I was in consideration for a Search Engine Marketing Manager position, but it was ultimately decided I didn't have the industry and 'big account' experience they wanted in the person they are going to stand up in front of million dollar clients and pitchtheir services. The company likes me, however, evidently quite a bit, and has decided to 'create' a position for me in thier IT department (as opposed to their marketing department). Basically what they want me to do is guide their web developers through proper website/page level search engine optimization implementation at the coding level: i.e. integrate SEO into the development process with the intent of being positioned for bettter organic results down the road once the site launches. The company considers this to be more of a technical position than a marketing position, though of course I will be working closly with the SE Marketing guy they do hire to coordinate key word phrases, etc. to compliment PPC campaigns. They have yet to mention any sort of compensation for either position. They are also telling me that their eye is to 'groom me' for a second SE Marketing Manager position they anticipate needing in 6-9 months by putting me alongside the SE Manger working on some accounts. SO it's sort of half technical, half marketing. That said, and for the sake of argument, let's assume the SE Manager position pays 83K (a rough grab of the median for Ecommerce Site Marketing Manager off Salary.com for my area). What sort of compensation should I be looking for in the role they want me to play? Caveat this with the fact that I'm currently employed full-time as a web/database application developer making 59K a year. I've searched, but can't seeem to find any good resources for figuring out what the technical side of SEO pays, though I can find plenty of listing for the marketing side. The two aren't mutually exclusive, though website/page code optimization is definitely more technical than the marketing side.
Hmmm... I think its going to be real tough to find any real numbers as most SEOs - be it skewed towards marketing or the more technical aspects - are either self-employed or work on a heavy commission. I would speculate that very few receive a set salary. With regard to salary.com, I always have trouble accepting their figures with much confidence. I live in a major metropolitan area, where supposively salaries (and also cost of living) is higher than the average... yet the salary figures they give tend to be skewed towards those with a little more experience and a little nicer paycheck than would be the true average. Perhaps its something to do with the types of people who are volunteering their pay information for the survey... I don't know - I'm not a market research expert, but I know I have trouble reconciling their salary figures with the real world a bit. $59K a year sounds pretty decent to me, but certainly factor in how much you like what you do now and what your plans are. I myself and pretty young and basically just getting started, so that looks pretty nice to me. That said, if they were to offer $83, well, that's nicer. With regard to the role, I'm a firm believer that preparing for a well optimized site from step 1 is crucial, otherwise SEO may have a more limited effect as confined by the way the site is structured and how it operates. Anyhow this whole post hasn't really said much - but I would really really really take any numbers you find regarding salaries with a grain of salt. Since the industry is so dynamic and still gaining exposure and recognition in the day to day life of many companies I think pricing is not as stable as it might be for more established positions. I would just decide which type of work you like better (current vs. new) and then when you hear about the salary factor that in. Best of luck!
Thanks ephricon- You make some good points. SEO as a 'real job' is a very new thing and it's hard to find numbers on it. I think initially people are lumping it under Marketing, even though it's a far cry different from traditional marketing enterprises. 59K is decent for what I do and the area I live in, but I'm looking to make the break from the keyboard and get to the whiteboard, if you know what I mean. I've been tapping the keys a while now - I want to be in a position where I tell others to tap the keys instead. My current job is a government contract, which means it's 99% secure (a VERY good thing in this day and age), but there's no room for advancement. I can basically stay in it as long as I want, but in ten years I'm going to be doing the same thing I'm doing now. I've got more ambition than that, but I want any move I make to be at least minimally vertical. Interesting to note that it was my own affiliate marketing and site building/design efforts (of which iShopHQ is only the tip of) that got me the interview. You can't argue with results. I gave them a list of targeted keywords and showed them the top positions to back it up. I think their position will have some of the leadership elements I'm looking for, as I will exercise more of a marco consultancy role over their web development, but I suspect I will still be hitting the keys more than I wanted to, at least in the beginning. If they are playing straight with me, and I have no reason to think they aren't, it seems as though there will be a real opportunity for management level in the future. I'll have to see how it pans out....
yeah it's really to tough to find out the seo salary. It's vary depends on exprience as well as your projects.