SEM Salaries - What People Are Paying

[AussieWebmaster]

Originally Posted by Joseph Morin

Hey Duane,

Thats actually funny but a great point, its long been understood that its that 10% that makes the difference between a good campaign and a great one.

People often ask me, "What happens when all of my competitors have SEO's in house - then what" and my reply is that it then becomes a chess match pitting one strategist against another and those that come out on top...are the ones worthy of those salaries at the top end of the pay scale.

I have to agree.... now next time you hear of a $250k job opening get in touch!

[Joseph Morin]

Your wish is my command. I just sent you one. Based in NYC too.

[GuyFromChicago]

Originally Posted by seminhouse

I'm a full-time, in-house SEO and we're doing salary research now. Based on what I found, if you're a large company (fortune 500 level) and want a somewhat experienced SEO, we're looking at a starting rate of about $90,000 (based on the midwest cost of living). From there it goes up. For a few years of experience and a bit of talent, you're at about $120,000+.

Based on what I've seen I'd say that's pretty accurate in the midwest.

[Chris Boggs]

Originally Posted by Joseph Morin

Your wish is my command. I just sent you one. Based in NYC too.

I'll take two, please.

[AussieWebmaster]

And when would you sleep?

[Carlos Chacón]

Originally Posted by Joseph Morin

Moderator Note: Split from SEM Hiring 101

ClickZ has some SEO/SEM salary information in their SEO mailbag today. I think they are getting closer but I have still seen salaries quoted much higher than what is listed in the article.

Thanks for the update...but what about NON US/Canada or UK SEO professionals?
How we can get paid based on those numbers?
It’s frustrating here how some clients argue about a 50$ USD monthly payment on a website’s maintenance.

[AussieWebmaster]

Okay you are just being bartered with like most transactions in South America. Start higher and let them beat you down and they are happy.

[Sebastien Billard]

Some SEO geek should setup a website using the Google Map APIs and allowing SEOs to put their location and salaries It could be called "The SEO Argus"

[AussieWebmaster]

better done by area, salary and just job title and requirements..... don't want to tie to names and companies etc.

[PortofDreams]

Forwarded to boss....

[shimsand]

It'd be nice to see the difference for SEM's that work in an Agency vs. on the Client-side.

[AussieWebmaster]

The new AdWords subcontracting may impact salary prices... be interesting to see how much Google will pay.

[sportsguy]

I like the idea of the google map with areas/salaries/quals listed.

Glad to hear others know of the 90/10 rule when training others. I firmly believe in teaching a man to fish, but he's got to show up and do some of the work, too...

[AussieWebmaster]

Got to love the industry....

[andrewgoodman]

I'm not sure I see entirely what is being gained by talking salaries up like this.

Check out Craigslist for entry-level marketing positions and you'll see plenty paying $25-30k.

Somewhere in the middle lies the reality.

As a business owner, too many heavy salaries will always drag you down. Yes, top people deserve to be well compensated of course, but if they were really that great why don't they start their own company.

As competent help becomes available out of college or from offshore, the hubris of very high salaries will become apparent here as it has in many other fields.

If you want huge pay - you should have to take on some risk... IMHO.

[trueMarketing]

Originally Posted by andrewgoodman

I'm not sure I see entirely what is being gained by talking salaries up like this.

As a business owner, too many heavy salaries will always drag you down. Yes, top people deserve to be well compensated of course, but if they were really that great why don't they start their own company.

As competent help becomes available out of college or from offshore, the hubris of very high salaries will become apparent here as it has in many other fields.

If you want huge pay - you should have to take on some risk... IMHO.

Hi there,
I started an SEO company about 5 years ago. I do agree with part of your statement that if somebody is really that good, then they should become self-employed or start their own company. I mean, I did for that very reason.

The point though is, even though my personal net salary last year was well over $375k, I miss working around others in the same industry. Yes, I have a close circle of other very smart SEO people, but now I'm sort of "stuck" in my business and web properties b/c no one can afford me.

I'm sure others are in the same boat, but I really can't justify working for some other company for $70-100k per year since I now know of my true SEM "worth."

One thing I didn't really hear mentioned in the SEM salary article or other articles is that marketing, SEO, or SEM positions should also always employ an incentive based salary structure.

I received this from a previous employer (an online pharmacy fulfillment company). Since I made them well over $3 mil in one year and exceeded goals, etc., I got incentivized based on my performance, sales, conversions, and so on.

People posting job salaries concerning marketing-type positions like SEO, SEM hardly ever mention incentive-based but rather stick to flat pay structures, even though it is perhaps the best matching job type to be incentivized on.

Honestly, I would like to work with a dynamic start-up or even established company as an SEM Director or something if they provided a great service/product(s), but since SEM jobs are still treated as such a new job niche, fairness in salary and worth just aren't there as of now.

So, anyone reading this wanting to hire someone like myself should not expect to pay $200k + for my salary, but I DO think they should expect an incentivized pay scale since my job (as well as other jobs like sales, business development, etc) impacts bottom line dollars and can completely be measured and tracked.

So, anyone looking to hire? I'm located in NC

[ChadLedford]

Thank you for this post. I am going to be graduating from college in May and I will be going into SEO and SEM so this post gave me an idea of what to expect.

NC!

[trueMarketing]

Originally Posted by ChadLedford

Thank you for this post. I am going to be graduating from college in May and I will be going into SEO and SEM so this post gave me an idea of what to expect.

NC!

Where are you graduating from exactly?

[Chris Boggs]

my guess would be UNC (from the "NC!" at the end)...tough loss today...

[ChadLedford]

It was a very tough loss today, considering I had UNC going to the finals in my bracket

I will be graduating from Appalachian State University with a BS in Business Management, can't wait.