How A lot Does search engine optimization Value in 2023? [Industry Research]
In November 2022, we surveyed members of the search engine optimization business to learn how a lot they cost for search engine optimization companies.
Listed here are the highest 10 takeaways:
- 78.2% of SEOs cost month-to-month retainers for some or all of their companies.
- 54.5% of SEOs solely supply one pricing mannequin (i.e., hourly, retainer, or per-project).
- $501–$1,000 is the preferred month-to-month retainer.
- $75–$100 is the preferred hourly fee.
- $2,501–$5,000 is the preferred per-project fee.
- Fewer than 1 in 10 SEOs (9.9%) cost greater than $150/hour.
- Companies and consultants cost considerably greater than freelancers.
- There’s a transparent constructive correlation between expertise and charges. (Shocking, proper?)
- Native SEOs cost lower than these with international shoppers.
- SEOs based mostly in India, Central America, and South America cost the least.
Let’s check out every pricing mannequin in additional element.
Sidenote.
We had 439 submissions in complete. Nevertheless, after reviewing them, we eliminated 89, as they had been both duplicates or spam. For instance, many respondents provided an internet site they clearly didn’t personal (e.g., google.com) or had nothing to do with search engine optimization. If a respondent’s web site didn’t clearly supply search engine optimization companies, we eliminated them from our pattern.
34.8% of respondents worth some or all of their work by the hour.
We discovered that $75–$100 per hour is the preferred hourly fee for SEOs, with 24% of respondents charging this fee.
47% of respondents cost between $75 and $200 per hour.
90% cost $150/hour or much less, and solely 4.1% command an hourly fee of $201+.
Right here’s a breakdown of hourly charges by area:
There may be one clear outlier right here: India.
We discovered 85.7% of India-based SEOs cost an hourly fee of $30 or much less. The remaining 14.3% are within the $51–$60 vary.
Sidenote.
We didn’t have a lot knowledge for some areas, so take the outcomes with a pinch of salt. Additionally, the explanation for grouping Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain collectively is that they’re the one European international locations (moreover the U.Okay.) with a GDP of 1 trillion or extra. I assumed it will be fascinating to see if the numbers for these international locations had been completely different from the remainder of Europe.
U.S. and Canada knowledge in isolation, 66.7% cost $75–200/hour—over two-thirds!
Do search engine optimization businesses cost extra per hour than freelancers?
Sure.
58.7% and 58.8% of search engine optimization businesses and consultants respectively command $75+/hour, in comparison with solely 36.6% of freelancers.
Nevertheless, the commonest hourly fee for search engine optimization businesses and freelancers is identical: $75–100/hour.
For search engine optimization consultants, it’s $100–150/hour.
If we assume all surveyed SEOs cost the higher finish of their pricing tier (e.g., $150, from $100–$150), then take the common hourly fee for every subset (Company, Freelance, Consultancy), right here’s what we get:
- Consultancies: $171.18/hour, on common.
- Companies: $98.90/hour, on common.
- Freelancers: $71.59/hour, on common.
By these stats, the hourly fee charged by search engine optimization consultants is greater than double that of search engine optimization freelancers.
Do extra skilled SEOs earn much more per hour?
Sure, they do.
$73.05 is the common hourly fee for SEOs who’ve been in enterprise for 2 years or much less.
This jumps to $97.11 for many who’ve been in enterprise for two–4 years, $102.03 for five–10 years, and $118.35 for 10+ years.
So plainly expertise and monitor document play a significant function in terms of hourly earnings.
Do these providing companies worldwide cost extra per hour than these serving native markets?
Sure, barely.
On common, these providing their companies domestically earn $93.89/hour, whereas these serving the worldwide market earn $106.69/hour.
That’s a distinction of 13.6%.
78.2% of respondents cost a month-to-month retainer for some or all of their work.
We discovered that $501–$1,000 per 30 days is the preferred month-to-month retainer fee for SEOs, with 20.4% of respondents charging this fee.
42.8% of respondents cost between $501 and $2,000 per month.
68.8% cost $2,000/month or much less, which means solely 31.2% command retainers of $2,001+.
Right here’s a breakdown of month-to-month retainer charges by area:
As soon as once more, India is a transparent outlier right here.
76% of India-based SEOs cost $1,000 or much less per 30 days. The remaining 24% cost between $2,001 and $10,000.
U.S. and Canada knowledge in isolation, 79.1% cost no less than $1,001 per 30 days—some command as a lot as $25,001–$50,000 per month!
Do search engine optimization businesses cost extra per 30 days than freelancers?
Sure.
57.4% of search engine optimization businesses command $1,001+/month, in comparison with solely 32.2% of freelancers.
Nevertheless, consultants earn essentially the most, with 70.6% commanding $1,001+/month.
The commonest month-to-month retainer vary for search engine optimization businesses is $500–$1,000/month. For consultants, it’s $2,501–$5,000.
For freelancers, it’s $251–$500/month and $101–$500/month.
If we assume all surveyed SEOs cost the higher finish of their pricing tier (e.g., $1,500, from $1,001–$1,500), after which take the common month-to-month retainer fee for every subset (Company, Freelance, Consultancy), right here’s what we get:
- Companies: $3,209/month, on common.
- Consultancies: $3,250/month, on common.
- Freelancers: $1,348.63/month, on common.
By these stats, the month-to-month retainer vary charged by search engine optimization businesses and consultants is nearly double that of search engine optimization freelancers.
Do extra skilled SEOs cost much more per month?
Sure, they do.
$1,540.52 is the common retainer fee for SEOs who’ve been in enterprise for 2 years or much less.
This jumps to $2,023.13 for many who’ve been in enterprise for two+ years. That’s round 33% greater than those that’ve been in enterprise for 2 years or much less.
However the large leap comes after 5 years in enterprise. The typical retainer for these in enterprise for five–10 years is $3,648.28—greater than double the speed of these in enterprise for 2 years or much less.
After this, issues degree off considerably. In reality, we noticed a decline in earnings for many who’ve been in enterprise for 10+ years. Nevertheless, that is in all probability as a result of us not having plenty of knowledge for this subset.
Do these providing companies worldwide cost extra per 30 days than these serving native markets?
Sure.
These providing their companies domestically cost $1,557.08/month, on common. Whereas these serving the worldwide market earn $3,473.74/month.
That’s a major distinction of 123.1%.
48.9% of respondents cost a per-project charge for some or all of their work.
We discovered that $2,501–$5,000 is the preferred per-project charge, with 21.2% of respondents charging this fee.
60.6% of respondents cost $1,001 or extra.
50.6% cost $2,000 or much less, which means that fewer than half of respondents command per-project charges of $2,001+.
Right here’s a breakdown of per-project charges by area:
Yep, you guessed it—India is the outlier.
93.75% of India-based SEOs cost $1,500 or much less. The remaining 6.25% cost between $2,001 and $2,500.
Wanting on the U.S. and Canada in isolation, 83.3% cost no less than $1,001. Some even cost as a lot as $50,001–$75,000 per challenge.
Do search engine optimization businesses cost extra per challenge than freelancers?
Sure.
73.3% of search engine optimization businesses command $1,001+ per challenge, in comparison with solely 64% of consultants and 40.68% of freelancers.
The commonest per-project charge for freelancers is $101–$250. For search engine optimization businesses, it’s $2,501–$5,000. And for consultants, it’s $5,001–$10,000.
If we assume all surveyed SEOs cost the higher finish of their pricing tier (e.g., $1,500, from $1,001–1,500), after which take the common per-project fee for every subset (Company, Freelance, Consultancy), right here’s what we get:
- Companies: $9,507.84/month, on common.
- Consultancies: $8,685.53/month, on common.
- Freelancers: $2,348.63/month, on common.
By these stats, the per-project charge charged by search engine optimization businesses is greater than 4X that of search engine optimization freelancers, on common.
Do extra skilled SEOs cost much more per challenge?
Sure, they do.
$1,881.73 is the common per-project charge charged by those that’ve been in enterprise for 2 years or much less.
This jumps to $2,242.71 for many who’ve been in enterprise for two+ years after which to $9,087.31 for many who’ve been in enterprise 5–10 years.
Do these providing companies worldwide cost extra per challenge than these serving native markets?
Sure—considerably extra!
On common, these providing their companies domestically cost $5,723.53 per challenge, whereas these serving the worldwide market cost $8,056.56.
That’s a major distinction of 40.80%.
Remaining ideas
My hope is that this knowledge will assist SEOs to cease undercharging for his or her companies. Sure, the financial outlook might look bleak proper now, however know that search engine optimization is a beneficial ability. Don’t be afraid to cost what you’re price.
Bought questions? Ping me on Twitter.
