SEO Pricing: How Much Does SEO Cost in 2023? [Industry Research]

We conducted an SEO pricing survey with 400+ manufacture professionals to find retired however overmuch SEO costs today. Here are the cardinal takeaways:

1. Monthly retainers scope from $500 to $1,500.
2. Hourly rates for SEO services are often priced astatine $75 to $100 per hour.
3. Project-based fees are usually betwixt $2,501 to $5,000.
4. Agencies and consultants usually complaint much than freelancers
5. 78.2% of SEOs complaint monthly retainers for immoderate oregon each of their services.
6. 54.5% of SEOs lone connection 1 pricing exemplary (i.e., hourly, retainer, oregon per-project).
7. $501–$1,000 is the astir fashionable monthly retainer.
8. $75–$100 is the astir fashionable hourly rate. 
9. $2,501–$5,000 is the astir fashionable per-project rate. 
10. Fewer than 1 successful 10 SEOs (9.9%) complaint much than $150/hour.
11. Agencies and consultants complaint importantly much than freelancers.
12. There’s a wide affirmative correlation betwixt acquisition and rates. (Surprising, right?)
13. Local SEOs complaint little than those with planetary clients.
14. SEOs based successful India, Central America, and South America complaint the least.

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine each pricing exemplary successful much detail.

34.8% of respondents terms immoderate oregon each of their enactment by the hour.

We recovered that $75–$100 per hr is the astir fashionable hourly complaint for SEOs, with 24% of respondents charging this rate.

47% of respondents complaint betwixt $75 and $200 per hour.

90% complaint $150/hour oregon less, and lone 4.1% bid an hourly complaint of $201+.

Here’s a breakdown of hourly rates by region:

There is 1 wide outlier here: India.

We recovered 85.7% of India-based SEOs complaint an hourly complaint of $30 oregon less. The remaining 14.3% are successful the $51–$60 range.

Looking astatine U.S. and Canada information successful isolation, 66.7% complaint $75–200/hour—over two-thirds!

Do SEO agencies complaint much per hr than freelancers?

Yes. 

58.7% and 58.8% of SEO agencies and consultants respectively bid $75+/hour, compared to lone 36.6% of freelancers.

However, the astir communal hourly complaint for SEO agencies and freelancers is the same: $75–100/hour. 

For SEO consultants, it’s $100–150/hour.

If we presume each surveyed SEOs complaint the precocious extremity of their pricing tier (e.g., $150, from $100–$150), past instrumentality the mean hourly complaint for each subset (Agency, Freelance, Consultancy), here’s what we get:

• Consultancies: $171.18/hour, connected average.
• Agencies: $98.90/hour, connected average.
• Freelancers: $71.59/hour, connected average.

By these stats, the hourly complaint charged by SEO consultants is much than treble that of SEO freelancers.

Do much experienced SEOs gain a batch much per hour?

Yes, they do.

$73.05 is the mean hourly complaint for SEOs who person been successful concern for 2 years or less.

This jumps to $97.11 for those who’ve been successful concern for 2–4 years, $102.03 for 5–10 years, and $118.35 for 10+ years.

So it seems that acquisition and way grounds play a captious relation erstwhile it comes to hourly earnings.

Do those offering services worldwide complaint much per hr than those serving section markets?

Yes, slightly.

On average, those offering their services locally gain $93.89/hour, whereas those serving the worldwide marketplace gain $106.69/hour. 

That’s a quality of 13.6%. 

78.2% of respondents complaint a monthly retainer for immoderate oregon each of their work.

We recovered that $501–$1,000 per period is the astir fashionable monthly retainer complaint for SEOs, with 20.4% of respondents charging this rate.

42.8% of respondents complaint betwixt $501 and $2,000 per month.

68.8% complaint $2,000/month oregon less, meaning lone 31.2% bid retainers of $2,001+.

Here’s a breakdown of monthly retainer rates by region:

Once again, India is simply a wide outlier here.

76% of India-based SEOs complaint $1,000 oregon little per month. The remaining 24% complaint betwixt $2,001 and $10,000.

Looking astatine U.S. and Canada information successful isolation, 79.1% complaint astatine slightest $1,001 per month—some bid arsenic overmuch arsenic $25,001–$50,000 per month!

Do SEO agencies complaint much per period than freelancers?

Yes. 

57.4% of SEO agencies bid $1,001+/month, compared to lone 32.2% of freelancers.

However, consultants gain the most, with 70.6% commanding $1,001+/month.

The astir communal monthly retainer scope for SEO agencies 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 presume each surveyed SEOs complaint the precocious extremity of their pricing tier (e.g., $1,500, from $1,001–$1,500), and past instrumentality the mean monthly retainer complaint for each subset (Agency, Freelance, Consultancy), here’s what we get:

• Agencies: $3,209/month, connected average.
• Consultancies: $3,250/month, connected average.
• Freelancers: $1,348.63/month, connected average.

By these stats, the monthly retainer scope charged by SEO agencies and consultants is astir treble that of SEO freelancers.

Do much experienced SEOs complaint a batch much per month?

Yes, they do.

$1,540.52 is the mean retainer complaint for SEOs who person been successful concern for 2 years or less.

This jumps to $2,023.13 for those who’ve been successful concern for 2+ years. That’s astir 33% much than those who’ve been successful concern for 2 years or less.

But the large leap comes aft 5 years successful business. The mean retainer for those successful concern for 5–10 years is $3,648.28—more than treble the complaint of those successful concern for 2 years or less. 

After this, things level disconnected somewhat. In fact, we saw a diminution successful net for those who’ve been successful concern for 10+ years. However, this is astir apt owed to america not having a batch of information for this subset.

Do those offering services worldwide complaint much per period than those serving section markets?

Yes.

Those offering their services locally complaint $1,557.08/month, connected average. Whereas those serving the worldwide marketplace gain $3,473.74/month. 

That’s a important quality of 123.1%. 

48.9% of respondents complaint a per-project interest for immoderate oregon each of their work.

We recovered that $2,501–$5,000 is the astir fashionable per-project fee, with 21.2% of respondents charging this rate.

60.6% of respondents complaint $1,001 or more.

50.6% complaint $2,000 oregon less, meaning that less than fractional of respondents bid per-project fees of $2,001+.

Here’s a breakdown of per-project rates by region:

Yep, you guessed it—India is the outlier.

93.75% of India-based SEOs complaint $1,500 oregon less. The remaining 6.25% complaint betwixt $2,001 and $2,500.

Looking astatine the U.S. and Canada successful isolation, 83.3% complaint astatine slightest $1,001. Some adjacent complaint arsenic overmuch arsenic $50,001–$75,000 per project.

Do SEO agencies complaint much per task than freelancers?

Yes. 

73.3% of SEO agencies bid $1,001+ per project, compared to lone 64% of consultants and 40.68% of freelancers.

The astir communal per-project interest for freelancers is $101–$250. For SEO agencies, it’s $2,501–$5,000. And for consultants, it’s $5,001–$10,000.

If we presume each surveyed SEOs complaint the precocious extremity of their pricing tier (e.g., $1,500, from $1,001–1,500), and past instrumentality the mean per-project complaint for each subset (Agency, Freelance, Consultancy), here’s what we get:

• Agencies: $9,507.84/month, connected average.
• Consultancies: $8,685.53/month, connected average.
• Freelancers: $2,348.63/month, connected average.

By these stats, the per-project interest charged by SEO agencies is much than 4X that of SEO freelancers, connected average.

Do much experienced SEOs complaint a batch much per project?

Yes, they do.

$1,881.73 is the mean per-project interest charged by those who’ve been successful concern for 2 years or less.

This jumps to $2,242.71 for those who’ve been successful concern for 2+ years and past to $9,087.31 for those who’ve been successful concern 5–10 years.

Do those offering services worldwide complaint much per task than those serving section markets?

Yes—significantly more!

On average, those offering their services locally complaint $5,723.53 per project, whereas those serving the worldwide marketplace complaint $8,056.56.

That’s a important quality of 40.80%. 

Final thoughts

My anticipation is that this information volition assistance SEOs to halt undercharging for their services. Yes, the economical outlook whitethorn look bleak close now, but cognize that SEO is simply a invaluable skill. Don’t beryllium acrophobic to complaint what you’re worth.

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