Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring SEO skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 9 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 315 300 505
Rank change year-on-year -15 +205 +30
Permanent jobs citing SEO 548 454 437
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.60% 1.03% 0.41%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.82% 1.11% 0.50%
Number of salaries quoted 383 217 362
10th Percentile £28,500 £28,600 £25,500
25th Percentile £32,500 £31,250 £29,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £40,000 £36,000
Median % change year-on-year +12.50% +11.11% -15.29%
75th Percentile £51,643 £59,000 £48,750
90th Percentile £59,750 £70,834 £59,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £42,500 £38,500 £35,000
% change year-on-year +10.39% +10.00% -12.50%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

SEO falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 66,949 41,023 87,141
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 72.83% 92.72% 82.59%
Number of salaries quoted 45,661 21,815 61,905
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,000 £29,500
25th Percentile £41,250 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.54%
75th Percentile £78,750 £77,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £50,055 £50,000
% change year-on-year +4.89% +0.11% -9.09%

SEO
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing SEO relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

SEO job vacancy trend in the UK

SEO
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SEO.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SEO

SEO
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing SEO over the 6 months to 9 June 2026.

Salary histogram for SEO in the UK

SEO
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing SEO within the UK over the 6 months to 9 June 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -16 438 £45,000 +12.50% 135
UK excluding London -17 328 £42,500 +10.39% 114
Work from Home +1 189 £45,000 +11.11% 81
London -57 127 £47,050 -21.58% 36
South East +7 99 £47,500 +26.67% 28
North of England -11 71 £32,500 -23.53% 40
Midlands -23 45 £35,000 -6.67% 20
North West +6 35 £30,000 -25.00% 20
East of England +3 35 £36,000 +6.67% 16
South West -45 35 £46,421 +11.86% 6
Yorkshire -21 26 £37,500 -33.04% 12
West Midlands -21 23 £42,500 +13.33% 11
East Midlands -25 22 £30,000 -14.29% 9
Northern Ireland -17 21 £45,000 - 4
Wales -25 20 £53,171 -11.38% 1
North East -35 10 £35,000 -5.02% 9
Scotland -10 2 £55,707 +31.08% 3

SEO
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 113 (20.62%) CMS
2 37 (6.75%) WordPress
3 27 (4.93%) Confluence
4 10 (1.82%) Umbraco
5 7 (1.28%) Drupal
6 5 (0.91%) SAS
7 4 (0.73%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 4 (0.73%) Apache
8 3 (0.55%) Apache Spark
8 3 (0.55%) IIS
9 2 (0.36%) SharePoint
10 1 (0.18%) Apache Airflow
Applications
1 12 (2.19%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (1.82%) Adobe Creative Suite
2 10 (1.82%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 10 (1.82%) Photoshop
3 9 (1.64%) Adobe Illustrator
4 8 (1.46%) Spreadsheet
5 6 (1.09%) Adobe XD
5 6 (1.09%) Microsoft Office
6 5 (0.91%) Adobe Premiere
7 4 (0.73%) Trello
8 3 (0.55%) Adobe After Effects
8 3 (0.55%) InDesign
9 2 (0.36%) Sketch
10 1 (0.18%) Elementor
10 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 20 (3.65%) Shopify
2 8 (1.46%) Magento
3 4 (0.73%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.18%) Dynamics GP
4 1 (0.18%) Primavera
4 1 (0.18%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 89 (16.24%) Google Analytics
2 47 (8.58%) Google Ads
2 47 (8.58%) SaaS
3 36 (6.57%) Figma
4 33 (6.02%) Azure
5 31 (5.66%) Adobe Analytics
6 28 (5.11%) Contentsquare
7 24 (4.38%) Canva
8 19 (3.47%) AWS
9 14 (2.55%) Power Platform
10 13 (2.37%) Google Tag Manager
11 12 (2.19%) Azure DevOps
12 11 (2.01%) GitHub
13 10 (1.82%) GCP
14 8 (1.46%) MailChimp
15 5 (0.91%) Amazon S3
15 5 (0.91%) GitHub Actions
16 4 (0.73%) Miro
16 4 (0.73%) PaaS
16 4 (0.73%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 25 (4.56%) Broadband
2 20 (3.65%) Internet
3 3 (0.55%) LAN
3 3 (0.55%) WAN
4 2 (0.36%) Intranet
4 2 (0.36%) Tactical Data Link
5 1 (0.18%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (6.93%) Metadata
2 30 (5.47%) SQL Server
3 21 (3.83%) Looker
4 10 (1.82%) Power BI
5 6 (1.09%) PostgreSQL
5 6 (1.09%) Tableau
6 5 (0.91%) BigQuery
6 5 (0.91%) MySQL
7 4 (0.73%) Redis
8 3 (0.55%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (0.55%) Db2
8 3 (0.55%) Delta Lake
8 3 (0.55%) Parquet
8 3 (0.55%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.36%) Apache Iceberg
9 2 (0.36%) Base SAS
9 2 (0.36%) Data Hub
9 2 (0.36%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.36%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.36%) phpMyAdmin
Development Applications
1 18 (3.28%) Git
2 10 (1.82%) JIRA
3 4 (0.73%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.73%) Visual Studio
4 3 (0.55%) Cucumber
4 3 (0.55%) JMeter
4 3 (0.55%) REST Assured
5 2 (0.36%) Cypress.io
5 2 (0.36%) GitLab
5 2 (0.36%) NUnit
5 2 (0.36%) Postman
5 2 (0.36%) Selenium
5 2 (0.36%) Serenity BDD
5 2 (0.36%) SpecFlow
5 2 (0.36%) WebDriver
6 1 (0.18%) Browser DevTools
6 1 (0.18%) Gatling
6 1 (0.18%) Mocha
6 1 (0.18%) Octopus Deploy
6 1 (0.18%) RStudio
General
1 268 (48.91%) Marketing
2 195 (35.58%) Social Skills
3 91 (16.61%) Analytical Skills
4 54 (9.85%) Advertising
5 46 (8.39%) Finance
6 42 (7.66%) Legal
7 40 (7.30%) Retail
8 35 (6.39%) Public Sector
9 34 (6.20%) Games
10 31 (5.66%) Organisational Skills
11 27 (4.93%) Automotive
12 25 (4.56%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 19 (3.47%) Presentation Skills
14 16 (2.92%) Influencing Skills
15 15 (2.74%) Publishing
16 10 (1.82%) Brand Awareness
16 10 (1.82%) German Language
16 10 (1.82%) Telecoms
17 7 (1.28%) Manufacturing
17 7 (1.28%) Multimedia
Job Titles
1 69 (12.59%) Senior
2 50 (9.12%) Marketing Manager
3 48 (8.76%) Developer
3 48 (8.76%) SEO Manager
4 30 (5.47%) Marketing Executive
5 26 (4.74%) SEO Executive
6 25 (4.56%) Lead
6 25 (4.56%) SEO Engineer
7 24 (4.38%) Architect
7 24 (4.38%) Web Developer
8 23 (4.20%) Analyst
9 20 (3.65%) Digital Executive
9 20 (3.65%) SEO Specialist
10 19 (3.47%) Coordinator
10 19 (3.47%) Web Manager
11 16 (2.92%) Digital Marketing Executive
12 15 (2.74%) Business Analyst
12 15 (2.74%) SEO Developer
13 14 (2.55%) Digital Marketing Manager
14 13 (2.37%) SEO Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 71 (12.96%) HTML
2 67 (12.23%) CSS
3 33 (6.02%) .NET
4 26 (4.74%) jQuery
5 7 (1.28%) JSON
5 7 (1.28%) PySpark
5 7 (1.28%) RESTful
6 6 (1.09%) Node.js
6 6 (1.09%) React
7 5 (0.91%) AngularJS
7 5 (0.91%) REST
7 5 (0.91%) Web Services
7 5 (0.91%) YAML
8 4 (0.73%) HTML5
8 4 (0.73%) XML
9 3 (0.55%) Flash
9 3 (0.55%) Next.js
10 2 (0.36%) EDI
10 2 (0.36%) Nightwatchjs
10 2 (0.36%) PyTorch
Miscellaneous
1 80 (14.60%) Social Media
2 36 (6.57%) Algorithms
3 31 (5.66%) Blog
4 23 (4.20%) Podcast
5 22 (4.01%) Web Conferencing
6 18 (3.28%) Product Ownership
7 15 (2.74%) Management Information System
8 14 (2.55%) Analytical Mindset
8 14 (2.55%) Self-Motivation
9 10 (1.82%) Driving Licence
10 9 (1.64%) Onboarding
11 8 (1.46%) Photography
12 6 (1.09%) NHS
12 6 (1.09%) Video Editing
13 5 (0.91%) Cloud Native
13 5 (0.91%) Cyber Threat
14 4 (0.73%) IoT
14 4 (0.73%) Legacy Systems
14 4 (0.73%) Taxonomies
15 3 (0.55%) Animation
Operating Systems
1 2 (0.36%) Windows
2 1 (0.18%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 221 (40.33%) Analytics
2 156 (28.47%) Digital Marketing
3 124 (22.63%) User Experience
4 122 (22.26%) AI
5 102 (18.61%) B2B
6 98 (17.88%) Continuous Improvement
7 92 (16.79%) Agile
8 90 (16.42%) Decision-Making
9 72 (13.14%) E-Commerce
10 68 (12.41%) Customer Experience
11 67 (12.23%) Roadmaps
12 66 (12.04%) Mentoring
13 61 (11.13%) Copywriting
14 59 (10.77%) Content Strategy
15 58 (10.58%) Performance Metrics
16 56 (10.22%) Problem-Solving
17 54 (9.85%) Marketing Strategy
18 53 (9.67%) Pay per click
19 51 (9.31%) CRM
20 49 (8.94%) B2B Marketing
Programming Languages
1 48 (8.76%) JavaScript
2 45 (8.21%) SQL
3 31 (5.66%) PHP
4 28 (5.11%) Python
5 15 (2.74%) C#
6 8 (1.46%) TypeScript
7 4 (0.73%) Java
7 4 (0.73%) R
7 4 (0.73%) Scala
8 2 (0.36%) PL/SQL
8 2 (0.36%) PowerShell
8 2 (0.36%) T-SQL
8 2 (0.36%) VB.NET
9 1 (0.18%) Bash
9 1 (0.18%) Bicep
9 1 (0.18%) C
9 1 (0.18%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 1 (0.18%) Ruby
9 1 (0.18%) XAML
Qualifications
1 63 (11.50%) Degree
2 24 (4.38%) Security Cleared
3 20 (3.65%) Computer Science Degree
4 12 (2.19%) DV Cleared
5 11 (2.01%) SC Cleared
6 9 (1.64%) CISSP
6 9 (1.64%) DBS Check
7 7 (1.28%) CRISC
7 7 (1.28%) ISACA
8 5 (0.91%) CIPD
9 4 (0.73%) Postgraduate
10 3 (0.55%) Chartered Engineer
10 3 (0.55%) ISTQB
10 3 (0.55%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
11 2 (0.36%) CISM
11 2 (0.36%) Master's Degree
11 2 (0.36%) MBA
12 1 (0.18%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 99 (18.07%) Accessibility
2 31 (5.66%) WCAG
3 26 (4.74%) QA
4 25 (4.56%) Data Quality
5 15 (2.74%) GDPR
6 6 (1.09%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 3 (0.55%) Actionable Recommendations
7 3 (0.55%) HMG Security Policy Framework
7 3 (0.55%) NIST
7 3 (0.55%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.18%) NCSC
8 1 (0.18%) SLA
System Software
1 11 (2.01%) Docker
2 1 (0.18%) Apache Flume
Systems Management
1 14 (2.55%) Terraform
2 9 (1.64%) Kubernetes
3 3 (0.55%) Ansible
3 3 (0.55%) Control-M
4 2 (0.36%) Grafana
5 1 (0.18%) Data Guard
5 1 (0.18%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 147 (26.82%) Google
2 65 (11.86%) Adobe
3 39 (7.12%) Microsoft
4 27 (4.93%) HubSpot
5 17 (3.10%) Screaming Frog
6 15 (2.74%) Salesforce
6 15 (2.74%) TikTok
7 11 (2.01%) Ahrefs
8 9 (1.64%) Pinterest
8 9 (1.64%) YouTube
9 8 (1.46%) Pardot
10 7 (1.28%) Hotjar
10 7 (1.28%) Instagram
10 7 (1.28%) Marketo
11 6 (1.09%) Botify
11 6 (1.09%) WooCommerce
12 4 (0.73%) Databricks
12 4 (0.73%) Reuters
13 3 (0.55%) Facebook
13 3 (0.55%) Talend