SEO is a bad Job
Many questions are raised on search engine optimization, that SEO is a bad job. SEO professionals face many challenges, such as high uncertainty, difficult clients, Google core updates, a heavy workload, and a competitive market. There is a high level of competition in this field. Clients hire the SEO professional to offer low prices. Clients also demand quick results.
But SEO is a long-run process, and engine results pages (SERP) rank your website after a specific period.
SEO is a bad job or a good job, depending on your personality. If you have a dynamic personality and you can meet the expectations of clients. You can rank your clients’ websites on search engine results pages (SERP).
What Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
SEO is an abbreviation for Search Engine Optimization, which is a technique in which search engines understand your website content and furnish it to users based on their search queries. SEO includes specific tasks such as creating high-quality content.
Content optimization means including a focus keyword in the meta description, meta title, and image alt tags. it allows SEO professionals to make your website more visible on major search engines like Bing, Microsoft, and Google.
Every website’s Success depends on SEO, whether your website is related to products or services. With the help of SEO, your website can drive more traffic and more visibility on SERP. A website on Google’s first page means more visibility and more traffic with the help of SEO.
What Makes SEO Seem So Promising?
SEO is a digital skill that helps business owners improve their website’s organic traffic on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. For this purpose, they need to hire SEO specialists to drive organic traffic to their websites. Due to the expansion of online business, the demand for SEO professionals is also rising.
What Does a Search Engine Optimization Job Involve?
The main purpose of ranking a website on Google’s first page is to make your website more visible. More visibility means more people on your website. Search engine optimization jobs include the following tasks:
Keyword Research
Keyword research means finding relevant keywords that people search on Google. It is the key to SEO success. When finding targeted keywords for your business, consider the keyword’s volume, difficulty, and targeted country. Keywords with low difficulty and high volume are easy to rank.
Content optimization
Keyword optimization is necessary to make your website search-friendly. Content optimization includes meta descriptions, SEO titles, image alt tags, keyword density, and permalinks.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO means fixing technical aspects of your website, such as website loading speed, page speed, site architecture, structured data, URL structure, security, and mobile compatibility.
Links building
There are two types of link building: internal and external. Internal link building means linking your website’s article internally. External link building means creating backlinks on other high-authority websites. Both types of link-building increase your website’s authority and ranking.
SEO professionals are responsible for making your website easy to find for both search engines and users.
Reasons Why SEO Is a Bad Job
SEO is a challenging job. It depends on many factors, such as competition, Google algorithms, and Google updates, and results are never guaranteed. Now, we discuss in detail these factors. The following are the main reasons why people think that SEO is a bad job.
Constantly Changing Algorithms
Google Core continuously changes and updates its algorithm. Frequent updates hinder the work of SEO professionals. They need to analyze the effects of the Google Core update and then learn how to overcome these side effects. They are continuously learning and practicing best SEO practices.
Intense Competition
As the digital marketing field evolves and becomes more competitive, SEO professionals compete with each other to rank on Google’s first page. Competition among clients and jobs is increasing day by day.
Lack of Work-Life Balance
The job of an SEO professional never ends at 5 p.m. Because of the workload, they have to work long hours. They are unable to balance their personal and professional lives, which is why SEO is a bad job.
Unrealistic Client Expectations
SEO is a long-term process, and it takes time to rank your website on the search engine results page (SERP). But the client wants immediate results. Too many expectations lead to stress in the life of SEO professionals. That’s why SEO is a bad job.
Limited Creativity
SEO professionals perform repetitive tasks such as keyword research, on-page SEO, off-page SEO, outreach, and website audits. There is no creativity in their work because of repetition. So, if you have creative skills, then SEO is a bad job for you.
Results Are Never Guaranteed
There is no certainty in the SEO field because of the rapid updating of its algorithms. It’s not easy to rank your website or your client’s website. Results are never guaranteed in the SEO field; clients require guaranteed results. That’s why SEO is a bad job.
Dependency on Tools
The job of SEO depends on several tools, such as Ahrefs, Semrush, BuzzSumo, Moz, backlink checkers, checking SEO ranking, and SEO clarity. Several tools are paid for and highly expensive. As a professional, you have to buy these expensive tools.
Over-saturation in the Industry
The SEO industry is oversaturated because too many professionals, freelancers, and agencies compete with each other. They then engage in a price war, and the client chooses the cheapest freelancer. In this situation, it isn’t easy to enter this market as a newbie.
Misconceptions About SEO
Many people have misconceptions about SEO, such as keyword stuffing, backlinks being everything, meta tags being irrelevant, website design not affecting SEO, ads automatically boosting ranking, and SEO being a time-consuming job. Based on these misconceptions, SEO is a bad job.
The “Black Hat” Temptation
Website owners pressurize SEO persons for quick results. So some SEO persons are using some unethical practices, like black hat SEO, for immediate results. This strategy can be harmful to websites as well as SEO professionals.
Why Many People Think SEO Is a Good Job
Although SEO jobs have some challenges, SEO is still a high-demand job because of the high reward and the facility to work remotely, flexibility, diverse career paths, and competitive salaries. Let’s discuss the important factors of whether SEO is a good job or SEO is a bad job.
High demand
Today is the world of digitalization. Traditional businesses are swiftly moving online. An SEO professional who can manage an online business website professionally is needed, which is why SEO is a highly demanded job.
Flexibility
SEO jobs provide flexibility to SEO professionals. Most specialists work remotely, effortlessly balancing their personal and professional lives and working according to their availability. If you don’t have flexibility in your personality, then SEO is a bad job.
Diverse career paths
Digital marketing is versatile and transferable. It includes content marketing, digital analytics, web development, affiliate marketing, social media marketing, search engine marketing, email marketing, and SEO. Now, SEO professionals can choose their careers according to their preferences.
competitive salaries
Results-oriented SEO specialists can demand high salaries from their management. Technical SEO and e-commerce SEO are in high-demand niches. Every website needs SEO specialists to rank on search engine results pages (SERPs).
The Frustrated SEO Specialist
Amelia started his freelancing career as an SEO specialist. She made her freelance profile on various freelance marketplaces, such as Upwork.com, Freelancer.com, People Per Hour, Behance, 99designs, and Fiverr.com. Amelia tried her best to be online on all these marketplaces. She feels that it’s very difficult to be online for about 24 hours.
Once, she received an SEO project to rank his e-commerce website. She feels very happy on receiving her first project on upwork.com. She tried her best to complete this project as soon as possible. After 15 days, her client criticized her. He said that was why my website was not showing heavy organic traffic.
She tried to convince him that SEO is a long-term process and that ranking your website on SERPs takes time, but he was unable to understand this fact.
She feels very hurt and said that SEO is a bad job.
Step-by-Step Guide to Evaluate SEO as a Career
If you want to start SEO as a career, consider the steps below before making an informed decision.
Step 1: Research the Industry
Before choosing SEO as a career, consider the trends, tools, and challenges in SEO. As an SEO professional, you must purchase SEO tools, so an investment is required.
Step 2: Identify Your Skills and Interests
If you want to start a career in SEO, please identify your skills and interests. Also, consider whether you can work independently and remotely.
Step 3: Gain Hands-On Experience
You have to build your portfolio as an SEO specialist because all the clients require a portfolio as a newbie. Otherwise, you are able to be successful in the SEO field.
Step 4: Consider the Financial Investment
You need to invest in SEO tools such as Ahrefs, SEMRush, Moz, MozBar, and others and buy certificates related to your field.
Step 5: Explore Alternatives
You should explore other digital marketing alternatives, such as UX design, content marketing, and digital advertising, that may align with your goals.
How to Succeed Despite SEO’s Challenges
If you’re committed to adopting SEO, we have some tips for navigating its pitfalls.
Stay updated
Suppose you want to succeed in SEO and specialists. In that case, you have to update yourself in all aspects, such as innovations in this field, Google Core Updates, the effects of Google updates on websites, and how to recover websites from downfalls after Google updates.
Set realistic Goals
It’s very important to communicate with your client about achievable goals and the time required to achieve them. Goals must be specific, measurable, attainable, and time-bound (SMART).
Diversify Skills
To compete in the SEO field, it’s important to diversify your related skills, such as content writing, PPC, data analysis, critical thinking, understanding search engine algorithms, proficiency with SEO tools, technical SEO, on-page SEO, and backlinking.
Invest in Automation
Automation tools, such as Zapier, Workato, IFTTT, Konnectify, Celigo, Tary.io, and Pabbly Connect, can help you manage your repetitive tasks. You can easily automate your repetitive tasks. This step will save you time and energy. If you don’t have investment, then SEO is a bad job.SEO software Rapid URL Indexer provides to the solution of quick indexing.
The Client Relationship Rollercoaster
SEO professionals work with various clients, so they face additional complexity. They have to manage difficult clients and their expectations. They have to update regularly about website performance. Some clients demand unrealistic favors, which is another source of stress. They have to justify the performance of their website.
Competition and Saturation
Competition in the search engine optimization (SEO) field is increasing day by day for both clients and jobs. Due to this reason, the reward for SEO specialists is down, and it’s difficult for a newcomer to enter this field. Has had to face so many challenges, like low wage rates, the highest competition, and no portfolio because many clients required a portfolio.
The Ethical Tightrope
Ethical and unethical is a hot topic in the SEO field. Black hat SEO is a black hat SEO technique that is used to manipulate and violate search engines. It is unethical. If you do not want to use unethical methods, then you must have in-depth knowledge of search engine optimization.
An ethical approach takes time, but it is a safe method to rank your website on the search engine results page (SERPs)
Is SEO the Right Career for You?
If you want to start SEO as a career and you are unsure about whether SEO is a bad job or good. Apply the below-mentioned things to yourself after applying them to yourself. You can easily find out whether SEO is a bad job or not.
Understand the reality
Conduct comprehensive research on the requirements of an SEO job. Meet with SEO industry specialists to gain a proper understanding of this field.
Analyze your interest
Analyze your interests, whether you enjoy data-driven work or problem-solving. If not, SEO is a bad job. The SEO field requires problem-solving skills.
Test the waters
You can try some freelance marketplaces like PeoplePerHour, Upwork.com, and Fiverr.com and take small projects. This way, you can also analyze your interests and determine whether you are a good fit for this industry. It’s also necessary to build your portfolio and test your skill level. As it says, “Practice makes a man perfect.”
Be prepared for challenges
If some dislike unpredictable events or handling difficult clients, then SEO is a bad job. You must be able to handle difficult clients and unpredictable events.
Upskills constantly
If you want to be successful in this field, you must invest in yourself and learn advanced skills, such as technical SEO, analytics, and content strategy.
It’s also necessary to update your skill level because Google’s algorithm is changing swiftly. Sometimes, clients require various skills to manage their websites because they want to save money. If you don’t want to date your skills, then SEO is a bad job level.
Are you adaptable?
In the SEO industry, things change rapidly because of Google Core updates. You have to develop new strategies and techniques to build SEO problems on a regular basis. Are you ready to adopt new things? If not, then SEO is a bad job for you.
Are you competitive?
Are you more skilled than your competitors? SEO is all about ranking out your competitors. Keep a close eye on competitor’s strategies: What are they doing, and how can you beat them? If you feel uncomfortable in a competitive market. Then SEO is a bad job.
Do you like working with data?
Do you love to analyze your website’s data? You have to analyze Google Search Console and Google Analytics data. This data provides you with the true picture of your website and strategies. If you don’t like this data, then SEO is a bad job.
Do you like working with teams?
One can never manage all the requirements of a website. Build your team; teams can achieve milestones. If you’re not comfortable with teams, then SEO is a bad job.
Do you like helping people?
SEO is all about helping people to find information and services. If you don’t like to help people, then SEO is a bad job. Google algorithms also work on this concept to connect people with those websites that provide the best information about their queries. If you don’t like to help others, then SEO is a bad job.
SEO is a bad job or a good one, depending on many factors. It requires constant learning, resilience, and strong analytical skills. Suppose you want to grow in an ever-changing environment. Possess a data-driven mindset, and you’re enthusiastic about digital marketing. SEO is a high-paying field for competent SEO specialists. If you’re unable to work in an unpredictable environment and you’re seeking a nine-to-five job, then SEO is a bad job. Consider the factors mentioned above before diving into this field.
Conclusion
Search engine optimization (SEO) means ranking your website on search engine results pages (SERPs). It’s a long-run process; in this process, an SEO professional performs many responsibilities, such as keyword research, optimization of content, meta tags, meta descriptions, internal linking, external linking, image alt tags, SEO titles, and permalinks. This is called on-page SEO. He also performs off-page SEO duties, such as creating backlinks and outreach. In technical SEO, he performs duties like website speed, mobile compatibility, and fixing core web vitals.
SEO is a bad job or not; it depends on many factors. If you have a dynamic personality and you can manage difficult clients and work in an unpredictable environment, you have an SEO-related portfolio. It’s not a nine-to-five job; you have to work for long hours. You have to meet the client’s expectations. Then SEO is a good job for you.
If you are unable to work in an unpredictable environment and cannot manage difficult clients, you cannot meet their expectations. Then SEO is a bad job for you.
You can earn a good income from the SEO field because these jobs are high-paying.
Frequently asked questions
Q.1 Why is SEO considered a bad job?
Ans. The SEO field is inconsistent, like Google core updates, constant algorithm changes, market saturation, clients’ expectations, and repetitive tasks. On the basis of these challenges, some professionals say that SEO is a bad job.
Q.2 Is SEO a good career?
Ans. SEO can be a good career opportunity. If you have a dynamic personality and you’re able to work in a stressful environment, you can manage difficult clients. Remember, high competition and an unpredictable environment make it difficult.
Q.3 What are the main challenges of an SEO job?
Ans. SEO jobs have many challenges, like Google core updates, algorithm changes, difficult clients, market saturation, and repetitive tasks.
Q.4 How can I decide if SEO is right for me?
Ans. Take small projects from various freelance marketplaces such as upwork.com, fiverr.com, and peopleperhour.com. And test your skills.
If you enjoy this project and you have problem-solving skills, then SEO is good for you; otherwise, SEO is a bad job.
Q5. What are the alternatives to an SEO job?
Ans. There are various alternatives, such as content marketing, social media management, digital advertising, web development, and UX design.
Q.6 What are the main responsibilities of an SEO specialist?
Ans. The responsibilities of an SEO professional are keyword research, content optimization, meta title, meta description, image alt tags, interlinking, external linking, backlinking, and outreach.
Q.7 Why do algorithms make SEO a challenge?
Ans. Algorithm makes SEO a challenge because Google is constantly and rapidly changing the ranking criteria for websites. The main focus of Google is on user experience.
Q8. How can clients’ unrealistic expectations affect SEO professionals?
Ans. SEO is a long-run process, but clients expect quick results. These too-high expectations create stress and dissatisfaction in SEO professionals.
