How to hire a search engine optimizer

How to hire a search engine optimizer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step search engine optimizer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a search engine optimizer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new search engine optimizer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a search engine optimizer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The search engine optimizer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a search engine optimizer to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a search engine optimizer that fits the bill.

   This list presents search engine optimizer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Search Engine Optimizer	Description	Hourly rate
   Search Engine Optimizer		$33-67
   Social Media Strategist	A social media strategist is primarily in charge of handling a company or an individual's social media platforms, aiming for brand awareness and good public relations through positive online engagement. Their responsibilities revolve around developing and implementing social media strategies and campaigns for marketing, coordinating with content creators and writers, identifying new online marketing opportunities, keeping abreast of the latest trends, and ensuring that all content materials are relevant to the company... Show more	$19-45
   Search Strategist	A search strategist varies depending on institution and roles in their different categories. This is a professional who makes your website or articles to be among the first in line when a customer searches for certain keywords that are related to your organization or a specific product... Show more	$26-56

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Search Engine Optimization
   • CSS
   • HTML
   • Web Development
   • Digital Marketing
   • Website Content
   • A/B
   • Google Analytics
   • Keyword Research
   • B Testing
   • Content Marketing
   • SEM
   • Email Marketing
   • Link Building

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage paid advertising using AdWords, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
   • Create, manage, and analyze YouTube advertising campaigns and brand channels.
   • Manage a team in order to meet pre-agreed UMTS Pre launch radio network KPIs.
   • Manage SEO and SEM campaigns, tracking, and split testing strategically and using proprietary tools.
   • Utilize Godaddy software and systems and any require portal tools to achieve campaign goals, objectives and KPI's.
   • Code in HTML, Javascript and CSS.

   More search engine optimizer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your search engine optimizer job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A search engine optimizer can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, search engine optimizers' average salary in wyoming is 37% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level search engine optimizers 50% less than senior-level search engine optimizers.
   • Certifications. A search engine optimizer with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a search engine optimizer's salary.

   Average search engine optimizer salary

   $99,672yearly

   $47.92 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level search engine optimizer salary

   $70,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average search engine optimizer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$127,930	$62
   2	Arizona	$114,686	$55
   3	Washington	$111,942	$54
   4	Texas	$105,183	$51
   5	Pennsylvania	$102,180	$49
   6	New York	$100,898	$49
   7	Massachusetts	$97,241	$47
   8	Florida	$96,891	$47
   9	Michigan	$94,075	$45
   10	Oregon	$94,016	$45
   11	Wisconsin	$88,190	$42
   12	Illinois	$87,479	$42
   13	Georgia	$84,788	$41
   14	Colorado	$82,055	$39

   Average search engine optimizer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$154,757	$74.40
   2	Apple	$135,310	$65.05	3
   3	eBay	$134,963	$64.89
   4	Nordstrom	$124,239	$59.73
   5	NVIDIA	$123,935	$59.58	11
   6	Adobe	$123,180	$59.22	4
   7	ServiceNow	$118,490	$56.97
   8	Amd	$116,926	$56.21	2
   9	Uber Technologies	$116,880	$56.19
   10	Amazon	$114,998	$55.29	15
   11	Baker Hughes	$114,258	$54.93
   12	Phillips 66	$113,195	$54.42	2
   13	The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory	$112,638	$54.15
   14	Koch Industries	$106,102	$51.01
   15	Nomis Solutions	$105,703	$50.82
   16	Micron Technology	$105,140	$50.55	3
   17	The Dow Chemical Company	$104,358	$50.17
   18	General Motors	$104,270	$50.13	2
   19	Sentar	$104,086	$50.04
   20	Xandr	$103,989	$49.99

4. Writing a search engine optimizer job description

   A job description for a search engine optimizer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a search engine optimizer job description:

   Search engine optimizer job description example

   In this position, you will be a member of the E-Core Power team in the Intel Devices Development Group. You will be interacting with multiple partners and will be responsible for all aspects of CPU power analysis and optimization.Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
   
   Workload power analysis and characterization.Development of flows to enable efficient and accurate power analysis.Collaboration with cross functional teams to provide power targets to design teams, define power rollup and convergence methodology, identify opportunities for power optimization in existing design, identify new power saving features, define power optimization solutions, and drive these optimizations into current and next-generation E-cores.
   Qualifications:
   You must possess the below minimum qualifications to be initially considered for this position. Preferred qualifications are in addition to the minimum requirements and are considered a plus factor in identifying top candidates. Minimum Qualifications:
   The candidate must have a Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, and/or Computer Science with 6+ years of experience; OR a Master's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering and/or Computer Science with 4+ years of experience; OR a PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering and/or Computer Science with 2+ years of experience in the following:
   Dynamic and leakage power estimation and reduction at architecture/RTL/block synthesis and circuit design level.Broad understanding of the overall CPU architecture.Good chip/CPU level understanding required on power consumption, power estimation and low power design methods.Proficiency with power estimation tools, such as PrimeTime-PX, and Power Artist, is an advantage.Automation skills in PERL and/or TCL and/or Shell is an added plus.Problem solving and analytical skills.Cross-functional communication and/or interaction skills.
   
   Job Type:
   Experienced Hire
   
   Shift:
   Shift 1 (United States of America)
   
   Primary Location:
   US, Texas, Austin
   
   Additional Locations:
   US, Oregon, Hillsboro
   
   Intel strongly encourages employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Intel aligns to federal, state, and local laws and as a contractor to the U.S. Government is subject to government mandates that may be issued. Intel policies for COVID-19 including guidance about testing and vaccination are subject to change over time.
   
   Business group:
   In the Design Engineering Group (DEG), we take pride in developing the best-in-class SOCs, Cores, and IPs that power Intel's products. From development, to integration, validation, and manufacturing readiness, our mission is to deliver leadership products through the pursuit of Moore's Law and groundbreaking innovations. DEG is Intel's engineering group, supplying silicon to business units as well as other engineering teams. As a critical provider of all Intel products, DEG leadership has a responsibility to ensure the delivery of these products in a cost efficient and effective manner.
   
   Posting Statement:
   All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military and veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender, gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by local law, regulation, or ordinance.
   
   Position of Trust
   N/A
   
   Work Model for this Role
   This role will be eligible for our hybrid work model which allows employees to split their time between working on-site at their assigned Intel site and off-site. In certain circumstances the work model may change to accommodate business needs.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find search engine optimizers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any search engine optimizers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level search engine optimizers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your search engine optimizer job on Zippia to find and recruit search engine optimizer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit search engine optimizers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   If your interviews with search engine optimizer applicants aren't enough to make a decision, you should also consider including a test project. These are often the best, most straightforward, and least bias-prone ways of determining who will likely succeed in the role. If you don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new search engine optimizer

   Once you've selected the best search engine optimizer candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new search engine optimizer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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