SEO Pricing (original) (raw)

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How much does SEO cost?

How Much Does SEO Cost?

So, how much does SEO cost? Well, we interviewed 500 U.S.-based sales and marketing professionals to find out.

On average, SEO costs $2500 – 7500permonth∗∗,∗∗7500 per month, 7500permonth∗∗,∗∗50 – 100perhour∗∗,and∗∗100 per hour, and 100perhour∗∗,and∗∗1000 – $5000 per project in 2024. How much you pay for SEO will depend on factors unique to your business, like your size, goals, and more.

SEO Pricing By Business Size

When it comes to the cost of SEO and business size, larger companies will often pay more for SEO:

Why do larger businesses have higher costs? A few reasons, including:

  1. Reputation: A company’s brand is invaluable — especially when that brand is well-known. That’s why larger businesses will partner with established SEO providers (who have higher SEO rates) vs. younger SEO companies or consultants (who have lower SEO prices).
  2. Complexity: Larger organizations often have more complexity, from approval processes to unique website builds. That’s why they’ll often partner with enterprise-level SEO providers. These providers have enough experience working with larger brands to deliver a custom and effective SEO program.
  3. Scale: Compared to smaller businesses, larger companies operate on a bigger scale. From more products to more markets, they need a partner that can meet their SEO needs, and for that, they often need an SEO company that specializes in enterprise SEO — which costs more.

What this means is experience and capabilities matter in search engine optimization pricing. You will pay more for those benefits if you want to hire an SEO provider with more experience, resources, and capabilities.

SEO Pricing by Frequency

2 how businesses pay for seo

When it comes to paying for SEO services, there are three main ways to do so: by project, by hour, and by month. How you pay for SEO can depend on a number of factors like your budget and the services you need.

Because SEO is a long-term digital marketing strategy, most businesses surveyed preferred to pay on a monthly basis.

Meanwhile, some businesses only feel the need to partner with an SEO provider for a shorter period of time, so they elect to pay by the hour (30% of businesses) or by project (28% of businesses).

Which SEO Pricing Model is Best?

There is no right answer when it comes to choosing an SEO pricing model. The best payment plan will depend on your business and its SEO needs. That’s why we’ve compiled each plan’s best use cases and some examples of how businesses use those plans:

1 key takeaways

SEO Pricing by Provider Type

Learn how SEO costs change based on who you hire, an agency, consultant, contractor, or freelancer:

Compared to other service providers, SEO agencies cost more. Why? A few reasons, including:

  1. Capabilities: With more team members and tools, search engine optimization companies can do more than other SEO service providers. Using WebFX as an example, your business can access SEOs, web developers, reporting software, and more — everything you need to do SEO.
  2. Experience: SEO agencies will also have more knowledge that you can put to work. If your business needs an SEO expert, plus an ecommerce SEO specialist, for instance, an SEO company can often meet those needs. For a consultant, freelancer, or contractor, that’s more difficult.
  3. Scalability: Most SEO companies can scale with a business’s SEO needs. That’s convenient because your organization doesn’t have to hire a new SEO agency. Instead, you can upgrade your SEO plan to start capturing more traffic. In comparison, other SEO providers can’t do that.

Multiple factors will determine whether your business partners with an agency, consultant, contractor, or freelancer — and pays their SEO prices. Besides cost, you’ll also need to consider what you want to accomplish with SEO, how involved you want to be in SEO, and what else you need from a provider.

Source Data

Monthly SEO costs by service provider
Hourly SEO costs by service provider
Project-based SEO costs by service provider

The Cost of In-House SEO

On average, in-house SEO costs 55,000to55,000 to 55,000to75,000 — the annual salary of an SEO specialist with benefits, like taxes and insurance. How much your business invests in doing SEO in-house will depend on your company’s location, candidate requirements, and SEO program size.

What Determines SEO Pricing?

Several factors determine SEO pricing, including:

You’ll often find that the more experienced SEO providers, from agencies to consultants, have higher search engine optimization prices. Similarly, an SEO strategy with a bigger scale, like an enterprise-level plan, will see higher SEO rates.

What To Expect with SEO Costs?

SEO marketing costs and their corresponding deliverables vary, so it helps to understand what you can expect your SEO budget to look like and what you’ll receive for that investment

Below, Trevin, WebFX’s VP of Marketing, breaks down common SEO budgets based on company size to help you understand what you’ll pay for SEO along with what you’ll get for that price.

Let’s get started!

$1 – $500 per month (Very few businesses)

Best for: Project-based SEO

Example deliverables: SEO content, Keyword research, Rank tracking

Businesses spending 1–1 – 1–500 / month on SEO are often using the budget for one-off projects, like hiring a freelancer to write some SEO content, or SEO tools to support in-house work.

Trevin

Trevin VP of Marketing

“When investing in SEO from an agency, this budget only bakes in enough time for reporting and only a few deliverables. If this is your budget, and you have the time, you may see better results by investing in SEO software to help with your search engine performance.”

For ongoing SEO services, this budget is not effective. Our research shows this, too, with 53% of respondents rating themselves as dissatisfied with their SEO provider, whether an agency or consultant.

$500 – $1000 per month (Select few businesses)

Best for: Businesses with less than 5 employees

Example deliverables: On-page SEO optimizations, local SEO optimizations, rank tracking and traffic reporting

Companies spending 501–501 – 501–1000 / month on SEO are most often partnering with agencies or freelancers. These services are minimal and often limited to on-site optimizations vs. off-page or technical SEO.

Trevin

Trevin VP of Marketing

“This SEO budget is common amongst very small businesses, such as one person companies and side businesses. Typically, this budget will get you a local SEO strategy for a location or two.

With this budget, it’s important to note that you won’t get a ton of in-depth expertise or resources from multiple experts.”

Only a few businesses should invest this much in SEO each month.

$1000 – $2500 per month (Some smaller businesses)

Best for: Small businesses

Example deliverables: SEO audit, keyword research, on-page SEO, link building

Allocating 1000–1000 – 1000–2500 / month towards SEO is a reasonable starting point for small businesses. Your service provider will provide the basics for optimizing your on-site and off-site presence.

Trevin

Trevin VP of Marketing

“If you’re a smaller business, this budget is where you might start with your SEO investment.

You won’t get a ton of deliverables or top-level consultation at this rate, but you can find SEO partners who specialize in working with small businesses that can provide ongoing deliverables in this price range.”

$2500 – $5000 per month (Majority of businesses)

Best for: Most businesses

Example deliverables: Dedicated account manager, on-page, off-page, and technical SEO, performance reporting

More than 50% of companies spending 2500–2500 – 2500–5000 would recommend their provider to a friend or colleague because this budget provides a full-service solution to SEO and is a fantastic starting point for established businesses.

Trevin

Trevin VP of Marketing

“This budget range tends to be a popular starting point for many stable, growing businesses who are looking to invest in SEO. You should be able to get access to experienced practitioners who are able to provide custom strategies and deliverables at this level.”

$5000 – $10,000 per month (Majority of businesses)

Best for: Midsized businesses

Example deliverables: Custom strategy, SEO content, performance reporting

Organizations investing 5000–5000 – 5000–10,000 / month in SEO do it because it’s the most cost-effective option for improving SEO performance while accessing experienced professionals and tech for tracking results.

Trevin

Trevin VP of Marketing

“At this price range, you’re able to scale into key strategic SEO initiatives happening across your website instead of focusing specifically on deliverables. You should have access to both expertise and time to put a robust game plan together to further your SEO efforts.”

$10,000 – $25,000 per month (SEO-dependent businesses)

Best for: Businesses looking to scale SEO performance

Example deliverables: Complete site optimization, audience and market research, regular reporting and/or strategy calls

For companies dependent on SEO, 10,000–10,000 – 10,000–25,000 / month is a competitive budget for SEO services and can provide access to more experienced agencies with the talent and tech for scaling performance.

Trevin

Trevin VP of Marketing

“Businesses who are dependent on SEO for the majority of their leads tend to have this SEO budget. SEO dependent businesses rely on organic search as a key channel for leads and revenue growth. A high percentage of their revenue is coming from organic search, and as a result, tend to scale their spend past the previous levels.”

$25,000 – $50,000 per month (Some enterprise, SEO-dependent businesses)

Best for: Larger organizations

Example deliverables: Dedicated team, ROI reporting, omnichannel marketing support

Companies spending this much on search engine optimization are often larger, enterprise-level businesses who depend on SEO for generating traffic, leads, or revenue. Service deliverables are often highly customized to the organization.

Trevin

Trevin VP of Marketing

“Like I mentioned before, SEO-dependent businesses rely on search for their leads and the majority of their revenue, so they tend to scale their budget past the previous amounts we mentioned.”

$50,000+ per month (Few enterprise, SEO-dependent businesses)

Best for: Fortune 500 companies

Example deliverables: 24/7 support team, specialized SEO team members, executive-level reporting

Occasionally, enterprise-level, SEO-dependent businesses will spend over $50,000 per month on SEO services vs. conducting SEO in-house. This approach allows access to more advanced tech and professionals.

Trevin

Trevin VP of Marketing

“This amount of investment can occur during key growth stages where the scale and expertise agencies provide is needed but companies operating at this level typically have multiple team members who are dedicated to SEO efforts and will bring an agency to support what they are doing instead of leading the charge.”

Why is SEO So Expensive?

For many businesses, the cost of SEO can seem too expensive — which isn’t the case. Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most cost-effective digital marketing strategies, especially compared to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

The reason why SEO seems expensive is that:

  1. SEO takes time to work: Your pay-per-click ads can start driving revenue as soon as you launch them. That’s not the case with SEO. With SEO, you need to optimize your site for four to six months before seeing a return on investment (ROI).
  2. SEO takes multiple skills: From producing SEO content to optimizing page speed, SEO requires multiple skill sets to work — that’s why many businesses outsource SEO. Full-service agencies (like WebFX) fill these skill gaps so you don’t have to, which is why they have higher SEO rates.
  3. SEO takes experience: Search isn’t new. Companies of all sizes now invest in SEO. If your business wants to compete, you need a reputable SEO partner. Compare these providers (and their higher SEO costs) to other, less reputable SEOs, and SEO will seem expensive.

Look at the cost of SEO as an investment, and you’ll start seeing why SEO is cost-effective, like:

  1. SEO works 24/7: Pay-per-click ads stop working for you as soon as you stop paying. In comparison, search engine optimization drives continuous results, helping your business drive traffic, leads, and sales 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  2. SEO drives conversions: Search engines like Google use more than 200 ranking factors, including ones related to user experience, like page speed. Optimizing for these user-focused elements often leads to higher conversion rates because you reduce pain points in your conversion process.
  3. SEO targets the whole funnel: You can target top-, middle-, and bottom-of-the-funnel users with SEO. The advantage here is your business widens its reach, connecting with users throughout their journey and then nurturing them to conversion with SEO and other digital marketing strategies.

With organic search generating more than 40% of online revenue, SEO is a worthwhile investment.

Why Pay for SEO?

4 why businesses pay for seo

Business pay for SEO for a few reasons. In our study, the most popular reasons included:

  1. Lack of expertise
  2. Lack of resources
  3. More cost-effective
  4. Lack of results
  5. Lack of time

26%

Lack of expertise

Source: WebFX

22%

Lack of resources

Source: WebFX

21%

More cost-effective

Source: WebFX

Expert Advice on Researching SEO Pricing

How to set an SEO budget

Create a realistic SEO budget for your business with these steps:

  1. Review your budget allocations: First, learn how your business allocates its marketing budget. How much is available for search engine optimization? Depending on what you find, you may need to get buy-in for a bigger piece of your company’s marketing spend.
  2. Outline your requirements: Think about your goals, preferring outsourcing level, and provider type to get started. You should also consider location since that affects SEO marketing pricing — do you want to outsource your SEO to a different country?
  3. Evaluate your SEO: Next, determine how much work your provider will need to do to start pushing toward your SEO goals. Does your site have a strong backlink profile or weak on-page SEO, for example? Use a free SEO tool like Screaming Frog to get started on this step.
  4. Determine your preferred budget: Use your research to build your desired budget. For example, if you want to partner with a U.S-based agency for hourly SEO, your business will likely need a monthly spend of $6000 (if requesting 40 hours of work per month).
  5. Make your pitch: If needed, prepare a pitch for your budget proposal. Your pitch should demonstrate SEO’s potential bottom-line benefits, like attracting more qualified leads or driving more online sales, plus the advantages of outsourcing your SEO.

How to choose an SEO payment plan

Choose the best SEO payment plan for your business with these steps:

  1. Determine your SEO needs: What does your company want to accomplish with SEO? For example, do you want to fix a specific issue, like improving your page speed? Or do you want to build and maintain an ongoing SEO strategy?
  2. Outline your timeline: Next, build your preferred timeline. Are you migrating your site to a new domain in the next 30 days and need an SEO’s feedback? Or are you looking to optimize your website over time?
  3. Check your SEO budget: Research how much your organization has budgeted for SEO and when those funds are available. For example, does your business release department funds annually, quarterly, or monthly? Your answer will influence your payment plan options for SEO services.
  4. Choose your plan: Based on your research, determine the best option for your business. For ongoing or long-term SEO projects, consider monthly SEO. In comparison, check out hourly or project-based SEO for short- or one-time SEO projects.

How to evaluate SEO prices

Evaluate a service provider’s SEO prices with these steps:

  1. Review the plan deliverables: First, learn what you’re paying for by reviewing the deliverables. If what you’re getting for the price you’re paying seems too good to be true, it probably is — and you’ll often see this with cheaper SEO plans.
  2. Ask questions: Meet with the agency, consultant, or freelancer to discuss their pricing. Does the provider charge overtime, for example, after a certain number of hours worked on the account? What other additional fees should your team know about?
  3. Read the contract: Next, read the contract. Most providers will share a contract once you enter discussions with them. You’ll want to check for a few things, like whether you’re receiving a short-term promotional price and whether the agency can change rates without notice.

How to request custom SEO pricing

Request custom SEO pricing for your business with these steps:

  1. Outline your requirements: Get the most accurate quote by listing your requirements, like whether you’re looking for full-service SEO or something more specific, like off-page SEO. You can even include anything you don’t want in your SEO plan.
  2. Research your options: Optimize your time by limiting your requests to your top picks. Read reviews and case studies to see if an agency, consultant, or freelancer is a good fit for your team. Then, contact them with your request and requirements.
  3. Meet your potential provider: Schedule some time with your potential SEO provider. They’ll use this time to ask you some follow-up questions to understand your business better so they can build an accurate quote for your team.

How to Spot Cheap SEO Pricing

Spot cheap SEO pricing with these steps:

  1. Look at the price: First, look at the price. When SEO costs less than 500permonthorlessthan500 per month or less than 500permonthorlessthan50 per hour, it’s often cheap SEO. Most providers offering cheap SEO will advertise their prices, like “SEO for $100 / mo.”
  2. Check the deliverables: You can also spot cheap search engine optimization pricing by looking at the deliverables. Compare the deliverables to the price, and if it seems too good to be true, restart your search for SEO services. Alternatively, some low-cost SEO plans won’t share their deliverables at all.
  3. Read the reviews: What do people say about this SEO company, consultant, or freelancer online? Is the trend mostly negative, positive, or somewhere in between? Look at the most common complaints and see if they relate to results, quality of work, or client satisfaction.

List of complaints about cheap SEO

Keep in mind you will see lower SEO rates than those listed above. Finding freelancers, consultants, and agencies offering SEO plans for less than $2500 a month is easy. Cheap SEO comes at a cost to your team and business, though.

Some of the most common complaints about cheap SEO include poorer:

In some cases, businesses will even see search engines penalize their website — these penalties can include getting removed from the search engine’s index. This scenario can happen when cheap SEO providers use black-hat tactics to optimize a site, like using link farms to earn links.

So, when debating how much you should pay for SEO, focus your budget on quality vs. cheap services.

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An Inside Look at WebFX SEO Pricing

🤝 Completely custom SEO strategy
📝 Includes on-page SEO with copywriting and implementation
🎨 Supported by design and CRO teams
📊 Advanced ROI reporting and content analytics

Too many search engine optimization providers take a copy-and-paste approach to SEO. That’s not our style.

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You’ve explored SEO prices for different pricing plans, industries, and company sizes, but what about prices from an actual SEO service provider? Get a preview of what SEO costs — and what those costs include — by viewing WebFX’s SEO packages below:

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