How To Become A Search Marketing Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a search marketing specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Gail Hudson Ph.D.

As a search marketing specialist, your purpose will be to use various search engines for marketing and advertising the company or organization and its various products.

Some of the functions that you will perform as a search marketing specialist include working alongside other web experts - such as web designers, SEO specialists, and others - to enhance the company's website traffic through a variety of mechanisms. You will oversee the quality of the company's webpage and the quantity of keywords to determine the best way to bring more exposure to the company's online presence. You will also conduct research and make improvements to the existing model based off of those results. Essential skills required for this position are communication, creativity, problem solving, technical, attention to detail, and interpersonal.

To qualify for a position as search marketing specialist, you need to have a bachelor's degree in marketing or a related field, along with relevant work experience of three or more years. SEM experience and knowledge of analytics tools is also required. The average hourly pay for this position is $28.70, which amounts to more than $59,000 annually. The career of search marketing specialist is expected to grow substantially in the near future and create new opportunities across the United States.

What general advice would you give to a search marketing specialist?

Dr. Gail Hudson Ph.D.

Director, College of Business Internship Program, Arkansas State University

As the world has shown us most recently, we need to be flexible as the marketplace can change, without warning.
The need to differentiate yourself from others will always be necessary, so keep learning while you are in school and beyond.
I believe that technology and social media skills will continue to be necessary. Seek and achieve as many certifications as possible to hone these skills and differentiate yourself in the market.

ScoreSearch Marketing SpecialistUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $66,688

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.13%

Asian 14.45%

Black or African American 4.78%

Hispanic or Latino 11.37%

Unknown 4.90%

White 64.37%

Gender

female 43.35%

male 56.65%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a search marketing specialist

Explore search marketing specialist education requirements

Most common search marketing specialist degrees

Bachelor's

82.7 %

Master's

8.8 %

Associate

5.3 %

Start to develop specific search marketing specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Digital Marketing	13.51%
Paid Search	8.83%
B Testing	7.40%
A/B	5.81%
Marketing Campaigns	5.09%

Complete relevant search marketing specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New search marketing specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a search marketing specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real search marketing specialist resumes.

Research search marketing specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage strategy and implementation of Hubspot marketing automation.
Establish web initiatives to improve conversion rates and ROI base on measure key findings.
Conduct reporting and analysis on the PPC program performance, including identifying business drivers and opportunities for improvement.
Develop and train company employees on keyword-orient corporate blogging process and best practices.

Prepare your search marketing specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your search marketing specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a search marketing specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable search marketing specialist resume templates

Build a professional search marketing specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your search marketing specialist resume.