How SEO agencies can improve profit margins by managing software and staff utilisation

Key takeaways

• Focus on gross margin first – the money left after paying your team and freelancers is the foundation of agency profit.
• Track staff utilisation rigorously – aim for 70-80% of your team's time to be billable to clients for healthy margins.
• Audit software subscriptions quarterly – most SEO agencies overspend by 15-25% on tools that aren't fully used or needed.
• Understand your full cost structure – knowing where every pound goes reveals the biggest opportunities to improve profit margin.
• Price for profitability, not just to win work – build your ideal margin into every proposal from the start.

What's the real profit problem for SEO agencies?

Many SEO agencies confuse making revenue with making profit. You can bill hundreds of thousands but still have very little money left for the business owners. The real problem is often hidden in two areas: how efficiently your team's time is used (utilisation) and how much you spend on software tools.

In our experience working with SEO agencies, these are the most common financial blind spots. Understanding them is the first step to improve profit margin. This isn't about working harder. It's about working smarter with the resources you already have.

Revenue pays the bills, but profit builds your future. A focus on profit margin lets you invest in growth, pay your team better, and build a more resilient business. Let's break down exactly how to do that.

Gross vs net margin explained for SEO agencies

Gross margin is the money left from client fees after you pay the direct costs of delivering the work, mainly your team and freelancers. Net margin is what's left after all other business costs, like software, rent, and marketing. Improving gross margin gives you more cash to cover everything else and make real profit.

Think of it like this. If an SEO retainer brings in £5,000 a month, and it costs £3,000 in salaries to deliver that work, your gross profit is £2,000. Your gross margin is 40% (£2,000 / £5,000). This is your delivery efficiency score.

From that £2,000, you then pay for your Ahrefs subscription, office, accounting fees, and other overheads. What's left is your net profit. A healthy SEO agency typically targets a gross margin of 50-60% and a net margin of 15-25%. If you're below these, your cost structure needs attention.

You must track both numbers separately. A good gross margin can be wiped out by high overheads. A poor gross margin means you're not charging enough for the work, or your team isn't efficient. Specialist accountants for SEO agencies can help you set the right targets and track them properly.

How do you analyse your agency cost structure?

Start by categorising every single expense into two buckets: direct costs of delivery (Cost of Sales) and overheads (Operating Expenses). This agency cost structure analysis shows you exactly where your money goes and where to focus your improvement efforts.

Direct costs are anything that increases directly with more client work. For an SEO agency, this is almost always staff costs – the salaries of your SEO executives, content writers, and technical specialists. Freelancer fees for link building or content also go here.

Overheads are everything else needed to run the business, whether you have one client or fifty. This includes your SEO software stack (Ahrefs, SEMrush, Screaming Frog), office rent, accounting fees, marketing, and management salaries.

Pull reports from your accounting software for the last 12 months. Assign each cost to the right bucket. The goal is to see your gross margin clearly. If direct costs are too high, you need to look at staff utilisation and pricing. If overheads are too high, your software and fixed costs need scrutiny.

Why is staff utilisation the biggest lever to improve profit margin?

Staff utilisation measures what percentage of your team's paid time is billed to clients. Low utilisation means you're paying for idle time, which destroys gross margin. Getting this right is the most powerful way for an SEO agency to improve profit margin quickly.

If you pay a full-time SEO manager £50,000 a year, that's a fixed cost. If they only spend 60% of their time on billable client work, you're losing money on 40% of their salary. To be profitable, you must charge enough in your retainers to cover their full cost, plus a margin.

Aim for a team-wide utilisation rate of 70-80%. This allows for necessary non-billable work like training, internal meetings, and business development. Track this weekly using a simple time-tracking tool. Review it monthly to spot trends.

Common problems include scope creep, inefficient processes, or poor project management. Fixing these can boost your gross margin by 10-15 percentage points without winning a single new client. It turns fixed salary costs into a more productive asset.

What does good software cost management look like?

Good software cost management means paying only for tools that directly contribute to profit, at the right tier for your needs, and cancelling what you don't use. Most SEO agencies we work with can cut their software spend by 15-25% without affecting service quality.

The SEO tool stack is a major overhead. It's easy to end up with subscriptions for SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, Screaming Frog, multiple rank trackers, content tools, and more. Teams often have logins they don't use, or you're on a premium plan built for a much larger agency.

Conduct a quarterly software audit. List every subscription, its monthly cost, how many licenses you have, and how many are actively used. Ask: Could we use a cheaper alternative? Do we need this many seats? Can we downgrade a plan?

Consolidate where possible. Sometimes one premium tool can replace two mid-tier ones. Use our financial planning template to build a dedicated software budget and track it against actual usage. This turns a leaking expense into a controlled investment.

How can SEO agencies implement higher profitability tips?

Implement higher profitability tips by focusing on systematic changes, not one-off cuts. Build margin protection into your pricing, processes, and reporting. This creates a profitable business model, not just a profitable month.

First, price for your target margin. Don't just guess. Calculate the true cost of delivering an SEO retainer, including a realistic utilisation rate for your team. Add your desired profit on top. This is your minimum viable price.

Second, automate and streamline. Use templates for audits and reports. Automate data collection where possible. The less manual time spent per client, the higher your gross margin. This report on the AI impact for agencies shows how technology is changing delivery efficiency.

Third, measure what matters. Track gross margin per client and per service. You might find that technical SEO audits are highly profitable, but ongoing content production is not. This insight lets you adjust your service mix and pricing strategy.

What metrics should you track to protect your margin?

Track these five metrics monthly to protect and improve your profit margin: Gross Margin Percentage, Net Margin Percentage, Staff Utilisation Rate, Average Revenue Per Employee, and Software Cost as a Percentage of Revenue.

Gross and Net Margin show your overall financial health. Staff Utilisation shows your operational efficiency. Average Revenue Per Employee (total revenue divided by total staff) indicates scalability. If this number is below £100,000, your model may be too reliant on people rather than systems.

Software Cost as a Percentage of Revenue is crucial for SEO agencies. If your software spend is more than 5-7% of your revenue, it's likely too high and eating into your net profit. This metric forces you to justify every tool subscription.

Put these numbers on a one-page dashboard. Review them with your leadership team every month. This moves the conversation from "are we busy?" to "are we profitable?". It's how you make data-driven decisions to improve profit margin consistently.

How do you build a cost-conscious culture without hurting morale?

Build a cost-conscious culture by framing efficiency as a way to fund growth, better benefits, and team bonuses – not as austerity. Involve your team in finding savings and reward them for ideas that improve margin.

Share the high-level financial picture with your team. Help them understand that a higher gross margin means more money is available for pay rises, better equipment, and company socials. Connect their daily work to the business outcomes.

Encourage team leads to review software tools and processes. Ask them: "Where do we waste time on this task? Could a different tool make us faster?" Empower them to own the efficiency of their department.

Celebrate wins. When a process improvement saves 10 hours a month, highlight it. If cancelling an unused software subscription saves £1,000 a year, announce it and explain what that money could be used for instead. This turns cost management from a negative chore into a positive team game.

When should an SEO agency get professional financial help?

Get professional financial help when you're consistently billing over £200,000 a year but don't feel in control of your profit, or when you're planning to scale past 10 employees. An expert can set up the systems and insights you need to grow profitably.

Many founders try to manage everything themselves until a cash flow crunch or tax bill hits. Being proactive is cheaper and less stressful. A specialist accountant does more than just file your taxes. They help you build a profitable business model.

Signs you need help include: not knowing your gross margin by client, having no clear budget for software or staff, feeling surprised by your tax liability, or struggling to price new services confidently. These are solvable problems with the right guidance.

Getting your finances in order is a competitive advantage. It lets you invest from a position of strength, weather client losses, and make strategic decisions with confidence. If you want to build an agency that lasts, this foundation is non-negotiable. You can start the conversation with our team here.