This is going to be a tough and contentious issue and one that isn't easy for me to write about. Along with the obvious internal conflicts of interest in disclosing salary numbers, there's bound to be a lot of companies and individuals who will come away feeling that my numbers are wrong (or that their employers are cheating them). That said, it's a topic that needs to be addressed and if my experience can help (and inspire others to open up with their own data), then the accomplishment is well worthwhile.
What I'll do is simply list the job titles that are common to the SEO world, the salaries I'm familiar with and the effects of geography, experience and demand on the numbers. All salaries are per annum and in US dollars.
In-House SEOs
Some of these are bound to be rough approximations, as there isn't industry standardization. Hopefully, the descriptions of duties will help identify who in your organization might fit these roles.
- VP/Director of Search Marketing
$100,000 - $350,000+
This individual is ultimately responsible for setting direction and strategies for large companies with earnings from $25MM-$1Bil+. Since this position can create or lose incredible amounts of wealth for a firm, the salaries will often reflect executive-level compensation (just ask Joseph Morin, who turned down an offer on the high edge of this range). When a hiring manager from a large, Fortune 500 software company recently called to ask me what I thought would be a reasonable price, I replied that I knew of a similar position where the pay level was ~$250K/year. - Director/Manager of Organic Search
$75,000 - $150,000
This person is responsible for managing a team of SEO personnel in-house and reports to the VP of Marketing / CMO. Large companies have layers like this, and someone like Disney's Terry Cox (who manages their in-house team in Orlando) or MTV Networks' Shimon Sandler) would fit this bill. - SEO Lead/Guru
$50,000 - $100,000
The "guru" is typically running an SEO team (or possibly operating as an independent) for a small-mid-size firm earning $5-$50MM. They have final authority and responsibility for all of the SEO activities at a company, and for many of those firms who rely on the Internet as a primary sales channel, their decisions are make or break propositions. They may report to a director of marketing or VP marketing, but just as likely might not have that layer and report directly to a CEO/President. - Campaign Manager
$55,00 - $100,000
The campaign manager would report to a director, but manages a team focused on specific campaigns for a site, keyword set, content area, etc. The compensation could go into six figures primarily due to bonuses, which are often given to campaign mangers who can churn out consistently excellent results. - SEO Specialist (Links, Content and/or KW Research)
$45,000 - $85,000
An SEO specialist is the true "worker" of the search team - optimizing page content, researching keywords, building links, adding content, etc. The range is very wide due to experience and opportunity - an SEO-newbie just starting out won't have the same independence, reliability and skill as someone who's played in the space for several years and knows the engines.
SEO Agency Employees
I have a slightly better grasp on these, but again, individual companies are bound to fluctuate.
- SEO Director
$70,000 - $120,000
The SEO director leads up the SEO team (sometimes several teams), providing strategy, overseeing processes, providing training and occassionally getting their hands down and dirty in the SERPs. When SEOmoz had a consulting department, Lindsay was our director and earned in the middle-high end of this range). - Search Marketing Consultant
$60,000 - $200,000
A search consultant is a rare breed - these folks work for an SEO agency, but are basically consultants in their own rights. They have the skills, talent and sometimes, reputation to manage a campaign or client independently without outside guidance (they may even be more knowledgable than anyone else on the team). Some marketing agencies have brought folks like this into their fold and its a position I've been offered many times. For those who remember, a good real life example might be when Todd Malicoat (Stuntdubl) worked with Jim Boykin's group (WeBuildPages), though I'm certainly not suggesting that Jim or Todd is smarter/better than the other. - Link Builder
$35,000 - $100,000
The link builder is, in many ways, a mythical being. At the early stages, they follow direction and strategy from an SEO manager or even a CEO (in small companies), but later on, if they grow in power and ability, their value can become so high that its tough to retain them (hence the massive salary range). A true link ninja is so invaluable as to virtually name their price - the return on investment makes it worthwhile. - Content Writer
$35,000 - $75,000
A great content writer is a critical part of an SEO firm, particularly with the focus on linkbaiting campaigns. Writers, like link builders, can grow in value over time, but since it requires a much less specialized knowledge, there is far more supply in the marketplae (hence the lower salary ceiling). - SEO Researcher
$30,000 - $60,000
Researchers pursue data for content writers, keywords for campaigns and may even contribute to link building and/or content building efforts. Web research is a somewhat easier skill to acquire, though certainly the best of these folks (someone like Gary Price might fit that bill) will be found in higher positions in the industry. - Client Relations Coordinator
$35,000 - $75,000
Often inaccurately dubbed "project managers," a client services coordinator is responsible for maintaining an SEO project's tasks, keeping in communication with clients and keeping the team and mangers informed of progress. Andy Beal describes this position as someone who serves as the "consultant" for a specific project and though their levels of knowledge may not be at expert, they can refer back to the team or their higher-ups for direction in how to answer questions or handle issues.
Factors that can Create Wide Disparity
The following items have the ability to push the ranges above considerably higher or lower.
- Reputation
In the insular world of SEO, made smaller by blogs, forums & industry events, reputation often preceeds you. Your experiences with a firm, with clients, at conferences, and on the web can create high demand. As an example, when Laura Lippay recently left Yahoo! (where served as Director of Technical Marketing, overseeing many of their SEO projects), the job offers likely cam in fast and furious, with high salaries to boot. Likewise, Tony Adam built a very big name for himself in the industry, first at Yahoo! and later at Billshrink (he's now with MySpace). I've had several folks hiring for SEOs asking me for a "Tony-Adam-like" person to help run their SEO. - Geography
The salaries above represent what I'd expect to find in Seattle, WA or another similar cost-of-living and tech-hub city (Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, Miami). In New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Chicago, the salaries should be appropriately higher, while in Tulsa, OK, State College, PA or Ames, IA, it might be somewhat lower. - Experience
A new recuit, with no SEO experience should expect to be looking at the lowest ranges of salaries. However, in SEO, experience ramps up quickly. Just two years of involvement will give a considerable leg up and the potential to be in the middle of the pack (if you've been successful). Likewise, those folks who have 4 or more years of experience with high-level results to show can comfortably start near the top of the ranges in the right geography. In SEO, salaries ramp up quickly primarily due to the ability of experienced SEOs to make considerable sums working independently as consultants, freelancers or working on their own sites/projects. - Supply/Demand
The dot-com collapse was certainly not a one-time event, and Web2.0/Social shows plenty of bubble-like signs. Even in the interim, there have been small fluctuations (mostly seasonal) that has made SEO more/less in demand by both agencies and firms.
Where does SEOmoz fit into these equations?
Today (this post was re-edited by Rand in January 2011), we no longer offer consulting, but our previous consulting team salaries ranged from as low as $30K-$100K from 2005-2009. We've got an in-house marketing team and plans to hire a full-time SEO soon.
With regards to the salary data, I'd like to solicit your thoughts as well - do you believe these numbers to be high, low, or close to what your experiences have been?
p.s. Seeing as how this is a popular and oft-referenced post. I've updated the numbers and descriptions to best reflect the SEO world in 2011.
Oh boy, I need to go back to the US, salaries are miserable here in Paris :)
Do you know of any good SEO companies that are really good that won't charge me a arm and a leg?
If you do please reply to [email protected]. Thanks so much.
I am SEO Specialist in India.
But, this is really dream salary in India. I want to ask you one thing. Is there any way to come over there for SEO job? If any one can help me or suggest so, please wel come.
Yeah!! In India Salary range increasing. But we can't expect salaries as Rand mentioned above. Regions are different. We are getting salaries in Rupees. A normal person can manage with Rs.20000 per month ($450) at the max. They can live in a city like mumbai, chennai. Living cost is high in US compared to India. Don't convert the ranges directly into rupees. Thats not possible to get here. I'm getting the range which is equaly to one of your position. Its all based on the performance.
Nice topic Rand. Now a days the blogs quality improving. I'm noting down all your blogs most probably. If I come there, will try to meet you.
Thanks, Uma
Uma - thanks for your contribution, too. If anyone has data on other large areas where SEO is performed (India, China, EU, etc.), I'd be very interested to know what those figures are like.
Rand - Kudos for being so open with salary information. Money is always the most coveted secret of any business, and most businesses fiercely guard their financials.
I remember when i lived in Bellinghan (population 60,000) where many large San Francisco corporations sent their accounting & billing. The reason was to keep internal staff in their large corporate offices from "sharing" information, or inadvertently gossiping between themselves.
Everybody always wants to be paid more, and comparing yourself to another person's salary often returns bad feelings.
This is indicitive of the type of business you run, and how you treat your employees. To candidly share salary information and admit you can't match other SEO agency salaries is very honest - honesty is not a trait large companies are known for.
I bet you have a great working environment.
I love reading this sort of thing!
From a client side we are simply worth the cumulative value of what we are promoting. Agency wise - the value of the account/s.
The "art" of SEO should not be scoffed at. We work hard - we should be well paid.
I can see people in the SEO world printing this post out and marching to their bosses office as we speak! And so they should...
I'd love to see a 2013 update on this.
Rand,
Take a look at PayScale.com for salaries as reported by just under 100 corporate SEO's. (Free registration, survey and cookies required) Salaries in this industry seem to range very widely as do job responsibilities, education and expectations.
I've done about a dozen interviews (as of today) for corporate in-house positions.
Also created a Google Custom SEO Job Search Engine for my own use and Tagman's list of SEO jobs boards, along with a few others are included in that Google CSE, but it appears from SEOtricksters' question on where to find in-house SEO jobs that others may be interested.
Thanks for discussing SEO salaries in your company openly Rand. Sites like PayScale make it a bit more transparent what corporations are paying SEO's as well. The nice thing, in a relatively young industry, is that nobody has to go into this blindly, due to the industry tools and search itself.
Can we expect a 2014 version of this anytime this year?
I would like to know if these rates are still similar in 2009 or if they have gone down a little bit. We need an update!
Agreed.
Given the state of the economy and the 3 year progression, I would like to know the market values of these positions.
Tell me they went up:)
I'm curious what an SEO consultant should expect to charge per hour. I've been doing small business consulting for several years and have always included my SEO work as part of the bundle but I'm wondering if I've been shorting myself! What should someone expect as a new, middle, and expert SEO Consultant per hour?
Thanks!
It's really interesting to know the hourly cost of consultant ?Is someone know ?
thanks,
Hi friends form India,
I am earning quite well from india. I am working on different projects getting paid nice € The major thing is I am earning 200,000 Per annum form one of my website stuffed with adsence. Try that ! Make a unique theme site and get paid more than 25,000 per month. think about it....
Great post. As mentioned by several others I am curious about:
PPC positions and related salaries
I would love to see a 2009 update to this post.
Lastly, thoughts on new graduates interested in SEO/PPC (like myself), how best to get into field? In house? Agency? How to gain experience? Salary will clearly will be at bottom of ranges but how does one gain sufficient experience to get some to give them a chance?
DH
D. Heap,
I started in college, I did mainly my own websites. had 160+ at one time.
That success in traffic (not revenue) proved to my self and to future employers that I could generate targeted tarffic.
Now, had I balanced conversion with tarffic I could be a small time ecommerce or publishing house now. Well I guess I am still. I mean, I could have been where I am today faster.
But the great thing about this industry is it is about results, you can prove your worth even before you get the job. Do this by generating search engine traffic to your own or a potential employers website.
Bart,
Thanks for the reply, I was afraid this thread was so old that no one would see my comment and respond.
So when you say you had 160 + sites, how did you have so many sites? Affiliate marketing? What other kind of sites did you do? Did you approach businesses and ask them to do SEO for them and learn that way? Did you start your own sites? Did you come from a backgroud of web development or programmer?
Thanks again
DH
Bart,
I'm with you. I sort of fell into SEO backwards. As a blogger I wanted to learn how to increase traffic to my blog. Then found out I had no idea what keywords were and got into keyword research. Now I have 23 sites targeting specific keywords and learning back linking strategies and loving it. Not making a ton of money but learning a lot.
Goes a long way to be able to show potential employers what you have done SEO wise. My suggestion to anyone would be to start building some sites and learning from experience. Sometimes its as much an art as it is a science. What works for one niche or product/service may not work for another.
I'm a programmer "by day." And do IM as basically a way to pay for my student loans after finishing my MBA.
I would say an 2010 update would even better.$64 000 for Search Marketing Consultant in Boston.
Yeah, a revised version for '09 please!!!
From what I've seen in my brief career, Rand, your numbers seem to be right on.
Because many SEO Agencies are so small, do you think an SEO's salary should ever reflect how well the company is doing? Almost like a salary in sales. You earn a smaller base salary, but the more business that you help to bring in the higher your salary will go that year. So basically you are participating in revenue (well revenue earned once overhead costs, salary and benefits, and a percent return for the employer are covered).
Thats exactly how we work!
We've built Salaries as well as referral based compensation on bringing in new project, with a touch of residual income for the life of the project. It encourages the team to feel vested in the success of the projects as well as the company. I totally agree with the salary ranges mentioned above. They fit our model, here in South Florida.
As usual, very interesting and insightful Rand. We've experimented in the last 12 months with hiring people at different levels and in the end, have had the best success with people who fit our culture and work ethic first, and can be trained (or cross trained) on the search marketing skills needed to be successful. Although, the training really never stops in this biz does it?
We've had many of our people start in the lower ranges you've mentioned and based on consistent performance move up and up.
I work for a $300 m company and get about $90k PA, but I have to say I'm doing relatively ok.
here in london anyone who is ok at PPC or seo will get minimum salary of $50k. At my last employer, It took them 6 weeks to find someone and from what I hear hes not even that good.
The only thing really hosing SEO pay pack is the whole 'black box' nature of it all. Corporates look for certainty , whicih a SEO'er can never give. I guess thats wy they throw money into PPC and PPC'ers even though the ROI is apalling....
I am an SEO writer here in the Philippines (although my employer is an American company; we are an offshore department)... My salary is 80% lower than your figures. I am totally underpaid. Maybe because Philippines has a lower labor cost. Even so, my rate is too low compared to SEO writers based in America. Sad bad true. I wish I could work in the US...or in Australia (more adjacent to my country)
Here in India, I can only dream about such high salaries that are listed in blog post.
I think I need to fly out to USA, So my dream becomes true.....
Hi! How much are you raking in now?
seriously brother!
In india prices are 50 times lower. What else we could do, have to work :(
why work for an Indian company....
Is SEO as such hard that people are willing to pay this much amount of money on it?
I dont think I am an SEO expert, I registered a brand new domain name in April 2006. Started working on it in June 2006.
Unfortunatly, I choosed a bad keyword for my website, I realized it when my website came at #1 on MSN and i didnt get any traffic.
Then, in Sept. 2006 i targeted another keyword and today, my website is on first page of Google, with adult oriented keyword with 20,200,000 results for keyword and nearly 30,000 competetors for inanchor and intitle. And yes, I am getting traffic now. I am at #9 and getting 1000+ visitors from google. I hope to rise to #1 within 1-2 months.
Basically, I dont think SEO is such a hard think to spend this much money on it. If you follow some simple rules of thumb, you are done.
By the way, how much pay i can expect? *winks*
Hi, I'm very interested how is your salary structured? Are you paid by hour, by number of links created, by number of visitors or by some sort of revenue (number of orders sent)? Or do your clients pay fixed monthly price?
Thank you!
Tom
Moving from an agency to in-house I can definitely see the salaries within this range. I also know that the salaries are lower when your workload is much higher when you work for the agency.
YEs- SEO Salaries 2009 Edition!
Also note that you can get salaries from SEMPO.org. They do a survey every year of their members.
Congratulations to randFish to this unselfish approach to sharing market information. This type of information is invaluable to a marketplace replete with misconceptions and a stunning lack of salary data-even by way anecdote.
Great job. Anytime we empower the greater business community (especially in a such fledgling industry) the favor returns many times over.
While I can't speak as strongly to the in-house roles, overall from my own experience as well as what is out there publicly on the job boards where salary ranges are posted, I'd say these are relatively in the ballpark.
That said, there are some very wide ranges here. That not only illustrates the general salary spreads that I think still exist in this industry, but is also a reflection of the wide range of experience, expectations, and job roles associated with the titles.
Looking at just the agency side (and perhaps just within the in-house side), job titles, roles and responsibilities may be all over the board. You can easily take the same titles across firms and end up with very different positions, or take what may appear to be very different titles and end up with identical roles.
There may be little to no difference between "SEO Consultant," "SEO Strategist" or "SEO Manager" when compared across agencies.
Seriously, guys? That's how much SEO content writers there make? Wow. Can I work for you instead? I'm from the Philippines and we get paid less than $500 a month to work around 40 hours a week. Wow. Our rates are awful. I tried to look for work at a freelance writing site and they're paying even less - as low as $1.00 for every 350-500 word article. I am not even kidding.
How come CNN keeps talking about an "economic crisis" in the states when their SEO content writers (an entry level position) earn more than $35,000 (1.5 Million Pesos) a year? As far as I know, our foreign employers make so much simply because of how less we're getting paid ($3.00/hour).
People who work part-time to fold jeans at malls in the States get paid more than people, with MA degrees in creative writing (ahem!), who work full-time as SEO writers in the Philippines. Wow. You guys are getting paid 600% more than we do, while doing the exact same things that we do. Harsh.
i totally agree with you! i too am from the Philippines, I have been working as an SEO writer for a foreign boss for almost 3 years now. I do enjoy my work as i get to do it in the comfort of my home but the salary that i get is far from the figures shown here (in fact, it hasn't even reached 10k). i am in the midst of asking for a salary raise but honestly i do not know where to start and i am starting to feel desperate and i am anxious as i cannot afford to lose my job too. :(
Actually i am only a small fraction below the salary you list for the position i have. I will count myself as lucky.
Another great thing is we get a raise once a year to bring us as close as possible to market value. I can use your document to help my case for a little kick upwards.
Thanks
As usual, another great post! I personally think some of those numbers might be on the high side. I've been contacted quite a few times with job offers and the salaries are usually towards the low end. They act like I'm some kind of crack head when I tell them it's going to take $150k+ to get an SEO with the experience they're looking for.
BTW - 'ACS' works just fine :)
The usual economic formula is that people get paid the least amount it would cost to replace them with someone as good if not better but sometimes it's not that simple.
Comfort Level and Risk versus Reward play into it quite a bit. Giving someone a million dollars of your cash to invest on a PPC campaign should not go to someone you are paying minimum wage. Same with an SEO. A bad one can do more harm than good. How much is that worth?
Egads. I just stumbled onto this thanks to the look back at the top 10 articles with the most visitors. I currently work as a content writer at a small-business web portal company and was fairly insulted when I was only offered a $1 raise from my "internship" with them - bringing my pay to approximately half of what the bottom numbers are for content writers on this blog.
Add to the fact that I have a few years of experience writing for the web and targeted demographics along with my degree, and I'm now looking for other work. Freelance or whatever. I pretty much knew I was being taken advantage of here along with the other writers, but at least now I know by how much (and it's not far from what I expected based on Salary.com numbers...).
Almost all employees are underpaid.
After all, for a business to succeed, the business needs to earn more revenue than it costs to operate. Usually, the founders of a business, and the c-level management of a business earn more than the operational employees.
Personally, I believe that a good SEM will have as much influence (if not more) in a brand's reputation and a company's revenue as the C-level. Thus, I personally believe that a good SEM "should" be paid relatively the same amount as the C-level. Of course, I'm a bit biased in this opinion, being a good SEM.
However, when I think that I'm absolutely underpaid, I often think back to a few attempts I made to go it alone in the recent past. I risked it all, a couple times, on educated bets that didn't turn out so well for me financially (both independently and with a well-funded team). So, I feel, for the time being, like I should be glad for the work I am paid for. I mean, many employers can't even hand out paychecks at all nowadays! But, you know, everyone's different, and perhaps others didn't risk it all in the recent past, so may not be as happy as I am for receiving a regular income, even if it is less than what I hear is a standard in the industry.
Interesting article.
These salaries although nice to look at are a little bit unrealistic for me atleast. Without divulging too much information of who I work for and who I am -- I'm making miniumum wage to do the same job compared to the SEO Lead guru position you listed. The company nets a few million in sales a year and is US based.
Wow - I am working as a SEO specialist for 3 months now - in my first month I brought all the keywords i worked on on the first page of google.com. By now, about 35 keywords rank very well. I earn about 280 euros a month. FML :))
You guys get scraped? Same article different company
https://www.seojobsfinder.com/seo-salaries/
That is the same article - reposted. You will/can notioce at the end : Article by randfish
I am from Pakistan (Karachi) and working as "SEO Executive" with a UK based Content Writing Company.
I perform On-Page and Off-SEO activities and also perform Social Media Marketing but my salary is very low and no other benefits. So that is why I am looking for another JOB where I can get more pay and find new learning opportunities. Here is Pakistan, SEO salaries are very low not more than $1,000, is there any group or community where I can find SEO Job ?
These numbers seem high if you are in the US, not counting cali or NY (where salaries are inflated). Go to craigslist or monster and search around for SEO positions. You will see that most companies are willing to only pay a maximum of $40,000 for someone in charge of all SEO for big e-commerce sites.
If you are at an agency good luck getting those high salaries unless you are one of the founders or have been there 10+ years.
The SEO market is completely underpaid but with the rise of social media and seo merging together it appears companies want a person that can do it all and this will result in a raise in salaries as demand grows for internet marketing as a whole.
The real way to get a high salary is starting your own firm, getting your own sales people, and doing it yourself. Then pay interns to do the busy work.
Wow, thanks for posting this. I'm underpaid by at least 6k a year. I'm hovering around 24k. I'll be looking for a new job now.
I have transitioned from a successful print writing background (agency, inhouse, freelance) to seo writing. I've spent some time analyzing business models. The most notable freelance writers sell e-books, seminars etc. rather than rely completely on freelance income. Not surprising... I see publishers bidding 2 cents a word.... up to a ceiling of $50 for a 500-word article. I'm frankly aghast... not because of my own greed... but because it doesn't leave much wiggle room for greatness.
Wow i really love the salary in the US. I wish i could be there.
SEO is ultimately a results driven business. With that said, it's going to entirely depend on the persons reputation, results, and education. Most companies in Canada employ SEO professionals at around the 75k mark to start. The SEO professionals salary should be based a lot on performance, the average ROI, and ROAS based on specified KPI. While every SEO pro should see a base salary, a performance driven incentive gives employees the initiative, and drive which turns to higher revenue for all involved (Nash's law).
One part of this article that's not given enough credit is a search analysis which is a huge part of SEO that's often ignored. It's one thing to drive traffic to a site, but it's another thing to be able to be able to turn KPI into ROI. Being able to split A/B multivariate test, heatmap, add UTM's to forms emails etc and determine where a companies conversions are coming from is huge. Knowing when campaigns online, and offline are converting with analysis is so important, and frequently missed. There's so many web analytics tools, and specialties inside of web intelligence that it deserves a title/salary all on its own within the SEO scope. The education costs alone for analytics is quite high, and with that said it deserves a distinguished salary, and position.
I would be interested in what everyone thought about PPC manager in house postion? Ive been SEO consulting for two years now but was recently approached for an in house PPC manager postion. They asked me for my salary requirements. Do you guys think them asking for this is normal without interviewing me first? From what I read it could mean they are just weeding thru candidates or fishing around... Some places like salary.com say not to even respond when a company asks for this without an interview first but this could be different in our field. Which is why im here and found this post. THe company is not small but I would be dong the PPC for my local area Chicago, which in itself is fairly large. Any thoughts on how I might respond or what a competitive salary is for PPC manager? Thank you.
Any chance of getting this updated? It would be an excellent point of reference being published years ago.
Hello,
How much we should charge to USA client if contract is done on performance bases? Is it advisable to charge on the basis of no of visits in a month or total revenue in a month?
(1)Charging on revenue basis is a problem because our client is taking orders on phone also moreover walk in business pay cash. in those cases we are not able to keep track on the revenue.
Any way to solve this problem?
(2)If we want to bill client on the basis of no of visits, how much we can charge for 1 visit? Google PPC for these keywords are between $3 to $4 per click.
Moreover client argue that they can not pay on the basis of number of visits as some 10 to 15 % visits are coming from non targeted audience.
When we started SEO for this client, no of hits were below 100 in a month and now they are getting 200 + hits in a day from the targeted keywords, also Google search for this category is very narrow.
Any help or idea to solve this problem will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bandro
I'll tell you something - as a consultant, charging higher fees could greatly reduce your income because fewer people will hire you -- unless you have an impressive reputation or network. Even if you know your stuff - even if your advice could very likely quadruple traffic to a site, or very likely triple the conversion rates of a site - the actual decision to hire you as a consultant, imho, entirely depends on your reputation. So get those networking skills in check
Can anyone let me know what you would pay a College or University student to do SEO and online marketing today, 2014? Thanks so much.
I was searching for something random and found this Rand, Some good information that is for sure, but 100% agree things change based on country.
Thanks for the info. I'm hiring an SEO specialist for my company and was interested in seeing what the competitive salary range was.
This article is still as useful as ever!
Agreed! Still very useful. Hopefully they keep updating it every couple of years.
Hey there, Just kick out for working as a salaried person for any field specially SEO, and kick start your career as a freelancer. Because recently I have started my career as a freelancer and now I stand higher than others. You can simply check my profile over here https://www.odesk.com/users/~~226e618a2c180c31 Thank you.
Wow! Content Writers are making $35,000 to $75,000 on a yearly basis. I am a content writer myself from an SEO company in the Philippines and I am only making around $230 a month.
I think SEO expert people of our country makes $4000-5000 max yearly. And that is the average. SEO is still not that popular in Bangladesh. Just my 2 cents
I just check all comment. simply smile. I can't agree with rand. There is no people in odesk or elance or any freelance site get such amount.I am working with a large company still yearly $20k. Its impossible to get that salaries. although I am certified seo expert from various site with Quality Rank. But hope so I will get day by day.This salary is big difference with our real live. I believe it. Thanks for your information. aleast I can ask someone for that money. I am sure my job will end. :)
This is a great article written about SEO Salary. As a SEO Engineer I really appreciate SEO Moz works.
they promised me for $300 in November this year
Comparing my salary to those described above, I'm like one of those people leaving in East Asia with one dollar a day for food...
Thank god for cheap rice.
Do you know of any good SEO companies that are really good that won't charge me a arm and a leg?
If you do please reply to [email protected]. Thanks so much
Very good article. I'm currently make $40k for a SEO Specialist position with no benefits (with 3+ years f experience).....how does one search for SEO Jobs in NJ? Any special sites or just the regular job sites? Curious to see what are the major top seo players in NJ and what they would pay.
Craigs list
How i wish that i'll a member in SEOMOZ this is the Big TROPHY If this will be happen in my LIFE!
Thanks for the Informative blog, now i know on how to rate myself.
GOD BLESS Moz Company!
Thanks for updating. I have been linking to your information for years.
Great site and information.
noa
noaseo.com | organic seo solana beach
Thanks Rand!!! for helpful updated information related to SEO Salaries, i am also doiing SEO for freelance is there any one want to make an oppurtunity to do SEO for his valuable business they can contact me directly at :[email protected]..........
Can anyone tell me how I get started in a SEO job. I have a Msc Multimedia but didn't do much SEO in it. Do companies generally take on graduates and train them up? should I do another course? would appreciate any advice at all!
I have recently begun studying SEO on lynda.com and I find it fascinating. Other than that website can anyone offer me some advice on how to get a career started. FYI: I am helping a friend who has a web design company for free to get a little experience. What's the next step? What pitfalls can I avoid? Your help is mucho appreciated!
Most likely everyone has seen this SEO infographic regarding salary: https://mashable.com/2011/12/18/a-guide-to-seo-salaries-by-market-infographic/
Any thoughts on how it compares to this?
oh boy i must go to us salsry sounds really good
Hey Seomoz, are you gonna update the numbers again for the 2012 ? :)
Thanks!
I find these numbers pretty accurate, although it seems to indicate that SEOs are undervalued in the marketplace. I would think that the potential increase of company revenues by increasing search traffic could be astronomical, and yet many of these positions are making less than 100k. This seems like a disconnect to me.
Hahahahahah! Here in Pakistan my Company is paying me just $120 monthly and i have to work for 48 Hours 6 days. what a comparison. but the fact is that i started as SEO Content Writer and my salry starts from $100 in December last year. now from March i am getting $120 i.e. 20% increment. so funny
I can't speak to the corporate side of things but as for agency work I would say your numbers are in line. I think the most important thing is for agency people with little experience is to learn as much as possible, perform quality work, and keep track of your successes so you can prove your value!
All we need to do is make this a standard, I personally fall in the large company bracket. I am no where near that top income #!
Rand,
Great article! Very inspiring for us beginning a new SEO career. Always Great Content.
Thanks,
BJ
As a one-man band (underpanter!) I do the work of all of the above - does that mean I should be getting all their salaries?
BB
Yeah rand!! I can tell you some figures. There might be some variations in it. I'm from Chennai, India. Here a fresher getting Rs.10,000 to Rs.13,000 per month normally. Based on your performance your paycheck will increase. 1 - 2 years experienced person will get around Rs.20,000 per month. Additionally, based on the performance they'll get incremented. It's in Indian level. But it might change if you cehck outside. In india there are many variations in salary. It will be based on the company and their clients.
Thanks, Uma
Excellent post Rand. Thanks again for your willingness to share data. Curious to see your thoughts on PPC jobs, similar position titles/salary info. Since the vast majority of SEM spending is on PPC activity it would be interesting to see if salaries reflect that split or are inline with SEO.
Hi Rand,
Nice breakdown. But what about the SEO's doing pay for performance deals?
Personally I'd say a SEO consultant should be earning more than a VP or head of Search Marketing. I know one consultant that earns well, well over 350K. Less client time more performance based deals, consulting and affiliate income. Oh and far, far less stress. Everyone wins. Row your own boat.
Best!
Ben
The salaries are pretty much as I expected. The only surprise was the guru position....the top end seems rather high but if there are high expectations and they are met than it's a fair salary
Thats just about right for Seattle. Cost of living has risen over the last 12 years. Nice break down of the different positions. I noticed you didn't include a PPC Manager in the mix? Anyways good read.
-Dal
All I see are $350,000 dollar signs flashing in my eyes...
Rand, yet another great post. It's so helpful for people new to the industry (like myself) and to those people's friends and family who wonder what the "upside" is in this business.
Hi Rand,
I've been a long time reader of this blog but never registered to comment until now. This article is dead on to what I've been searching for. I have several questions to ask about this topic... I'll start off with:
What's the difference between inhouse and working for an SEO firm? Why does inhouse pay higher? The reason I'm asking is because I've been doing SEO on my own for a few years but recently took a job at an SEO firm (basically because I was getting bored and unmotivated sitting inside my apartment all day... I'm in my 20s and hadn't yet experienced the "real world" so I figured I'd give it a shot...).
But after working here for a few months, I believe I am not being paid nearly as much as I should be... and I'm considering going back to working on my own OR looking to find a higher paying job working inhouse somewhere? How does one find a position working inhouse? I figure most non-SEO companies don't even know SEO exists?
I look forward to your responses and now that I'm registered here, I'll hopefully be commenting more regularly!
Good questions, let me try to answer these: What's the difference between inhouse and working for an SEO firm?Inhouse means you're working at a non-SEO company that needs SEO work; good examples might be Skype or eBay or Columbia Apparel. SEO firms would be companies that provide consulting or campaign services to other firms - most of the companies on this list fit into that category. Why does inhouse pay higher?Inhouse tends to pay higher because these are big companies with large corporate structures. The earnings I mentioned means that you're going to be a critical person in the organization and someone who's responsible for a massive amount of revenue. Plus, the replacement cost for an in-house is far higher than at an SEO firm. SEO firms can hire inexperienced people and train them, inhouse SEOs need to come pre-trained (at least to some degree).
Hello Trickster - I enjoyed reading your reply. I started doing SEO and SEM part-time on my own and it quickly morphed into a full-time consulting practice. At first, it was great going from one wireless hotspot to the next and doing my work wherever and whenever I wanted, but it can get a bit boring working alone so much.
On the plus side, I have been getting tons of unsolicited job offers and corporate work and I too am thinking about going "inhouse."
Good luck with your efforts - Ryan
I do SEO work in house for my full-time job and part-time for various other companies. Your numbers seem to be right on I only wish I where a little closer to them. :) You guys did a nice job with a very loose subject. I do believe however salary should change according to how well the company you do work full time for performs.
bro please contact me, i was looking for a person like you.
Hey Rand,
Great blog...it is nice to hear what your thoughts are on the ranges, as well as the different business types. I may slide this over to my boss and show him what the going rates are SEM Consultants. Also, I appreciate your honesty about your company....Good Luck (doubt you need it)
Clint Danks FindLaw
So did it go well? Did you boss say "Wow you are under paid!" Let's get hat taken care of.
That would be a great success story.
All $.. where are the euros? I like the article, someone who brings some light, but it does not count for every region..
rx - yeah, as I mentioned in the post, I can really only speak to geographies I'm familiar with (and currencies, too). If someone has a good European, Asian or other perspective on this, I'd be very interested.
Rand,
Your articles and insight are excellent! Love reading your blog! One area to possibly talk about or cover in another article of what are some things an SEO owner should think about when hiring and training employees.
For example if you hire a link builder, how do you retain them, do you have minimum employment contracts, NDA's and non-compete, since once they are trained and understand the business, chances are they might start on there own. How does an SEO business protect it self from the employees he’s hired and trained?
The ones that need to, can't.
The one's that don't need to, don't try.
If you fear your own team members, you've failed to understand what a team is, and don't have one. That will be your fault, not theirs.
Loyalty can't be bought. Nor can it be contracted. You retain staff because they respect and trust you, and because they would rather be on your team. Many things matter more than salary to any good person. The ones for whom money is most important, are not people you'd want to retain, and won't have been able to grasp half of what they could have learned. No competition.
Thanks Rand,
It is nice to know info and glad to know I am getting lowballed again.
Thanks for the prompt response. I guess I didn't phrase my original question correctly though... I basically knew what the difference is between "inhouse" and "SEO firm", I guess I meant what duties are different between the two? You cleared that up a bit and it does make sense.
How would one go about getting an "inhouse" SEO position? Other than networking/knowing the right people? Are there a lot of companies actively looking for SEO help?
I'm just a bit stuck in deciding what path I should take. I'm working at an SEO firm which I don't believe pays me enough. I'm debating whether to quit and go back to working on my own, using this work experience as motivation for me to do well on my own (because I don't want to get stuck in an office making pocket change)... or actively look for an inhouse SEO position for a large company with deep pockets.
I know nobody here knows who I am yet and has no knowledge of my skills/abilities so it's hard to give an exact answer... but after getting an idea how much comparable positions pay from this articles as well as other resources on the web, I should easily be making $55,000+ working for somebody rather than the $30ish I'm currently making.
edit - I could easily fit the "SEO Guru" position, so $75k minimum sounds more appropriate. :)
I feel exactly as you do and make similar money. The saving grace for me is that I get perfomance bonuses and I do side work :)
Oh as for me I have much more responsibility and accountabilty in house with my methods and results. When I do freelance work I dont have the larger budget or control but the responsibility (in the customer's eyes) seems to be decreased. The amount of time spent is also different, I spend more time and projects in-house too.
Try these SEO/M job sites:
https://www.sempo.org/jobs/ https://www.seoconsultants.com/jobs/ https://www.jobsinsearch.com/ https://www.oaseo.com/
HTH
I like the generalization, but as said earlier there are huge regional differences. Especially in Europe the fees are generally slower than in US(as I've blogged earlier in moz).
Another factor is of course how much one works for pay. Comparing annual salaries and positions is in a way erratic that some do much more workhours than others to earn their pay (either by choise or due to markets). Hence the annual income will be slower tough they earn appropiate hourly fee.
Content writers who are capable of writing highly linkable content but who are working for others need to rethink their value in this scheme.
We Hope Indian Search Industry will also do that but don't know when. Good thing is that we are having my clients coming to us for search and industry is improving very much.
Anil Kumar Singh
Hi,
I think the yearly amount you make if you own a product and a website can vary depending on your efforts.
I know people who are affiliated with big companies, and make similar $$ every year like statistics above, and the more they put in effort more they make. These all use SEO as a means to generate traffic.
So in other words, people who are no link builder, content writer, seo researcher etc still make same money ...
Karl
In India salary for SEO Professionals is rising but not according to the above mentioned salary structure.
Talking about the Geography factor, I could try to talk about Italy and Spain (the two markets I know)... and I've to admit that salaries there are really far from those desirable quotes.
I think it's really due to the fact that in Spain and Italy mostly are small agency (and when I say small I talk of around 10 people max) that outsource - for instance - mostly all the editorial part of SEO project to freelancers.
And I believe that is also a question of mentality and business structure of the countries (5% big companies, 35% mid ones and 60% small), therefore is not so common to see widespread the concept of in house SEO as it can be classified in this post by Rand.
Then there are the exceptions, few individuals that finally decide to act as Search Marketing Consultant and be free to be them the ones who fix the "price".
The conclusion... I know many italians and spaniards that move outside their countries to find better job opportunities and better recognition of their value.
I think the figures will really attract folks to opt SEO as an career! Atleast good to motivate other stream guys!!
About figures I can just dream to get here in India, even the Managers are not earning that money! Human Resource Deptt here at SEO companies in India are pathetic....
I know many SEO companies who are paying nuts!
Many things matter more than salary to any good person. The ones for whom money is most important, are not people you'd want to retain, and won't have been able to grasp half of what they could have learned.
Highly disagree. Just because someone makes more money doesn't mean they know less or can do less, that's weird and counter intuitive.
Why would an employer pay more for someone who can do less? Believe me those guys get weeded out sooner or later.
Interesting post. Now we know how much we should make.
I work as SEO specialist
I do search engine optimization and Pay Per Click for Asia/Pacific countries. I boost up the traffic and conversions for my clients from Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia,Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. They rank on the first page of search results in many good keywords.
I only bring home $470 per month. That's really bad.
This is really really a dream salary For Indians but its true in a lot of countries.Like USA UK etc..
Nice post
I second the vote for a 2010 update given the economic climate the past few years.
Thanks
Wow, such a high salary would be fantastic.
Working in-house for an insurance business in London & the south-east of England with approx 4,000 employees (speaking from personal situation with the following) search marketers are regarded the same as general/traditional marketers. The fact that good SEO people are few and far between compared to traditional marketers unfortunately doesn't seem to come into the equation.
Perhaps it's an insurance industry thing, with Search being comparatively so new and not really understood by many in such as old & traditional business.
Going by Rand's excellent research, I should be on around $130,000 getting towards the upper end of Director/Manager of Organic Search (though I also have more responsibility than just SEO) having worked in SEO for 6 years now. I'm on literally just over half of that amount. What's more, the salaries apparently and quite rightly go up for London & the south-east, so am probably on less than half of what I perhaps should be.
So it could be the case that in-house SEO salaries in England vary rather a lot, depending on the industry sector. Insurance SEOs may get better pay than Travel SEOs and less than Banking SEOs.
I'd love to see some research on how much in-house SEO salaries vary from industry to industry in the USA and the UK.
Great research, many thanks Rand.
With kind regards,
Simon
To me, one of the benefits to independance is the ability to create unconventional arrangements, such as equity or performance-based deals. If you're good, these can be more lucrative and carry long-term residual benefit. A good attorney is a must for review of contracts.
I would propose an updated - before and after recession.
My salary increased after the recession twice.
Hi Friend,,
Do u have any idea about SEO companies in india?
i am working as a SEO in India but i dont have that much idea about SEO salaries in India.
So plz guide me & give me information about SEO companies & Salaries in India..
Thanks,,
Suhas
Email: [email protected]
Rand I just love your thinking and the way you run your awesome business. If you haven't read Ricardo Semler then do it. You certainly are a Maverick. Bravo!
Can he be your wingman any time, Iceman?
Rand,
A company could create job descriptiosn from these. I know a few that should.
1.8 years since the publishign of this post so salraries should go up a bit... now. But shoot some of us don't even make that much.
Sometimes I wonder if most SEO's have their own consultancy and I always think they make more but charge less. Yet in today's generate content (hopefully valauable content) to get a link SEO world. I think it is gettign harder for those guys to really compete for long term clientele.
But I think there are a few ou there, do you have any data on those individuals? People like Eric Ward (don't think he has a large team if any), Stunt Double, etc.
SEO is what every one is after these days, right?
Hi,
This is from India, I have one of this dream of mine about high salaries that are listed in blog post.
I forgot to mention that the franchise owners i work with own internet marketing franchises, i am not an in house seo writer
Howdy, I just found this blog recently and it looks very helpful, I appriciate you taking the time to help all of us out. I work in an office with three franchise owners, I do all of their content writting and integration. They pay me $105 dollars for 10 content pages. Everyone one of my clients is above the fold on google and top three on yahoo. I feel that I am being completely screwed. How much should I be getting paid for a package like that?....or even how much should I get paid per page?
Thank you,
Jared K
Rand, could you please revise this article that reflect new salary figures for 2009, as well as introduces new seo job titles if any.
:( I forget to select, email me of new updates, could you please notify once updated/?
Thanks
You sure do take the "moz" in SEOmoz seriously. First the website stats, now this. Your willingness to share the real deal is the reason this is my first stop every morning when I open up my reader.
thanks for the very informative post you've shared.
i like your blog.
This is great information. it has answer all my answer which i wanted to know.
The only probably I see in asking such a broad question is this:
1st - For those people who are lying about their actual earnings, you are inviting hobbyist who have no business in the SEO world to join the practice.
2nd - If you are seriously posting that you make less than 100K in SEO you should have no business dealing with actual real business owners. Stick to agency work or affiliate marketing.
3rd - If I see one more so called "SEO Specialist" misuse Web 2.0 tactics to get a high rating for 2 weeks....Well...I may have to Tweet - Yell - Yelp - or what ever Web 3.0 buzz word comes of 2010.
Ok - on a serious note. Seriously. For those hobbyist who try to turn that fact that you help your cousins "Yellow Show Business" into front page success of Google into a full time SEO business. STOP. Your killing credible SEO firms by practicing your half wit tactics.
Thanks -
Zen of SEO - Fikeshway
Hi my name is Ajay and i am from India, I am a link builder and still I am working on Rs.25000 salary. Right now I am searching job for batter salary but it looks so difficult to get job more than Rs.35000, I don’t want $35000 salary, for me $30000 is enough. If you are giving me job for $30000 then tell me I am coming US for job.
Dear Ajay,
In USA taxes are 29 to 36% depending upon in which state your are working. Moreover you need atleast $ 1500 every month for living expense. So if you are getting anything less than $ 45,000 per anum, you end up saving nothing. So you need to earn $45 K package to live good life. $30,000 is not enough in USA to survive.
Thanks,