How to Use Keywords to Land Your Dream SEO Job

Intro

Fortunes have been made and lost due to good search engine optimization (SEO) or the lack thereof. The struggle is real when it comes to attaining the top spot and first-page status with major search engines like Google and Bing.

As such, many companies hire SEO managers, SEO specialists, or SEO growth strategists to make sure their websites stay in front of the algorithms and are relevant to consumer searches.

Interestingly, the process of landing one of these coveted jobs in SEO is very similar to that of optimizing a web page. Below, consider how you can put your SEO skills to work to improve your cover letter, resume, LinkedIn profile, social media, and portfolio.

Mastering the ATS

In recent decades, almost all job postings have migrated to the digital space. No one fills out paper applications anymore—they apply online, uploading a digital copy of their resume and cover letter.

In today’s competitive environment, companies may receive hundreds or even thousands of applications for a single opening. Hiring managers have a lot to do, and they don’t want to spend even the legendary six seconds looking at each of a thousand or more resumes. What do they do? They use applicant tracking system (ATS) software to collect the “cream” from the top.

ATS work by identifying resume keywords in the applicant’s documents. They search for pre-programmed keywords, and modern artificial intelligence (AI)-powered systems can even learn to accept variations and synonyms of programmed keywords. If they find them, your application is ranked well and moves on to human consideration. If not, your prospects stop right there.

Those keywords you need can be found in the original job description. Look for words that describe specific SEO skills, tools, software applications, degrees, certifications, or years of experience. Include as many of them as you can in your cover letter and resume. These may include but are not limited to:

• Analytical skills
• Analytics
• Analyzed
• Content management systems (CMS)
• Cascading style sheets (CSS)
• Collaborated
• Communication
• Competitor analysis
• Content marketing
• Content restructuring for SEO
• Creativity
• Detail-oriented
• Generating organic traffic
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• HTML
• Implemented
• Keyword research
• Link building
• Monitored
• Off-page SEO strategies
• Organic search
• SEO performance reporting
• Technical SEO

Optimizing Your Online Presence

Websites use keywords to attract the attention of search engines. That’s what SEO is all about. Likewise, your online presence—the websites you maintain profiles and portfolios on—should be optimized so that recruiters can find you using keyword searches.

First, let’s talk about personal websites and web-based portfolios. If you maintain a website via WordPress, Wix, or a similar platform, it’s up to you to maximize the SEO. We won’t go into the details here because that is your skillset, after all. But one important mention is that of backlinks.

You can get credible backlinks to your personal website by guest posting on SEO industry blogs or working on other projects where you’ll earn a bio. Articles and blog posts also serve to establish you as a recognized expert in your field.

Next, look at your social media, especially your LinkedIn profile. Recruiters actively use LinkedIn to search for candidates with the right skills. Make sure your headline includes the job title you’re seeking. List all your skills in the Skills section, and highlight your most relevant skills in the Top Skills section. List your certifications, Like Google SEO Fundamentals by UC Davis or SEO Foundations on LinkedIn. If any other profile sections are relevant to your experience and career goals, by all means, include them.

Don’t forget to turn on the “Open to Work” feature on your profile. It will place a banner around your profile picture and make you more likely to be found in recruiter searches.

LinkedIn and social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube employ hashtags to categorize content. When you’re building your professional brand online, be sure to use relevant hashtags to help interested parties find your posts. You might consider creating content with hashtags such as:

• #SEO
• #backlinks
• #contentmarketing
• #digitalmarketing
• #googleSEO
• #keywords
• #onpageseo
• #searchengineoptimization
• #seoexpert
• #seostrategy
• #seotools
• #technicalSEO
• #websiteoptimization

Remember, according to a survey by Monster Jobs, 77 percent of employers research potential candidates by Googling them. If they find high-quality SEO-related content, they’ll feel confident moving forward with you in the hiring process. Take a few minutes to Google your own name and see what comes up. Then, make any changes as needed, creating new content or deleting unfavorable social media posts.

Key Takeaways

Getting hired for a new job is all about highlighting your skills. When SEO is your field of choice, you’ll not only talk about what you can do—you’ll demonstrate it by including relevant keywords in your resume and optimizing the real-world SEO of your personal websites, online portfolios, and social media accounts. These are important steps, whether you’re looking to get hired outright or searching for clients as a freelancer.