SEO Pricing Survey Insights: How Much Does SEO Cost in 2024?

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A cautiously designed pricing exemplary is the cornerstone of SEO agency’s success. Agencies request it to unafraid a dependable travel of clients and beforehand sustainable growth.

That’s wherefore SE Ranking ran a selling and SEO bureau pricing models survey successful November 2023. In it, we defined ascendant pricing models, mean rates, factors causing agencies to rise their prices, and more. Simply put, we wanted to assistance SEO agencies amended recognize the authorities of the industry.

Key Survey Takeaways

Monthly retainers are the astir fashionable bureau pricing model. Roughly one-third of respondents lone connection this pricing exemplary and supply nary different pricing options. In the US and Canada, the fig is adjacent higher. A sizeable 48% of respondents from these regions similar to complaint their clients monthly.
The median monthly retainer is $1,200, portion the minimum reported magnitude is $90. The maximum magnitude goes up to $10,000.
19% of the survey participants, connected average, charge their customers much than $3,000 per month.
Many of the survey participants similar to support their pricing flexible. 48% of respondents usage a premix of antithetic pricing models. 22% of the surveyed agencies usage each 3 fashionable pricing models; this includes the hourly, project-based, and monthly retainer, depending connected the client’s needs. Agencies often effort to entreaty to antithetic types of clients by offering debased introduction pricing points with higher maximum caps.
70% of the surveyed agencies either accrued their pricing precocious oregon program to successful 2024. Compelling extracurricular factors that unit agencies to summation their rates see higher operational costs, inflation, accrued outgo of living, and competitors raising their rates. Internal factors for this see much services added to the stack, greater worker expertise, higher prime of services provided by the bureau arsenic good arsenic higher request for the agency’s services.
Larger agencies complaint higher monthly retainers. The median monthly retainer for smaller agencies (with nether 5 employees) is $913. Agencies with 5 to 10 radical connected committee connected mean complaint $1,913 per month. Larger agencies with much than 11 employees connection a median monthly retainer of $3,050.
Agencies that thin to win astatine retaining their clients besides person higher monthly retainer fees. Agencies, whose clients enactment with them for implicit 3 years, complaint doubly arsenic overmuch ($1,863 median monthly retainer) arsenic agencies who tally lawsuit projects for nether 12 months ($912 median monthly retainer).
Small agencies with nether 5 employees complaint somewhat little per period arsenic the fig of projects they negociate increases. The median monthly retainer for this radical of agencies that tally nether 5 projects is $1,086. Small agencies managing 5 to 10 projects connected mean complaint $950 per month. Small agencies that tally much than 11 projects astatine erstwhile person an adjacent smaller median monthly retainer ($891).

The astir fashionable pricing models

52% of the survey respondents usage astatine slightest 1 of the 3 astir fashionable pricing models: monthly retainers, project-based fees, and hourly rates. While the monthly retainer exemplary is the astir popular, 45% of agencies similar combining the monthly retainer enactment with different pricing systems. 22% of the agencies we surveyed gave clients the enactment to take betwixt these 3 fashionable pricing models.

Only 6% of the survey participants said that they usage performance-based pricing adjacent to different pricing models. Some little fashionable pricing models mentioned by respondents included committee connected advertisement walk and complaint per page. Both of these options are utilized successful operation with much fashionable pricing systems.

Overall pricing models organisation chart

Popular pricing models: determination specifics

While monthly retainer and immoderate hybrid operation of hourly, project-based, and monthly rates marque up the 2 astir fashionable pricing models crossed each analyzed regions, we inactive noticed immoderate regionally circumstantial patterns. For example, we recovered that the monthly retainer interest is simply a ascendant exemplary successful the USA and Canada, portion successful Europe it’s person successful popularity to the operation of the 3 large models.

The USA and Canada pricing models organisation chart

US and Canada Pricing Models Distribution

The UK, Ireland and continental Europe pricing models organisation chart

The UK, Ireland and Europe Pricing Models

Overall median pricing rates and determination specifics

We calculated median pricing rates for each of the 3 large pricing models (hourly fee, project-based fee, and monthly retainer). These calculations included quoted rates some by agencies utilizing a singular pricing exemplary and agencies utilizing a operation of pricing systems. The wide median pricing rates came retired astatine $96 per hour, $3,250 per project, and $1,200 per month. The rates are higher successful the USA and Canada region, with an hourly complaint of $112, a project-based interest of $3,625, and a monthly retainer of $1,863. The median rates successful the European portion are lower, with European agencies, connected average, charging $88 per hour, $2,938 per project, and $841 per month.

Pricing rates distribution

We singled retired the astir fashionable pricing ranges for hourly, project-based, and monthly retainer pricing models. Before grouping the quoted rates into ranges, we computed an mean for each bureau that participated successful the survey. Note that astir agencies debar charging each clients the aforesaid nonstop hourly/project/monthly fees. Instead, they connection antithetic fees based connected the fig of provided services, client’s task complexity, and more.

Hourly pricing ranges

While charging customers by the hr isn’t the astir fashionable pricing strategy, 7.4% of our survey participants made this their sole pricing option. More respondents usage hourly fees successful operation with different pricing models. As you tin spot successful the illustration below, the astir fashionable scope is $76-100 per hour.

We calculated each agency’s mean hourly interest and past placed it into 1 of the ranges. Mind that galore participants connection flexible hourly rates, (e.g. $30-75 oregon $70-100).

64% of respondents terms their entry-level hourly interest beneath $100.

Project pricing ranges

The per-project pricing exemplary sets a committedness for some sides. An bureau commits to solving the client’s occupation oregon bringing their ideas to life, and they expect to get a negotiated remuneration successful instrumentality for their services.

In our survey, the astir fashionable mean by-project interest ranges are $1,501-$3,000 and $3,001-$5,000. The minimum quoted interest was $250 by an bureau charging their clients $250-$1,000 per project. The maximum reported interest was $35,000 by an bureau that connected mean charges $5,000-$35,000 per project.

Monthly pricing ranges

Monthly retainer is the astir fashionable pricing exemplary successful this survey. Around 33% of each respondents usage this pricing exemplary exclusively, with adjacent much surveyed participants resorting to monthly retainer fees on with different fashionable pricing systems.

21% of respondents connected mean complaint their customers little than $500 per period and 45% of survey participants complaint little than $1,000.

19% of respondents person an mean monthly retainer of $3,000 and lone 5% of respondents complaint their clients much than $5,000.

By intimately analyzing the monthly rates, we were capable to parse retired the pursuing insights:

81% of the respondents who usage the monthly retainer pricing exemplary connection flexible monthly rates, (e.g., $500-$2,000 per period oregon $2000-5000/month).
20% of the agencies surveyed connection a comparatively debased introduction price, beneath $1000 per month, but simultaneously complaint larger clients up to $3000. The median quality betwixt the lowest and highest retainer rates quoted by a azygous bureau is $1500. In immoderate cases, the quality is adjacent much drastic, with 1 bureau charging their lawsuit $500-$7,500/month.

Price hikes: trends and reasons

We asked survey participants if they had accrued their rates wrong the past 12 months. And if not, we asked them if they planned to successful the future. We besides asked them to stock their reasons for their decisions.

43% of respondents precocious accrued their pricing, and 27% said they were readying to rise their existent rates successful 2024. 30% of respondents said they preferred to support their rates the same.

Reasons for expanding rates:

Agencies are forced to summation their rates arsenic a effect of higher operational costs, accrued subcontractor rates, inflation, and higher costs of living.
Some agencies support a adjacent oculus connected their competitors’ rates and effort to price-match.
Others enactment that their improved expertise allows them to statesman delivering astatine higher levels and hence vie astatine higher marketplace rates.
Multiple agencies study that their determination to summation rates is backed by a increasing request for their services.
Other factors spurred by the agency’s maturation and improvement see the summation of much services to their stacks, the adoption of a much niche approach, and the adoption of a wide selling point.
Some survey participants said they hadn’t accrued their prices successful years, and that this was agelong due. One responsive noted that they “kept prices the aforesaid since earlier the pandemic to assistance clients portion they navigated what’s next.”

Some large reasons for not expanding pricing see competitory pressure, difficulties associated with attracting caller clients, and already charging clients astatine the higher extremity of the scale. Some agencies noted that they are caller successful the manufacture and request to found their marque archetypal earlier expanding their rates. Finally, immoderate of the agencies unwilling to summation their rates effort to tackle accrued operational costs by introducing caller pricing models, being much flexible, and cutting their budgets (specifically connected tools).

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SE Ranking pricing survey: participants, methodology, and more

The survey included 135 agencies from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe.

The results demonstrated that agencies from these regions person akin pricing exemplary preferences, adjacent pricing ranges, and lone insignificant determination differences. With 44% of respondents originating from continental Europe, the survey whitethorn show a definite bias toward this region. There are abstracted blocks successful this survey that analyse determination specifics wrong the US and Canada vs the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe.

A bully chunk (57%) of the respondents represented tiny agencies with nether 5 radical connected board. Another bulk (27%) of respondents came from agencies comprising 5 to 10 specialists. Larger agencies with 11 to 25 and 25+ employees comprised 9% and 7% of the respondents, respectively. This skewed our survey information toward smaller SEO agencies. Even so, the integer bureau scenery is dominated by tiny agencies. Evidence for this lies successful an older survey connected SEO pricing by Moz, wherever 69.8% of participants were from agencies with up to 10 employees. Also, a 2022 bureau pricing study by Sprout Social recovered that 52% of the agencies they surveyed had little than 10 employees.

We utilized a currency converter to person pricing quotes successful euros, British pounds, and different section currencies to dollars.

When calculating the percentage, we rounded the results to the nearest full number.

Our last disclaimer: We lone received 135 responses, which isn’t capable to scope statistical significance. Still, we judge that this survey overview tin connection invaluable insights for SEO agencies seeking to benchmark their pricing exemplary against those of their peers.

Svetlana is the Head of Content astatine SE Ranking. Her interests span crossed integer marketing, SEO, and translation. She regularly shares her expertise connected the SE Ranking blog and crossed assorted selling media. Svetlana believes that analyzable notions tin beryllium explained successful plain words and loves creating immersive stories. Svetlana spends astir of her evening hours learning caller languages, readying memorable trips, and petting her cat.