Plenty jobs on the Net courtesy of search sites

• You just need to know where to look, and you’ll find online firms ready to hire for work meant to boost their outcome on Internet search engines

Online marketing companies in developed countries do everything they can to appear among the top 10 results on the Internet search engines, and the trickle-down effect of that is the creation of jobs to youths in developing countries.

The companies employ strategies to “convince” search engines that they deserve featuring among the 10 results on the first page.

For example, for a website to appear on Google’s first page it has to satisfy the algorithms of the search giant that it has the most relevant information to a user’s query, and that it has a steady flow of links to it.

One of the tactics used to appease the algorithms is search engine optimisation (SEO).

This involves a variety of activities, ranging from uploading the right photo of the product being marketed to posting articles with the right keywords on the marketing website.

It is this strategy of posting articles with the right keywords that opens employment opportunities.

The writing of such articles is technical. From here, it requires someone with time to spare and a good command of English. It is an area that job-seeking graduates could exploit.

The articles, commonly known as SEO, pay a lot of attention to a keyword. One is provided with a set of words, say, “best dog biscuits”, and instructed on how many times they should use the expression per paragraph to make a 500-word article.

Arnold Mutugi, 26, is one of the youths who have earned income from writing SEO articles. He started soliciting for jobs online in 2010 after finishing his undergraduate studies in Moi University.

“A friend referred me to iwriter.com, where I would log in whenever I wanted, pick an assignment, write, and then send it to whoever had placed the assignment,” Mr Mutugi says.

Now a marketing officer with a local bank, Mr Mutugi says writing SEO articles was the easiest way he could make money at that time.

“The most impressive part was that I could work when I wanted, day or night,” he reminisces, pointing out that he would make an average of $50 (about Sh4300) per week.

Ms Martha Omaita, an alumnus of Egerton University, has SEO writing to thank when she needed money most.

“As I awaited a chance to go back to class after differing with my employer in 2011, I spent most of my time writing SEO and BMR articles,” she says.

BMR stands for Build My Rank. It is another category of articles that are created to improve the visibility of a webpage on a search engine.

The articles are shorter than SEO ones, and they pay more attention to a hyperlink directing a reader to a specific website.

Ms Omaita talks of a month she raked in Sh50,000 out of the work, but is quick to note that it took lots of sacrifice to earn that amount.

“The amount I could make without too much hassle was Sh20,000 a month,” she says.