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 …
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.
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.).
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.
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 Range
Percentage
$2,500 – $4,999
35.5%
$1,000 – $2,499
27.2%
$5,000 – $9,999
21.1%
$100 – $999
7.4%
$10,000 – $19,999
6.7%
$20,000 – $39,999
1.6%
$30,000+
0.6%
Average WordPress Agency Annual Revenue
Revenue Range
Percentage
$0 – $49,999
40.7%
$50,000 – $99,999
23.5%
$100,000 – $149,999
17.0%
$200,000 – $299,999
6.2%
$150,000 – $199,999
5.2%
$300,000 – $499,999
3.6%
$500,000 – $749,999
1.3%
$750,000 – $999,999
1.3%
$1,000,000+
1.3%
WordPress Agency Percentage of Recurring Revenue
Percentage of Recurring Revenue
Percentage
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
Focus
Percentage
Strive for Best Practices
50.2%
Aim for Compliance
25.1%
None
24.8%
Does a Focus on Accessibility Increase Project Prices?
Focus on Accessibility
Percentage $5,000+ Projects
Aim for Compliance
34.2%
Strive for Best Practices
29.9%
None
25.6%
Does a Focus on Accessibility Increase Annual Revenue?
Focus on Accessibility
Percentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Aim for Compliance
15.8%
Strive for Best Practices
13.8%
None
11.5%
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
Focus
Percentage
Basics
71.7%
Thorough
26.2%
No Focus
2.2%
Does a Focus on SEO Increase Project Prices?
Focus on SEO
Percentage $5,000+ Projects
Thorough
40.0%
Basics
26.1%
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 SEO
Percentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Thorough
18.2%
Basics
12.6%
No Focus
0%
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 Marketing
Percentage
No
80.2%
Yes
19.8%
Does Outbound Marketing Increase Project Prices?
Outbound Marketing
Percentage $5,000+ Projects
Yes
42.9%
No
26.6%
Does Outbound Marketing Increase Annual Revenue?
Outbound Marketing
Percentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Yes
27%
No
10.4%
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 Discovery
Percentage
Never
52%
Sometimes
37.9%
Always
10%
Does Charging for Discovery Increase Project Prices?
Charging for Discovery
Percentage $5,000+ Projects
Always
59.4%
Sometimes
39%
Never
18%
Does Charging for Discovery Increase Annual Revenue?
Charging for Discovery
Percentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Never
10.8%
Sometimes
15.4%
Always
23.3%
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 Niche
Percentage
No
54.2%
Kind Of
27.4%
Yes
18.4%
Does a Niche Increase Project Prices?
Niche
Percentage $5,000+ Projects
Yes
42.1%
Kind Of
35.3%
No
23.4%
Does a Niche Increase Annual Revenue?
Niche
Percentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Yes
18.6%
No
12.7%
Kind of
12%
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 Marketing
Percentage
No
50.3%
Kind Of
25%
Yes
24.7%
Does Using Email Marketing Increase Project Prices?
Uses Email Marketing
Percentage $5,000+ Projects
Yes
39.2%
Kind Of
35%
No
21.7%
Does Using Email Marketing Increase Annual Revenue?
Uses Email Marketing
Percentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Yes
24.4%
Kind of
13.8%
No
7.5%
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 Hosting
Percentage
Yes
82.2%
No
17.8%
Does Offering Hosting Increase Annual Revenue?
Offers Hosting
Percentage $200,000+ Annual Revenue
Yes
14.6%
No
9.4%
Miscellaneous
Agency’s Trajectory
Trajectory
Percentage
Growing
70.8%
Stagnant
26.7%
Declining
2.8%
Most Popular Lead Source
Lead Source
Percentage
Referral
75%
Networking
13.4%
Organic/Search
6.6%
Paid Ads
0.6%
Cold Calling
0.6%
Other
5.2%
Type of Content Created by Agencies
Lead Source
Percentage
No Content
36.6%
Written
62.8%
Audio
5.6%
Video
22.5%
Users could select multiple answers — will add up to more than 100%*
Favorite Page Builder
Page Builder
Percentage
Elementor
33.2%
Beaver Builder
15.2%
Divi
12.7%
Blocks
14.2%
Oxygen
13.9%
Bricks
0.3%
Other N/A
11.1%
$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.
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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