SEO or Search Engine Optimization tools are one of the top ways to improve the ranking of your website in SERPs, and search engine results in pages. Also known as organic search marketing software, these tools help the organization with the most relevant information through numerous features and formulating the best strategies to favour their website’s search relevance. Majorly used by product and marketing teams, which more often than not, also include SEO specialists, these tools determine improvement sections in the website which could boost search relevance.
A recent report published by Freelancer.com says that freelancers with SEO skills earn the highest among others, around $2,463 a project in India. Followed by SEO-learned individuals, internet marketing, structural engineering, Swift, and mobile app development are the most sought-after freelancers in today’s time. Gaining popular liking are skills in graphic design, PHP, HTML, website design and photoshop.
The aspect of improving the search relevance of a website, that is being an SEO specialist, enlists a variety of positions, ranging from hiring freelancers and writing SEO-friendly content to website audits and optimizations.
The COVID lockdown and recent recession in countries have prompted the majority of individuals in making income through freelancing. According to Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer.com, the report suggests that while part-time and full-time employees make up 10.9 percent and 12 percent each, 30.5 percent are students taking up such jobs. The report surveyed over 90K users on the platform and found that over 63.5 percent of users held a bachelor’s degree or higher.
As the offices return to work full-time, Matt Brie sees a rise in freelancers working outdoors, which at the moment is not very prominent. At present, work-from-home has a tighter grasp on culture, due to which the Freelancer.com report shows 75.3 percent working indoors.
The future of SEO in 2024
One of the major issues seen as a trend in the report was the fact that very few individuals are interested in building long-lasting businesses. Top concerns among Indians include a lack of a proper capital amount to begin with, unclear future plans – as to what they want to do in the coming years, and loss of motivation to move forward and take the right steps for the same.
Indian entrepreneurs also cite the fact they do not have enough time to invest in starting a new business or are already occupied dealing with family businesses or jobs.
One in three entrepreneurs finds it difficult to work on a start-up either because they are too comfortable in their current places or are unable to stick to a long-term plan.
Freelancer.com saw a domino effect in 2022 due to major companies’ tech layoffs worldwide. This pushed thousands of skilled workers into freelancing within weeks, as they found themselves scrambling to keep a job.
Post that, in a few months, the website saw many hiring individuals looking for niche tech jobs, such as hiring highly specialized individuals. This pushed the amount of IT and tech jobs to plummet on the platform, with an increase seen up to about 60 – 80 percent, quarter-on-quarter.
The first instances of this trend were seen in the second quarter of 2022 when the first layoffs were declared by companies globally, which is expected to only continue, if not increase in the year 2024 as more tech companies are inching towards reducing headcounts.
In such times, freelancing in skills such as SEO tools, Photoshop, UI/UX design, Illustrator and graphic design, in general, has proven to be beneficial for the majority of platforms such as Freelancer.com.
