Tips on Writing a Winning SEO Resume

Are you looking forward to a career in SEO and want to write an exceptional SEO Resume?

Well, before we go ahead with writing the perfect SEO Resume, let’s understand the importance of SEO with respect to career.

With 34% internet penetration in which 72% of the internet users are less than 35 years old, India is ranking second in the world when it comes to internet users. Digital India, being the catalyst, is ensuring great scope for businesses to pump up their returns by optimizing brands on the web- And the professionals who do this for brands are SEO specialist.

Digital India is adding the fuel needed to boost the internet marketing sector, and therefore, so many new SEO jobs are coming out since its inception. However, until you know how to write an SEO resume that recruiters fix upon, you cannot get the SEO job that suits your skills and help you make a rewarding SEO career.

Forbes 2012 report says that recruiting-managers generally spend 6.25 second at your resume.

Which means it is must for you to sell yourself convincingly so that your recruiter cannot ignore you.

Below given 5 tips will help you impress your recruiter with the mere glimpse of your SEO resume, so let us delve into those –

5 Tips to Write Winning SEO Resume

1. Know What An SEO Resume Should Include

The way you write your SEO resume depends on-

• The job you’re applying for,
• The company you are applying for
• Your experience
• Your education
• Your skills and certifications, etc.

You need to customize your SEO resume as per the hiring company. You should ask yourself what your hiring company is looking at and then you should add all those important details in your resume.

You should highlight particular SEO skills and keywords in your resume that your hiring company is looking for. While there is not a particular approach to create an expert SEO resume, there are some key elements that ought to be incorporated regardless of what style you pick or what company you are applying for-

• Contact info (name/phone/email)
• Resume summary statement
• Accomplishments
• Work experience
• Skills
• Education

2. Know The Best SEO Resume Style That Suits You

When it comes to best style for writing a resume for SEO, there are two essential formats to choose from-

(i) Chronological Style

• The chronological style concentrates on exhibiting a date-based list of past jobs, starting with the latest first.
• All the jobs listings will incorporate a rundown of 3-5 work duties or accomplishment for that business separately.
• This style is considered best for those with no employment gaps.

(ii) Functional Style

• The functional style is most appropriate for the individuals who are thinking about a profession change but it is difficult for them to clarify the employment gaps.
• By utilizing the accomplishment section in this approach, you can concentrate on transferable abilities and achievements without connecting them to a particular company or employer.

3. Know How To Write Best SEO Resume Summary Statement

The summary statement is the first element of your SEO resume that a recruiting manager sees and that is why it ought to be compelling. You should refer to the job description to let your accomplishment match your employer’s needs.

You need to make your summary statement convincing enough so your employer can conclude that you are the perfect contender for the employment. Below given are some linguistic rules that a resume summary statement should pay heed upon-

• Your summary ought to be no longer than 3 sentences
• You should avoid first-person pronouns in your summary statement and all through your SEO resume
• Incomplete sentences are favoured in light of the fact that they come to the heart of the matter rapidly
• By utilizing the gapping strategy (removing pointless words), you can state more with less

The job description is the one resource that you can use as a reference before you begin writing the summary of your SEO resume. If you have the skills, experience, aptitudes and capabilities your recruiters require, you should ensure that they know it.

You need them to remember you as the individual they had at the top of the priority list. Below given SEO sample resume will also help you understand the process-

4. Know How To Write Work Experience That Holds Eyeballs Of Recruiters

When you are prepared for your work experience segment, you ought to have chosen whether you will go with functional or chronological SEO resume format.

(i) In Chronological Format

The work experience is quite straightforward and below given SEO Executive Work Experience Example will clear it for you-

• SEO Executive, First Online Solutions (Jul 2014 – Present)
• Graphic Designer, WAC | Start-up (Dec 2013 – Dec 2014)
• Social Media Team Leader, International University College (Sep 2012 – May 2014)
• Information Technology Centre Trainee, Meliá Grand Hermitage (Jun 2013 – Aug 2013)
• President of Student Council, Gymnasium 7 (Sep 2010 – May 2011)

 (ii) In the Functional Format

• The emphasis is on what you have done, not when you did it or for whom.
• Here you need to add Accomplishment section that ought to incorporate around 6-8 bullet points that are briefly composed, and should portray an issue you confronted, the solution you concocted, and the associated positive outcomes. Refer to the job description to match your skills to your employer’s need.
• When you have finished the accomplishment segment, you can proceed onward to the simplified work experience section in which you should simply list your employment title and the organization where you worked. You don’t have to specify dates or obligations.

5. Know How To Make Your Skills Section Convincing

On the off chance that you have a good experience, you likely have a thought of which skills are valued in your industry. When all is said in done, there are a couple of ‘Skills’ categories, critical to practically every business. Below given are examples of those categories in a Resume for SEO-

(i) Technical Skills

• Keyword Analysis
• MS Excel, Google Analytics
• E-Commerce
• On Page Optimization
• Off Page Optimization
• Google AdWords
• Use of SEO to Drive Traffic
• Social Media Strategy
• WordPress, HTML

(ii) Personal/Interpersonal Skills

• Self Motivated
• Teamwork
• Strong written and verbal communication
• Able to see the big picture
• Strong organization
• Language expertise

In conjunction with the previously mentioned tips, the inclusion of cover letter with your SEO resume is another important thing that gives the impression that you genuinely care about the job. A cover letter is your opportunity to display your experience, expertise and achievements.

The cover letter also authenticates your understanding of the job position and the company, plus, it shows and tells your personality.

It is very important that you take your time, do proper analysis and write a meaningful cover letter- This will for sure create a bright chance of getting a call back from your recruiter. Below given are a few suggestions for what to include in the cover letter of your SEO resume-

How To Write A Powerful Cover Letter Of An SEO Resume

1. Examine The Website Of The Company

First, you should analyze your company’s website, then, in your cover letter, you need to write a paragraph or two, demonstrating your knowledge of the company’s site. It is important to be concise and specific here, as this will let your recruiters think that you are not just throwing around buzzwords but you adeptly know the right skills.

2. Include Statistics Related To Your Previous Job

You should include stats of how you improved keyword rankings and increased organic traffic at your previous jobs because flexing your analytical muscles and displaying some hard numbers always impress recruiters.

3. Highlight Your Conversion Potential

Increasing organic traffic is one thing but how you converted that traffic is the most important thing as this demonstrates your understanding of the bigger picture of SEO.

4. Update Recruiter About The Future SEO Trends

Your cover letter should tell what is going to happen next in search marketing, how the search habits of consumers will evolve and how your insight of the same will ensure long-term success for the company.

5. Showcase Your Passion

Companies prefer hiring those individuals who have a great passion for what they do. You should let your recruiter know how you first got into SEO and what you think about the latest SEO trends.

6. Follow The Company’s Culture & Write In Their Language

The conversational tone of your SEO resume cover letter should be in the same conversational tone that your company prefers, as you need to show your recruiter that you would fit in.

7. Discuss Your SEO Philosophy

Every SEO professional has a different view on how SEO should work for the particular campaign and that is why it is important to show recruiters where you stand. Your SEO resume cover letter should address specific SEO questions for instance-

• What do you think of Google
• What is your approach to link purchasing
• How do you use local SEO
• What search engine is your favourite and why

Your cover letter should cover what makes sense for you. I would advise going for an uncluttered one-page cover letter that talks about you in a concise and ‘to the point’ manner. Now the time has come to go through some SEO specialists’ resume samples, so let’s go through them-

SEO Expert Resume Samples

An SEO specialist is someone who has a few years of Search Engine Optimization experience under his belt and who is a specialist in planning and executing different search marketing and optimization campaigns. I have discussed all the important skills, which SEO specialists should have, and should mention in their Seo resume too.

Now, I will share two samples SEO resume- The simple one with a traditional look and the second one with a modern Visual look-

(i) SEO Fresher Resume Format

(ii) SEO Resume Sample (Visual look)

You will have to log in to VisualCV to use and download these SEO resume samples.

SEO Jobs Online

Once your SEO expert resume basics are clear, you are confident with your skill sets and your cover letter is polished enough, you are ready to contact potential recruiting authorities in different companies. Searching for befitting SEO jobs online is actually very simple- Here is how you can do that-

• You need to be clear to which kind of companies you want to apply
• You need to find out some of the best online sources of SEO jobs

Sources to SEO Jobs Online

Some of the sources for best suites SEO jobs are:

Job Portals

Top job portals like Naukri.com, Indeed.com, and Shine.com are best places to search for SEO jobs. To begin with, you need to ensure that your profile on such portals is fully complete and verified. You should also upload your well-updated SEO resume on these portals.

With portals like IIMJobs.com, you can also add the cover letter of your SEO resume. To get the best SEO jobs via job portals, below given tips will for sure help you-

• Just add the keywords like “SEO jobs” in their search boxes, add preferred job location, expected salary, the number of years of your experience and hit enter.
• Now you are ready to go through a decent list of SEO jobs. In fact, Naukri.com is considered as the number one portal for any kind of job searches in India.
• ‘LinkedIn.com/Jobs’ is another good option for finding some of the best-suited SEO jobs.

Social Media Groups

There are so many social media groups on LinkedIn and Facebook, dedicated to SEO jobs.

• You should just make a quick search on these social channels with keywords like “SEO Jobs”, “SEO Manager Jobs”, “SEO Executive jobs”, etc. and you will find some highly active groups for the same.

Final Thoughts

Keep your SEO resume Simple, Clean & Lean because a clear and easy-to-read CV helps you appear like an organized SEO professional. Ensuring your formatting and font type clean and consistent would be your best bet.

The focus of your SEO resume should be on you, your skills, your experiences and the message you want to deliver- That is why you should avoid any messy design elements, which may distract recruiting managers. Break up your CV with crisp bullet points, standout hyperlinks and bold headings.

Avoid typos. Avoid confusing objectives and common phrases. Keep the format simple. Avoid exaggerating. Forget fancy, colourful and multiple fonts and jarring text sizes. Also forget centre alignment for texts and random bolding and italising of copy. – Writes V Lakshmi, TOI Author

On the concluding note, I hope this article would be of great help for you in impressing your recruiters and enable you to build a successful career in SEO. Additionally, I also hope that the SEO resume templates given in this post will assist you to create a winning SEO resume that recruiters always single out.

You can also take references from these creative resume templates.

In case you have any queries, ask me in comments- I shall be happy to address the same.