It’s not unusual for those working in respected fields to be asked questions by those just entering (or re-entering) the job market. Naturally, the newcomers want to know about the future prospects of those fields. Search engine optimizers face those questions regularly. So what will the field look like five or ten years from now? Is it a good career choice?
This question pops up with some regularity on SEO forums. It has been discussed more than once on our own SEO Chat forums. Before we address whether it’s a good occupation to pursue, there is a great deal to consider. Is search engine optimization an actual career or more of a skill set? With what skills should a good SEO be armed? How much money can be made in the field? What does a good SEO need to do to get ahead?
The field itself has not been around very long. Starting in the mid-1990s, it fell to webmasters to optimize web sites so that they showed up high in the search engine results pages. A landmark of sorts was reached in 1996 when the first email spam touting SEO services started hitting electronic inboxes. Usenet references to SEO did not appear until 1997.
Nowadays, a search on the phrase “search engine optimization” in Google (without quotes) yields well over 43 million matches. The acronym SEO delivers 118 million matches. There are forums, blogs, articles, companies, independent contractors, and many web sites devoted to the pursuit of SEO to make money one way or another. With all that action, one would suppose that it is a promising field.
It is -- but there are certain caveats. And even those who frequent SEO forums are not in agreement as to whether it is a good occupation to pursue, what properly constitutes SEO, and what the field will look like in five or ten years. Some are convinced it either won’t be around as a separate field, or simply won’t be recognizable. In this article, I’ll try to tease out the various viewpoints and give you something to consider as you advise others seeking to learn more about SEO as a career. Perhaps it will give you a new perspective on your own field.
Search Optimization 
/ 23 
