Local SEO Industry Survey 2015

Type of Respondents:

In-house SEOs

In-house SEOs=

13% of all survey

respondents

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

Q1. Key Findings:• The average no. of SEOs operating in an In-house

team is 4

• The median number is 2-5

• 80% of in-house departments employ 1-5 SEOs (vs 86% in 2014)

• 20% of in-house departments employ 6+ SEOs (vs 14% in 2014)

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

Q2. Key Findings:• The average company revenue with an In-house SEO

team is $1 million

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

• 69% of In-house SEOs reported company revenues of more than $250,000

• 51% reported revenues of more than $1 million

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

Q3. Key Findings:• The average pre-tax annual earnings for an In-house

SEO are $72,100

• The median figure is $45,000-$60,000

• 17% are earning more than $100,000 per annum

• 60% are earning less than $60,000 per annum

Q4. Do you expect to grow your business in the next 12 months?

Q4. Key Findings:• 87% definitely expect to grow their business in the

next 12 months (vs 89% in 2014)

• 12% ‘maybe’ expect to grow their business in the next 12 months (vs 8% in 2014)

• Only 1% do not expect to grow their business in the next 12 months (vs 3% in 2014)

Q5. Are you planning to recruit more staff in the next 12 months?

Q5. Key Findings:• 71% expect to recruit more In-house SEO staff in the

next 12 months (vs 63% in 2014)

• 29% are doubtful or have no plans to recruit more staff in 2016 (vs 37% in 2014)

Q6. Which of these phrases best describes your hopes & expectations for the next 12 months?

Q6. Key Findings:• 30% say it’s going to be a great year (vs 49% in 2014)

• 41% say it’s going to be a good year but hard work (vs 30% in 2014)

• 29% are unsure about the outlook for the next 12 months (vs 21% in 2014)

Q7. How much of your work do you outsource to 3rd parties & white-label SEOs?

Q7. Key Findings:• 71% outsource less than 10% of their workload to 3rd

parties (vs 56% in 2014)

• 11% outsource more than 25% of their work (vs 16% in 2014)

• 7% outsource more than 50% of their workload (vs 7% in 2013)

Q8. Do you believe that Social Media is an effective marketing channel for local businesses?

Q8. Key Findings:• 35% believe that social media is very powerful for

local businesses (vs 45% in 2014)

• 54% believe that social media works for some local businesses (vs 38% in 2014)

• 11% are unsure, or believe social media is over-hyped / doesn’t work (vs 16% in 2014)

Q9. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you tackle in a typical week?

Q9. Key Findings:• Onsite optimization, Reporting / Analytics & SEO

audit & analysis are the most tackled tasks per week

• Content outreach, Self-marketing & New business development are the tasks which are often neglected

Q10. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you find to be the most time-consuming and tedious?

Q10. Key Findings:

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

Q11. Which of the following SEO & Business tasks do you wish you could do more of?

Q11. Key Findings:

• Link building, On-site optimization, SEO audit & analysis & Review generation are the top tasks that In-house SEOs wish they could do more of

View full survey at:

bit.ly/localseosurvey

Thank you