In-house search marketers are doing quite well financially, according to salary survey results released by SEMPO today. Respondents reported a wide range of salaries, from virtually minimum wage to those exceeding several hundred thousand dollars per year, with the average falling in the $60-70,000 range. And not surprisingly, experience was a factor in how much search marketers earned.

“While there are a good number of six figure salaries people need to understand all the salary levels represent reality,” said Duane Forrester, co-chair of SEMPO’s In-House SEM Committee and Lead SEO Program Manager with Microsoft. “SEMs need to be realistic about their careers and plan as they would for any viable career opportunity,” says Forrester. “On the other hand, if you’re ready for a six figure job, go get it! There are a lot of good jobs out there.”

Another key finding was that roughly one third of SEMs are managing monthly budgets in excess of $200,000. “We anticipated a lower ceiling of monthly spend closer to the $100,000 range so we were pleasantly surprised,” said Forrester.

More salary and budget findings from the survey can be found on the SEMPO website.

Related Topics: SEM Industry: In House | Stats: General

About The Author: Chris Sherman (@CJSherman) is Executive Editor of SearchEngineLand.com and President of Searchwise LLC, a Boulder Colorado based Web consulting firm. He also programs and co-chairs the Search Marketing Expo - SMX conference series. See more articles by Chris Sherman