The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), http://www.sempo.org/, today announced top line findings from its first-ever survey of in-house SEM job salary compensation. I had a chance to chat with Duane Forrester, co-chair of SEMPO's in house committee, about the findings from the survey.


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A cross section of global entry level, mid and upper level, in-house managers and in-house analysts completed the online survey during the fall of 2007. There were 656 completed surveys, a strong market response to this inaugural project.  The survey was open to all in-house SEM professionals - working in organic or paid search. SEMPO membership was not a requirement to take the survey.

Below are the questions I posed to Duane Forrester:

  • What was the motivation behind doing the survey?
  • Can you talk a little bit about the demographics of the survey: experience, position etc...
  • Were you surprised to see individuals are already measuring budgets of over $200,000 monthly?
  • Do you have any thoughts on what you see in future trends in-terms of in house SEO - specifically regarding salaries and the amount of companies bringing SEO in house?
  • What is the likelihood of a person being able to get a 6 figure job in Search Marketing?




Comments (3)

This was an interesting post. A big question I've had as I've been looking at the move from e-business over traditional personal business is the death of customer relations. We do this great analysis, which is of course useful in certain ways, but what are these search engine companies doing for objectivity, ease of use, and other problems facing e-business. I recently read a book
by the President of MindShare, and analytics company that focuses on customer service for both e- and traditional businesses. It offered some interesting insights.

Manoj,

Great post! I'm also seeing more specialized SEM/SEO roles. There seem to be a lot of niche opportunities out there.

This is great stuff Manoj - I just posted the data from my own survey that had just over 1000 responses from in-house and agency SEO's. Do you have a link to SEMPO's results I can add to my post?

Jenn

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About the Author

Manoj Jasra is currently a Sr. Analyst at Shaw Communications Inc. Prior to Shaw, Manoj was the Director of Technology and Sr. Strategist at Enquiro Search Solutions. He has been in the Search Marketing Industry since 2002, since then, his learning in marketing and business strategies as they relate to online has led him to become an expert in Search Marketing/Web Analytics, providing consultation and implementation strategies for clients. Manoj frequently writes in his blog about the latest in the Web Analytics and SEM Industry.

Manoj Jasra is currently a Sr. Analyst at Shaw Communications Inc. Prior to Shaw, Manoj was the Director of Technology and Sr. Strategist at Enquiro Search Solutions. He has been in the Search Marketing Industry since 2002, since then, his learning in marketing and business strategies as they relate to online has led him to become an expert in Search Marketing/Web Analytics, providing consultation and implementation strategies for clients. Manoj frequently writes in his blog about the latest in the Web Analytics and SEM Industry.