Our Salary Trend graph has been updated to Jan 2012 and I have also included a snapshot report for Web Developer and Web Designer Jobs.

The trend in Social Media Manager salaries is interesting. Both December and January are showing some uptrend and at this rate Social Media Manager salaries might even meet the averages of Online and Digital Marketing Managers .   

Web Developer salaries are heavily concentrated in the £21k to £31k range and the comparison with Developers is interesting..(where there is a more “classic” distribution pattern). Of course it’s not just seniority, knowledge and experience that infuence salary;  geography plays a part as well, especially in London. Given however the virtual nature of this type of work , much of it can be physically carried out in lower cost parts of the country even if the ultimate customer is London based. So whether you are a buyer, employee or contractor we hope the report gives you at least some idea of the range of salaries on offer UK wide.

For more detailed analysis of the distribution of salaries for each job title ( December data) check our average web salaries page. (where you will also find an explanation of how the data is gathered)

Welcome to our Salary Trend Review of UK advertised Web Jobs  – from Digital Marketing and Social Media to Web Development and Design.

Each month we gather information from advertised positions and graph and tabulate to help keep you in touch with the very latest trends.

Whether you are an employee or an employer we hope you find the reports of use and please just click the relevant link below to access data on individual job titles.

Online Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing Manager, SEO Specialist, SEO Consultant, SEO Manager, Information Security, Affiliate Manager, Social Media Manager, Web Analytics, Web Developer and Web Designer.

Information Security related jobs continue to show a strong upward trend in salaries on offer. Maybe this is not surprising when you consider recent headlines over corporate and government data loss!  It’s not all about technology either, the law is becoming increasingly complex in this area and all operating coutries and geographies must also be considered.

(See the links at the top of this post – they will take you to more detailed graphics and analysis by individual job title.
The data used to calculate the averages was collected from actual jobs as advertised by employers and agencies in the respective months – follow the links for more information on how we gather and collate data.)

Back in August we posted on the “average advertised salaries” of a range of USA located jobs based on their job title. (We will be publishing our very own comprehensive UK Salary index next month) 

So what do our updated graphics tell us about the state of the job market? Well, despite a general economic backdrop that is being described by almost all “experts” and media commentators as so hopeless that I’m sure many people struggle to get out of their beds in the morning… this sector appears to be holding up fairly well.

We have updated the 6 popular job titles and used the analysis tool on “indeed” (indeed.com is an online job advert aggregator). We included the “Personal Assistant” job title simply as a “sense check” – it is of course not directly related to online/internet marketing or website creation.

The figures are based on a snapshot of live advertised salaries for jobs with these words in their title.  It would appear that Indeed “scale up” contract rates to an equivalent annual salary – the figures for jobs such as Web Developer may be influenced by this more than others however it also reflects the high value being placed on those with key skillsets.  The title “Copywriter” will have pulled in a number of jobs that might not be directly digital/internet marketing related however we have included it simply because high quality content is so important for almost all organizations as they seek to spread their “digital PR” messages.  

In summary it would appear that SEO experts, Designers and Developers are holding their ground very well. It will be interesting to revisit this again in a few months to check if the drops in some of the other levels will continue or reverse.

How are these Online Marketing and Developer salaries trending?

The graph shows trends of salaries as measured against Indeed’s index of all job titles.

Web Developer Jobs, Web Design and  SEO Specialist Jobs have held up well in terms of salary. It would be reasonable to assume that increasingly job seekers will look to increase their skill levels and experience in these growth areas and yet the supply/demand equation does not yet appear to have created any downward salary pressure even in these challenging economic times. Perhaps the increasingly complex nature of these jobs and the move for many organizations to hire the best talent on a contract or short term basis is helping to keep the trends on an uptick …. If you are directly involved in the industry we would very much welcome your views and insights. You can post a comment here or on Facebook or tweet us @waworld using the hashtag #MarketingSalaries.

If you are professional in the Online/Internet, Digital space you should be pretty pleased with your choice of career at the moment. Even if your current job or contract is not exactly to your liking you (according to the graphics below) are in a sector that is growing at great pace …even through all our current economic woes.

Using the indeed.com trending tool and reporting on 8 different job titles (5 in Online marketing / Web Dev and 3 non related) I have produced 8 graphs that pretty much speak for themselves. 

The charts show number of positions identified by indeed.com with the phrase in the job title against the total jobs they market at that time (i.e. a relative %) ….  Look what the market and the economy has done to our poor accountants …. although (thankfully) nurse recruitment has maintained a better level.  Demand for Sales Managers has fluctuated ….a bit like their sales projections.

Just look however at the relentless demand for the new skills – the hot kids on the block.

[PS you can always check out job vacancies at USA and UK]

How much do Online Managers earn, and how are the averages trending?

I ran some research and produced a graph using current market average salaries because I was interested to see if, despite the current economic backdrop, the perceived continuing demand for these skills was maintaining salaries , or even increasing them.

Taking 6 popular online marketing job titles and using the analysis tool on “indeed”  (indeed.com is an online job advert aggregator)  you can see below the average salaries  (as of 8^th August 2011) – I sorted them into descending order.  To help ensure validity, the job titles chosen each had in excess of 250 jobs contributing to the average. The “personal assistant” title is of course not directly related to online/internet marketing or website creation – I just included it as a “sense check” on the other averages!

Online marketing and web development salary trends

Current averages are one thing but how have these moved over time? According to indeed.com (see below) there are some quite interesting trends emerging (and I will revisit this in a few months to see how it all develops. )  The trends are measured against an index of all job titles.

Web Developer Jobs have salaries that appear to be trending gently upwards beyond market averages, arriving at a current average of $80,000. During this time Online Marketing Manager salaries appear to have fluctuated somewhat, especially around Q3 2010 – whatever the reasons for this the averages appear to have now stabilized. There is no doubt that skilled Web Developers remain a hot asset.

In the early days of the internet SEO experts set the pace in the internet talent world – Have they lost their prized status? It doesn’t look like it from the graph and in fact there is a nice uptick in the trend. Today’s SEO specialist jobs are of course no longer just concerned with onsite optimization. SEO experts have become key members of the team, integrating offsite and inbound strategy with onsite strategy, analytics and business targets – perhaps this is being recognized in average pay?

The Social Media Manager’s salary trend is an interesting one – there seems to be a definite slide in average salary level. We could all speculate on the reasons for this… it could be simple supply and demand (with more people “qualified” in social media management entering the market?) or perhaps there has been a recognition that social media management on its own is somewhat narrow and individuals that can take a more holistic view of internet marketing are in demand?

It would appear that even in a labor market as difficult as this  –there are always opportunities for those with the right skills and experience to increase their earning potential.

It’s a picture that we shall return to in the near future…