In the dynamic landscape of contemporary business, the accelerating pace of technological advancements and the growing trend of digitalization have prompted many companies to adopt digital marketing strategies to effectively reach their target markets. These transformations have also introduced new challenges to the competencies required of professionals in the online business ecosystem, making the effective management of such organizations impossible without developing and deploying capable managers and skilled human resources. Given the critical importance of this issue, the present study aims to design and validate a competency model for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists within the digital marketing ecosystem of B2C online businesses using a mixed-methods approach.
In the qualitative phase, drawing on grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin’s systematic approach) and using purposive sampling, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 SEO experts until theoretical saturation was achieved. The qualitative data were then analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding in MAXQDA, resulting in 276 open codes, 195 concepts, 43 subcategories, and 17 main categories across six dimensions: causal conditions, contextual conditions, core category, strategies, intervening conditions, and consequences. In the quantitative phase, a questionnaire derived from the paradigmatic model was developed and distributed among 410 SEO specialists, and its validity was assessed using structural equation modeling. The results confirmed the hypotheses, the relationships among constructs, and the accurate identification of the model’s components