Toronto is home to nearly 50 SEO companies, ranging from one-man operations to international studios with tens of employees. SEO frequently takes on a cooperative angle, as Toronto's SEO professionals prefer to collaborate rather than compete.

There are at least two very large SEO outfits - one with dozens of optimizers working for them, and one doing SEM work for about 200 clients. The very large SEO companies like to stay under-the-radar for reasons that I don't completely understand.

There are also many one-man companies that are composed of professionals who advertise their own personal SEO services. Many of these SEOs are very skilled and perform other services than SEO, such as web development. There are those who advertise online, but quite a few who are "reference-only": meaning that you can only make use of their services if a mutual friend recommends you as a client.

Those SEO firms that are easiest to find are the mid-size companies, and those companies who's primary business is not SEO. When considering hiring an optimization company, I strongly recommend going with a company that is primarily focused on SEO. Companies that do a little bit of everything are not only not as skilled in optimization, but also treat their SEO clients as secondary to their other clients and can take a while to deliver.

Toronto's SEO professionals gather once every year for SES Toronto, a large optimization and web marketing expo that takes place in the Toronto Metro Convention Hall.

From my experience of tracking SEO job listings, the pay for a proficient optimization technician starts at about $50k a year. (As of the start of 2008) there is a shortage of qualified/experienced SEO professionals, as there is a lot of work coming from the USA and not enough local SEOs to take care of the projects.

Run of the mill SEO projects are expected to cost about $4000, with larger projects costing up to about $20k or $30k. Quick website assessments are usually either free or cheap - I have heard of cases where a client was quoted $30k for an SEO assessment (not the optimization work itself), which was highly unrealistic. Keep your eyes open and shop around, not every SEO you will meet is trustworthy.

In summary, Toronto is a great place to either work at as an SEO or to order quality SEO from!

Credit for the great pictures of Toronto goes to users alexindigo and bennylin0724 from Flickr