A question I’ve heard a lot this year is “How has the Recession impacted in-house SEOs?” The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) just announced this year’s in-house seo/sem salary survey with encouraging results for in-housers…overall, salaries have actually increased since last year’s survey. As SEMPO President Sara Holoubek put it, “With the economy in the longest recession of decades, it’s heartening for our annual in-house salary survey to substantiate that search engine marketing is the employment bright spot in sales and marketing.”
So what exactly is so bright? Well, the average salary range for an in-house SEO is $40,000-$80,000 with the majority of respondents receiving full benefits and 401k. Not bad. It may sound even better that VPs with 5-7 years experience are earning between $160,000-250,000…BUT salaries have actually decreased for this experience level.
What else can we glean about the status of the in-house seo/sem community? Apparently in-housers love working from home more than getting away from home for vacation.
Highlights of the in-house seo/sem salary survey findings:
- If an in-houser can’t get their requested salary, they are most likely to ask for a telecommuting option over any other perk. Vacation time came a close second.
- 2009 yearly salaries for senior SEO managers with 1-3 years relevant experience range from $70,000 to $120,000.
- The majority of in-housers are tasked to maintain or increase the ROI from SEO and PPC campaigns while working with flat or restrained budgets for the remainder of 2009.
- The in-house SEM team fell within the Marketing Department for 71% of respondents. Only 8% fell within the IT Department.
- Salary breakdown by title:
The not-so-sunny findings?
- Respondents are feeling the biggest hit in terms of bonuses and salaries
- The majority of respondents feel that they’re required to do more with less in terms of SEO and PPC budgets.
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