Brightlocal, the SEO Software Company conducted a survey on local SEO industry and revealed that on-site SEO and Google+ optimization are the two most in-demand SEO services.
The survey, which was conducted between January 20 and February 20 of 2013, evaluated the health and nature of local SEO industry. It focused on five key areas:
- Agency size and turnover
- Clients and industries
- Marketing and sales
- Services and tasks
- Future outlooks
A total of 1,409 people participated in the survey and majority of them were small digital agencies, web designers, and freelancers. On-site SEO and Google+ optimization were the top most services in-demand, which were followed by web development, link building, PPC, content creation & optimization, and social media marketing.
The survey revealed that less than five percent customers requested for affiliate marketing. It was reflected that the most requested services were likely offered by SEO agencies. It shows that digital marketing is drive by the supply side in the local arena because the knowledge resides in the minds of SEOs and digital marketing professionals.
It was also found out that the individual client earnings varied from less than $100 per month to over $5,000 but majority of clients i.e 70 percent were paying under $1000 per month for SEO services and 28percent paid between $500 to $1000. Around 34 percent respondents had turnover less than $30,000 in the last one year while 17 percent revealed that they made over $500,000 in the last 12 months.
When it comes to generating customers for clients, more than 80 percent respondents find general search as the most effective online medium. Local search and PPC were the second most effective channels, whereas, classified websites, display advertising, and daily deals ranked the least effective ways.
When asked about how these respondents market their own business, 91 percent said word-of-mouth was the most successful way of acquiring new clients. 46 percent believe that SEO is an effective medium. LinkedIn is the most popular social network for finding leads. 18 percent respondents favor a professional networking website over social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
When asked about the future plans of respondents, 82 percent said that they are planning to recruit new staff this year. 93 percent respondents said that they are expected their business to grow by end of the year. Most of the respondents have positive outlook for the year 2013.
