The SEO Jobs Report

The SEO Jobs Report explores how the SEO job market is shifting in 2025, with SEO jobs evolving under the pressure of AI, changing hiring practices, and new salary expectations. Today’s employers want stronger technical SEO, analytics, and strategic skills, while traditional content and fully remote roles are seeing noticeable declines.

At the same time, overall demand for experienced SEO specialists remains solid, with competitive salaries, clear growth paths into leadership, and strong opportunities in sectors like e‑commerce, SaaS, and healthcare. In this introduction, you’ll get a concise snapshot of where the market is heading and what these trends mean if you’re building a career or hiring in SEO, based on the latest SEO Jobs Report.

What this year’s SEO jobs data actually says

Across major job boards and recent industry reports, the SEO job market in late 2025 looks like a classic “fewer but better” situation. Overall SEO job listings are down roughly one‑third compared with early 2024, with one widely cited report showing a 34% drop in SEO roles and a 28% drop in SEO content roles.

At the same time, senior and leadership SEO roles are growing fast. Listings for SEO managers are up close to 60%, and VP‑level SEO roles have grown by about 50%, as larger companies consolidate execution and hire fewer but more strategic people.

On pay, most US SEO specialist and analyst roles cluster in the 60,000 to 85,000 dollar range, with many salary datasets putting the national average between about 68,000 and 80,000 dollars per year. Senior SEO specialists and directors often land in the low‑ to mid‑six figures, and VP‑level SEO roles now commonly sit around 140,000 to 190,000 dollars or more.

Remote SEO jobs are still common but no longer dominant. Remote roles made up roughly half of SEO listings in early 2024, but that share has fallen to about one‑third as more employers push for hybrid or on‑site work, especially at larger companies.

In short: there are fewer open SEO roles than a year or two ago, but the roles that remain skew more senior, more strategic, and better paid, with remote work still available but more competitive.

How this report was put together (sources and methodology)

The picture above is based on aggregated data from several types of sources rather than a single survey. Recent SEO job market reports that track thousands of listings across major job boards were used to quantify changes in total listings, remote share, and the mix of content, technical, and leadership roles.

To understand salaries, this report cross‑references multiple compensation datasets that draw on employer‑reported pay ranges, HR benchmarking surveys, and self‑reported employee data. These include national averages and ranges for SEO specialists, analysts, strategists, technical SEO roles, and senior specialists, updated through late 2025.

Where different sources disagreed, midpoints and overlapping ranges were used rather than outliers. Figures are rounded to broad bands (for example, “around 60,000–85,000 dollars”) to reflect real‑world variation by city, company size, and industry.

Remote‑work estimates combine job‑report data that explicitly tracks remote vs hybrid vs on‑site SEO listings with broader salary and job‑board filters for “remote” SEO roles.

All numbers are focused on the United States and reflect the most recent data available as of December 2025.

Is the SEO job market growing or shrinking right now?

Overall, the SEO job market in late 2024 and 2025 is tightening in volume but upgrading in quality. There are fewer SEO job listings than a couple of years ago, yet demand is shifting toward more experienced, strategic and technical professionals rather than disappearing altogether.

Across multiple datasets, SEO job openings declined through 2024, with one large analysis reporting a drop of around one‑third in SEO listings year over year. At the same time, the broader digital marketing and SEO services markets are still projected to grow over the next few years, which suggests a restructuring of roles rather than a collapse in need.

In practical terms, this means:

More competition for each open SEO role.
Fewer “generic SEO specialist” and content‑only roles.
More openings that expect deeper technical, analytical or leadership skills.

So the SEO job market is shrinking in raw listings, but evolving toward higher‑skill, higher‑impact positions.

How SEO job listings have changed over the last 12–24 months

Over the last 12–24 months, several clear patterns have emerged in SEO job listings:

Total listings are down: One major report found SEO job postings fell roughly 30–37% between early 2023 and early 2024.
Mid‑level roles took the biggest hit: Entry‑level SEO roles were roughly flat, senior roles grew slightly, but mid‑level positions declined, reflecting automation of routine tasks and a “barbell” market focused on juniors and leaders.
Remote SEO jobs have dropped sharply: Remote roles went from about half of all SEO listings in early 2024 to roughly one‑third by the end of the year, as more employers pushed hybrid or on‑site work.

For job seekers, the last two years have felt like fewer openings, more requirements, and more candidates per role, especially in the United States and other mature markets.

Which types of SEO roles are declining the fastest

The steepest declines are concentrated in a few categories:

Content‑heavy SEO roles: Job titles focused on SEO content, content strategy, or SEO copywriting are down by about 28% year over year. Generative AI tools are handling more first‑draft content, so companies are hiring fewer people whose work is limited to writing and basic on‑page optimization.
SEO analyst and reporting roles: Listings for SEO analyst‑type titles have fallen by around 10–12%, as dashboards, built‑in platform reporting, and AI‑assisted analysis reduce the need for dedicated reporting staff.
Purely remote generalist roles: Many “work from anywhere” SEO jobs that were common in 2020–2022 have disappeared or been converted to hybrid, making fully remote generalist SEO positions much rarer.

These are the roles most exposed to automation and to employers consolidating responsibilities into broader digital marketing positions.

Where demand is holding steady or growing

Even with fewer total listings, some parts of the SEO job market are stable or expanding:

Leadership and management: Openings for SEO managers and heads of SEO have grown strongly, with some data showing increases of around 50–60% for manager and VP‑level titles in 2024. Companies still need humans to set strategy, manage teams, and integrate AI into workflows.
Technical and strategy‑focused SEO: While the number of technical SEO job titles dipped slightly, the share of postings that require technical SEO skills rose to roughly three‑quarters of all listings by late 2024. Demand is shifting from “SEO doer” to “SEO problem‑solver” who can work with developers, data, and complex sites.
Industry pockets of growth: Sectors like ecommerce, SaaS, healthcare, education and travel are increasing SEO hiring as search remains a primary acquisition channel.

Put simply: entry‑level and content‑only SEO roles are shrinking fastest, mid‑level generalists are under pressure, but senior, technical and strategic SEO roles are holding up or growing. If you can position yourself in those higher‑value segments, the market looks much healthier than the raw listing counts suggest.

What kinds of SEO roles are companies hiring for?

Breakdown by seniority: entry, mid‑level, senior and leadership

Across recent SEO job data, the market in 2025 is skewed toward experienced hires rather than pure beginners. Entry‑level SEO roles make up a minority of postings, often under a quarter of all listings in large U.S. metros. These junior roles usually carry titles like Junior SEO Specialist, SEO Coordinator or SEO Assistant and focus on execution: keyword research, on‑page updates, basic reporting and content optimization.

Mid‑level SEO roles are the backbone of the market. Multiple analyses show that most open positions sit in this band, where employers expect people who can run campaigns with limited supervision, own parts of the strategy and communicate results to stakeholders. Job titles here include SEO Specialist, SEO Analyst, SEO Strategist and SEO Manager.

Senior and leadership SEO roles have grown the fastest. Reports tracking thousands of postings found double‑digit growth in manager and VP‑level SEO roles, even while total listings fell. These jobs involve leading teams, setting organic growth strategy, managing budgets and aligning SEO with product and revenue goals. Titles range from Senior SEO Manager and Lead SEO up to Head of SEO, Director of SEO and VP of SEO.

Overall, the ladder looks like:

Entry: junior / assistant / coordinator
Mid: specialist / analyst / strategist / manager
Senior: senior specialist / senior manager / lead
Leadership: head, director, VP of SEO or organic growth

Most common job titles in today’s SEO market

When you scan current SEO job boards, a few titles appear again and again. Analyses of large job datasets show that “manager” and “specialist” are the most common words in SEO job titles, with frequent combinations like SEO Manager, Senior SEO Manager, SEO Specialist and Head of SEO.

On the execution side, you will often see:

SEO Specialist / SEO Analyst
Technical SEO Specialist
Content SEO Specialist or SEO Content Writer

On the strategy and leadership side, common titles include:

SEO Manager / Senior SEO Manager
SEO Strategist or Lead SEO
Head of SEO / Director of SEO
VP of SEO or VP of Organic Growth

There is also a slow rise in niche titles such as Ecommerce SEO Specialist, Local SEO Manager and AI SEO Specialist, reflecting demand for deeper expertise in specific channels and technologies.

In‑house vs agency vs freelance SEO opportunities

Companies are hiring SEO talent in three main ways: in‑house roles, agency positions and freelance or contract work.

Recent data suggests that agencies still employ a large share of SEO professionals globally, and in some datasets agency roles slightly outnumber in‑house postings. Agency SEO jobs tend to emphasize juggling multiple clients, working within a broader marketing team and hitting billable‑hours or retention targets. Titles like SEO Account Manager or SEO Consultant are common here.

In‑house SEO roles are concentrated in larger organizations. One major 2025 report found that about 90% of open SEO positions came from companies with more than 250 employees. These jobs usually focus on a single brand or product line, with deeper involvement in product, engineering and analytics. In‑house positions also tend to pay 10–20% more than agency roles at the same level, reflecting higher responsibility and closer ties to revenue.

Freelance and contract SEO work is a growing slice of the market. Analyses of job descriptions and recruiter commentary point to rising demand for contract‑based SEO help, especially among startups and agencies that need flexible capacity. Freelancers often operate under titles like SEO Consultant or SEO Contractor, and while income can vary widely, experienced consultants can match or exceed in‑house salaries by working with multiple clients or specializing in high‑value niches such as ecommerce or AI‑driven SEO.

SEO salaries in 2025: what people really earn

Typical salary ranges by role and seniority

SEO salaries in 2025 vary a lot by role, seniority and location, but there are some clear patterns in the U.S. market. The figures below reflect typical base salary ranges, not including bonuses or equity.

Entry‑level / Junior SEO specialist: Roughly $50,000 to $70,000 per year in most mid‑cost U.S. markets. In very competitive cities, starting offers can creep into the low 70s, while smaller markets may sit closer to the low 50s.
Mid‑level SEO (2–5 years’ experience): Common ranges fall around $70,000 to $95,000. People who can handle both on‑page and technical SEO, manage small projects, and report on performance tend to land in the upper half of this band.
Senior SEO / SEO Manager: Senior individual contributors and hands‑on managers typically earn $95,000 to $130,000. Those who own strategy for a full product line or large site, lead cross‑functional work, and mentor others are usually at or above six figures.
Head of SEO / Director‑level: For leadership roles that own the SEO function, U.S. salaries often sit between $130,000 and $180,000, with some large companies going higher when the role is tied to major revenue targets or manages a sizable team.
VP‑level or broader marketing leaders with deep SEO focus: These are less common, but when SEO is a core growth channel, total comp can move into the $180,000+ range, especially when bonuses and equity are included.

These are broad ranges, so real offers will shift up or down based on cost of living, company size, and how directly the role is tied to revenue.

How pay compares between in‑house, agency and freelance

In‑house SEO salaries are usually the most stable and often the highest on a base‑pay basis, especially from mid‑level upward. Companies that rely heavily on organic search tend to pay a premium for experienced in‑house SEOs who can work closely with product, engineering and content teams.

Agency SEO roles often start a bit lower on base pay, especially at junior and mid‑levels, because agencies manage margins across many clients. However, agencies sometimes offer faster title progression, exposure to many industries, and performance bonuses tied to billable hours or client retention. Senior agency strategists and account leads can still reach low‑ to mid‑six‑figure salaries, but the ceiling is usually below top in‑house leadership roles.

Freelance and consulting SEO work has the widest range. Many part‑time or early‑career freelancers effectively earn the equivalent of $40,000 to $70,000 per year. Established consultants with strong case studies, a niche focus, or retainer‑based clients can earn the equivalent of $120,000+, and some significantly more. The trade‑off is income volatility, unpaid time for sales and admin, and the need to handle your own benefits and taxes.

In short:

At the same skill level, in‑house usually wins on predictable salary and benefits.
Agencies can be slightly lower on pay but higher on learning speed and variety.
Freelance/consulting can pay the most per hour once you are established, but with more risk and responsibility.

Cities, states and regions paying the highest SEO salaries

In 2025, the highest SEO salaries in the U.S. still cluster in major tech and media hubs, though remote work has softened the gap a bit. Adjusted for typical offers (not cost of living), you tend to see the strongest pay in:

West Coast tech hubs: Areas like the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle often post the top salary bands, especially for senior and leadership SEO roles at large tech companies and high‑growth startups. Six‑figure offers are common from mid‑level upward.
Northeast corridor: New York City and Boston remain strong for SEO salaries, driven by ecommerce, finance, media and SaaS. Senior SEO managers and heads of SEO in these markets frequently land in the low‑ to mid‑six‑figure range.
Select high‑growth metros: Cities such as Austin, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles and parts of South Florida show competitive pay, especially for in‑house roles at fast‑growing digital brands and agencies serving national clients.
Remote‑first companies: Some remote‑first employers now offer “location‑light” or national bands for SEO roles. That means a strong SEO specialist living in a lower‑cost state can sometimes earn a salary closer to what used to be reserved for coastal cities, especially at mid‑senior levels.

Smaller cities and rural areas often post lower salary ranges, but the gap is not as extreme as it once was, thanks to remote and hybrid hiring. For many SEOs, the best overall package now comes from combining a strong national‑level salary with a moderate cost of living rather than chasing the very highest nominal pay in the most expensive cities.

Remote SEO jobs, hybrid work and on‑site expectations

Remote SEO work is still common in 2025, but the market has clearly shifted from “remote by default” to “flexible by negotiation.” Most employers now treat location and office time as part of the overall package, not a given perk.

Across major US job boards, SEO roles break down roughly into three buckets:

Remote SEO jobs: A meaningful minority of listings are still fully remote, but they are no longer the majority. Many of these roles are with distributed digital‑first companies, agencies that serve clients nationwide, or SaaS and ecommerce brands that built remote teams during 2020–2022 and kept them.
Hybrid SEO roles: Hybrid has become the default for mid‑size and large organizations. Typical patterns are 2–3 days per week in the office, with some flexibility for senior staff. Employers often tie hybrid expectations to collaboration needs with product, dev and content teams.
On‑site SEO roles: Purely on‑site SEO jobs are now concentrated in traditional industries, local businesses, and some agencies that rely heavily on in‑person creative or sales culture. These roles are more common in smaller cities and regions where remote hiring is less established.

For a job seeker, this means you will usually see more hybrid than fully remote options, especially at higher salary bands or in leadership roles.

How remote SEO hiring has changed since 2020

In 2020 and 2021, remote SEO jobs surged as companies rushed to move marketing online and adopted fully distributed teams. Since around 2023, several trends have reshaped that picture:

Many large companies introduced return‑to‑office policies, converting what were once remote SEO roles into hybrid ones.
New headcount is often opened as “remote‑friendly within certain states or time zones” rather than anywhere in the world, to simplify payroll, tax and collaboration.
Some employers now reserve fully remote status for hard‑to‑hire specialties (for example, advanced technical SEO or analytics‑heavy roles) while expecting more junior staff to be near an office.

The net result in 2025: remote SEO hiring is still strong compared with pre‑2020, but the easy, location‑agnostic remote roles are rarer and more competitive.

What employers expect from remote and hybrid SEO hires

When companies do hire remote or hybrid SEOs, they expect more than just technical skills. Common themes in job descriptions and interviews include:

High communication standards. Clear written updates, structured reporting, and comfort presenting results over video are now baseline expectations.
Self‑management and reliability. Employers look for people who can prioritize work, hit deadlines, and flag risks without constant oversight, since managers may not see you in person often.
Overlap with core working hours. Even in “remote” SEO jobs, many companies require several shared hours with the main office time zone for stand‑ups, sprint planning and cross‑team work.
Proactive collaboration. Remote and hybrid SEOs are expected to build strong relationships with developers, content teams and stakeholders using async tools, not wait for hallway conversations.
Security and professionalism at home. Stable internet, a private workspace for client or stakeholder calls, and basic data‑security awareness are often mentioned, even if informally.

If you want a remote or hybrid SEO role, it helps to show concrete examples of how you have worked effectively across time zones, managed complex projects without in‑person supervision, and kept communication tight while still delivering measurable organic growth.

Skills and tools employers want from SEO candidates now

Core technical, content and strategy skills that appear in job ads

Recent SEO job ads lean heavily on three pillars: technical SEO, content and on‑page optimization, and strategy plus analytics.

On the technical side, employers consistently ask for experience with crawling and indexing issues, XML sitemaps, structured data, Core Web Vitals, and site architecture. Skills like fixing indexation problems in Search Console, improving page speed, and implementing schema markup show up again and again in SEO specialist and manager roles.

Content and on‑page SEO skills are just as prominent. Job descriptions almost always mention keyword research, search intent analysis, content optimization, internal linking, and updating existing content. In one analysis of SEO specialist listings, over two‑thirds referenced on‑page or content optimization as a core responsibility.

Strategy and analytics tie everything together. Employers want people who can interpret GA4 and Search Console data, spot trends, build dashboards, and turn insights into a roadmap. Analytical skills and “data‑driven decision‑making” are among the most frequently cited soft‑plus‑hard skill combos, often listed alongside stakeholder communication and the ability to explain SEO to non‑SEOs.

How often AI, analytics and coding skills are mentioned

Mentions of analytics tools are now close to universal. Multiple analyses of SEO job descriptions show that experience with web analytics is requested in roughly 80–90 percent of postings, with GA4 and Search Console named most often.

AI skills are newer but rising fast. Industry hiring reports for 2025 note that AI tools and AI‑assisted workflows are now explicitly referenced in a growing share of SEO roles, and broader labor‑market data shows AI‑related keywords in job ads up double digits year over year. In SEO, that usually means being able to use AI for research, content drafts, clustering, and reporting, while still applying human judgment.

Basic coding skills are requested less often than analytics but still appear regularly, especially in technical SEO and senior roles. HTML and CSS are the most common asks, with JavaScript, SQL, and sometimes Python mentioned as “nice to have” for deeper analysis and automation. One 2025 report highlights these languages as the top programming skills that boost SEO earning potential.

Certifications, degrees and other credentials that actually help

Most SEO job ads in 2025 are flexible about formal education. Recent analyses of postings show that well over half do not require a specific degree, and only a minority insist on a bachelor’s, with master’s requirements being rare. Employers tend to prioritize hands‑on experience, a portfolio, and clear results over academic credentials.

That said, some credentials do help:

Platform certifications in analytics and ads (for example, GA4 or similar) are often listed as “preferred” and can signal you are comfortable with data.
Recognized SEO or digital marketing courses from reputable providers can be a plus, especially for early‑career candidates, when paired with real projects.
AI and data‑related certificates are becoming more valuable as employers look for proof that you can use modern tools responsibly and effectively. Broader job‑market research shows rising demand for AI literacy and data skills across roles, including marketing.

Overall, credentials open doors, but the strongest signal in SEO hiring right now is still a mix of demonstrable skills, clear case studies, and the ability to talk through your process using real data.

How AI and automation are changing SEO careers

Which SEO tasks are being automated or offloaded to AI

AI is not replacing SEO as a discipline, but it is stripping out a lot of the repetitive work that used to fill an SEO’s week. Surveys in 2024 and 2025 show that a large majority of SEO professionals now use AI tools in their workflows and report saving many hours per week as a result.

The SEO tasks most commonly automated or heavily assisted by AI include:

Content ideation and drafting. Models can generate topic ideas, outlines, first drafts, FAQs and meta descriptions at scale. Many teams now treat AI as a “junior copywriter” whose work always needs editing.
On‑page optimization. Tools analyze top‑ranking pages and suggest headings, word counts, entities, internal links and semantic coverage, turning what used to be manual comparison into a guided checklist.
Keyword and intent research. Machine learning systems cluster queries, infer intent and surface gaps faster than manual spreadsheet work.
Technical checks and monitoring. Crawlers now use AI to flag likely issues, group similar problems and even propose fixes, reducing the time spent combing through logs.
Reporting and forecasting. AI can summarize performance, generate narrative reports and run predictive models that estimate traffic shifts or algorithm impacts.

In short, AI is eating the low‑judgment, pattern‑based parts of SEO: bulk content, rote audits, and basic analysis. What remains valuable is deciding what to do, why it matters, and how to execute it in a specific business context.

Roles that are most protected from AI vs most exposed

Roles built around repeatable production are the most exposed. These include:

SEO content writers who mainly produce generic blog posts or product descriptions.
Junior “checklist” SEOs who only run tools, export reports and follow fixed playbooks.

As AI content and automation tools improve, employers are already putting downward pressure on these roles and expecting fewer people to produce more output.

By contrast, roles that combine SEO with strategy, cross‑functional influence and deep problem‑solving are the most protected and, in many cases, gaining value:

SEO strategists and leads who align search with revenue, product and brand.
Technical SEOs who can diagnose complex crawling, rendering and site architecture issues and translate them into engineering work. Surveys show most technical SEOs do not see AI as a direct threat to their jobs.
SEO + UX / product hybrids who design search experiences across websites, apps and AI search surfaces.
E‑E‑A‑T and brand authority specialists who build trust signals, digital PR and authoritative coverage that AI search systems rely on.

These roles depend on judgment, negotiation, creativity, and understanding messy real‑world constraints. AI can support them, but it cannot replace the human context they require.

Practical ways SEOs are adapting their skills to stay in demand

The SEOs who are thriving in 2025 are not competing against AI; they are learning to manage it and build on top of it. Common adaptation patterns include:

Becoming an AI‑augmented operator. People are learning how to design prompts, build reusable workflows and chain tools together so they can research, draft and test ideas much faster while still owning quality control. Surveys of digital roles show employers increasingly expect baseline AI fluency rather than treating it as a bonus skill.
Moving up the value chain into strategy. Instead of focusing only on rankings, SEOs are tying their work to pipeline, revenue and customer lifetime value. That means learning analytics, experimentation, and basic business finance so they can argue for budgets and influence roadmaps.
Specializing where AI is weakest. Many professionals are leaning into areas that still need strong human input, such as:

Complex technical SEO and site migrations
Local SEO with real‑world nuance and reputation management
Brand storytelling, thought leadership and expert‑driven content that requires lived experience

Designing for AI search, not just traditional SERPs. With AI search and “answer engines” growing fast, advanced SEOs are learning how generative systems choose and cite sources, then shaping content and digital PR to be favored in those answers.
Investing in durable human skills. Communication, stakeholder management, leadership and critical thinking are becoming as important as tool skills. Broader workforce studies show employers rating these “human skills” alongside technical AI abilities as they redesign roles.

If you treat AI as a collaborator that handles the grunt work while you focus on insight, relationships and decisions, your SEO career is more likely to grow with automation instead of being squeezed by it.

Where the SEO jobs are: industries and company sizes hiring

Enterprise vs small business demand for SEO talent

SEO hiring in 2025 is being driven most strongly by larger organizations, but small businesses still create a big share of opportunities. Recent job market data shows that around 90% of open SEO roles are at companies with more than 250 employees, which are the most likely to fund dedicated SEO teams and leadership positions.

Enterprises in tech, SaaS and large ecommerce brands often employ teams of 4–7 SEO specialists, with separate roles for technical SEO, content, and strategy. These companies tend to hire for more senior and specialized positions and are also the main source of new VP, director and head‑of‑SEO roles.

Small and mid‑sized businesses, on the other hand, usually hire one generalist SEO or a small blended marketing team where one person “owns” organic search. Almost half of small businesses with in‑house SEO rely on a single specialist, and many still prefer to outsource to agencies instead of building a full team.

In practice, this means: if you want depth, specialization and clearer career ladders, enterprise SEO is where most of those jobs sit. If you prefer variety and broader marketing exposure, small business roles still exist, but there are fewer of them and they are more likely to be hybrid “SEO + marketing” positions.

Sectors with the strongest current hiring (ecommerce, SaaS, agencies, etc.)

Across industries, three areas stand out for SEO hiring right now: ecommerce, SaaS/tech, and marketing agencies.

Fresh data suggests ecommerce companies account for roughly a quarter of all SEO job listings, as rising ad costs push retailers to rely more on organic traffic. Fashion, electronics and healthcare ecommerce are especially active in the United States.

SaaS and broader tech firms have seen SEO hiring grow by more than 30 percent, with a strong tilt toward technical SEO and product‑led growth skills. These companies often look for people who can work closely with product and engineering teams, not just marketing.

Agencies still employ the single largest share of SEO professionals worldwide. Recent industry statistics show that marketing and SEO agencies serve mostly small and mid‑sized business clients and continue to expand headcount as more companies outsource SEO.

Beyond those three, several “quiet” sectors are ramping up SEO hiring:

Healthcare and medical services, as patients search for providers and information online.
Finance and legal, where competition for high‑value search terms is intense.
Education and e‑learning, driven by online course platforms and universities competing for enrollments.

If you are choosing a niche, ecommerce and SaaS offer the most obvious volume of SEO jobs, while regulated sectors like finance and healthcare can be very stable once you build experience there.

What the data shows about company size and SEO headcount

When you look at SEO headcount by company size, a clear pattern appears:

Startups and very small businesses (under ~50 employees) Often have no formal SEO team. If they hire, it is usually one SEO generalist or a part‑time contractor. Many rely entirely on agencies or freelancers.
Mid‑sized companies (50–250 employees) Are the most likely to be “in transition.” They may have one to three in‑house SEO specialists, sometimes embedded in a broader marketing team, and still partner with agencies for link building or technical audits.
Large enterprises (250–1,000+ employees) Typically maintain structured SEO teams. Global corporations often report 4–7 in‑house SEO professionals, and only a small minority have more than 10 dedicated SEOs. These teams are more likely to include managers, technical leads and analysts, not just “SEO specialists.”

Recent job‑market reports also show that most open SEO roles now come from larger organizations, which are investing in strategy, technical SEO and AI‑driven experimentation.

For your own planning, this means that as company size grows, SEO headcount and specialization grow with it. If you want access to multi‑person SEO teams, mentorship and clearer progression paths, targeting mid‑sized and enterprise employers will usually give you more options than very small businesses.

What this means for your SEO career plans

How to read this report if you’re early‑career in SEO

If you are in your first few years of SEO, treat this report as a map, not a verdict on your future. Start by looking at three things: which SEO roles are actually being hired, which skills show up again and again in job ads, and what the realistic salary bands look like for junior and mid‑level roles.

Use that information to narrow your focus. Instead of trying to “learn everything in SEO,” pick a core lane that the data shows is in steady demand, such as technical SEO, content SEO for product or ecommerce, or analytics‑heavy roles. Then build a simple plan: one or two skills to deepen each quarter, plus one portfolio project that proves those skills in the real world.

Pay close attention to how often employers mention AI tools, analytics platforms and cross‑functional collaboration. That tells you what to practice in real workflows, not just in theory. Finally, use the salary and location data as guardrails. If an offer is far below the typical range for your level and region, that is a signal to negotiate or keep looking, not a sign that you are “lucky to get anything.”

What mid‑level SEOs should focus on in the next 12 months

If you are already mid‑career, the report is most useful as a reality check on where the market is moving. Look at which mid‑level titles are growing, which industries are hiring, and how often strategy, ownership and cross‑channel skills appear in those postings. That is your cue to shift from “executor” to “owner.”

Over the next 12 months, focus on three areas:

Business impact: Get very good at tying SEO work to revenue, pipeline, or cost savings. The more you can speak in numbers that matter to leadership, the safer your role is.
Systems and automation: Where the data shows AI and automation are touching SEO tasks, learn to design and supervise those systems instead of competing with them at a task level.
Breadth without dilution: Strengthen one or two adjacent skills that show up often in job ads, such as CRO, content strategy, or basic scripting for automation, so you can operate as a T‑shaped marketer.

Use the salary benchmarks to see whether you are underpaid for your level and responsibilities. If you are significantly below the median for similar roles, that is a prompt to either negotiate with clear market data or prepare a move to a company that values your scope.

Adjusting your strategy if you’re targeting senior or leadership roles

For senior and leadership paths, read the report less as “what skills do I need” and more as “what kinds of problems are companies actually hiring leaders to solve.” Look at the roles with director, head of SEO or VP‑level titles and note patterns: ownership of multi‑market strategy, integration with paid and product, responsibility for forecasting and reporting to executives.

Your strategy should shift toward:

Owning the SEO function, not just the channel: Build experience setting vision, defining roadmaps, and prioritizing trade‑offs across technical, content and product work.
Managing people and stakeholders: The data on team size and company type can guide you. If most leadership roles sit in larger organizations, seek chances to manage even a small team, mentor juniors, and work closely with product, engineering and finance.
Speaking the language of the C‑suite: Use the salary and headcount data to understand how SEO fits into broader marketing budgets. Practice building business cases, forecasts and post‑mortems that a non‑SEO executive can understand in a few minutes.

If the report shows slower growth in pure “SEO director” roles but stronger demand for broader “growth” or “digital strategy” leaders with deep SEO experience, adjust your branding accordingly. Position yourself as a leader who uses SEO as a core lever inside a wider growth toolkit, rather than as someone who only optimizes rankings.

How to use the SEO Jobs Report in your job search

Benchmarking salary offers against the current market

Treat this SEO Jobs Report as your personal reality check before you say yes to any offer. Start by matching the role in front of you to the closest band: entry, mid‑level, senior or leadership. For example, recent U.S. data puts many entry‑level SEO roles in the roughly 45,000–65,000 dollar range, mid‑level roles around 60,000–90,000, and senior or lead positions often stretching from the high 80s into six figures, with director‑level SEO roles going well above 120,000 dollars in strong markets.

Next, adjust for context. Big tech hubs and enterprise companies usually pay 20–40 percent more than national averages, while smaller markets and very small businesses may sit 10–20 percent lower. If a “Senior SEO Specialist” in San Francisco comes in below a typical mid‑level national range, that is a sign to negotiate or walk away.

Use at least two external salary sources plus this report’s ranges to build a target band, then decide in advance what you consider:

a great offer (top third of the band),
an acceptable offer (middle),
a deal‑breaker (bottom or below, with no strong benefits or growth).

This makes your response to offers calm and data‑driven instead of emotional.

Spotting red flags in SEO job descriptions

The SEO Jobs Report can also help you decode job ads. Compare what the listing asks for with what similar roles usually include. Watch for:

Title–responsibility mismatch: “SEO Specialist” expected to own analytics, CRO, paid search, email, dev project management and copywriting for multiple brands, but paid like a junior.
Vague success metrics: No mention of realistic KPIs, timeframes or support. Phrases like “massive growth quickly” without budget or resources often mean pressure without power.
No mention of tools or data access: Modern SEO roles should reference analytics, crawling, testing or BI tools. If everything is “gut feel” and “creative,” you may be fighting uphill.
AI as a replacement, not a helper: If the ad leans on AI to “do all the content” yet still expects you to guarantee rankings, that is a sign leadership does not understand SEO or risk.

When you see several of these at once, treat the listing with caution, even if the salary looks tempting.

Turning these trends into a concrete upskilling plan

Use the trends in this report as a roadmap for what to learn next, not just interesting trivia. A simple way to turn it into an upskilling plan:

Pick one technical skill, one strategic skill and one AI/analytics skill that show up often in current SEO job ads. For many people, that might be:

technical SEO for JavaScript or large sites,
forecasting and reporting to leadership,
using AI to speed up research, briefs and testing rather than just writing copy.

Map each skill to a 90‑day project you can show in a portfolio: a site audit, a content growth experiment, a migration, or a dashboard that ties SEO to revenue.
Align your targets with the roles that are growing, not shrinking. Data from recent SEO job reports shows leadership and more strategic roles increasing, while some routine content roles decline as AI takes over repetitive tasks.
Update your resume and LinkedIn around outcomes, not tasks. Tie your new skills to traffic, revenue, lead quality or efficiency gains.

By using the SEO Jobs Report this way, you are not just reacting to the market. You are steering your career toward the parts of SEO that are still in high demand and better paid.