SEO Specialist Contract Job Trends

Search Engine Optimisation Specialist (SEO Specialist)
UK

The median Search Engine Optimisation Specialist (SEO Specialist) daily rate in the UK is £475, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 3 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 583 530 591
Rank change year-on-year -53 +61 +191
Contract jobs requiring an SEO Specialist 4 2 5
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.011% 0.006% 0.012%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.012% 0.007% 0.012%
Number of daily rates quoted 4 2 2
10th Percentile £336 £236 -
25th Percentile £353 £237 £411
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £241 £423
Median % change year-on-year +96.89% -42.90% -29.58%
75th Percentile £588 £247 £434
90th Percentile - £250 -
UK excluding London median daily rate - - -

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 33,764 30,229 40,234
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.23% 92.70% 93.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,403 18,500 26,941
10th Percentile £300 £289 £281
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £480 £500
% change year-on-year -1.04% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,953 944 1,572
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.51 £14.18
25th Percentile £18.25 £21.17 £19.06
Median hourly rate £26.30 £32.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -19.08% -27.78% +40.82%
75th Percentile £60.00 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £72.00 £73.75 £76.73
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.13 £45.88
% change year-on-year -21.72% -29.97% +77.97%

SEO Specialist
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'SEO Specialist' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

SEO Specialist job vacancy trend in the UK

SEO Specialist
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for SEO Specialist job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for SEO Specialist job vacancies in the UK

SEO Specialist
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing SEO Specialist over the 6 months to 3 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for SEO Specialist in the UK

SEO Specialist
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for SEO Specialist job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for SEO Specialist job vacancies in the UK

SEO Specialist
Top 3 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing SEO Specialist within the UK over the 6 months to 3 January 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London -13 4 £475 +96.89%
England -41 4 £475 +96.89% 1
Work from Home - 1 £350 - 1

SEO Specialist Skill Set
Top 23 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 3 January 2026, SEO Specialist contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring SEO Specialist in the job title.

1 4 (100.00%) SEO
2 3 (75.00%) Google
2 3 (75.00%) Screaming Frog
3 2 (50.00%) AI
3 2 (50.00%) Analytics
3 2 (50.00%) Botify
3 2 (50.00%) CSS
3 2 (50.00%) Google Sheets
3 2 (50.00%) HTML
3 2 (50.00%) JavaScript
3 2 (50.00%) JIRA
3 2 (50.00%) Migration
3 2 (50.00%) Roadmaps
3 2 (50.00%) Tag Management
4 1 (25.00%) Agile
4 1 (25.00%) Google Analytics
4 1 (25.00%) Google Docs
4 1 (25.00%) Instagram
4 1 (25.00%) Paid Search
4 1 (25.00%) Storytelling
4 1 (25.00%) Strategic Thinking
4 1 (25.00%) User Experience
4 1 (25.00%) WebTrends

SEO Specialist Skill Set
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:

Business Applications
1 1 (25.00%) WebTrends
Cloud Services
1 2 (50.00%) Google Sheets
2 1 (25.00%) Google Analytics
2 1 (25.00%) Google Docs
Development Applications
1 2 (50.00%) JIRA
General
1 2 (50.00%) Marketing
2 1 (25.00%) Publishing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (50.00%) CSS
1 2 (50.00%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 1 (25.00%) Social Media
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (100.00%) SEO
2 2 (50.00%) AI
2 2 (50.00%) Analytics
2 2 (50.00%) Migration
2 2 (50.00%) Roadmaps
2 2 (50.00%) Tag Management
3 1 (25.00%) Agile
3 1 (25.00%) Paid Search
3 1 (25.00%) Storytelling
3 1 (25.00%) Strategic Thinking
3 1 (25.00%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 2 (50.00%) JavaScript
Vendors
1 3 (75.00%) Google
1 3 (75.00%) Screaming Frog
2 2 (50.00%) Botify
3 1 (25.00%) Instagram