We Surveyed 1,144 WordPress Professionals…
If you’re like most of us, you’ve only seen the inner-workings of one agency; your own.
Have you ever wondered how much other agency owners pay themselves? How about where they get their leads? Or if they struggle with some of the same challenges you’re facing?
In March of 2024, we conducted our 3rd annual Wordpress Professionals Survey to give you a one-of-a-kind sneak peek into how other agencies operate.
Below you’ll find some of the high-level findings, but the real magic is unlocked by accessing the full database of results.
My hope is that this data provides you insights in ways to improve your agency, gives you confidence in what you’re doing, and helps you feel a little less alone.
Who We Surveyed…
1,144 freelancers and agency owners with an average of 11 years experience, 73% of whom run their business full time with an average team size of 2 from the USA (475), UK (134), Australia (83), Canada (82) and beyond.
You’ll see some up and down arrows on some charts those — indicate the change from last year’s results.
Average Website Project Price
72% of people charge less than $5,000 (on average) for a website.
$100 – $999
11.22%
$1,000 – $2,499
26.63%
$2,500 – $4,999
34.37%
$5,000 – $9,999
19.95%
$10,000 – $19,999
5.34%
$20,000 – $39,999
1.96%
$40,000+
0.53%
2023 Total Revenue
68% of businesses surveyed had a gross revenue of less than $100,000 USD in 2023.
$0 – $49,999
45.89%
$50,000 – $99,999
22.30%
$100,000 – $149,999
12.34%
$150,000 – $199,999
5.67%
$200,000 – $299,999
4.84%
$300,000 – $499,999
3.75%
$500,000 – $999,999
2.83%
$1,000,000+
1.10%
How much did you pay yourself in 2023?
Less than 10% of freelancers/agency owners make $100,000 or more per year.
Less Than $19,999
41.11%
$20,000 – $49,999
29.85%
$50,000 – $99,999
19.33%
$100,000 – $199,999
6.99%
$200,000+
2.72%
What percentage of your revenue is from recurring revenue sources?
About 32% of freelancers/agencies make the majority of their income from recurring revenue sources.
0% – 19%
34.33%
20% – 39%
25.22%
40% – 59%
18.11%
60% – 79%
12.98%
80% – 100%
9.37%
If you sell any of your time hourly, what is your hourly rate?
The average hourly rate for everyone surveyed is $94/hr, which is $2 lower than last year.
Accessibility
Nearly 1/10th of freelancers & agencies don’t consider accessibility at all when building a website.
Don’t Consider Accessibility
9.40%
Strive for Best Practices
81.29%
Adhere to WCAG
9.31%
Search Engine Optimization
96% of respondents offer basic or thorough SEO.
Do no SEO
3.99%
Just the Basics
69.15%
Thorough
26.86%
Do you offer paid discovery?
Without paid discovery, only 12% average $5,000+ per project; with it, 68% do.
Never
45.01%
Always
10.07%
Sometimes
44.92%
What page builder do you currently prefer?
Bricks was the only page builder to increase its numbers over last year, racking in 32% of the total.
Bricks
32.04%
Blocks
19.29%
Elementor
18.58%
Divi
9.20%
Beaver Builder
8.76%
Oxygen
1.77%
What block package do you prefer?
50% of respondents who build with blocks choose GenerateBlocks.
GenerateBlocks
50.00%
Kadence
32.41%
Spectra
4.17%
Greenshift
2.78%
Stackable
1.85%
Cwicly
1.39%
Where do the majority of your leads come from?
Referrals remain the most popular way for agencies to source leads, with 71% of respondents listing it as the #1 lead source.
Referral
71.11%
Networking
15.37%
Organic/Search
7.42%
Paid Ads
1.24%
Cold Calling
0.80%
What kind of content do you create for your agency?
63% of people surveyed say they create written content.
Written
63.01%
Video
23.62%
Audio
7.04%
How often are you creating content for your agency on a consistent basis?
Less than 20% of agencies & freelancers are creating content on a weekly basis.
Randomly
33.42%
Monthly
31.54%
Weekly
19.81%
Quarterly
14.15%
Annually
1.08%
Do you have a well-defined niche/audience?
Just 28% of agencies without a niche exceed $100K revenue, while 41% with a niche broke the 6-figure mark.
No
40.30%
Somewhat
38.53%
Yes
21.17%
Are you regularly and consistently putting effort into outbound marketing?
Despite 26% claiming to struggle with not having enough work, only 16% of freelancers & agency owners are doing any outbound marketing.
No
84.06%
Yes
15.94%
What percentage of your services are done in-house?
66% of agencies and freelancers are producing 90% or more of their work in-house.
0% – 9%
0.88%
10% – 19%
0.53%
20% – 29%
0.35%
30% – 39%
0.71%
40% – 49%
0.97%
50% – 59%
2.04%
60% – 69%
2.30%
70% – 79%
9.20%
80% – 89%
16.73%
90% – 99%
66.28%
Do you plan on hiring in 2024?
54% of people say they do not have plans to hire in 2024.
No
54%
Unsure
25%
Yes
20%
How would you characterize the overall trajectory of your business?
Nearly 2/3rds of people surveyed say their WordPress business is growing
Growing
63.27%
Stagnant
31.85%
Declining
4.88%
Have you started using AI for tasks you previously paid someone to do?
53% of the people we surveyed said they are now using Artificial Intelligence for work they used to pay a human to do.
Are you paying for any dedicated AI tools?
56% of the people we surveyed are paying for A.I. tools
Do you think you’ll still be running your agency in 5 years?
7% of agency owners and freelancers don’t expect to be in business in the next 5 years.
No
6.52%
Unsure
19.91%
Yes
73.57%
What challenges are you currently facing?
Work-Life Balance is the most common struggle for freelancers & agency owners, with 31% of people we surveyed listing it as one of their challenges.
Work-Life balance
31.39%
Not enough work
25.73%
Keeping up with technology
22.10%
Scalability
21.66%
Maintaining profit margins
20.87%
Too much work
20.42%
Project management & deadlines
19.81%
Finding qualified talent
15.65%
Cash flow management
15.21%
Client communication
12.02%
Increased competition
11.58%
Compliance
4.16%
Quality control
3.98%
The 2024 WordPress Professionals Survey
Want to know what sets successful WordPress agencies apart? Participate in the 2024 WordPress Agency Survey and get a glimpse into the performance and strategies of agencies just like yours!
What is The WordPress Agency Survey and why do we do it?
There are no two ways about it: running an agency can be lonely – leaving you wondering if you’re making the right decisions, doing the right things and if anyone else is in the same boat as you are.
The 2024 WordPress Agency Survey takes a unique snapshot of what life is like working in the WordPress world.
This is our 3rd year running this survey (see 2022 and 2023 results), and this year we’ve added questions about AI, the future of your business, and your biggest challenges.
Once results are finalized (in April), you’ll be able to group, sort, & filter the responses to view the data in any way that makes sense for you.
This survey is open to everyone from part-time developers to solopreneurs, agency owners to white-label teams.
Why you should join us:
- It’s free and completely anonymous
- Takes just a few minutes to complete
- The results are open to everyone
- Get a unique insight into how others are doing and how you compare
- See what top-performing agencies and developers do differently and what you can learn from them
Once the results are in, we’ll share the entire database with easy search and filter options so you can find how agencies like yours are performing.
New here?
You might be wondering: What is The Admin Bar?
The Admin Bar (or ‘TAB’ as most of us refer to it) is a community of digital freelancers and agency owners who come together to ask questions, share knowledge, offer support, and help one another succeed.
Sorry, the survey is closed!
Thanks for visiting, but our survey is currently closed and we are processing results. Keep an eye out for the release announcement in early April. The best way to stay informed is to join our mailing list:
