It’s no surprise that search engine optimization is the ever changing industry. To try and get clear answers on what people are focusing on with their SEO goals, a large scale business survey took place.
The goal of the research was to figure out what’s going on in the SEO industry these days.
It’s important to note that over 1200 business owners have participated in the research. After the research, the SEO services report 2019 has been created.
This type of the SEO report gives you a great opportunity to analyze SEO data carefully and get the answers to many important questions such as:
- What is the average budget for a SEO campaign?
- What do business owners look for in SEO companies?
- What allows a SEO agency to make a difference and stand out from its main competitors?
- Why do so many business owners refuse from SEO services and change a SEO company?
- Actually, this list of questions could go on and on.
Let’s take a closer look at the latest SEO statistics and key research findings in order to find answers to all these important questions.
SEO Report Statistics:
- The reality is, on average US companies spend up to $500 on SEO services monthly.
- The amount of money that people choose to spend on SEO services largely depends on the quality of SEO works. The statistics shows that the vast majority of SEO clients spend more than $500 on SEO services every month. It’s worth noting that these SEO clients are usually happy with SEO services.
- The research indicates that up to 92% of business owners choose to take advantage of referrals, online reviews and, of course, Google search in order to pick a SEO company that fits their budget and needs.
- According to the statistics, up to 3/4 of people, who are looking for a SEO company, usually pay a close attention to company’s reputation. They analyze customer reviews carefully and study what people say about SEO companies of their choice. And of course, people give a preference to SEO companies that has built a solid reputation on the market and have a plenty of positive customer reviews. Additionally, business owners take into consideration such factors as SEO company’s rankings as well as the price of SEO services.
- Also, it’s important to consider such a factor as SEO company’s social media presence. Every SEO provider aims to grow its social media following.
- A lot of people also believe that they will find it easy to grow their businesses with SEO services and they expect fast results. As the saying goes “success doesn’t happen overnight”. Actually, the same can be said about search engine optimization. Business owners must be prepared that it takes time (months or even years) to get SEO results.
- The statistics has shown that only 26% of customers consider SEO company’s social media following as an important factor.
- Another important thing that you need to be aware of is that the vast majority of business owners are not happy with their SEO providers and only 1/3 of them recommend SEO companies to others. It’s also important to point out that people would rather prefer to deal with marketing agencies than with freelance SEO experts.
- According to the opinions of many clients, SEO services are a great way to get organic traffic to a website and attract new customers to a business. The truth is that search traffic converts into sales pretty well. Up to 2/3 of customers say that using SEO services helps them boost their brand awareness and take their businesses to the next level.
- The location of a SEO company is another important factor that influences decision making. The report has found that about 80% of American companies prefer to deal with local SEO service providers.
- People choose to leave SEO companies for a number of different reasons. About 44% of customers don’t get results they expect from a SEO company, about 34% of clients are not happy with SEO company’s customer service and 21% of clients left their SEO provider because they found the competitor’s SEO packages more attractive. So, they decide to change their current SEO provider to a new one.
- Business owners tend to change SEO providers frequently. The statistics provided in the report says that up to 65% of customers change their SEO companies and up to 25% of clients have changed 3 or even more SEO providers.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the results of the SEO report.
People Spend on SEO Less Than $500 Monthly
Nowadays, business owners don’t spend too much money on SEO services. The statistics shows that 50% of business owners spend on SEO less than $1,000 annually. Up to 14% of business owners spend $5k+ on SEO annually and only 2% spend on SEO over $25k annually.
Traditionally, SEO services provided by SEO companies are more expensive than SEO services provided by freelancers. The amount of money you spend on SEO services largely depends on your preferences. You can either deal with a SEO agency or hire a freelance SEO expert.
If you are planning to deal with a SEO company, you must be prepared to pay $1000-$2000 monthly. If hiring a freelancer to get SEO work done is more to your liking, then the service will cost you $500 – $1000 per month.
SEO Budget Depends a Lot on Customer Satisfaction
The big question is – do people, who invest in SEO services, get what they pay for? According to the statistics, more than half of business owners are happy with SEO services. They say that SEO services provide high return on investment.
According to the SEO report, up to 53% of people, who spend on SEO more than $500 per month, are satisfied with the results. On the other hand, up to 75% of people who spend on SEO less $500 are not satisfied with the results.
People Choose to Use Google Searches, Referrals and Online Reviews to Find SEO Services
People choose to search for SEO services in different ways. The research shows that oftentimes people find SEO companies via online review sites such as Yelp (28%), word of mouth (26%) and Google searches (18%). It’s worth noting that people rarely use online and offline advertising (11%) to find SEO companies for their businesses.
When Selecting a SEO Provider People Pay a Close Attention to Reputation and Cost
Obviously, you must be very selective when it comes to picking a SEO company. Your job is to find a good SEO company that can help your business grow. So, what people prefer to look for in a SEO company?
In reality, SEO company’s online reputation and SEO company’s rankings as well as the cost of a SEO service are the main factors that have an impact on people’s decision. People usually don’t pay attention to SEO provider’s social media presence.
It’s interesting to know that SEO provider’s location has a little impact on the decision of many people. The truth is that up to 51% of SEO clients are not concerned about the location of their SEO companies.
However, there are many clients (up to 46%) who want to know where exactly their SEO companies are located. That means that a SEO company can increase the chance of landing new SEO clients by providing the location of its office on the website. That’s why it makes a lot of sense for a SEO company to add a picture of its office to their about page in order to get more customers.
SEO Customers Want To See an Increase in Traffic and Customers
People tend to have high expectations for SEO services providers. Business owners say that using SEO services has many great benefits. They expect to attract more targeted traffic to a website and land new clients to their businesses. Additionally, people aim to get more email subscribers, grow social media following, boost brand awareness and earn trust with SEO. Obviously, people want to get the most out of SEO!
Many People are Not Happy with Their SEO Services
According to the statistics, 70% of customers are not satisfied with their SEO services and only 30% of business owners leave positive feedbacks about their current SEO services providers. The vast majority of businesses would rather choose to deal with SEO agencies or both with SEO agencies and freelancers than with freelance SEO experts.
Clients Know Little or Nothing about SEO
The big question is – why so many people are not happy about SEO services? Let’s dig deeper in order to get the answer! First, let’s take a look at the statistics. In most cases, people are not happy with SEO due to low quality of work. They simply don’t see the returns of SEO services.
The statistics find that about 50% of customers think that they are not trained well enough to benefit from SEO. It’s also important to note that up to 28% of clients say that they don’t benefit from SEO because they don’t have skilled personnel.
Another reason why people don’t get SEO benefits is that they are not ready to cooperate with SEO providers. Oftentimes, business owners need to make changes to their websites in order to improve their rankings. They don’t do this and finally they don’t see SEO improvements. It’s incredibly important to follow SEO provider’s instructions.
Business Owners Choose to Change their SEO Providers Frequently
The truth is that the vast majority of businesses (up to 65%) have changed their SEO providers. About 25% of clients have had more than 3 SEO providers. However, businesses don’t change their SEO companies rapidly. Many people had been working with their SEO providers for 3 years.
Many Clients Don’t See SEO Results and Find SEO Services Too Expensive
People choose to leave or change their current SEO providers for various reasons. The research has shown that over 80% of business owners don’t get effective SEO results. In other words, they don’t get higher returns on investments. High cost of SEO service is another reason why so many people (over 80%) make a decision to stop their cooperation with a SEO provider.
These are the two major factors why people choose to leave their SEO providers. That means that SEO companies have to provide their SEO customers with high ROI and try to make them happy.
If people find that SEO services help them grow their businesses, they are likely to continue dealing with a SEO provider. Otherwise, they will begin to search for alternatives to their current SEO companies.
Existing Clients Have to Be the Number One Priority for a SEO Company
Let’s say that a SEO company has existing customers, who have been using its services for a long period of time. That means that a SEO provider has clients, who have a good understanding of how to benefit from using SEO services. Such clients are likely to stay and continue using SEO services. New customers may not understand the benefits of SEO. That’s why they are likely to leave a SEO company or change it to another one within a short period of time.
Final Thoughts
First of all, we would like to express special thanks to Northstar Research Partners. This organization has conducted a survey and provided business owners with very important SEO data. Hopefully, the SEO services report 2019 makes it possible for you to figure out what you have to expect from the SEO industry this year. The statistics provided in this type of SEO report gives you a better understanding of the situation that takes place in the search engine optimization industry now. Therefore, you’ll be able to keep yourself up-to-date on the latest search engine optimization trends.
If you would like to learn more how you can grow your business with high quality SEO services, contact us today! Finepoint Design is a dedicated team of online marketing experts in Michigan. We are always looking forward to providing you with cost-effective solutions for any of your SEO needs.