2022 WordPress Agency Survey

In March 2022, we put together an anonymous survey for all of our community members to ask them questions about their revenue, and various focuses (including accessibility, SEO, hosting, etc.). You can …

Kyle Van Deusen

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Kyle Van Deusen

Kyle Van Deusen

The Admin Bar

After spending 15 years as a graphic designer and earning a business degree, I launched my agency, OGAL Web Design, in 2017. A year later, after finding the amazing community around WordPress, I co-found The Admin Bar, which has grown to become the #1 community for WordPress professionals. I'm a husband and proud father of three, and a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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In March 2022, we put together an anonymous survey for all of our community members to ask them questions about their revenue, and various focuses (including accessibility, SEO, hosting, etc.).

You can find the full results here: https://airtable.com/shrsPtVPILKZymkXP

We’ll be providing our commentary in a separate piece of content (watch that breakdown here) in order to keep this one as free from bias or opinion as possible.

Caveats

  • We are not mathematicians, statisticians, or pollsters.
  • The findings of this survey are anecdotal. There were 321 people surveyed, which does not account for a true representation of WordPress agencies as a whole — only the community surveyed.
  • This was our first time doing a survey like this, and (of course) I immediately found things I should have done differently. Those are banked for next time!
  • You can look at data from a million different angles and often come up with different conclusions based on how you are looking at it. Take from this survey what you will.
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Price / Revenue

The questions in this section have to do with the average website price and annual revenue for all surveyed agencies.

Average WordPress Website Project Price

Price RangePercentage
$2,500 – $4,99935.5%
$1,000 – $2,49927.2%
$5,000 – $9,99921.1%
$100 – $9997.4%
$10,000 – $19,9996.7%
$20,000 – $39,9991.6%
$30,000+0.6%

Average WordPress Agency Annual Revenue

Revenue RangePercentage
$0 – $49,99940.7%
$50,000 – $99,99923.5%
$100,000 – $149,99917.0%
$200,000 – $299,9996.2%
$150,000 – $199,9995.2%
$300,000 – $499,9993.6%
$500,000 – $749,9991.3%
$750,000 – $999,9991.3%
$1,000,000+1.3%

WordPress Agency Percentage of Recurring Revenue

Percentage of Recurring RevenuePercentage
10 – 19%20.0%
0 – 9%19.3%
20 – 29%14.5%
30 – 39%13.5%
40 – 49%9.0%
60 – 69%8.4%
50 – 59%5.8%
70 – 79%3.9%
80 – 89%3.9%
90 – 100%1.9%

Accessibility

For accessibility we asked respondents their level of focus on accessibility issues.

None means they pay no attention to accessibility.

Strive for Best Practices means they try to do their best but are not aiming for any sort of compliance.

Aim for Compliance means that they are building websites to comply with set ADA standards.

WordPress Agency Focus on Accessibility

FocusPercentage
Strive for Best Practices50.2%
Aim for Compliance25.1%
None24.8%

Does a Focus on Accessibility Increase Project Prices?

Focus on AccessibilityPercentage $5,000+ Projects
Aim for Compliance34.2%
Strive for Best Practices29.9%
None25.6%

Does a Focus on Accessibility Increase Annual Revenue?

Focus on AccessibilityPercentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Aim for Compliance15.8%
Strive for Best Practices13.8%
None11.5%

SEO

For SEO, we asked respondents their effort on SEO for website projects.

No focus means they do not pay any extra attention to SEO.

Basics means they do things like on-page only.

Thorough means they are doing content, on-page, and off-page SEO activities.

Focus on SEO

FocusPercentage
Basics71.7%
Thorough26.2%
No Focus2.2%

Does a Focus on SEO Increase Project Prices?

Focus on SEOPercentage $5,000+ Projects
Thorough40.0%
Basics26.1%
No Focus*N/A

The numbers for “No Focus” have been omitted because there was not enough statistically significant data.

Does a Focus on SEO Increase Annual Revenue?

Focus on SEOPercentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Thorough18.2%
Basics12.6%
No Focus0%

Outbound Marketing

For outbound marketing we simply asked if their agency does or does not actively do any outbound marketing.

Percentage of Agencies Engaging In Outbound Marketing

Outbound MarketingPercentage
No80.2%
Yes19.8%

Does Outbound Marketing Increase Project Prices?

Outbound MarketingPercentage $5,000+ Projects
Yes42.9%
No26.6%

Does Outbound Marketing Increase Annual Revenue?

Outbound MarketingPercentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Yes27%
No10.4%

Charging for Discovery

Respondents were asked to select whether they “always”, “sometimes”, or “never” charge for project discovery.

How Many Agencies are Charging for Discovery?

Charging for DiscoveryPercentage
Never52%
Sometimes37.9%
Always10%

Does Charging for Discovery Increase Project Prices?

Charging for DiscoveryPercentage $5,000+ Projects
Always59.4%
Sometimes39%
Never18%

Does Charging for Discovery Increase Annual Revenue?

Charging for DiscoveryPercentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Never10.8%
Sometimes15.4%
Always23.3%

Niche

Those surveyed were asked if they serve a specific niche, and were given the choice of “No”, “Yes”, or “Kind Of”.

Has an Identifiable Niche

Has a NichePercentage
No54.2%
Kind Of27.4%
Yes18.4%

Does a Niche Increase Project Prices?

NichePercentage $5,000+ Projects
Yes42.1%
Kind Of35.3%
No23.4%

Does a Niche Increase Annual Revenue?

NichePercentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Yes18.6%
No12.7%
Kind of12%

Email Marketing

The survey asked if agencies use any kind of email marketing to help promote their business or strengthen relationships.

Do Agencies Use Email Marketing?

Uses Email MarketingPercentage
No50.3%
Kind Of25%
Yes24.7%

Does Using Email Marketing Increase Project Prices?

Uses Email MarketingPercentage $5,000+ Projects
Yes39.2%
Kind Of35%
No21.7%

Does Using Email Marketing Increase Annual Revenue?

Uses Email MarketingPercentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Yes24.4%
Kind of13.8%
No7.5%

Hosting

Respondents were asked whether or not they offer website hosting as part of their care/maintenance plans or otherwise.

Do Agencies Host Their Client’s Websites?

Offers HostingPercentage
Yes82.2%
No17.8%

Does Offering Hosting Increase Annual Revenue?

Offers HostingPercentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Yes14.6%
No9.4%

Miscellaneous

Agency’s Trajectory

TrajectoryPercentage
Growing70.8%
Stagnant26.7%
Declining2.8%

Most Popular Lead Source

Lead SourcePercentage
Referral75%
Networking13.4%
Organic/Search6.6%
Paid Ads0.6%
Cold Calling0.6%
Other5.2%

Type of Content Created by Agencies

Lead SourcePercentage
No Content36.6%
Written62.8%
Audio5.6%
Video22.5%

Users could select multiple answers — will add up to more than 100%*

Favorite Page Builder

Page BuilderPercentage
Elementor33.2%
Beaver Builder15.2%
Divi12.7%
Blocks14.2%
Oxygen13.9%
Bricks0.3%
Other N/A11.1%

$100K+ Solo-Agency Club

The following statistics only include those who had over $100,000 in revenue and are an agency of one (no employees).

There were only 24 entries that met these criteria.

Focus on SEO

FocusPercentage
Basics83.3%
Thorough16.6%
No Focus0%

Focus on Accessibility

FocusPercentage
Aim for Compliance43.5%
Strive for Best Practices34.8%
None21.7%

How Many Agencies are Charging for Discovery?

Charging for DiscoveryPercentage
Never60.9%
Sometimes34.8%
Always4.3%

Has an Identifiable Niche

Has a NichePercentage
No58.3%
Kind Of29.2%
Yes12.5%

Do Agencies Use Email Marketing?

Uses Email MarketingPercentage
No70.8%
Yes25%
Kind Of4.2%

Do Agencies Host Their Client’s Websites?

Offers HostingPercentage
Yes91.7%
No8.3%
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Kyle Van Deusen

Kyle Van Deusen

The Admin Bar

After spending 15 years as a graphic designer and earning a business degree, I launched my agency, OGAL Web Design, in 2017. A year later, after finding the amazing community around WordPress, I co-found The Admin Bar, which has grown to become the #1 community for WordPress professionals. I'm a husband and proud father of three, and a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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