We carried out an web optimization pricing survey with 400+ trade professionals to learn the way a lot web optimization prices as we speak. Listed here are the important thing takeaways:
- Month-to-month retainers vary from $500 to $1,500.
- Hourly charges for web optimization providers are sometimes priced at $75 to $100 per hour.
- Venture-based charges are normally between $2,501 to $5,000.
- Companies and consultants normally 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 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 optimistic 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. Nonetheless, after reviewing them, we eliminated 89, as they have 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 web optimization. If a respondent’s website didn’t clearly supply web 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 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’s 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 rationale for grouping Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain collectively is that they’re the one European nations (apart from 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 nations have been completely different from the remainder of Europe.
Taking a look at U.S. and Canada knowledge in isolation, 66.7% cost $75–200/hour—over two-thirds!
Do web optimization companies cost extra per hour than freelancers?
Sure.
58.7% and 58.8% of web optimization companies and consultants respectively command $75+/hour, in comparison with solely 36.6% of freelancers.
Nonetheless, the most typical hourly fee for web optimization companies and freelancers is identical: $75–100/hour.
For web 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 web optimization consultants is greater than double that of web 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 individuals who’ve been in enterprise for two–4 years, $102.03 for five–10 years, and $118.35 for 10+ years.
So evidently expertise and monitor file play an important function with regards to hourly earnings.
Do these providing providers worldwide cost extra per hour than these serving native markets?
Sure, barely.
On common, these providing their providers regionally 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 monthly 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, 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 monthly. The remaining 24% cost between $2,001 and $10,000.
Taking a look at U.S. and Canada knowledge in isolation, 79.1% cost not less than $1,001 monthly—some command as a lot as $25,001–$50,000 per month!
Do web optimization companies cost extra monthly than freelancers?
Sure.
57.4% of web optimization companies command $1,001+/month, in comparison with solely 32.2% of freelancers.
Nonetheless, consultants earn probably the most, with 70.6% commanding $1,001+/month.
The most typical month-to-month retainer vary for web 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 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 web optimization companies and consultants is nearly double that of web 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 individuals 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 huge soar 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 actual fact, we noticed a decline in earnings for individuals who’ve been in enterprise for 10+ years. Nonetheless, that is in all probability attributable to us not having loads of knowledge for this subset.
Do these providing providers worldwide cost extra monthly than these serving native markets?
Sure.
These providing their providers regionally cost $1,557.08/month, on common. Whereas these serving the worldwide market earn $3,473.74/month.
That’s a big distinction of 123.1%.
48.9% of respondents cost a per-project payment for some or all of their work.
We discovered that $2,501–$5,000 is the preferred per-project payment, 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, 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.
Wanting on the U.S. and Canada in isolation, 83.3% cost not less than $1,001. Some even cost as a lot as $50,001–$75,000 per mission.
Do web optimization companies cost extra per mission than freelancers?
Sure.
73.3% of web optimization companies command $1,001+ per mission, in comparison with solely 64% of consultants and 40.68% of freelancers.
The most typical per-project payment for freelancers is $101–$250. For web 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 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 payment charged by web optimization companies is greater than 4X that of web optimization freelancers, on common.
Do extra skilled SEOs cost much more per mission?
Sure, they do.
$1,881.73 is the common per-project payment charged by those that’ve been in enterprise for 2 years or much less.
This jumps to $2,242.71 for individuals who’ve been in enterprise for two+ years after which to $9,087.31 for individuals who’ve been in enterprise 5–10 years.
Do these providing providers worldwide cost extra per mission than these serving native markets?
Sure—considerably extra!
On common, these providing their providers regionally cost $5,723.53 per mission, whereas these serving the worldwide market cost $8,056.56.
That’s a big distinction of 40.80%.
Remaining ideas
My hope is that this knowledge will assist SEOs to cease undercharging for his or her providers. Sure, the financial outlook could look bleak proper now, however know that web optimization is a beneficial ability. Don’t be afraid to cost what you’re price.
Received questions? Ping me on Twitter.
