We performed an search engine optimization pricing survey with 400+ business professionals to learn the way a lot search engine optimization prices at the moment. Listed here are the important thing takeaways:
- Month-to-month retainers vary from $500 to $1,500.
- Hourly charges for search engine optimization providers are sometimes priced at $75 to $100 per hour.
- Undertaking-based charges are often between $2,501 to $5,000.
- Businesses and consultants often cost greater than freelancers
- 78.2% of SEOs cost month-to-month retainers for some or all of their providers.
- 54.5% of SEOs solely supply one pricing mannequin (i.e., hourly, retainer, or per-project).
- $501–$1,000 is the most well-liked month-to-month retainer.
- $75–$100 is the most well-liked hourly charge.
- $2,501–$5,000 is the most well-liked per-project charge.
- Fewer than 1 in 10 SEOs (9.9%) cost greater than $150/hour.
- Businesses and consultants cost considerably greater than freelancers.
- There’s a transparent constructive correlation between expertise and charges. (Stunning, proper?)
- Native SEOs cost lower than these with world 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 have been both duplicates or spam. For instance, many respondents provided a web 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 providers, 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 most well-liked hourly charge for SEOs, with 24% of respondents charging this charge.
47% of respondents cost between $75 and $200 per hour.
90% cost $150/hour or much less, and solely 4.1% command an hourly charge 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 charge of $30 or much less. The remaining 14.3% are within the $51–$60 vary.
Sidenote.
We didn’t have a lot information for some areas, so take the outcomes with a pinch of salt. Additionally, the rationale 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 might be attention-grabbing to see if the numbers for these international locations have been completely different from the remainder of Europe.
Taking a look at U.S. and Canada information in isolation, 66.7% cost $75–200/hour—over two-thirds!
Do search engine optimization companies cost extra per hour than freelancers?
Sure.
58.7% and 58.8% of search engine optimization companies and consultants respectively command $75+/hour, in comparison with solely 36.6% of freelancers.
Nevertheless, the commonest hourly charge for search engine optimization companies 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 typical hourly charge for every subset (Company, Freelance, Consultancy), right here’s what we get:
- Consultancies: $171.18/hour, on common.
- Businesses: $98.90/hour, on common.
- Freelancers: $71.59/hour, on common.
By these stats, the hourly charge 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 typical hourly charge 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 it appears that evidently expertise and monitor document play a significant position on the subject of hourly earnings.
Do these providing providers worldwide cost extra per hour than these serving native markets?
Sure, barely.
On common, these providing their providers 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 most well-liked month-to-month retainer charge for SEOs, with 20.4% of respondents charging this charge.
42.8% of respondents cost between $501 and $2,000 per month.
68.8% cost $2,000/month or much less, that 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.
Taking a look at U.S. and Canada information in isolation, 79.1% cost a minimum of $1,001 per 30 days—some command as a lot as $25,001–$50,000 per month!
Do search engine optimization companies cost extra per 30 days than freelancers?
Sure.
57.4% of search engine optimization companies command $1,001+/month, in comparison with solely 32.2% of freelancers.
Nevertheless, consultants earn probably the most, with 70.6% commanding $1,001+/month.
The commonest month-to-month retainer vary for search engine optimization companies 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 typical month-to-month retainer charge for every subset (Company, Freelance, Consultancy), right here’s what we get:
- Businesses: $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 companies and consultants is sort of double that of search engine optimization freelancers.
Do extra skilled SEOs cost much more per month?
Sure, they do.
$1,540.52 is the typical retainer charge 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 massive 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 stage off considerably. The truth is, we noticed a decline in earnings for many who’ve been in enterprise for 10+ years. Nevertheless, that is in all probability as a consequence of us not having a whole lot of information for this subset.
Do these providing providers worldwide cost extra per 30 days than these serving native markets?
Sure.
These providing their providers 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 price for some or all of their work.
We discovered that $2,501–$5,000 is the most well-liked per-project price, with 21.2% of respondents charging this charge.
60.6% of respondents cost $1,001 or extra.
50.6% cost $2,000 or much less, that 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.
Trying on the U.S. and Canada in isolation, 83.3% cost a minimum of $1,001. Some even cost as a lot as $50,001–$75,000 per challenge.
Do search engine optimization companies cost extra per challenge than freelancers?
Sure.
73.3% of search engine optimization companies command $1,001+ per challenge, in comparison with solely 64% of consultants and 40.68% of freelancers.
The commonest per-project price for freelancers is $101–$250. For search engine optimization companies, 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 typical per-project charge for every subset (Company, Freelance, Consultancy), right here’s what we get:
- Businesses: $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 price charged by search engine optimization companies 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 typical per-project price 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 providers worldwide cost extra per challenge than these serving native markets?
Sure—considerably extra!
On common, these providing their providers 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 information will assist SEOs to cease undercharging for his or her providers. Sure, the financial outlook might look bleak proper now, however know that search engine optimization is a worthwhile ability. Don’t be afraid to cost what you’re value.
Received questions? Ping me on Twitter.