SEO cost: what sets your price
SEO cost follows three things: your site today, how hard your searches are and your monthly output. Two quotes far apart are quoting different work.
Want your own number? The free audit reads your site in about a week.
- 6.7× revenue
- DR 0 to 38
- 4× bookings from search
On this page
How much does SEO cost?
SEO has no set price. The average cost of SEO is a range, and your site sits somewhere in it. You pay for work: research, fixes, new pages and links. How much of that your site needs sets the cost of SEO.
- 49% of agencies report a $1,000 to $5,000 monthly retainer
- 31% report $5,000 to $10,000 a month
- 85% prefer a monthly retainer
A small business pays for a small site: fewer pages, narrower searches, less work each month. See SEO for small B2B companies.
Search pays back once the pages match what buyers type. The two results below show what that looked like.
Industry data: SparkToro State of Digital Agencies survey 2025, all digital agencies, not SEO alone. Not our prices.
What drives SEO cost
Six things move the price. Each one you can check on your own site before you ask for a quote.
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Your site today
What it changesWe fix pages Google skips and slow pages first, then new pages can rank.
Check it yourself Search site:yourdomain.com and compare the count with your real pages.
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How hard your searches are
What it changesMore strong rivals on page one means more pages and more links.
Check it yourself Search what your buyers type and note who holds the top five spots.
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How much goes out each month
What it changesEvery page is research, writing and building.
Check it yourself Count the pages a quote promises each month.
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What the agency takes on
What it changesAdvice alone costs less than research, writing, building and links.
Check it yourself Ask who writes, who publishes and who earns the links.
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A site move or redesign
What it changesMoving pages adds the work that keeps the rankings you have.
Check it yourself Check whether a rebuild is planned this year.
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Tracking
What it changesLeads from search need tracking before anyone can show what SEO brought in.
Check it yourself Ask whether a form fill shows the page it came from.
The first row decides how much of the fee goes to fixes before new pages start.
SEO pricing: monthly retainer, project or hourly
Agencies charge in three common ways.
Monthly retainer
Does wellMonthly SEO pricing keeps research, pages, links and reporting going. Each month builds on the last.
AskWhat the fee buys each month, in pages and hours.
Fixed project
Does wellOne price for one defined job, such as a technical cleanup, a site move or a set of service pages.
AskWhat counts as done, and what comes after.
Hourly
Does wellYou pay for the time used, which suits advice or a small fix.
AskHow many hours a month your site needs.
An SEO package is a retainer with a fixed list of work. Before you compare SEO package costs, check that the list fixes your biggest problem first.
How much should SEO cost you? Set the budget by the goal
Judge the fee against what one client is worth.
- Price one new client. What one client from search brings you in a year.
- Count the clients that cover the fee. Divide a year of fees by that number.
- Allow for the wait. Rankings build over months. Judge the fee against a year of clients from search.
SEO from zero
Domain rating built from 0 to 38, and articles that brought in real leads
B2B data company in SaaS and tech. Founder run, no marketing team, a self managed ads account and no reliable tracking.
38
domain rating built from 0
8
domain rating after the handover
6.7×
revenue growth during the engagement
- Search and articles came first and brought real leads. Paid ads, email and outreach followed as results earned them. Annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew from $300k to $2M.
Anonymized under NDA. The numbers are real.
Bookings from search
Four times the bookings from search that paid ads brought, in the best month on record
Services business with 84 service contractors. We rebuilt its paid ads account and built its search presence page by page.
4×
search vs paid ads
57%
above the month before
49%
margin that month
- Search beat paid ads and referrals combined.
Anonymized under NDA. The numbers are real.
Get my free audit, and see what your site needs before any fee.
What to ask before you sign an SEO quote
The four answers tell you what the quote buys.
- Which problems on our site does this fix first?
- How many pages go live each month, and who writes them?
- How will we see which leads came from search?
- What do the first 90 days look like?
The free SEO audit answers the first question with your site in front of us, and our fee follows from that list.
Free audit
See which pages would bring you inquiries, and what they cost.
A free SEO audit ranks every fix your site needs and shows the first pages to build. 1 hour of your time, a report in about a week, nothing to buy.
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FAQ
Why not publish your SEO price?
SEO cost per month follows the pages, links and tracking your site needs each month. We quote after the free SEO audit, once that list exists.
Is cheap SEO worth it?
Cheap SEO is worth it when your site only needs a few new pages. Check the fixed list against your biggest problem first.
Is an SEO package cheaper than a retainer?
Yes, if the fixed list covers your biggest problem first. Compare lists before you compare the monthly figure.
How long before SEO pays for itself?
SEO takes 3 to 6 months before steady inquiries arrive from search. The first new pages go live in weeks, so you can check progress early.
Can I do SEO on my own?
The basics, yes: clear titles, one question per page, a site that loads fast. The hours go into content, links and tracking every month, and that is the part you pay an agency for.
What are the four types of SEO?
On page, technical, off page and local. Ask any quote which of the four it covers, the mix sets the price.
What does the free SEO audit cost?
Nothing, and the free SEO audit takes about an hour of your time across two calls. It ends with a ranked fix list.