Half of the local SEOs have been in the industry for at least a decade.
The majority of local search professionals seem satisfied with their work, according to BrightLocal’s 2020 survey on the local search industry. This is the obvious result of a conclusion that 78% intend to remain in their current position.
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The survey included responses from 475 “local marketing specialists,” including agencies, in-house marketers, freelancers, and local businesses. The main categories of survey respondents were as follows:
- Local/Regional Agency — 40%
- National/International Agency — 20%
- Freelancer/Marketing Consultant — 11%
- Local Businesses — 10%
Most local SEOs have been around for a while. But some don’t even know how to create a dropdown list in Excel. Half of the respondents stated they have been in the industry for over a decade, and 11% have been in local SEO for 20 years or more. The average annual revenue was $1.28 million (excluding brands and SMEs).
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The vast majority (81%) of the organizations targeted by the survey had fewer than five SEO employees; 38% had only one. Most respondents (76%) had between 2 and 20 clients.
The survey revealed that 65% of local SEOs earned more than $60,000, and 29% earned over $100,000. Only 4% were looking to leave the area, while others were interested in changing jobs within the industry or staying in their current job, as indicated.
Monthly billing is the most common business model. Local SEOs are most likely to charge their clients on a monthly retainer basis (65%); a minority are billed on a project or hourly/daily basis. According to the survey, the most common monthly retainer range was between $100 and $500. However, the size of the client had a significant impact on monthly fees.
The most common services (as shown in the table above) offered by local SEO professionals are: GMB optimization, SEO audits, on-site optimization, analysis, citation management, web design, and content creation and optimization. And how do local SEOs stay updated on new developments? According to the survey, industry blogs were the most common response.
Why it matters. While it is unclear whether the survey is representative of the industry as a whole, it is likely biased and provides good benchmarks for local SEO professionals. Local SEO is an essential, if not fully understood, sub-discipline of organic SEO, which has become increasingly important as Google has placed more emphasis on localized and proximity-based mobile search results. Indeed, a study conducted in 2019 by Moz found that 73% of the 1.2 million analyzed SERPs contained a localized feature.