The future looks bright for in-house SEO professionals, despite coming out of a long period of uncertainty with frequent algorithm changes and layoffs. Recent trends show that businesses are increasingly looking to integrate SEO into their broader marketing efforts, and in-house SEO pros are commanding competitive salaries. But that doesn’t mean the industry is without its setbacks – in-house SEO professionals still face a unique set of challenges within the field.
We’ve gathered information from SEO professionals like you on topics such as:
Are you an in-house SEO professional? Do you want to know how to set your team up for success in the coming year? If so, you need to check out Search Engine Journal's "State of SEO In-House" report.
This report is based on a survey of over 500 in-house SEO professionals. It covers a variety of topics, including salaries, budgets, new business strategies, success metrics, and ROI.
Here are some of the top insights from the report:
- Competition is high for experienced in-house SEO professionals who earn high salaries.
- In-house SEO professionals face unique challenges in their roles within larger companies.
- Leads are not well understood, and proving ROI can be difficult.
When it comes to budgets, more than 50% of respondents said they worked with budgets of $5,000 or less. Beyond that, budgets for in-house SEO teams vary considerably. For example, while business-to-business (B2B) in-house teams had an average budget of $2,628.54, business-to-consumer (B2C) and ecommerce teams had almost $1,000 more to work with.
The top 5 areas where in-house SEO professionals dedicated their spending were: on-page SEO, content marketing, technical SEO, web development, and link building.
According to survey results, 73.8% of in-house SEO professionals experienced an increase in ROI for their efforts this year. However, many say they struggled with things like strategy issues, alignment with other departments, scaling their strategies, and the biggest obstacle - a lack of resources.
If you're an in-house SEO professional, it's time to start planning your next move. With our State of SEO: In-House Report, you'll have all the data you need at your fingertips.
The report shows that 21.0% of in-house SEO practitioners noted resource limitations as a major challenge. Other challenges include a lack of budget (19.6%), a lack of understanding from management (16.4%), and a lack of buy-in from other departments (14.1%).
To inform your strategy for next year, read the exclusive report to discover more about the current state of in-house SEO.