11January
byTim Colina
theyDigital agency guides
11January
byTim Colina
theyDigital agency guides
Index
What is the average SEO salary?
SEO Analyst Salary
SEO Specialist Salary
SEO Manager Salary
Freelance SEO Salaries
How does the rise in remote work affect SEO salaries?
SEO Salaries Outside the United States
SEO Salary Infographic
How do other Digital Marketing salaries compare?
Next steps
SEO salaries are a hot topic. In fact, it's fair to say that most digital agency salaries are a hot topic.
But salary transparency in agencies is chronically poor. Transparency is also not like an on/off switch. It can be gradually increased or improved. For example, introducing greater visibility into salary reviews, salary increase roadmaps, and departmental/local average salaries. Agencies are still pretty traditional when it comes to secrecy around payment.
Fortunately, lately there is better visibility to help us find the average SEO marketing salary. In accordance withUS PayScale Survey, pay (or lack of it) remains the main reason workers leave their jobs. In reality, paying alone is rarely the only reason. There are usually multiple factors responsible, but it is still significant that a quarter of all people planning to leave their current job cite salary as the main reason.
We have written this guide because we believe that there is not enough transparency in the digital marketing industry regarding SEO salaries. There are several benefits of increased transparency for agencies:
- It builds trust and provides a clear signal to employees about their value to the organization based on their skills and experience.
- Reduces salary-related turnover
- Reduces the wage inequality gap
- Potentially fewer salary negotiations required
- Promotes an open/transparent culture
What is the average SEO salary?
Knowing the average search engine optimizer salary in the industry may not be that helpful, as there are many different roles in SEO, different levels of experience, and different market rates in virtually every country in the world.
Nevertheless,seeker's journalconducted a 2021 SEO job salary survey of over 2,300 SEO professionals and found that the most common annual salary range for all respondents wasUS$ 50.000 – US$ 74.000. It is worth noting that 61% of these respondents were from the US, 12% were from India, 3.8% from the UK, 2.4% from Canada and the remaining 20% were spread across in 88 countries.
The US was overrepresented in this survey, while US-based SEO professionals only represent26%of the global SEO workforce (according to LinkedIn, there are 3.6 million SEO professionals worldwide, of which 932,000 are in the US).
Actual agency salariesis a project created by agency employees Cole Habersham and Rachel Kennedy to collect agency salary data for marketers from around the world into a transparent Google Sheet. While they received over 4,800 submissions, only 21 were from SEO professionals. This certainly contradicts the fact that SEO functions are performed by employees of agencies that do not explicitly have "SEO" or "Search" in their title. Roles like digital strategist or digital specialist are usually generalist roles that invariably include SEO roles as part of their duties.
The average SEO salary isUS$ 86.636per year (source: Agency Real Salaries).
That SEO salary is more than $12,000 more than the most common top rank in Search Engine Journal's findings. What does this tell us? Something we all know anecdotally:
SEO professionals in the US earn a higher average salary than the global average.
Factors Affecting SEO Salaries
There are some important caveats to keep in mind when looking at SEO salaries:
1. Location
Where you are in the world (country and city) plays a huge role in influencing the "market rate" for local SEO salaries and may be the biggest determinant of how much SEO professionals earn. SEO.
2. Agency side or client side
There is some evidence to suggest that SEO salaries are higher on the client side than on the agency side. For client-side professionals, factors such as company size, industry, and maturity of the SEO role will play a role in determining pay. On the agency side, the size of the agency is less of a determining factor: it is more about the direct demand for SEO services by clients or potential clients.
3. Years of experience
Of course, the more experience a person has, the higher salary they can demand. Regardless of the job title; years of experience + compelling case studies make SEO salary above average.
4. Role responsibilities
As we saw above, in actual agency salaries, the SEO role is often hidden in other digital generalist roles within agencies. This also happens on the branding side, with SEO functions performed by digital marketers or even marketing managers in smaller organizations.
SEO Analyst Salary
What does an SEO analyst do?
SEO analysts, also known as SEO strategists, are responsible for researching, planning, reporting, and optimizing an SEO project. In an agency setting, this person can exist on both the Planning/Strategy team and the Digital team.
While an SEO analyst may also include some execution duties, they generally focus on the strategic aspects of SEO marketing. This involves deep research and data crunching, identifying insights and distilling data into actionable strategies to drive project/client business goals. It is unusual for an SEO Analyst to be the only individual on an SEO team. They are usually paired with an SEO Specialist or SEO Content Writer, who focuses on the execution/production of content.
In any project, many SEO tasks tend to run in parallel, so it's usually up to the SEO analyst to measure everything and determine what worked well, what didn't work well, and what needs to be adjusted/optimized for future activities.
What are the responsibilities of an SEO analyst?
Primary Responsibilities:
- On-page SEO audit and recommendations to improve performance
- Keyword research (optimization and identification of new opportunities)
- Analysis of SEO metrics and performance in Google Analytics, Google Search Console and other SEO tools
- Research and development of link building strategies
- Evaluate search results and search performance on top search channels
Secondary Responsibilities:
- Competitive analysis to identify content gaps and areas for improvement in the structure and design of the site.
- Write content summaries or make suggestions to create search-optimized content
- Provide keyword insights and SEO tips to other teams within the organization
- Communicate overall project deliverables, schedules, and project results
- Stay up-to-date with SEO and digital marketing industry trends, tools, and practices
What is the salary of an SEO analyst?
The average salary for an SEO analyst is $54,144 per year in the United States. (Source: ZipRecruiter)
The average starting salary for junior SEO analysts is$23,500 per year. This can also cover SEO coordinator roles and other basic roles. Salaries for a Senior SEO Analyst can be as high as$89,500 per yearor higher, depending on the organization.
Meet Elvis Tapfumanei, SEO Analyst at SelfCraft Media
Elvis is an SEO Analyst atMediaand spends his days browsing various SEO blogs and websites and getting creative with SEO practices.
“At first I was a bit skeptical about the industry, but I gained some insights that really help make the job more enjoyable and meaningful. As an SEO Analyst for over 3 years, I have handled many projects, learned many things and never looked back.
Since Elvis started working with SEO, it has gotten more challenging over the years. He has seen many practitioners struggle and leave the industry. But he says it's good because it's a field for smart people, where only the smartest will survive.
SEO Specialist Salary
What does an SEO specialist do?
An SEO specialist potentially encompasses all of the functions of an SEO Analyst PLUS execution, be it content production, link building, and ongoing website optimization. Of course, it may depend on how many other SEO people are on the team if this role is 'turnkey' or focused on the execution side.
What are the responsibilities of an SEO specialist?
For SEO specialists who are the only SEO person on a team, their responsibilities include everything from the previous SEO Analyst role PLUS:
- Execution of tests and analysis of results.
- Management of complete life cycles of SEO projects
- Implement on-page SEO changes to site architecture, internal linking, and existing content
- Write Search Optimized Content
- Execute link building strategies, including outreach, building publisher relationships.
- Work with other internal teams to drive SEO priorities in content creation and planning.
What is the salary of an SEO specialist?
The average salary for an SEO specialist in the US is $59,871 per year in the United States. (Source: ZipRecruiter)
The average starting salary for junior SEO specialists is$24,500 per year. Salaries for a senior SEO specialist can be as high as$112,500 per yearor higher, depending on the organization.
Meet Jessica Ulloa, SEO Specialist at MyPerfectResume
Jessica Ulloa is an SEO specialist atMiResumenPerfecto. Prior to this position, he had little knowledge and experience in SEO and felt that he would need years of experience before he could land a job in the SEO field. Fortunately, that was not the case.
“I started by taking a course on Technical SEO, On-site SEO and Off-site SEO and tested my knowledge with practical tasks or quizzes at the end of each module.”
Taking a course to develop your skills was invaluable during the hiring process and in negotiating your salary. Jessica also linked her experience in sales and digital marketing to the SEO specialist role and was able to negotiate a 15% salary increase above what the average SEO specialist earns.
SEO Manager Salary
What does an SEO Manager do?
SEO managers, or SEO leads, are responsible for managing a team of SEO people. In agencies or organizations where they are solely responsible for SEO, these are virtually identical to the SEO Specialist role above, however, the "Manager" distinction in the role implies a greater emphasis on SEO in the organization, and potentially a higher average height. salary. Also, "Manager" implies a team of people that this individual would be tasked with managing.
What are the responsibilities of an SEO Manager?
For SEO managers who manage multiple direct reports (i.e. SEO analysts, content writers, outreach specialists, and/or SEO specialists), their responsibilities become much more focused on managing people and the overall direction of the team. That includes:
- Management of the SEO team, including recruitment, individual evaluations and performance reviews.
- Set the overall strategic SEO direction for the agency
- Management of budgets, schedules, capacity and team productivity
- Report to senior management on team performance.
- Manage customer relationships, WIPs, and quarterly/monthly reviews
- Define and write agency processes, SOPs, and briefs
- Implementation of software tools, workflow and team collaboration.
What is the average salary of an SEO manager?
The average salary for an SEO manager in the US is $69,629 per year in the United States. (Source: ZipRecruiter)
Senior SEO managers manage larger teams and have many years of experience. These senior roles are also known as SEO Directors/Group SEO Directors on the agency side or Head of SEO/VP of SEO on the client side. These senior roles average$112,000 per yearbut can be as high as$161,000+ per year.
Meet Nat E. McNeely, SEO Manager at Breadnbeyond
Nat E. McNeely is the SEO manager for the digital marketing company.bread beyond.
“As an SEO manager, I mainly deal with website optimization, Google Adwords and Analytics account management, ad campaign planning, as well as working closely with our marketing and sales team. I think whether you work internally or for an agency, these are some of the essential skills you need to master."
With a steady increase in demand for SEO services, Nat sees job opportunities in the industry increasing as well, making SEO roles, particularly SEO Managers, a very competitive and lucrative career path.
Freelance SEO Salaries
SEO freelancers are a whole different category. In terms of job titles, these people may be called SEO consultants or simply SEO freelancers. Most appear to operate as an individual agency. They can work completely alone or pass tasks and responsibilities to other freelancers or virtual assistants.
Instead of yearly salaries, SEO freelancers often work on hourly rates, daily rates, or project rates, as they typically deal with multiple clients and projects with varying deadlines.
Meet Ali Ali, a freelance SEO
Ali Ali is a freelance SEO who runs his own agency.Alicuadrado.
Ali explains that the big difference between working internally and working as an SEO freelancer is the constant juggling between client work and finding new work. He says that beginning SEO freelancers can earn well below the industry rate ($20,000-30,000 per year), but as you gain SEO skills and improve your marketing, you can earn much higher rates.
“I know several SEO-savvy freelancers who make over $100,000 a year.”
Ali says it's common for freelance SEOs to grow their business by hiring outreach virtual assistants (VAs) in addition to content writers. Outsourcing these skills can help freelancers take on bigger projects and bigger clients.
How does the rise in remote work affect SEO salaries?
Since the pandemic, organizations of all shapes and sizes have been forced to work remotely whether they wanted to or not. In 2021, hybrid work emerged where employees had much more flexibility over where and how they worked. For example, some days in the office and other days working remotely.
Certainly, remote and hybrid work have had some negative impacts on SEO salary growth. The outstanding example was whengoogle announceda measure to cut the salaries of employees who have chosen to permanently work remotely.
Before the pandemic, some remote businesses like Buffer added location top-ups based on where their employees live to offset the higher cost of living. They grouped the cities of all their employees into 4 distinct groups that added additional location value to their annual salary package; not that Group D received an additional zero in their salary:
Specialized remote work sites likeOK remote controlhave sprung up to cater to businesses and job seekers who want to work remotely. According to Remote OK data, the average SEO salary on their platform is$67,500 per yearHowever, in the screenshot below, remote SEO senior roles can earn you up to $100,000 per year.
Due to the size and robust nature of the SEO industry, there is enough demand for SEO professionals to sustain relatively high salaries (at least above median salaries), regardless of whether the roles are remote, hybrid, or 100% co-located. So while there has been negative salary growth due to the hybridization of our way of working, the SEO industry is still going strong with lucrative career prospects in the long run.
SEO Salaries Outside the United States
Below are the average SEO salary ranges per year in some key countries with a proportionally higher number of SEO professionals. All annual salaries are quoted in each local currency:
- Australia: AU$83,985 per year ranging from AU$66,447 to AU$109,508 (source: Indeed)
- Brazil: BRL 81,100 per year ranging from BRL 59,370 to BRL 100,364 (source: SalaryExpert)
- Canada: CA$48,800 per year, ranging from CA$46,847 to CA$76,766 (source: Indeed)
- France: €39,000 per year, from €22,000 to €57,000 (source: Glassdoor)
- India: ₹2,66,000 per year ranging from ₹1,40,000 to ₹15,00,000 (source: IIDE)
- Pakistan: Rs 415,252 per year ranging from Rs 103,000 to Rs 3,000,000 (Source: PayScale)
- filipinas: ₱302,000 per year, ranging from ₱143,000 to ₱1,000,000 (source: PayScale)
- Singapore: SG$35,375 per year ranging from SG$23,000 to SG$90,000 (source: PayScale)
- spain: €29,000 per year, from €22,000 to €52,000 (source: Glassdoor)
- United Kingdom: £42,500 per year ranging from £32,500 to £60,000 (source: CWJobs)
SEO Salary Infographic
How do other Digital Marketing salaries compare?
This article focused only on SEO salaries and covered the top 3 SEO roles: Analyst, Specialist, and Manager. But how do these salaries compare to other digital agencies? Agencies are multi-disciplinary organisations, often containing a mix of junior, mid-level and senior staff with very different skill sets. Thanks toActual agency salariesSo, let's take a look at some average digital marketing salaries compared to SEO salaries in the United States:
SEO:
- Median SEO Analyst Salary: $54,144 per year
- Average SEO Specialist Salary: $59,871 per year
- Average SEO Manager Salary: $69,629 per year
- Average SEO Director Salary: $112,000 per year
- Average for all SEO roles: $86,636 per year
Accounts administration:
- Median Account Executive Salary: $56,851 per year
- Median Account Manager Salary: $69,644 per year
- Median Account Manager Salary: $131,455 per year
- Median Group Account Director Salary: $182,428 per year
Creative:
- Median Art Director Salary: $76,838 per year
- Media Copywriter Salary: $88,105 per year
- Median Creative Director Salary: $157,286 per year
- Median Executive Creative Director Salary: $264,642 per year
Management:
- Median HR Manager Salary: $93,857 per year
- Median Business Development Manager Salary: $125,444 per year
- Average CEO Salary: $255,000 per year
Planning:
- Average Media Buyer/Planner Salary: $60,732 per year
- Median Digital Strategist Salary: $102,262 per year
- Median Head of Digital Salary: $241,176 per year
Social Media:
- Average Social Media Manager: $64,700 per year
- Average Community Manager: $66,692 per year
- Average Social Media Director: $139,666 per year
Technical Developer:
- Median Web Developer Salary: $84,583 per year
- Median Digital Project Manager Salary: $90,336 per year
AVERAGE ACROSS ALL DIGITAL AGENCY ROLES: $102,107 per year
Next steps
We hope this guide has helped increase transparency about SEO salaries. We believe in open transparency and encourage all agencies to post salary ranges when hiring.
For agency employees, consider submitting your salary details anonymously toActual agency salaries' Database of more than 4,800 submissions. This helps increase transparency so the entire industry can understand where the market is and agency people can earn what they deserve.
Let us know your thoughts on pay transparency – send us a tweet@seoptimer.
Related Posts
10 Client Retention Strategies for Agencies
18 Solid Agency Lead Generation Ideas
Top 10 Marketing Challenges As Told By Marketers
Agency founders' reactions to the economic downturn
Project intake best practices for agencies [+ template]
Strategic alliances with agencies: the key to unlocking growth
FAQs
Does SEO pay well? ›
At the median, an SEO Specialist earns $49,000 a year, with SEO Managers' median salaries sitting significantly higher, at around $63,000. At the high end are SEO Directors—who typically earn between $70,000 and $120,000—and SEO Team Managers and Campaign Managers, in the $50,000 to $100,000 range.
How much do social Media managers make? ›Social Media Manager salary in India ranges between ₹ 1.2 Lakhs to ₹ 9.9 Lakhs with an average annual salary of ₹ 4.0 Lakhs. Salary estimates are based on 3.1k latest salaries received from Social Media Managers.
Is SEO a stressful job? ›Any job can be stressful based on the type of performance required by your company. It is the same with SEO-related jobs. However, it is not as stressful as IT or other programming-related jobs.
What is the minimum salary of SEO? ›What is the starting salary for a SEO in India? Average starting Salary for SEO in India is around ₹0.2 Lakh per year (₹1.7k per month).
Is SEO a difficult job? ›SEO is not that hard to learn, but it can be confusing and overwhelming to get started. Learning SEO means learning about a long list of individual digital marketing strategies, which can feel a bit like adding new weapons to your arsenal as you learn how to wield them.
Can you get an SEO job with no experience? ›To become an SEO specialist, you don't need any specific background experience. People who work in SEO often come from various backgrounds, including marketing and communications, business, and information technology.
Is SEO job tough? ›SEO is not necessarily hard to learn, but it does take time, effort, and persistence. If you are just starting and know nothing about search engines and how they work, you can expect to feel a bit overwhelmed initially, especially if you are trying to learn SEO on your own. However, it is important to keep trying.
What is the highest paid social media manager salary? ›Salary Ranges for Social Media Managers
The salaries of Social Media Managers in the US range from $24,000 to $175,000 , with a median salary of $59,000 . The middle 57% of Social Media Managers makes between $59,000 and $97,000, with the top 86% making $175,000.
- Entrepreneur – Social Media Consultant. Salary Range: $35,000 - $175,000 and up. ...
- Vice President of Communications. Salary Range: $100,000 - $150,000. ...
- Public Relations Manager. ...
- Marketing Communications Manager. ...
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist. ...
- Content Manager. ...
- Marketing Consultant. ...
- Online Community Manager.
The average hourly wage for a Social Media Marketing and Communications Manager in the United States is $54 as of January 26, 2023, but the range typically falls between $47 and $60.
Is SEO a good career in 2023? ›
' Yes. SEO is a good career option as it is among the most sought-after careers in the Digital Marketing field. There are several organizations around the world, hiring SEO professionals to generate better content and hence produce more business leads.
Is SEO worth learning in 2022? ›There is no doubt that SEO investment is an indispensable part of your online business. Not only does SEO get you a high ranking on Google quality traffic, high visibility of your website, but also provides you the multifaceted strategy which helps you to advertise, sell as well as boost your brand performance.
Is SEO in demand 2022? ›Will SEO still be relevant in 2022? Yes, of course. Although some SEO tactics that were effective in the past have ceased working, SEO kept evolving. Constantly reinventing itself to try and better match user intent, cutting the spammy, ineffective tactics to become better.
What is the salary for 3 years SEO experience? ›Average Annual Salary by Experience
Senior SEO Specialist salary in India with less than 3 year of experience to 9 years ranges from ₹ 2.8 Lakhs to ₹ 9.1 Lakhs with an average annual salary of ₹ 4.6 Lakhs based on 421 latest salaries. Are you underpaid?
SEO directors being top in the hierarchy, get handsome package range between ₹9,60,000 – 18,00,000 per year.
What is the highest salary of SEO expert? ›SEO Specialist salary in India ranges between ₹ 1.8 Lakhs to ₹ 7.8 Lakhs with an average annual salary of ₹ 3.6 Lakhs.
Can you learn SEO in 3 months? ›Experts say it usually takes one to three months to learn the foundations of SEO and a year or more to master the practice fully. The length of time it takes to learn the basics of SEO depends upon several factors.
Do I need coding skills for SEO? ›The short answer is: no, SEO typically doesn't require much (or any) hands-on coding. You can absolutely do a fine job of SEO without touching code. But the longer answer is that yes, a good sense of how programming works, or even an ability to do a bit of coding yourself, is always a useful skill to have.
Is SEO in high demand? ›Become a Certified Digital Marketer Today
Pro-tip: Learn these and more skills with a structured SEO certification Course. SEO professionals are in high demand, as companies need search optimization in order to compete in most niches.
Can SEO make you a millionaire? That depends entirely on your skills and ability to scale. The simple answer is that SEO can be a great way to make a decent living, and provided you have the skills to scale an SEO practice, the sky's the limit.
Can I learn SEO in 2 months? ›
Yes, you can learn SEO in two months. However, how much you learn during that time depends on how much time you devote to learning SEO every day.
How many hours does it take to learn SEO? ›#4: How much time you have to learn SEO
If you can learn SEO for a couple of hours every day, then you can master the basics of SEO within 4-8 weeks and land your first SEO job in 3-6 months. If you can learn SEO full-time, then you can master the basics even within 1-2 weeks.
Search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning is a tactic in which threat actors create malicious websites and use techniques, such as keywords, to increase their rankings and display as one of the first search results.
Can I learn SEO in one month? ›While it's a career-long journey, you can indeed learn SEO in about a month — enough to make a huge impact on your website and thus your business as a whole.
Can I be a SEO specialist without a degree? ›But while a degree is not typically necessary, many SEO job postings do require familiarity with one or more specific SEO tools. A search engine like Google never rests – they're always updating the techniques they use to bring the most relevant results to searchers.
How much can you make working in SEO? ›According to Edoxi's salary trend report, which forecasts job salaries in digital marketing over the next year, U.S.-based, entry level SEO specialists can expect a starting SEO salary of $35K, mid-career SEO specialists are likely to earn closer to $47K, and experienced SEO specialists will earn on average $65K in ...
What is the highest paid SEO salary? ›SEO Consultant salary in India ranges between ₹ 1.4 Lakhs to ₹ 11.5 Lakhs with an average annual salary of ₹ 3.4 Lakhs. Salary estimates are based on 111 latest salaries received from SEO Consultants.
Will SEO exist in 5 years? ›One thing is sure, however: SEO will be around for a long time. As long as search engines exist and internet users continue to use keywords and phrases to find what they're looking for, the search engine business will continue.
Is SEO still in demand? ›Become a Certified Digital Marketer Today
Pro-tip: Learn these and more skills with a structured SEO certification Course. SEO professionals are in high demand, as companies need search optimization in order to compete in most niches.
How much does a Level 7 make at Google? ›
Level 7 – Senior Software Engineer
In addition, Google senior-level software engineers earn an average salary of $ 2,66,100 yearly.
Is SEO Certification Worth It? If you are just starting or want to improve your qualifications, a structured program taught by an SEO specialist can be a good idea. If you already have a lot of SEO experience, clients, and proven SEO successes, you probably can do without it.
What is the average salary of SEO freelancer? ›Average Freelancer.com SEO Analyst salary in India is ₹ 2.8 Lakhs for experience between 1 years to 5 years. SEO Analyst salary at Freelancer.com India ranges between ₹ 2.0 Lakhs to ₹ 3.6 Lakhs. According to our estimates it is 12% more than the average SEO Analyst Salary in India.