Have you ever wondered how much SEOs are really making?
Last year, I asked SEOs at BrightonSEO to “show me the money” and share how much they were earning in Ahrefs’ first-ever SEO salary survey.
I thought it would be fun to re-run the survey this year to see what’s changed. I received responses from 234 SEOs—more than double the previous year’s responses.
As most responses were submitted at Brighton SEO, they’re primarily representative of UK SEO salary data.
Here are the top takeaways from 2024’s SEO salary survey:
- SEOs are earning more – the median annual salary for SEOs was $58,288, +18.4% (2023 $49,211)
- The highest-paying roles have at least 10 years of experience – both Heads of SEO and SEO Directors typically earned much more than their counterparts
- There was a big shift to content roles – 55.1% described themselves as content specialists (2023 36.9%), 27.3% described themselves as technical specialists (2023 30.6%), just 5.3% described themselves as link building specialists (2023 6.3%)
- There’s been a big shift to in house roles – 57.9% worked in-house (2023 42.3%), 33.5% of respondents worked in SEO agencies (2023 49.5%), and just 7.3% were self-employed (2023 8.2%)
- There’s been a shift to bigger companies – Most respondents (18%) worked in companies that had 51–100 people (In 2023, most respondents (28.8%) worked in smaller companies that had 11–50 people)
- 53.6% of SEOs said they learned SEO on the job (2023 – 52.3%), 35.2% were self-taught (2023 42.3%), and 9% of respondents said they learned SEO through a course (2023 5.4%)
- The average SEO experience of respondents was 7 years (2023 6.9 years)
- In-house SEOs earned the most on average, and SEO agencies had the lowest median annual salary for the second year running
There were also a few surprises:
- SEO Directors had the highest salaries this year – SEO Directors earned 19.56% more than Heads of SEO
- Only 6% of SEOs in my survey said they specialized in link building compared to technical and content – despite links being an important Google ranking factor
- Despite collecting data from lots of leaders of teams, only 0.4% of respondents said they specialized in management
| Role | Median average annual salary in USD ($) | Average experience (in years) | Most common specialization | Most common place of work |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head of SEO | $81,522 | 10 | Content | In-house |
| SEO Director | $97,468 | 13 | Technical | Agency |
| SEO Lead | $58,898 | 8 | Content | In-house |
| SEO Specialist | $45,090 | 5 | Content | Agency/In-house |
| SEO Manager | $58,107 | 7 | Content | In-house |
| SEO Consultant | $58,864 | 9 | Technical | Agency |
| SEO Executive | $45,042 | 5 | Content | In-house |
| SEO Analyst | $45,005 | 9 | Technical | In-house |
Here’s what the annual salaries looked like for our respondents:
Which roles paid the most?
- In-house roles paid the best, with a median earning of $57,737
- Self-employed roles paid less, with a median earning of $46,436
- Agency roles paid $44,762—the lowest of the lot
According to the SEOs I polled, most respondents learned SEO on the job (53.6%) or were self-taught (35.2%). Self-taught SEOs saw a small drop of 4.4% compared to 2023.
Most respondents had at least a few years of experience under their belts.
Heads of SEO had ~10 years of experience, while SEO Directors had ~13 years of experience on average.
The role that required the least amount of experience was SEO Executive, with ~5 years of experience.
Please note in the U.K., “SEO Executive” is considered an entry-level position and not a senior role.
- Across all respondents, the average experience was 7 years
- For Head of SEO, the average experience was 10 years
- For SEO Director, the average experience was 13 years
- For SEO Lead, the average experience was 8 years
- For SEO Manager, the average experience was 7 years
- For SEO Consultant, the average experience was 9 years
- For SEO Executive, the average experience was 5 years
- For SEO Analyst, the average experience was 9 years
Over 55.1% of SEOs I surveyed this year specialized in content. In the 2023 survey, only 36.9% specialized in content.
It was also noticeable that far fewer SEOs identified as “generalists” this year than in 2023. In 2023 18% of SEOs described themselves as SEO “generalists” or “all-rounders.”
My survey showed that 67.38% of people were from the UK, perhaps not surprising given that BrightonSEO is held in the UK.
This was almost a 20% increase in UK SEOs’ participation compared to last year’s survey.
Despite the survey’s strong UK focus, participants came from a wide variety of countries around the world. This year, I polled SEOs from 30 different countries.
57.9% of respondents I spoke to worked in-house, making it the most popular workplace this year. Compared to last year, there was a fall in agency respondents: only 16% of agency SEOs responded to the survey.
Across all respondents, the most popular company size this year was 51-100, although there was a better representation of all types of companies this year. In 2023, the most popular company size was 11-50.
Although there’s not a huge difference, it’s good to see that there hasn’t been a dramatic reduction.
Here’s the full breakdown of each role:
Head of SEO salary
The Head of SEO role was the most lucrative last year. However, this year, the average salary for this role dropped by 12.3% year over year.
As a result, it meant that it wasn’t the best-paying role this year.
Some Heads of SEO said they were earning $20,000 or less—which, by U.S. and even U.K. standards, would be extremely low compensation for a role of this type.
The most common salary bracket for a Head of SEO was $80,000 – $89,000, with 29% of respondents saying they received this salary.
Average experience
According to my survey, a Head of SEO has ~10.6 years of experience—coincidentally, exactly the same as 2023’s figure.
Type of company
68% worked in-house, 26% of respondents worked for an agency, and 3% were self-employed.
Education
39% of respondents said they were self-taught, 45% said they’d learned on the job, and 13% said they had learned SEO from a course. Compared to 2023’s figures, this was quite a dramatic drop in the number of self-taught SEOs at this level.
Specialization
16.1% said they specialized in technical SEO, 61.3% in content, and 6.4% were generalists. 6.5% said they specialized in link building.
This is a distinct change from 2023’s data, where 40% said they specialized in technical SEO.
Compared to last year, the SEOs I surveyed have shifted from technical SEO to content.
Company size
There were two company sizes that were most popular for Head of SEOs to work in. 19.4% of respondents said they worked in companies with 11-50 people, and 19.4% said they worked in companies with 2-10 people.
The smaller size of the companies for Heads of SEO this year may explain why the salaries were lower overall—possibly.
Location
64.5% of respondents were from the UK (+20% from last year), 9.7% were from Portugal, and the remainder were from Europe and further afield.
SEO Director salary
Like last year, the salary variation wasn’t quite as extreme for SEO Directors, but salaries ranged from ~$50k to ~$139k — certainly at the higher end of the salary spectrum.
Average experience
The SEO directors we surveyed this year had more experience than in 2023. SEO Directors in my survey had 13 years of experience. (+2.6 years compared to 2023)
Type of company
60% of SEO directors came from agency backgrounds, 30% from in-house, and 10% were self-employed.
Education
62.5% of SEO Directors described themselves as self-taught, and 37.5% said they learned SEO on the job.
Specialization
75% of them specialized in technical SEO, while 25% described themselves as generalists or having another non-specified specialization.
Company size
According to my survey, SEO Directors typically work in medium to large companies. 25% said that they worked in companies that had over 1000 people, and 25% said they worked in companies that had 51-100 employees.
Location
Most SEO Directors I surveyed were from the UK (62.5%). The rest were equal splits between India, the U.S., and Germany (12.5%).
SEO Lead salary
This year, the SEO lead salary data had a huge variation. The most common salary band was $50,000 – 59,999, but the largest salary polled was $337,323.
As you’ve probably noticed, there is a clear outlier in the $260k+ bracket. So take the top salary bracket here with a pinch of salt. Based on my own experience, I think the rest of the data more accurately represents the most common definition of “SEO Lead” in the UK.
Average experience
SEO Leads in my survey had 8.2 years of experience on average. (+0.8 year from last year)
Type of company
78.6% of SEO Leads came from an in-house background, 14.3% came from agencies, and 7.1% were self-employed.
Education
57.1% learned on the job, 39.3% were self-taught, and 3.6% learned SEO through a course.
Specialization
55.6% specialized in content, 37% of SEO Leads specialized in technical SEO, and 3.7% specialized in links. Again representing a big shift towards content from technical SEO compared to 2023.
Company size
46.2% worked in companies with 1001+ people, and the remaining 53.8% worked in smaller companies.
Location
23.1% of SEO Leads came from the UK, with the remainder from the Netherlands, Italy, and Sweden (15.4% each) and 30.7% from other European countries.
SEO Specialist salary
The SEO Specialists I surveyed this year earned up to $109k but as low as $20k. It’s another role that can mean different things to different companies.
The most popular salary band for an SEO Specialist, based on my survey data, is $40-49k, with 46% of respondents saying that was their salary.
Average experience
SEO Specialists I polled had an average of 5 years of experience. (-0.8% from 2023)
Type of company
48.6% of SEO Specialists came from an agency background, 48.6% said they were from an in-house background, and the remaining 2.9% came from other non-specified “Other” backgrounds.
Education
54.3% of SEO Specialists said they had learned SEO on the job, 37.1% said they were self-taught, and 5.7% said they had learned SEO through a course. The remainder didn’t specify how they learned SEO.
Specialization
51.4% of SEO Specialists specialized in content, 28.6% focused on technical, 8.6% described specialized in links, and the remainder said they were all-rounders.
Company size
22.9% of SEO Specialists said they worked in companies with 51-100 people. This was the most popular size of company for SEO specialists to work in.
Location
48.6% of SEO Specialists said they were from the UK, with the remainder from Europe and beyond.
SEO Manager salary
SEO Managers earned a wider range of salaries compared to 2024 – from ~$21K to ~$120k
Average experience
SEO Managers in my survey had 7.3 years of experience on average, which was ~2 years more than 2023’s survey.
Type of company
74.5% of respondents worked in-house, 23.5% worked for an agency, and 2% were self-employed.
Education
49% of respondents said they learned SEO on the job, 33.3% said they were self-taught, and 13.7% said they learnt SEO through a course.
Specialization
58% said that they specialized in content, 20% said they were technical SEO specialists, the remaining 6% said they specialized in links, and 2% described themselves as all-rounders.
Company size
42.9% of respondents said they worked in companies with 11-50 people. 28.6% said they worked in companies with over 1001 people. The remaining 28.6% was split equally between people who worked in companies with between 2-11 people or 51-100 people.
Location
85.7% of respondents were from the UK, and 14.3% of the remainder were from Europe.
SEO Consultant salary
For a second year running, SEO consultants said they didn’t earn over $90K, closely mirroring the results I received from 2023’s salary survey.
Our SEO pricing post suggests that SEO consultants charge between $100-150 per hour, but at least in the UK, their annual earnings don’t typically exceed $90k based on the survey results.
As pointed out last year, this is most likely due to the £85k VAT tax threshold, and self-employed SEO consultants are choosing to keep their income below a certain level for tax purposes.
Average experience
SEO Consultants in my survey had 9 years of experience on average (+3 years from last year)
Type of company
63.3% of respondents worked for an agency, and 36.7% worked in-house.
Education
45.5% of respondents said they were self-taught, 36.4% said they’d learned on the job, and 9.1% said they had learned SEO from a course. The remaining 9% said they’d learned from other ways.
Specialization
27.3% said that they specialized in technical SEO, 27.3% in content, and 27.3% said they were a generalist. The remaining 18.1% said they focused on management and strategy.
Company size
SEO Consultants typically work on their own or in smaller agencies. According to my survey — 36.4% of respondents said they worked on their own, and 27.3% said they worked in companies with 51-100 people. The remaining 36.3% said they worked in companies with 2-50 people.
Location
36.4% of respondents were from the UK, 27.3% were from the Netherlands, and the remaining 36.3% were from Europe.
SEO Executive salary
SEO Executive is one of the most popular job titles within the UK market. But unlike the U.S., the term “executive” is not a senior role—it’s the opposite. In our survey, none of the SEO Executives I surveyed earned more than $60k.
Average experience
Like 2023, SEO Executives in my survey had ~3 years of experience.
Type of company
59.5% worked in-house, 35.1% of respondents worked for an agency, and 5.4% were self-employed.
Education
67.6% of respondents said they’d learned on the job, 27% said they were self-taught, and 5.4% said they’d learned SEO from a course.
Specialization
69.4% said they specialized in content, 16.5% technical SEO, and only 2.8% focused on links.
Company size
While last year, 80% of respondents said they worked in companies with 11-50 people, there was a lot more variation this year. Typically SEO Executives worked at larger companies this year, 21.6% of respondents said they worked at companies with over 1000 employees.
Location
94% of respondents said they were working in the UK.
SEO Analyst salary
The SEO Analysts I surveyed seemed to have a decent amount of experience, but this didn’t appear to transfer when it came to salaries. The highest salary bracket recorded for this role was $70K – $79K.
Average experience
SEO Analysts in my survey had 8.8 years of experience on average.
Type of company
60% of respondents worked in-house, 20% for an agency, and 20% self-employed.
Education
60% of respondents said they learned on the job, 20% on a course, and 20% were self-taught.
Specialization
60% said they specialized in technical SEO, and 40% on content.
Company size
The most popular company size for SEO Analysts was 51-100 people.
Location
60% of SEO Analysts came from the UK, 20% from Spain, and 20% from the Netherlands.
Similar to last year, l didn’t get many respondents for the SEO Analyst role—so please take these results with a pinch of salt.
Final thoughts
According to this year’s SEO salary survey, SEOs earned ~20% more than in 2023. They work in bigger companies, opt for in-house roles, and specialize in content.
Yes, it’s still a small dataset. But it helps us understand more about the salaries of the SEOs who attend the largest search marketing conference in the world—and I think that’s valuable.
Got questions? Let me know on LinkedIn.
