Local SEO Industry Survey 2015 Type of Respondents: Freelance SEOs

Freelance SEOs = 16% of all survey respondents

Q1. What was your company revenue in the last 12 months?

Q1. Key Findings: The average Freelance SEO company revenue is $87,399 The median revenue is $30,000-$50,000 17% of Freelance SEOs reported revenues of $100,000-$250,000 18% reported revenues of more than $1 million

Q2. How many clients do you personal handle?

Q2. Key Findings: Freelance SEOs look after 9 clients on average (vs 7 in 2014) The median figure is % of Freelancers look after 1-10 clients (vs 80% in 2014) 12% of Freelancers look after 21+ clients (vs 9% in 2014)

Q3. What are your pre-tax personal annual earnings? (including salary, bonuses, etc.)

Q3. Key Findings: The average pre-tax annual earnings for a Freelance SEO are $57,700 The median earnings are $30,000-$45,000 66% are earning less than $60,000 per annum 92% are earning less than $100,000 per annum

Q4. Which channels are most effective for attracting new customers to your company?

Q4. Key Findings: Word of mouth is the most effective channel for attracting new customers SEO is the second most effective channel Local Business Groups & Local ‘Meet-ups’ are also rated highly

Q5. How many new leads do you proactively contact each month? (via outbound s & calls)

Q5. Key Findings: Freelance SEOs contact 7 new leads per month on average The median number is % contact zero new leads per month 84% contact 0-10 new leads per month

Q6. What is your success rate at converting leads to customers?

Q6. Key Findings: Median success rate for converting new leads is 40% 40% have a less than 20% success rate at converting new leads 26% have more than 70% success rate at converting new leads

Q7. Do you serve a particular vertical industry or do your clients come from many different industries?

Q7. Key Findings: 76% serve lots of different industries (vs 56% in 2014) 17% serve 2-3 vertical industries (vs 26% in 2014) 8% serve 1 vertical industry (vs 18% in 2014)

Q8. What does an average customer pay you each month?

Q8. Key Findings: The average customer pays $913 per month The median income per customer is $500-$1,000 77% receive less than $1,000 per month from clients (vs 81% in 2014) 23% receive more than $1,000 per month from clients (vs 19% in 2014)

Q9. Do you expect to grow your business in the next 12 months?

Q9. Key Findings: 74% definitely expect to grow their business in the next 12 months (vs 92% in 2014) 21% ‘maybe’ expect to grow their business in the next 12 months (vs 8% in 2014) Only 5% do not expect to grow their business in the next 12 months (vs 0% in 2014)

Q10. Are you planning to recruit more staff in the next 12 months?

Q10. Key Findings: 42% expect to recruit more staff in the next 12 months (vs 58% in 2014) 58% are doubtful or have no plans to recruit more staff in 2016 (vs 42% in 2014)

Q11. Which of these phrases best describes your hopes & expectations for the next 12 months?

Q11. Key Findings: 31% say it’s going to be a great year (vs 46% in 2014) 40% say it’s going to be a good year but hard work (vs 39% in 2014) 29% are unsure about the outlook for the next 12 months (vs 15% in 2014)

Q12. What SEO/online marketing services do you offer?

Q12. Key Findings: GMB optimization, On-site SEO, Citation Build / clean- up & Link Building are the most popular services offered by Freelance SEOs PPC, Google penalty recovery, Video Marketing & Affiliate marketing are the services offered least by Freelance SEOs

Q13. Which service is most in demand from your customers?

Q13. Key Findings: On-site SEO, GMB Optimization & Web design / development are the services in most demand PPC, Google penalty recovery, Video Marketing & Affiliate marketing are the services offered least & with little demand Services that have increased in demand YoY are Web design / development & Content Creation / Optimization

Q14. How much of your work do you outsource to 3rd parties & white-label SEOs?

Q14. Key Findings: 59% outsource less than 10% of their workload to 3rd parties (vs 51% in 2014) 21% outsource more than 25% of their work (vs 29% in 2013) 9% outsource more than 50% of their workload (vs 14% in 2013)

Q15. Do you believe that Social Media is an effective marketing channel for local businesses?

Q15. Key Findings: 35% believe that social media is very powerful for local businesses (vs 42% in 2014) 58% believe that social media works for some local businesses (vs 45% in 2014) 8% are unsure, or believe social media is over-hyped / doesn’t work (vs 14% in 2014)

Q16. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you tackle in a typical week?

Q16. Key Findings: Onsite optimization, SEO audit & analysis, Reporting / Analytics & Client Management are the most tackled tasks per week New business development, Content outreach & Review generation are the tasks which are often neglected

Q17. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you find to be the most time-consuming and tedious?

Q17. Key Findings: Link building, Citation build / clean-up & SEO Audit / Analysis are considered the most time-consuming & tedious tasks

Q18. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you wish you could do more of?

Q18. Key Findings: New business development, Link building, On-site optimization & Self marketing are the top tasks that Freelance SEOs wish they could do more of

View full survey at: bit.ly/localseosurv ey

Thank you