• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, May 1, 2012

More than 3,800 jobs were advertised online that required search engine optimization (SEO) skills in March, up 24% compared with the year-ago month, according to WANTED Analytics, which supports technology to analyze employment trends, gather competitive intelligence, forecast economic conditions, and source hard-to-fill positions.

These jobs requiring technical and marketing related skills support occupations like Web Developers, Marketing Managers, Online Marketing Managers, Web Designers, Marketing Directors, SEO Specialists, and Front End Web Developers.

The five metropolitan areas with the highest volume of job ads for SEO skills in March were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Boston. New York recruiters posted the most ads of any city, but hiring demand in the city fell 2% between March 2011 and March 2012. Those in Chicago saw the most year-over-year growth in March, with 50% more job ads than were seen online during March of 2011.

SEO-related jobs may be on the uptick, but finding those with the skill continues to become challenging. Employers in San Francisco are experiencing difficulties recruiting candidates, according to Hiring Scale. It turns out the best cities to recruit SEO skills are Dayton (Ohio), Ogden (Utah), and Springfield (Massachusetts).  The company didn't say why.