How Much Do SEO Consultants Make?

With the rise of remote working, SEO consultants are in high demand, as companies strive to keep their web traffic high and their websites in top working order.

While the nature of SEO consultant positions can vary widely from one company to another, SEO consultants can often command high salaries depending on the nature of their expertise.

What Is an SEO Consultant?

There’s no one answer to this question. Still, an SEO consultant is in charge of making sure a company’s website is “optimized,” using a set of practices referred to as “search engine optimization” or “SEO.”

An SEO consultant monitors the traffic to and from a website and keeps the website in top working order so the business can profit and succeed.   

Explaining what an SEO consultant does is challenging because the nature of an SEO consultant position can vary widely from one company to another. 

A Squarespace website selling Nike sneakers and a brick-and-mortar dog-washing business will need to worry about their respective SEO footprints. They will need to worry in very different ways and would probably hire two very different SEO consultants.  

Job Duties Of An SEO Consultant

• Gather data and prepare detailed strategies for a company to improve its ranking strategies
• Monitor websites and make suggestions for improvement across a variety of areas 
• Identify primary and LSI keywords that will generate traffic
• Creating short and long-term strategies to generate web traffic
• Write in-house SEO guidelines for a company or agency 
• Use SEO knowledge to gather intelligence on competitors 

Location Is a Factor for SEO Consultant Pay 

The answer to the question “how much money do SEO consultants make” varies widely from one city to another. It is no surprise that you can find the cities with the highest SEO salaried clustered near West Coast tech hubs. 

According to ZipRecruiter’s latest data, the average nationwide salary for an SEO consultant is $69,499.

The top three cities with the highest-paid SEO consultant positions are all in northern California. SEO consultants in Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Fremont can expect to make just over $80,000 a year. 

SEO consultants in locations with dense concentrations of government or military jobs can also expect to make salaries that are also considerably higher than the national average.

SEO consultants in Wasilla or Tanaina, Alaska, can expect to make $78,000 a year. An SEO consultant in Alexandria, Virginia, would make roughly the same amount.   

SEO Consultant Pay Depends on the Position 

The other factor that determines how much money SEO consultants make is the nature of the position.

An entry-level SEO consultant could expect to make around $70,000 a year or higher in some locations while paying for executive or director-level SEO positions requiring more advanced expertise to pay between $110,000 to $130,000 annually. 

SEO Consultants Are in High Demand

While SEO consultant pay can vary widely depending on the nature of the position, SEO consultants are in high demand in many areas of the country. They can earn high salaries with good long-term industry prospects.  

Final Thoughts

If you’re considering a career in SEO, you’ll want to start by learning as much as possible about how SEO works! Check out our blog to learn more about search engine optimization.