SEO Salary

if you were a professional SEO working for a company in the US what type of salary would you be looking for... assuming it's a 9-5 (40 hr a week job)?

Recently I saw a job posting for a full-time SEO specialist for an advertising agency in St. Louis. They were offering $35-45,000 depending on experience. The cost of living is relatively low in St. Louis but that salary still seemed low to me. Surely there are other companies that are paying more for such a position. But in this economy they probably found someone well-qualified for that amount.

Since SEOs with experience and knowledge can make so much on their own, my guess is that a full-time position with benefits would nee to pay on the order of $55-$85K.

SEO is a very specialized field on knowledge with an exceptionally high ROI. It is a position that requires a high level of commitment and is easily measurable in terms of success or failure. With those criteria, the knowledge level and the market, I believe it should pay similiarly to a technical specialization field (engineering, programming, etc.)

There are SEOs and there are SEOs. Some are worth their weight in gold and some aren't worth a sack of ****.

If you are an SEO or think you are an SEO ask yourself how much money are you making... there you have it.

My first line up there was a little harsh as some people might still be on the learning curve and some might be in the startup phase of their first biz. It comes down simply to how hard you are willing to work and how hard you are willing to think. And how much time you spend bull****ting or on smoke breaks.

Like Egol says....some are worth their salt, others aint! Up here in the Toronto area the last advert I saw offered I think around $40k CDN.... Course, I think that included those 'smoke breaks' :-)

Jim

I'm in big trouble... I make less than most temporary manual laborers. But, I''m building a business, so maybe that's how it goes

Don't worry, rand. I started out making about $100/month. Family and friends thought I was crazy to stick with it. But I did. And now I make more than I ever made at a real job (where I earned a decent amount as a programmer). With time, it will come.

Hey Jim

You interested in a Senior SEO job in Toronto?

We are looking for someone..

PM if interested Jim..

Thanks

Critter

This seems way low to me. Works out at around £25,000 Pound Sterling - IT Support staff can get paid more than that quite easily in the UK and Europe.

If I was getting involved in SEO for other people's sites and to make a living, I would want to add a 0 to that figure. It is enough stress and hard work, working on your own sites let alone taking on other companies SEO work.

Rand, You are INVESTING!

I had no idea what SEO's made until now! If what you all have disclosed is the average, then it needs to be reclassified and paid for what it's truly worth. (worth a lot more than even 85K I would think).
I have been researching and dabbling in SEO for about a year now. I finally got serious about it last November and started to make a bit of money. I'm currently up to a few thousand a month off of two websites.
The totally disheartening thing for me is that I am trying to make a career change here, and it just isn't happening fast enough. I am an IT project manager by day (which pays very well) and an SEO by night. (About 6 hours per night average).
I am employed by a single company for the PM work and am looking to try to get some off shore contracts so that I can work from home and spend more time on SEO.
How long has it taken most of you to reach a comfortable living and lose the day job?

BTW - I lurked here for months before joining. You all are a great wealth of knowledge and I appreciate that you share so freely.

http://jobsearch.monster.com/getjob.asp?JobID=28549471&WT.mc_n=MKT000125

They (BusinessOL.com) are offering 30,000.00 - 45,000.00 USD /year for someone with 1+ to 2 years experience.

The job is in San Diego. It pays about what the SEO job for the advertising agency in St. Louis was paying.

Job Description:
The search-marketing specialist will work on multiple accounts simultaneously. Core duties will consist of performing research on search terms, making coding changes to existing web pages, analysis of websites, documentation and communication of findings, and continual search engine performance monitoring. The search engine space is an extremely dynamic industry, research and staying on top of current trends is paramount in the day to day responsibilities of this position.

Being from San Diego, and having worked for some local SEO companies, as well as some nation wide companies, and now a Marketing firm, here's my experience.

The company I first worked at I was doing more then SEO, but was learning SEO, they paid more then average. I went to work for SEO Inc, and while I had more experience then most, I was only making $16 an hour (one of the highest rates for a tech in the compnay at the time,) I went to work for another company doing SEO for $17.50 an hour, then I left to work from home for companies accross the country making $40k per year from one (they offered my $90k to relocate but I love San Diego,) and $50 an hour from the others. Now I work for a marketing firm that pays in the 50 to 60k per year range.


If you have experience, you can find what rate you want. SEO firms pay the least, becuase they can train someone else to do the job if you don't like the rate they offer you. But listing an SEO Firm on your resume, can show you know your stuff and land you that higher paying position. The average I've seen from SEO companies is around 30k up to 45k per year. Marketing firms start out at around 45k to 50k and on average range in the 50k to 70k area, but only hire experienced SEO's (unless they have someone else that can some what train.)

It is all perspective. If I only spend one hour a month checking everything ond updating pages and checking accounts then I'm worth about 400-500 an hour. I spend about 1-2 hours aday so your right I sometimes think collecting aluminum cans would be better. I know I am building a business so I don't sweat the time commitment especially with such a no/low entry cost and return ratio. I never took a monetary loss as I was always able to cover hosting fees and such and make a small profit at the start. I guess I know too many who are working a day job and trying to start a business out of home and working more with less return and a large investment.