Local SEO Industry Survey 2015

Type of Respondents:

National / International Agencies

National / International Agencies =21% of all

survey respondents

Q1. How many people in your company are ‘SEO’s?

Q1. Key Findings:• The average no. of SEOs employed at a National /

International Agency is 7

• The median figure is 2-5

• 83% employ 1-10 SEOs

• 10% employ 21+ SEOs

Q2. What was your company revenue in the last 12 months?

Q2. Key Findings:• The average National / International Agency revenue

is $584,800

• The median figure is $500,000-$1,000,000

• Just 20% of National / International Agencies reported revenues of under $150,000

• 42% reported revenues of more than $1 million

Q3. How many clients do you personal handle?

Q3. Key Findings:• SEOs at National / International Agencies look after

17 clients on average (vs 15 in 2014)

• The median figure is 11-20

• 57% of SEOs look after 11+ clients (vs 48% in 2014)

• 29% of SEOs look after 31+ clients (vs 25% in 2014)

Q4. What are your pre-tax personal annual earnings? (including salary, bonuses, etc.)

Q4. Key Findings:• The average pre-tax annual earnings for a National /

International Agency SEO are $83,200

• The median figure is $60,000-$75,000

• 19% are earning more than $100,000 per annum

• 57% are earning $45,000-$100,000 per annum

Q5. Which channels are most effective for attracting new customers to your company?

Q5. Key Findings:• Word of mouth is the most effective channel for

attracting new customers

• SEO is the second most effective channel

• Local Business Groups & Outbound Calls are also rated highly

Q6. How many new leads do you proactively contact each month? (via outbound emails & calls)

Q6. Key Findings:• National / International Agencies contact 14 new

leads per month on average

• The median figure is 2-5

• 29% contact zero new leads per month

• 25% contact more than 20 new leads per month

Q7. What is your success rate at converting leads to customers?

Q7. Key Findings:• Median success rate for converting new leads is 30%

• 33% have a less than 20% success rate at converting new leads

• 26% have more than 70% success rate at converting new leads

Q8. Do you serve a particular vertical industry or do your clients come from many different industries?

Q8. Key Findings:• 65% serve lots of different industries (vs 63% in 2014)

• 18% serve 2-3 vertical industries (vs 22% in 2014)

• 17% serve 1 vertical industry (vs 16% in 2014)

Q9. What does an average customer pay you each month?

Q9. Key Findings:• The average customer pays $2,244 per month

• The median income per customer is $1,000-$2,000

• 35% receive less than $1,000 per month from clients (vs 40% in 2014)

• 65% receive more than $1,000 per month from clients (vs 60% in 2014)

Q10. Do you expect to grow your business in the next 12 months?

Q10. Key Findings:• 94% definitely expect to grow their business in the

next 12 months (vs 96% in 2014)

• 5% ‘maybe’ expect to grow their business in the next 12 months (vs 2% in 2014)

• Only 2% do not expect to grow their business in the next 12 months (vs 2% in 2014)

Q11. Are you planning to recruit more staff in the next 12 months?

Q11. Key Findings:

• 89% expect to recruit more staff in the next 12 months (vs 90% in 2014)

• 12% are doubtful or have no plans to recruit more staff in 2016 (vs 11% in 2014)

Q12. Which of these phrases best describes your hopes & expectations for the next 12 months?

Q12. Key Findings:• 36% say it’s going to be a great year (vs 38% in 2014)

• 50% say it’s going to be a good year but hard work (vs 46% in 2014)

• 15% are unsure about the outlook for the next 12 months (vs 17% in 2014)

Q13. What SEO/online marketing services do you offer?

Q13. Key Findings:• On-site SEO, GMB optimization &Citation Build /

clean-up are the most popular services offered by National / International Agencies

• Google penalty recovery, Video marketing & Affiliate marketing are the services offered least by National / International Agencies

Q14. Which service is most in demand from your customers?

Q14. Key Findings:• On-site SEO, Content creation / optimization & PPC

are the services in most demand

• Google penalty recovery, Video marketing & Affiliate marketing are the services offered least & with little demand

• Services with biggest increase in demand are: Content creation / optimization & Web design / development

Q15. How much of your work do you outsource to 3rd parties & white-label SEOs?

Q15. Key Findings:• 71% outsource less than 10% of their workload to 3rd

parties (vs 63% in 2013)

• 13% outsource more than 25% of their work (vs 21% in 2013)

• 8% outsource more than 50% of their workload (vs 10% in 2013)

Q16. Do you believe that Social Media is an effective marketing channel for local businesses?

Q16. Key Findings:• 57% believe that social media is very powerful for

local businesses (vs 45% in 2014)

• 37% believe that social media works for some local businesses (vs 42% in 2014)

• 8% are unsure, or believe social media is over-hyped / doesn’t work (vs 14% in 2014)

Q17. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you tackle in a typical week?

Q17. Key Findings:• Reporting / Analytics, Onsite optimization, Client

Management & SEO audit & analysis are the most tackled tasks per week

• Content outreach, Self-marketing & Review generation are the tasks which are often neglected

Q18. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you find to be the most time-consuming and tedious?

Q18. Key Findings:

• Citation build / clean-up, Link building & Reporting / Analytics are considered the most time-consuming & tedious tasks

Q19. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you wish you could do more of?

Q19. Key Findings:

• SEO audit & analysis, New business development & on-site optimization are the top tasks that National / International Agency SEOs wish they could do more of

View full survey at:

bit.ly/localseosurvey

Thank you