03. What you need to know

Jobs in Search Engine Marketing

Most companies spend a good size of their advertising spend on Search Engine Marketing. As a result, people with search engine marketing skills are in high demand.

When you have a look at job boards, you will encounter a variety of jobs related to SEM. Some positions are more junior and some require extensive experience. There are jobs that are exclusively focused on creating and managing search campaigns and others that include SEM as one of several marketing tasks.

Here are common titles of SEM jobs:

  • SEM Analyst
  • SEM Manager
  • SEM Marketing Coordinator
  • Search Analyst
  • Paid Search Marketing Manager
  • Digital Marketing Manager
  • Growth and Acquisition Manager

The salary you can expect will vary and depend on the size of the company, industry, location and the amount of experience you have to offer. Check out Glassdoor or similar websites to get an idea of how much a specific company pays for a role you might be interested in.

A typical SEM job description

Job descriptions can tell you what you’ll be doing and what skills you need. Here are typical tasks you will find in SEM related job descriptions:

  • Develop Paid Search strategy, bid management, keyword generation/research
  • Use marketing insights, analytics and A/B testing to improve search marketing experience through messaging, landing pages and user experience
  • Manage conversion tags and pixels including overall tracking strategy, implementation, and reporting
  • Responsible for the delivery of all projects to agreed deadlines
  • Accountability for pacing and managing account budgets
  • Ensure best practice and adoption of new features or processes

If you are looking into jobs that go beyond the entry level, you will often find that in addition to experience with the creation and management of SEM campaigns, the following are desired skills:

  • Strong Excel skills and experience manipulating large data sets
  • Experience using tools like Tableau, Google Webmaster Tools, SEM Rush
  • Experience using a web analytics tools like Site Catalyst, Google Web Analytics, etc.
  • Experience with search tools, keyword search, technical analysis and website analytics is always preferred