Basic 21st century job skills that will increase your annual salary by $35K
A new study has found that software experience is the most in-demand skill in Search Engine Optimization (SEO,) boosting your potential salary by up to $35,000. Learning this skill set can dramatically increase your salary.
- General software experience provides the biggest boost to SEO earnings, raising salary by an estimated $35,217.
- Marketing skills saw the second largest increase, at $30,763.
- Programming provides the third largest increase, $27,999.
SEO platform Ahrefs analyzed 307 skills across 527 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) job listings on Glassdoor.com to see which skill categories commanded the highest salary increase. This was done by comparing the median salary for jobs that included certain keywords relating to overall skill categories against those job listings that did not include these keywords. The influence of a variable was estimated in isolation and by controlling for its influence on other variables.
1. Software – General
Experience in applications such as Hootsuite, Salesforce, and Smartsheet, as well as more general listings like SEO tools, which will comprise websites such as Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush, provide the biggest difference to an SEO’s salary. When present, these keywords provide an estimated salary increase of $35,217 in the SEO jobs analyzed when controlling for the influence of other studied variables.
This stands to reason, as a major part of an SEO’s role is to analyze which factors will help a website rise in search engine rankings and which are hindering this progress. These apps and tools provide some of the best ways to do this.
2. Marketing
Marketing is the second most in-demand skill set for SEOs, providing an estimated wage increase of $30,763. In this model, public relations, keyword research, social listening, and social media marketing came under the umbrella of marketing skills, as did SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing).
Marketing is a core part of an SEO’s job, as researching and optimizing search results to rank higher on search engines is done to earn more revenue at its core. Depending on the role, SEOs may engage in marketing more directly through Search Engine Marketing (paying for search engine ads) and social media marketing on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
3. Programming
Programming can be a key part of an SEO’s toolkit, though not necessarily vital, which is why this skill set only ranks third, with an expected rise in annual wages of $27,999, with influence from other variables remaining constant. For this study, the programming skill set comprised concepts such as application development and software troubleshooting, services such as AWS (Amazon Web Services), and coding languages such as Python and JavaScript.
Programming is one of the best ways of understanding the logic used by algorithms, which provides key insights when combined with understanding how a search engine may rank results. It will also help an SEO automate certain processes and produce more machine-friendly content.
4. Bachelor’s Degree
The fourth largest increase in SEO salary comes from having a bachelor’s degree, increasing by $9,189.
A bachelor’s degree provides much value, especially if it covers areas frequently covered in an SEO’s role. It can also make the difference between having a resumé selected for an interview or not, depending on selection criteria.
5. Analytics
Analytics increased annual wages by $3,749. Skills such as data analysis, data management, data visualization, quantitative analysis, and statistics made up part of this study’s analytics skill set. Analyzing data is a core facet of an SEO career, as obtaining, understanding, and making effective decisions with data can be the difference between success and failure.
6. Communication
Communication skills sit sixth, with salary increasing by $2,595 after controlling for the influence of other skill sets. While not a core part of an SEO’s role on paper, effectively communicating with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders helps an SEO understand what is being asked of them and communicate what they are doing or have done to achieve that goal.
7. Years of Experience
Despite being a relatively young industry, experience still has incredible value. When controlling for other factors, salary increased by $2,550, the seventh highest found.
When not controlling for other variables, job listings that mentioned no years of experience had a median salary of $55,775, listings with one year of experience had a median of $72,871, an increase of $17,096, and two years of experience a median salary of $75,501, a further increase of $2,630.
8. IT skills
IT skills raised annual wages by $2,323 when controlling for other variables, the eighth largest increase. The IT skill category in this model comprised skills focused on using computers rather than specific software packages, with skills such as computer literacy, cybersecurity, and computer networking all featured.
9. Adobe Software
When Adobe software was included in a job listing, salary rose by $266, the ninth-largest increase in this list. Examples of this are Adobe Creative Suite programs such as Photoshop, After Effects, and Illustrator. Job listings frequently listed these programs together, so were put into their own distinct skill category from the General Software skill category.
10. Content skills
In tenth place is content skills, with an estimated increase in salary of $209, with other variables’ influence controlled for. Examples of content skills in this model are content creation, content strategy, and copywriting.
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Tim Soulo, CMO at Ahrefs, commented on the findings: “Search Engine Optimization is an incredibly exciting industry, with an ever-evolving toolkit that can dramatically boost the visibility of websites when used effectively. This, in turn, can mean massive increases in revenue and influence for websites that can further improve search engine rankings.
“This boost is not confined to just businesses or websites; it applies to SEO professionals too. As the industry has matured in recent years, so has its value to businesses, bringing increased salaries for those working in this field.
“As one of the leading platforms SEOs use to do their jobs, we here at Ahrefs wanted to find out what skills make the biggest difference to an SEO professional’s salary. We found that experience in software geared towards Search Engine Optimization applications provided the largest boost to salary when controlling for other factors, while language skills provided the smallest.”
Table 1: Table showing the estimated increase in salary when controlling for the influence of other factors.
| Rank | Variable | Difference in median salary when present |
| 1. | Software – General | $35,217 |
| 2. | Marketing | $30,763 |
| 3. | Programming | $27,999 |
| 4. | Bachelor’s degree | $9,189 |
| 5. | Analytics | $3,749 |
| 6. | Communication Skills | $2,595 |
| 7. | Years of Experience | $2,550 |
| 8. | IT Skills | $2,323 |
| 9. | Adobe Software | $266 |
| 10. | Content | $209 |
| 11. | Microsoft Software | $206 |
| 12. | General Management Skills | -$19 |
| 13. | Design | -$88 |
| 14. | Language | -$181 |
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(Sources: Ahrefs and Glassdoor.com)
(Cover photo, Image credit: RDW Productions)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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