Another way to build up your portfolio, is to create your own sites and
use those sites as examples for how well you can optimize a site.
If you are familiar with affiliate marketing,
this is a great option that allows you to practice optimizing for
competitive phrases while earning a bit of money on the side.
The downside is, you do not earn any references you can use.
The next option is working in-house for a company.
As an in-house SEO, you are likely to be the main point of contact for a company's
web properties and in charge of all the optimization efforts of their sites.
Depending upon the size of the company, you may work alone or
be part of a small team.
Usually SEO will fall under marketing related roles, and
you will likely report to a director of marketing.
Though it is not unlikely SEO will fall under other departments, such as I.T.
as well.
In growing technical communities, such as the Bay Area,
you will see a lot of opportunities to work at startups.
Startups tend to have a bit lower pay because they provide other benefits,
such as stock options.
But these can be great opportunities to launch a career in SEO.
And if it ends up successful, you'll have a great site to include in your portfolio,
and you could easily take off as a consultant if you wish.
The third option is working at an agency.
Working at an agency allows you to interact with a variety of different types
of clients and work on different types of sites in a variety of industries.
This can expose you to a wider variety of SEO issues and
solutions which allows you to gain a lot of experience.
Working at an agency is fun because it can be more like consulting
where it breaks the monotony of working on the same site day in and day out.
But it also provides more security and a regular paycheck,
like an in-house position does.
We have interviewed SEOs in each position to ask them what they like best and
worst about their jobs.
And what a normal day looks like to them.
Feel free to watch these videos at your own convenience.