Search Marketing Strategists
Marketing, Sales and ServiceO*NET 13-1161.01United States
Employ search marketing tactics to increase visibility and engagement with content, products, or services in Internet-enabled devices or interfaces. Examine search query behaviors on general or specialty search engines or other Internet-based content.
- Median annual earnings
- $77,677
- Projected change
- +10.1%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 965.12K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
47.8% of the workforce
Growing to 1.06M by 2035
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The work
What search marketing strategists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Participate in the development or implementation of online marketing strategy.
- Collect and analyze Web metrics, such as visits, time on site, page views per visit, transaction volume and revenue, traffic mix, click-through rates, conversion rates, cost per acquisition, or cost per click.
- Manage tracking and reporting of search-related activities and provide analyses to marketing executives.
- Optimize digital assets, such as text, graphics, or multimedia assets, for search engine optimization (SEO) or for display and usability on internet-connected devices.
- Optimize Web site exposure by analyzing search engine patterns to direct online placement of keywords or other content.
- Coordinate with developers to optimize Web site architecture, server configuration, or page construction for search engine consumption and optimal visibility.
- Assist in setting up or optimizing analytics tools for tracking visitors' behaviors.
- Create content strategies for digital media.
- Identify appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and report key metrics from digital campaigns.
- Combine secondary data sources with keyword research to more accurately profile and satisfy user intent.
- Collaborate with other marketing staff to integrate and complement marketing strategies across multiple sales channels.
- Optimize shopping cart experience or Web site conversion rates against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
- Improve search-related activities through ongoing analysis, experimentation, or optimization tests, using A/B or multivariate methods.
- Conduct online marketing initiatives, such as paid ad placement, affiliate programs, sponsorship programs, email promotions, or viral marketing campaigns on social media Web sites.
- Conduct market research analysis to identify search query trends, real-time search and news media activity, popular social media topics, electronic commerce trends, market opportunities, or competitor performance.
- Propose online or multiple-sales-channel campaigns to marketing executives.
- Communicate and collaborate with merchants, Webmasters, bloggers, or online editors to strategically place hyperlinks.
- Evaluate new emerging media or technologies and make recommendations for their application within Internet marketing or search marketing campaigns.
- Identify, evaluate, or procure hardware or software for implementing online marketing campaigns.
- Collaborate with Web, multimedia, or art design staffs to create multimedia Web sites or other internet content that conforms to brand and company visual format.
- Keep abreast of government regulations and emerging Web technology to ensure regulatory compliance by reviewing current literature, talking with colleagues, participating in educational programs, attending meetings or workshops, or participating in professional organizations or conferences.
- Purchase or negotiate placement of listings in local search engines, directories, or digital mapping technologies.
- Coordinate sales or other promotional strategies with merchandising, operations, or inventory control staff to ensure product catalogs are current, accurate, and organized for best findability against user intent.
- Execute or manage social media campaigns to inform search marketing tactics.
- Conduct financial modeling for online marketing programs or Web site revenue forecasting.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $41,944
- 25th percentile
- $57,051
- 50th percentile
- $77,677
- 75th percentile
- $108,995
- 90th percentile
- $161,145
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $77,677 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+10.1%faster than average
2025965,124 jobs
2035 projected1,062,282 jobs
97,158 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 47.8%
- Associate degree
- 21.7%
- Some college
- 17.4%
- Certificate
- 8.7%
- High school diploma or less
- 4.4%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Search Engine Optimization Managers611 postings
- 02Search Engine Optimization Specialists565 postings
- 03Search Engine Optimization Analysts371 postings
- 04Research Engineers295 postings
- 05Search Engine Optimization Strategists263 postings
- 06Directors of Search Engine Optimization222 postings
- 07Google Specialists192 postings
- 08Paid Search Managers150 postings
- 09Paid Search Specialists131 postings
- 10Search Engine Optimization Content Specialists115 postings
- 11Paid Media Managers104 postings
- 12Paid Media Specialists103 postings
- 13Search Engine Optimization Marketing Specialists99 postings
- 14Growth Marketing Managers80 postings
- 15Paid Media Strategists77 postings
- 16Paid Search Analysts66 postings
- 17Digital Media Marketing Managers65 postings
- 18Digital Marketing Managers62 postings
- 19Paid Search Associates55 postings
- 20Directors of Website51 postings
Top employers
- 01Accenture123 postings
- 02Beacon Hill Staffing Group114 postings
- 03Publicis Groupe114 postings
- 04Robert Half103 postings
- 05Directive102 postings
- 06Google55 postings
- 07Merck & Co.54 postings
- 08Freeman48 postings
- 09Apple47 postings
- 10Dodge Construction Network47 postings
- 11Jobgether44 postings
- 12Directive Consulting41 postings
- 13Autodesk33 postings
- 14Amazon32 postings
- 15Scribd32 postings
- 16Blue Tent Marketing30 postings
- 17Brainlabs.29 postings
- 18Citigroup29 postings
- 1924 Seven26 postings
- 20Advance Local26 postings
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