields that are related in some way.
Below are some of the most common SEO skills:
- Technical SEO
- Knowledge of Google tools
- CSS and HTML
- Social media marketing
- Usability and information architecture
- Link building
- Content marketing
Beyond technical skills, it’s also important to mention soft skills that could help you perform well in an SEO role. For more examples of digital marketing skills, check out our article on the topic.
Conclusion
To write a winning SEO resume it’s important to not only show that you can meet the basic requirements of a job, but that you’ll be able to immediately bring value to the company. Make sure your resume is professionally designed, correctly formatted, and highlights the key parts of your profile that show why you’re a great candidate for an SEO role.