By Abby Lombardi on May 1, 2012 in Occupations.

Since launching our Skills in Demand feature, we noticed that search engine optimization (SEO) has been appearing as a commonly required skill for many different occupations. We wanted to take a deeper look into what jobs require this, what other skills candidates need, and how hard-to-fill these positions are likely to be.

During March 2012, more than 3,800 jobs were advertised online that required SEO skills, a 24% increase compared to March of 2011. This also marks a new all-time high in demand. The five metropolitan areas with the highest volume of job ads for search engine optimization skills were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston.

Hiring Demand for SEO Skills – 4 Year Hiring Trend

These skills are most commonly required for technical and marketing related occupations. However, sales and creative occupations can often include this skill in their job ads. The most commonly advertised job titles that require these skills are listed below. These skills are becoming so important to companies, that they are hiring professionals for full-time SEO specific jobs.

1. Web Developer
2. Marketing Manager (or Specialist or Director)
3. Online Marketing Manager
4. Media Sales Consultant
5. Web Designer
6. Sales Representative
7. SEO Specialist
8. Front End Web Developer
9. Search Engine Marketing Manager
10. Digital Marketing Manager
11. SEO Manager
12. Copywriter
13. Online Marketing Manager
14. Interactive Marketing Manager
15. Web Presence Engineer

In addition to search engine optimization, job ads often require potential candidates to have knowledge or experience of additional skills, including:

1. HTML
2. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
3. JavaScript
4. Adobe Photoshop
5. Web Analytics
6. Google Analytics
7. Microsoft Office
8. Structured query language (SQL)
9. Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)
10. jQuery

Nationwide, companies sourcing candidates with SEO skill sets are likely to find them hard-to-recruit, with varying degrees of difficulty in each location depending on the available talent supply. The Hiring Scale™ shows that employers in San Francisco are currently experiencing more difficulties than average when recruiting candidates with these skills. Hiring demand in this area remain among the highest in the United States, while the local talent pool of qualified professionals does not meet the needs of employers. Recruiters in this area are likely to compete heavily to attract talent and experience a longer time-to-fill than many other areas across the United States.

Hiring Scale for SEO Skills in San Francisco, CA (Hard-to-Fill Location)

The Hiring Scale also shows that the best places to recruit SEO skills are currently Dayton (Ohio), Ogden (Utah), and Springfield (Massachusetts). These areas are likely to fill job openings faster than the rest of the United States. Job ads in these areas are posted for an average of about 4.5 weeks, more than a week shorter than in San Francisco.

Are you recruiting for SEO professionals? Try our free online Hiring Scale™ to see how conditions compare in your area. Just tell us the location the job is located and we'll show you a Hiring Scale, average salary information, and who you are competing with for talent!

Links to this article (3)

• May 1, 2012 - www.sfwebdesign.com
  The Great Search for Talent – Hiring for SEO Skills Reach New … | SFWEBDESIGN.com
  
• May 1, 2012 - optimizationenginesearch.info
  The Great Search for Talent – Hiring for SEO Skills Reach New … | Search Engine Optimization
  
• May 1, 2012 - fasteasywebdesign.com
  Fast, Easy Web Design! » Blog Archive » Simple SEO Tips for Freelancers
  

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