How Much Do SEO Freelancers Make?

How much do SEO freelancers make? Because you may do SEO on massive and petite sizes, salaries in the field vary widely. While someone in charge of a sizable SEO business might anticipate earning a six-figure compensation, part-time freelance SEO Specialists, for instance, may bring in $20,000 a year while spending only a few hours each week.

Continue reading the article to learn more about “how much SEO freelancers make”.

Sometimes, setting your rates and prices as a freelance SEO expert might take a lot of work. Therefore, here are some tips on how much SEO experts make as freelancers to get you going.

  • First, the most significant concern you’re likely asking yourself if you’re thinking about leaving your 9 to 5 is whether or not you can support yourself as a full-time SEO freelancer. Therefore, before beginning a full-time freelancing business, I advise having money set up for three to six months’ worth of expenses and obtaining some initial contracts. Indeed, this can help relieve some of your concerns.
  • Next, start by freelancing for a few hours on the weekend or after work. When you feel you have enough work, you should relocate permanently. After a few years of practice, you could charge up to $150 per hour or more.
  • Since it’s your SEO business, it’s enjoyable to plan your pricing and services since you can be creative and establish your standards. After all, it is your SEO business. Because it might feel personal, it can also be one of the most challenging aspects of freelancing.

Become An SEO Freelancer

Consider working as an SEO or digital marketing freelancer if you enjoy the notion of owning an SEO company. Still, the effort involved in starting a full-fledged firm is too much.

Besides, if you like a particular area of SEO, you may advertise your services in that area.

For instance, you could have discovered that you like creating broken backlinks. You might collaborate with a company or web admin to provide this service. Or you may bid on SEO projects using a site for independent contractors like Upwork.

In addition, the fact that you may do freelancing part-time is its finest feature. When you have the time, you may present your skills, place bids on job sites, and accept overflow agency employment.

You may work as a part-time freelancer on many different kinds of projects, including:

  • keyword research
  • SEO reviews
  • Onsite content optimization
  • Building backlinks

Pros And Cons Of Working As An SEO Freelancer

Pros Cons
Reliable client retainers are paid every month. It may be incredibly time-consuming and frustrating to handle clients.
The revenue limit is relatively high. When personnel and expenses are considered, the margins may be thin.
The SEO industry is still expanding. You’ll need more abilities, such as hiring, managing a team, and more.

How Much Do SEO Freelancers Make?

Methods SEO Freelancers Use To Determine Their Rates

Here are a few methods that SEO freelancers use to determine their rates and earnings:

1. Setting Up Your Prices As An SEO Freelancer

How your charge is as essential as what you charge when developing your pricing strategy. However, others charge by the project, while some SEO freelancers charge by the hour. Therefore, depending on the kind of clients you want to work with, you may need to use one or more price models.

Here are some of the most popular SEO price models:

Hourly:  You determine the cost per hour you spend working on a client’s project. Although this price structure might provide the most return on investment, many SEO clients will only sign an hourly contract if they know how many hours the task would take.
Project-based:  You decide on a fixed rate for a project and base it on your best estimate of the effort and time needed to finish it. Work that is done beyond the scope of the project is charged separately.
Monthly retainer:  You may set up a flat monthly fee for a set of monthly SEO tasks that you predetermine. Outside-the-scope jobs are charged individually. Nearly 75% of SEOs charge a monthly fee for part or all of their services, according to an Ahrefs survey.

Once they have built a solid rapport with a client and are charging on a monthly retainer, many SEO freelancers switch from hourly rates. In addition, monthly retainers promote long-term connections since you keep working together after a project.

2. Setting Your Freelancing Rates As An SEO Freelancer

Find out what other people are charging for your level of service and SEO expertise before establishing your freelance prices.

Furthermore, here is a breakdown of what SEO freelancers charge, on average, based on the Ahrefs survey, which questioned roughly 350 SEO agencies, consultants, and freelancers about how much they charge for SEO services:

Each hour 68 dollars
Depending on the projects:  $1,530.85 each
Monthly remuneration:  $1,364

The fact that more experienced SEOs charge much more than less professional SEOs shouldn’t be a surprise. Therefore, compared to individuals who have been in the company for less than two years, those with two or more years of experience charge 39.4% more per hour, 102.41% more monthly retainers, and 275% more for one-time tasks.

3. Getting Paid For Experience As An SEO Freelancer

You can’t compare your rates as a new freelancer to those of SEO professionals with more than ten years of experience. Have a minimum price you are ready to accept when determining your costs in case clients want to negotiate. For many different reasons, you could decide to take this charge.

Further, remember that you can always increase your rates if you’re in high demand, and what you charge initially as a freelance SEO specialist may look quite different one or two years down the road.

How Much Money Can You Make As An SEO Freelancer?

With an SEO business, there’s no limit to how much your agency can earn. Because you’re limited by the number of clients you have and the size of your team.

In general, monthly retainer rates for SEO services are around $5,000.

Again, the amount of money you may make varies. It depends on how much traffic you receive and how much you earn for every 1,000 visitors. Although it will take some time to reach this level, there are examples of websites that generate more than $40k in monthly ad income.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is A Career In SEO Worth It?

SEO is a very healthy career choice based on the industry median salaries you can earn and the amount of advancement accessible.

2. Is SEO Good For Freelancing?

You’re in good company if you wish to work as a freelance SEO. Freelancers frequently choose this option, and demand is high. Therefore, every business that has a website wants their websites to appear in the top search results. It might make or ruin their source of income or business.

3. Can You Make Good Money Doing SEO?

The short answer is that if you can grow an SEO business, SEO may be a terrific method to earn a respectable living. There are several methods to generate money online these days, like developing an e-commerce website and starting a blog to advertise goods and services.

4. Is SEO Worth It December 2022?

SEO is worthwhile in 2022, in the coming years, and always. Moreover, SEO is essential as long as websites and search engines are there. Although SEO will look quite different ten years from now, you’ll still need to check that your website is giving search engines the appropriate signals to be noticed.

4. Is SEO Passive Income?

Yes, you may get a respectable passive income using SEO. You must still set aside time to weed and prune your passive income tree, though. If you do, your passive income will stay strong, and you’ll retain financial independence.

5. Can SEO Make You Rich?

The short answer is that if you can grow an SEO practice, SEO may be a terrific method to earn a respectable career. For instance, there are several methods to generate money online these days, like developing an e-commerce website and starting a blog to advertise goods and services.

6. Why Are SEO Services So Expensive?

Three factors make SEO so expensive: It takes time for results to appear, it takes a lot of resources to create and run a campaign, and it frequently depends on the skills of an SEO specialist to develop and expand your approach.

7. How Much Should I Charge As An SEO Freelancer?

Hiring an experienced SEO freelancer or agency by the hour typically costs between $50-$150 per hour. Of course, you can find people that charge significantly less or more than this hourly rate. For example, this SEO hourly rate breakdown found that 6% of SEO providers set over $200/hour.

8. Can SEO Make You A Millionaire?

That only depends on your technical proficiency and scaling capacity. The short answer is that if you can grow an SEO practice, SEO may be a terrific method to earn a respectable career.

9. How Much Do SEO Freelancers Make With Affiliate Marketing?

Although there is a wide range of money that you may earn through affiliate marketing, there are instances of websites making millions of dollars in affiliate commissions and even one-person blogs making over $100,000.

10. How Much Do SEO Freelancers Make On Fiverr?

Although the gigs you sell on Fiverr start at $5, you may start to make money by adding upgrades and more expensive bundles. Some freelancers make $2,001 to $3,001 per month.

11. How Much Do SEO Freelancers Earn At An Agency?

Your income at an agency will depend on your expertise; it is anything from $40k to $100k annually.

12. How Much Do SEO Freelancers Make From Online Courses?

Earnings potential from online courses is quite diverse. It depends on your audience and the calibre of your system; however, several course producers make over $100,000 a year.

13. How Much Do SEO Freelancers Make From A Blog?

The amount of money you can make varies. For example, it depends on how much traffic you receive and how much you earn for every 1,000 visitors. Although it will take some time to reach this level, there are examples of websites that generate more than $40k in monthly ad income.

14. How Much Can You Make With SEO Business?

There is no limit on how much money your agency may make with an SEO business. Your options are constrained by how many clients you have and how great your staff is.

The average monthly retainer fee for SEO services is $5k.

15. What Are The Rates For SEO Copywriting?

Depending on your experience, the niche you’re writing for, and the style of writing you perform, there are different prices for SEO copywriting. Per project, you should budget anything from $5 to $2500.

Conclusion: 

As you can see, there are many ways to use SEO to market your services and earn money.

In brief, by investing the time to master SEO, you’ll acquire a helpful skill that you may use to launch your own company or add value to any online project you’re involved in. The issue of how SEO businesses generate money is simple to answer.

Furthermore, remember that you need to be someone other than an expert to profit from SEO. You can start making money once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, put what you’ve learned to use, and see some results.

However, there are several methods to learn how to use SEO to generate money online. Moreover, pitching your freelance SEO services on platforms like Upwork, providing micro-services on Fiverr, or beginning to market your freelance SEO copywriting skills are some of the simplest methods to get started.

Now that you have more results and experience, you can either start your own business or obtain a position as an SEO at a company or agency to advance your talents.

If you like the SEO services strategy, you may create your own SEO agency and begin working with your significant clientele.

As a result, creating your customer-facing website or business is your ultimate SEO choice.

The most typical methods are as follows:

  • Gaining organic blog traffic and monetizing it with advertisements and affiliate sales
  • Establishing a well-known website with a high search engine ranking and offering relevant physical or digital eCommerce goods
  • Showing a prominent SEO blog and offering an SEO course to share your knowledge and what works
  • Furthermore, you may start a business, get a new job, or even make a good side income with the help of SEO, a vital talent. You’ll reap the benefits of your time and effort invested in understanding SEO for many years.

If you want to learn more about SEO and freelancing, click the following links “SaaS SEO Freelancer”, and “How To Become A Freelance Writer On Fiverr“.

About Tayyaba A

Avatar for Tayyaba AContent Manager, Writer and a Mentor: Holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Biosciences and has passion about Digital Marketing.
Tayyaba A is a Digital Content Specialist at ViralAnswer. She has 4+ years of experience in Freelance Digital Marketing. She writes about Digital Marketing and similar niches, and have diverse knowledge of marketing and freelancing. She is also an SEO expert. Her experiences include writing articles, blogs, and also academic writing. She has the ability to publish well researched content in a clear and precise manner by keeping the user’s demands in mind.

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