The Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization – SEMPO, has released its latest report on the state of SEO among organizations. One of the striking revelations from the study is that a number of companies have been moving their marketing budget away from spending on print advertising, conferences and direct mail into SEO.

The reasons are not difficult to understand. Thanks to the downturn, there has been a renewed focus on the ROI from marketing spends and SEO is undoubtedly one of the marketing areas that is sure to garner the highest ROI.

So how much is being spent on search engine optimization? The SEMPO study on American and Canadian companies reveals the following numbers for 2009. Please do note that this spend includes expenditure on agency, staff and technology costs.

Zero : 9%
$1 – $25K : 39%
$25K – $75K : 22%
$75K – $150K : 14%
$150K – $250K : 6%
$250K – $500K : 4%
$500K – $1 Million : 4%
$1 Million – $3 Million : 2%
> $3 Million : 1%

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