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The figures that other agencies are HIDING from you
Here are the top 10 takeaways:
SEO pricing depends on multiple factors — industry competitiveness, goals, and previous SEO work. If you come across services that are dirt cheap, beware: anything below $750/month is usually a red flag.
The average cost of an SEO professional is $75–$200/hour, with monthly retainers ranging from $1,500–$3,000. Most SEO projects cost $1,000–$2,000/month, depending on inclusions.
Cheap SEO services that promise the moon often damage your business in the long run. SEO is about ROI, not shortcuts. Quality SEO drives long-term growth through organic search traffic, which makes up 51% of total business traffic.
With more than $80 billion invested in SEO since 2020, partnering with the right agency can add serious firepower to your marketing.
We’re asked this question all the time by business owners who are realising how important it is to appear on Google and want an SEO pricing guide. After all, organic search accounts for 51% of the traffic a business receives.
And with the total investment in SEO already over $80 billion since 2020, linking up with an SEO agency can add serious firepower to your existing marketing approach.
Well that’s not easy to say.
You’re shaking your head right now. You hate those answers. And so do we. You want an SEO pricing guide and there’s nothing worse than a digital agency using tech speak and double-talk to skate around giving a concrete answer. It feels like a way to trick you into spending more than you should.
Ultimately, there ARE a number of factors that determine the best price to pay for SEO services.
On top of that, every SEO campaign is different.
All of these come together to make the question “How much should I pay for SEO?” a very tough one to answer.
But we’re going to answer it for you. You’re going to get dollar amounts, even if it goes against the vague answers you’ll get from other digital agencies who don’t have your best interests at heart.
But before we get into an SEO pricing guide let’s set some boundaries first so we know what type of budget you’ll be working with.
A recent study estimated that a successful SEO campaign could require anywhere between 12 and 104 hours of work, per month. That’s a massive range.
And with the average SEO professional charging between $75-$200 per hour, it would be irresponsible to quote a single figure with such a wide range of potential figures at play.
Put simply – no one size fits all SEO campaigns. So there is no single cost to quote.
But you’re not here for that, you want more information and you want a dollar amount.
So we’ll go above and beyond to find one for you.
As a business owner, it’s safe to say you’re busy. So here’s the short and sweet answer.
It’s natural for a business owner to ask “How much should I pay for SEO?” or “Why does SEO cost so much?”.
Running a business means managing a limited marketing budget. But that’s the wrong question to be asking. The right question is “How much am I willing to invest in SEO?” because that’s what SEO is at its core. An expense is a cost to acquire an equally valuable asset. That’s not what SEO is.
SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that adds rocket fuel to your online presence and visibility. Statistically, the websites on the first page of Google receive 91.5% of clicks. And organic traffic has a 14.6% conversion rate compared to the 1.7% of traditional outbound marketing. The figures go on and on. In short, SEO puts you in the shop window, and that’s worth big business.
As is the case for most things in life, you get what you pay for. The price you pay for SEO should be an amount relative to your revenue and mirror your expected goals. Always remember, you don’t pay for results. That’s possible with AdWords but not SEO. You pay for time. The more time spent on your campaign, the more successful you will be. If you want to rank locally as a GMB listing, this will take less time than ranking nationally for highly competitive keywords.
But with so many SEO agencies promising you the world, how do you decide which one is right for you?
As a general rule, anything below $750 per month should be viewed with caution. Where SEO is concerned you aren’t shopping for the lowest price. You are shopping for the best service. If it’s an ‘unbelievable deal’ it’s probably too good to be true.
SEO is an investment. Good SEO makes you highly visible and connects your business with the demand of customers who are actively looking for the products and services you offer. That’s incredibly valuable and should be worth paying for as a result.
To make sure you maximise your ROI, you need to choose an SEO agency who can show proven results and can clearly and simply state how they’ll get you from A to B.
The average cost of an SEO professional is $75-$200 per hour, though this can be much higher. To achieve SEO results that will provide the visibility and engagement required to see a return on your investment works out to be around $1000 a month and up. Paying less simply won’t reach your SEO targets and may end up putting your business back years instead.
There are typically 3 types of SEO Pricing.
Hourly SEO Rates – The average hourly SEO rate is between $75-$200 per hour.
Monthly SEO Retainers – The average SEO retainer is between $1500-$3000 per month.
Pay For Performance SEO – Pay for performance SEO relies on dynamic pricing that depends on your ranking success.
These may be broken down again according to your SEO goals.
Types of SEO Campaign Pricing:
One-Time SEO. Price Range: $1,000 – $10,000+
SEO Site Audit. Price Range: $500 – $10,000+
Local SEO. Price Range: $500 – $5,000+ (Monthly)
National SEO. Price Range: $2000 – $5,000+ (Monthly)
SEO Costs by the Hour. Price Range: $80 – $200 (Hourly)
The cost of SEO services vary depending on what’s included. Most SEO projects in 2024 cost between $1000-$2,000/month based on the scope of the project. A one-off project will range between $5,000-$10,000+ and hourly rates for SEO consultants costs between $80-$200/hour.
With prices varying, it is tempting to choose the cheapest SEO and hope to squeeze value out of your investment.
However, there are many risks associated with cheap SEO. These services may end up hurting your business, in terms of your reputation, as well as financially if you incur penalties from Google and have to start from scratch.
Just as there are drawbacks to ‘Pay For Performance’ SEO which allows agencies to inflate vanity metrics, leaving you paying for keywords that were simple to capture but deliver no revenue.
When shopping for the right SEO price for your business, keep this simple formula in mind:
If you want faster results you’ll need to pay for more time.
If you want to target more popular keywords you’ll need a bigger budget.
If you want to get on top of your competition you’ll need to invest more than they are.
By optimising your site to appear in the #1 position, you would get 2106 site visitors each month.
By optimising your site with the latest conversion optimisation strategies you could see a traffic to lead conversion rate of 5%. That’s 105 leads each and every month.
That’s over 15 new customers. Every single month. And these figures would grow with more daily searches. That’s qualified, quality traffic. Direct to you. What would that be worth to your business? Here’s how you find out. Multiply this monthly customer figure by your average customer lifetime value. And that’s what SEO is worth to you.
There are typically 3 types of SEO Pricing.
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
These are broken down according to your SEO goals.
Types of SEO Campaign Pricing:
When shopping for the right SEO price for your business, keep this simple formula in mind:
‘You get what you pay for.’
As a business owner you’ve experienced this yourself. Whether it’s a customer requesting a discount that you know doesn’t make financial sense. Or you’re fixing the poor workmanship of another business who cut corners.
You really do get what you pay for. And there’s no exception with SEO. This is also why anything under $500 a month for SEO is asking for trouble.
We’re not saying there’s a direct link between paying less and getting poor quality. You might catch an agency looking to expand their client base with extremely juicy introductory offers.
The issue here is what that $500 a month represents. It’s not directly linked with quality, but it is directly linked to time.
Here’s what we mean…Your $500 a month investment has to be used to turn a profit for your SEO agency.
With the average SEO professional charging between $75-$200 per hour for their digital services, let’s take the conservative estimate and assume your agency runs at $75 for every hour of work. That’s just under 7 hours of work on your website.
Only that’s still not accurate. Remember, every agency has to run at a profit. For most agencies that includes adding a 10-30% profit margin on top of their actual costs.
So this is where your investment goes:
That’s just under 5 hours of actual work on your website before your investment has dried up and work stops. That’s an extremely short SEO runway.
And that’s talking in averages. If your digital agency has higher profit margins then you could see even less time spent on your campaign before the money runs out and work grinds to a halt.
For a digital agency to accept a price point that low means one of several things is likely to happen to your SEO campaign.
It is being outsourced overseas to save money, and will likely come back with a poor quality to reflect that.
It is being worked on using black hat SEO strategies that will result in some immediate results before incurring Google penalties that destroy your online presence.
It is being passed to inexperienced freelancers who create passable content that satisfies basic ranking requirements but won’t actually convert customers.
It is being ignored completely while the agency lv ooks for new clients, a classic churn and burn strategy.
None of these offer ROI.
Whether you’re back at square one with a $500 sized hole in your pocket, or worse off than you were before with Google having punished your website and wiped out your rankings, the feeling will be the same – when you try and find deals that look too good to be true, they usually are.
Remember, shopping around for the best SEO services for your business should never be done on price alone. It’s about finding an agency who shares your values and goals and who can present you with proven case studies and the most value for your money, not the lowest price.
The goal of your website is to attract customers and generate revenue, either online or in your physical store. Unless people are finding your website, what’s the point in having one at all? SEO is about visibility first and foremost, then conversions. When you pay to have your website noticed and optimised, you’re protecting your future.
SEO is an investment that can transform your business. Like any major investment you should shop around and do your homework. Compile a list of potential agencies and ask to see examples of their work in industries similar to yours. What’s worked for other clients may not work for you, so ask for specific strategies they believe would improve your rankings on Google.
Test our experience without spending a thing.
Claim your free SEO audit today and speak with a member of our SEO team to see how we could help you achieve your rankings and revenue goals.
Includes:
Bonus: ‘Quick Win’ SEO tips to help you improve your rankings without spending a dollar.
Google My Business (GMB) is one
Google My Business (GMB) is one
Google My Business (GMB) is one