An SEO freelancer makes $53,000 - $90,000+ per year on average in the United States, according to data from the Upwork freelancing platform. You should charge $25 - $43+ per hour for freelance SEO, depending on your experience level. Beginner SEO freelancers typically charge $25 - $32 per hour, intermediate $32 - $36, and advanced $43+. Experience is far from the only factor. The amount you can charge for SEO depends on many factors beyond experience level, such as services offered and country of the client.
One SEO freelancer in the US says the minimum they charge is $900.
Another freelancer in the United Kingdom says they charge £40 per hour or £350 per day.
I've been offering SEO services for a decade. In the following article, I discuss how much a freelancer can earn by offering SEO services.
How much do SEO freelancers make a year?
SEO freelancers make $0 to $144,500+ a year. Unlike a traditional job, an SEO freelancer salary is not guaranteed. As such, SEO freelancers that can’t find work won’t make any money. Furthermore, many SEO freelancers actually have full-time jobs and perform SEO freelance work part-time.
Look at the experience of Nick Leroy of the SEO For Lunch newsletter. Nick started SEO freelancing on the side after a few years working in the SEO industry. In his first 3 years as a freelancer, Nick averaged around 30 hours per week as a freelance SEO to bring in $12K-$17K per year. Once Nick finally decided to leave his SEO job and go full-time as an SEO freelancer he was able to earn over $165K in just 8 months of work.
Freelance SEO salary data from Zip Recruiter shows SEO freelancer jobs posted online offer an annual salary ranging from $80,500 to $144,500 in the United States. Their data lists the average salary at $113,333 per year.
How much do SEO freelancers make per month?
SEO freelancers make $500 - $2,500+ per month per client.
An SEO freelancer on Reddit that takes on a consulting role with their client earns $1K - $1.5K depending on their level of involvement.
Another SEO freelancer on Reddit makes between $5K - $10K per month with 3 - 5 regular clients. They only work 6 hours a day four days per week.
How much do SEO freelancers make per hour?
SEO freelancers make $14.90 - $132.21 per hour in the United States, according to salary data from ZipRecruiter.
The average salary of an SEO freelancer is $48 per hour. Approximately 60% of SEO freelancers earn between $14.90 - $36.30 per hour. This range also matches SEO salary data from Upwork, a freelancing platform. According to Upwork, most SEO experts on the platform earn between $15 - $35 per hour.
An SEO freelancer on Reddit claims they charge $125 - $250 per hour serving clients across the USA and UK. When questioned how they are able to charge so much, they attribute their extraordinary rate to the fact they have operated many of their own businesses and advised many others on digital strategy with successful results over 10 years.
How much do SEO freelancers make by role?
These figures are according to ZipRecruiter data of average hourly pay.
How can you increase your earnings as an SEO freelancer?
You can increase your earnings as an SEO freelancer learning higher value skills and taking on more clients. The skills you should learn to maximize your income as an SEO freelancer include:
How much can a freelancer earn in digital marketing in roles besides SEO?
- PPC specialist freelancer - $61,204/year on average
- Social media manager freelancer - $58,313/year on average
- Email marketing specialist freelancer - $62,245/year on average
- Copywriting freelancer - $65,408/year on average
- Graphic design freelancer - $51,068/year on average
These salaries reflect how much a freelancer can make in digital marketing in roles beyond SEO.
Can SEO make you rich?
SEO can make you rich. According to Schwab’s Modern Wealth Survey, most Americans believe $2.2 million is considered rich. High performing SEO freelancers earn $100K - $200K+ per year. With a solid investing game plan and long-term timeframe, it’s entirely possible to become rich slowly with a freelance SEO salary. Those that want to become rich quickly with SEO should start an SEO business.
Neil Patel started an SEO business instead of sticking to freelancing and now has an estimated net worth between $30 - $100 million in his 30s. Neil mastered SEO and started attracting major brands as his clients. He also sells many SEO softwares, like Answer The Public and UberSuggest.
SEO is a high-paying job. The average pay for someone working in SEO is around $75,647 per year, according to data from Glassdoor. The average salary in the United States is $69,264, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Does an SEO freelancer or an SEO agency owner make more money?
An SEO agency owner can make more money than an SEO freelancer. An SEO freelancer is limited by the amount of hours they can provide SEO services. An SEO agency owner can hire others to perform the work for them and delegate tasks. This means they can scale their business beyond their own limited time.
Conclusion: Is SEO a good career in freelancing?
SEO is a good career in freelancing. There is high demand for SEO services and many businesses prefer to outsource SEO to freelancers. Demand for search engine optimization services is expected to grow at a rate of 17.6% per year, according to The Business Research Company. 60% of businesses outsource SEO, according to U Source.
I prefer to take advantage of this fact with a higher leverage SEO business model called rank and rent. Rank and rent entails using SEO to create websites that target customers for local business owners and then renting the site for a monthly fee between $500 - $3,000.
Unlike SEO freelancing, rank and rent is highly scalable and helps prevent client turnover. With rank and rent, you do the hard part of getting a website to rank on Google before pitching the client. Once you rent it to the client, these sites can generate passive income for extended periods. You already got the site to rank instead of working towards getting the site to rank as an SEO freelancer. Then since you own the site, the client you rent it to can’t easily fire you. If they fire you they lose the valuable source of leads you are providing.
