Editor’s observe
Listed below are the highest takeaways:
- The median annual wage for SEOs we polled was $49,211
- The very best annual wage we polled was $229,652
- To earn the upper salaries in search engine marketing you want be a technical search engine marketing skilled—Heads of search engine marketing, search engine marketing Administrators and search engine marketing Leads all mentioned that their important specialization was technical search engine marketing
- Solely 5.4% of respondents realized search engine marketing by a course—most realized on the job (52.3%) or by themselves (42.3%)
- 36.9% described themselves as content material specialists, 30.6% described themselves as technical specialists, 6.3% described themselves as specializing in link-building
- 49.5% of respondents labored in search engine marketing companies, 42.3% in-house and eight.2% had been self-employed
- Most respondents (28.8%) labored in corporations that had 11-50 folks
- The typical search engine marketing expertise of our respondents was 6.9 years
- Self-employed SEOs earned probably the most on common ($60,232k)—the median annual wage for in-house roles was barely decrease at $56,789, and company SEOs had the bottom median annual wage at $44,169
There have been additionally just a few surprises:
- Few SEOs in our survey mentioned that they specialised in hyperlink constructing in comparison with technical and content material. That is even supposing hyperlinks are nonetheless one of the crucial necessary Google rating components.
- The typical degree of expertise between search engine marketing Administrators and Head of search engine marketing isn’t that completely different—10.4 years for a search engine marketing Director and 10.6 years for a Head of search engine marketing—however the wage distinction between the roles was ~$11,552—fairly substantial.
Overview
| Position | Median annual wage ($USD) | Common expertise (years) | Primary specialization | Primary work location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head of search engine marketing | $92,988 | 10.6 | Technical search engine marketing | Company and in-house |
| search engine marketing Director | $81,436 | 10.4 | Technical search engine marketing | Company and in-house |
| search engine marketing Lead | $38,289 | 7.4 | Technical search engine marketing | Company |
| search engine marketing Specialist | $49,229 | 5.8 | Content material | In-house |
| search engine marketing Account Supervisor | $43,850 | 4.2 | Content material | Company |
| search engine marketing Marketing consultant | $49,240 | 6 | All-rounder | Company |
| search engine marketing Government | $31,956 | 3 | All-rounder | Company |
| search engine marketing Analyst | $56,393 | 5 | All-rounder | In-house |
Right here’s how annual salaries broke down throughout our respondents:
In line with the SEOs we polled, most of them realized search engine marketing on the job or had been self-taught.
Most of our respondents had a few years of expertise beneath their belts. The quantity of expertise Head of SEOs had versus search engine marketing Administrators was not that completely different, at round 10 years.
- Throughout all respondents, the common expertise was 6.9 years
- For Head of search engine marketing, the common expertise was 10.6 years
- For search engine marketing Director, the common expertise was 10.4 years
- For search engine marketing Lead, the common expertise was 7.4 years
- For search engine marketing Account Supervisor, the common expertise was 4.2 years
- For search engine marketing Marketing consultant, the common expertise was 6 years
- For search engine marketing Government, the common expertise was 3 years
- For search engine marketing Analyst, the common expertise was 5 years
Technical and Content material had been the 2 prime abilities that SEOs we surveyed specialised in.
The proportion of SEOs that mentioned they specialised in hyperlinks was a lot decrease regardless of hyperlinks being a serious rating issue.
Our survey confirmed an virtually 50/50 cut up between the UK and Europe. 48.6% of respondents had been from the UK—maybe not stunning provided that BrightonSEO is predicated within the UK.
Many of the respondents we spoke to labored in companies or in-house. It does imply, nonetheless, that our wage knowledge was primarily targeted on these two employment sorts.
Throughout all respondents, the most typical firm dimension was 11-50. A big proportion of SEOs additionally labored for considerably bigger corporations that had over 1000 workers.
Right here’s the total breakdown of every function.
Head of search engine marketing wage
It’s in all probability not an excessive amount of of a shock that the Head of search engine marketing function was our highest-paying search engine marketing function surveyed. What’s extra of a shock was the variation in wage—our survey confirmed {that a} Head of search engine marketing can earn something from ~$25k to ~$229k.
Common expertise
In line with our survey, a Head of search engine marketing has ~10.6 years of expertise.
Kind of firm
46.7% of respondents labored for an company, and 46.7% labored in-house. 6.7% had been self-employed.
Schooling
66.7% of respondents mentioned they had been self-taught, 26.7% mentioned they’d realized on the job, and 6.7% mentioned that they’d realized search engine marketing from a course.
Specialization
40% mentioned that they specialised in technical search engine marketing, 33.3% in Content material, and 13.3% mentioned they had been a generalist. The remaining 13.4% mentioned they targeted on folks administration.
That is stunning, because it implies that 73.3% of individuals in Head of search engine marketing roles are actively offering search engine marketing providers for his or her purchasers quite than specializing in managing a staff.
Firm dimension
There have been two firm sizes that had been hottest for Head of SEOs to work in. 40% of respondents mentioned they labored in corporations with 11-50 folks, and 20% mentioned they labored in corporations with over 1001 folks.
Location
40% of respondents had been from the UK, 13.3% had been from the Netherlands, and the rest had been from mainland Europe.
search engine marketing Director wage
The wage variation wasn’t fairly as excessive for search engine marketing Administrators, however salaries ranged from ~$42k to ~$121k—nonetheless fairly a distinction.
Common expertise
search engine marketing Administrators in our survey had 10.4 years of expertise on common.
Kind of firm
There was a 50/50 cut up between search engine marketing Administrators’ backgrounds, with 50% from company and 50% from in-house
Schooling
62.5% of search engine marketing Administrators described themselves as self-taught, and 37.5% mentioned that they realized search engine marketing on the job.
Specialization
75% of them specialised in technical search engine marketing, while 25% described themselves as generalists or Different.
Firm dimension
In line with our survey, search engine marketing Administrators sometimes work in medium to massive corporations. 25% mentioned that they labored in corporations that had over 1000 folks, and 25% mentioned they labored in corporations that had 51-100 workers.
Location
Most search engine marketing Administrators we surveyed had been from the UK (62.5%). The remainder had been equal splits between India, the U.S., and Germany (12.5%).
search engine marketing Lead wage
search engine marketing Leads sometimes have a number of expertise, however our survey exhibits that they solely earn barely extra on common than search engine marketing Specialists.
Common expertise
search engine marketing Leads in our survey had 7.4 years of expertise on common.
Kind of firm
50% of search engine marketing Leads got here from an company background, 41.7% got here from in-house, and eight.3% had been self-employed.
Schooling
69.2% realized on the job, 23.1% had been self-taught, and seven.7% realized search engine marketing by a course.
Specialization
30.8% of search engine marketing Leads specialised in technical search engine marketing, 23% specialised in content material, and 23.1% specialised in hyperlinks. 15.4% described themselves as generalists. The remaining 7.7% described themselves as specializing in search engine marketing technique.
Firm dimension
46.2% labored in corporations that had 1001+ folks, and the remaining 53.8% labored in smaller corporations.
Location
23.1% of search engine marketing Leads got here from the UK, with the rest coming from the Netherlands, Italy, and Sweden (15.4% every) and 30.7% from different European international locations.
search engine marketing Specialist wage
search engine marketing Specialists we surveyed had round 5-6 years of expertise, however they sometimes acquired paid higher than search engine marketing Leads. Primarily based on my expertise, this can be resulting from in-house roles paying higher than company roles within the UK.
Common expertise
search engine marketing Specialists in our survey had a median of 5.8 years of expertise.
Kind of firm
41.2% of search engine marketing Specialists got here from an company background, whereas 58.8% mentioned that they had been from an in-house background.
Schooling
58.8% of search engine marketing Specialists mentioned that they’d realized search engine marketing on the job, 35.3% mentioned that they had been self-taught, and 5.9% mentioned that they’d realized search engine marketing by a course.
Specialization
52.9% of search engine marketing Specialists specialised in content material, 29.4% targeted on technical, 11.8% described themselves as all-rounders, and 5.9% described specialised in hyperlinks.
Firm dimension
41.2% of search engine marketing Specialists mentioned that they labored in corporations that had 11-50 folks. Solely 17.6% of respondents mentioned that they labored in corporations that had 1001+ folks. 23.6% mentioned they labored in corporations between 51-500 folks. The remaining 17.6% labored in smaller corporations with lower than 10 folks.
Location
23.5% of search engine marketing Specialists mentioned that they had been from the UK, with the rest from Europe.
search engine marketing Account Supervisor wage
search engine marketing Account Managers in our survey had been one of the crucial constant wage bands incomes between ~$40k and ~$55k.
Common expertise
search engine marketing Account managers in our survey had 4.2 years of expertise on common.
Kind of firm
85.7% of respondents labored for an company, and 14.3% labored in-house.
Schooling
71.4% of respondents mentioned they realized search engine marketing on the job, and 28.6% mentioned they had been self-taught.
Specialization
42.9% mentioned that they specialised in content material, 28.6% described themselves as an all-rounder, 14.3% mentioned they had been technical search engine marketing, and the remaining 14.2% mentioned they specialised in hyperlinks.
Firm dimension
42.9% of respondents mentioned they labored in corporations with 11-50 folks, and 28.6% mentioned they labored in corporations with over 1001 folks. The remaining 28.6% was cut up equally between individuals who labored in corporations with between 2-11 folks or 51-100 folks.
Location
85.7% of respondents had been from the UK, and 14.3% of the rest had been from Europe.
search engine marketing Marketing consultant wage
search engine marketing Consultants we surveyed earned as much as ~$87k, which was decrease than I used to be anticipating—as a result of our search engine marketing pricing put up prompt that search engine marketing consultants cost between $100-150 per hour.
However as the information is UK-focused, the probably purpose for that is the £85k VAT tax threshold.
Common expertise
search engine marketing Consultants in our survey had 6 years of expertise on common.
Kind of firm
63.3% of respondents labored for an company, and 36.7% labored in-house.
Schooling
45.5% of respondents mentioned they had been self-taught, 36.4% mentioned they’d realized on the job, and 9.1% mentioned that they’d realized search engine marketing from a course. The remaining 9% mentioned they’d realized from different methods.
Specialization
27.3% mentioned that they specialised in technical search engine marketing, 27.3% in content material, and 27.3% mentioned they had been a generalist. The remaining 18.1% mentioned they targeted on administration and technique.
Firm dimension
search engine marketing Consultants sometimes labored on their very own or in smaller companies in line with our survey — 36.4% of respondents mentioned they labored on their very own, and 27.3% mentioned they labored in corporations with 51-100 folks. The remaining 36.3% mentioned they labored in corporations with between 2-50 folks.
Location
36.4% of respondents had been from the UK, 27.3% had been from the Netherlands, and the remaining 36.3% had been from Europe.
search engine marketing Government wage
Common expertise
search engine marketing Executives in our survey had 3 years of expertise on common.
Kind of firm
80% of respondents labored for an company, and 20% labored in-house.
Schooling
80% of respondents mentioned they had been self-taught, and 20% mentioned they’d realized search engine marketing from a course.
Specialization
40% mentioned that they specialised in technical search engine marketing, 20% in Content material, and 40% mentioned they had been a generalist.
Firm dimension
80% of respondents mentioned they labored in corporations with 11-50 folks, and 20% mentioned they labored in corporations with 1001 or extra folks.
Location
80% of respondents had been from the UK, and 20% had been from Belgium.
search engine marketing Analyst wage
search engine marketing Analysts sometimes had just a few extra years of expertise than search engine marketing Executives, but it surely seems to be like they earned roughly the identical as them.
Common expertise
search engine marketing Analysts in our survey had 5 years of expertise on common.
Kind of firm
33.3% of respondents labored for an company, and 66.7% labored In-house.
Schooling
33.3% of respondents mentioned they had been self-taught, and 66.7% mentioned they’d realized on the job.
Specialization
33.3% mentioned that they specialised in technical search engine marketing, 33.3% in Content material, and 33.3% mentioned they specialised in Information search engine marketing.
Firm dimension
33.3% of respondents mentioned they labored in corporations with 101-200 folks, and 66.7% mentioned they labored in corporations with over 201 folks.
Location
search engine marketing Analysts got here from a spread of places 33% of respondents had been from Portugal, 33.3% had been from Brazil, and the rest had been from Serbia.
Sidenote.
We didn’t get many respondents for the search engine marketing Analyst function—so take these outcomes with a pinch of salt.
Ultimate ideas
search engine marketing salaries aren’t usually mentioned intimately throughout the trade, so getting a snapshot of their present state from one of many greatest search engine marketing conferences within the UK was insightful.
For our subsequent wage survey, we’ll be opening it as much as all SEOs. For those who’d like to participate—you possibly can enter right here.
Acquired questions? Ping me on X (previously referred to as Twitter)