P.J. Fusco, writer for Clickz, replied to an email sent by a reader who asked “What’s considered a typical salary range for non-management and management positions in the SEM industry?”

Because SEM is still a new industry, it’s true that there’s a lack of information regarding salaries. That often causes people to wonder if their salaries match with what other earn. Of course, salaries are mainly justified by experience but it’s a good to know the tendency in the SEM job market.

P.J. said that entry level positions tend to range from $30,000 to $45,000. With 3 to 5 years of experience, she thinks that people can earn from $50,000 to $70,000, and even up to $90,000 if you are amongst the most tenured SEOs.

Senior Management Positions are able to earn up to $120,000.

She concludes her article by saying that money isn’t the most important, but rather how much you enjoy your work. I agree, if you’re all about the money, you can make more money elsewhere, SEO/M is more about providing quality, achieving great results and is also a very exciting job and our industry is very diversified and full of fun!