Methodology

Transparency about our data collection and analysis.

Data Collection

Data is collected via an anonymous online questionnaire. Participants are in-house SEOs from the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).

Activities over Job Titles

Unlike other salary studies, we don't ask for job titles. Titles like "SEO Manager" or "Head of SEO" are not comparable across companies — an "SEO Manager" at Company A may have completely different responsibilities than at Company B.

Instead, we capture 16 specific SEO activities and how much time participants spend on them (scale 0–5). This makes the data comparable.

Statistical Analysis

Median instead of Average

We use the median instead of the arithmetic mean. The median is robust against outliers — a few very high or low salaries don't skew the picture. At the median, exactly 50% earn more and 50% earn less.

Quartiles (Q1, Q3)

In addition to the median, we show the quartiles:

Q1 (25%): 25% earn less, 75% earn more
Median (50%): The middle
Q3 (75%): 75% earn less, 25% earn more

Minimum Data Points

Statistics are only calculated when at least 5 data points are available. Categories with fewer than 30 data points are marked as "low confidence" and visually distinguished — their statistical significance is limited.

Limitations

Self-Selection

Participants decide whether to take part. People with extreme salaries may be under- or over-represented.

Self-Reporting

Salaries are not verified. We rely on honest responses.

DACH Focus

The data is not transferable to other regions.

Time Period

Older data does not necessarily reflect current salaries. The cohort filter helps to separate time periods.

Open Data

The aggregated statistics are publicly available. Raw data is not published to protect the anonymity of participants.

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