Short answer: most SEO providers charge a monthly fee, and the most common one is $500.00 to $1,000.00 a month. In the United States and Canada most charge more: 79.1% of the providers Ahrefs polled there charge at least $1,001.00 a month. From one price to the next, the work behind it changes: how many hours, how many pages, and whether anyone creates content or only sends a report. Our own SEO starts at $1,500.00 a month.
What SEO providers charge
We found two recent surveys that publish their sample and their method. Both asked the providers, not the businesses that pay them, and neither is about one city. Both are from 2024: we found no newer survey that publishes its method.
SE Ranking ran the larger breakdown with Duda, the website platform. It covers 260 agencies from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and 94% of them work with small or local businesses.
| Monthly retainer | Share of agencies |
|---|---|
| Under $500.00 | 30% |
| $500.00-$1,000.00 | 34% |
| $1,000.00-$2,000.00 | 20% |
| $2,000.00-$5,000.00 | 13% |
| Over $5,000.00 | 2% |
Source: SE Ranking and Duda, SEO pricing survey, published December 13, 2024: 170 agencies surveyed plus 90 from SE Ranking's agency catalog. The survey gives 64% under $1,000.00 and 30% under $500.00, so the 34% is the difference. Shares are rounded and add up to 99%.
Ahrefs polled 439 SEO providers and checked each one's website by hand. 78.2% charge a monthly retainer. The most common is $501.00 to $1,000.00 a month, chosen by 20.4%, and 68.8% charge $2,000.00 or less. Ahrefs also gives averages: $3,209.00 a month for agencies and $1,348.63 for freelancers. It calculates them as if every provider charged the top of its band, so they run high. The article was last updated on August 15, 2024 and doesn't say when the poll ran.
Where the provider works moves the price as much as anything. In the Ahrefs data, 79.1% of providers in the US and Canada charge at least $1,001.00 a month, while 76% of those in India charge $1,000.00 or less. In SE Ranking's, 22% of agencies in the US and Canada charge over $2,000.00 a month, against 9% in Europe. When you compare two quotes, you're often comparing two markets.
What an hour of SEO costs
The average hourly rate in the Ahrefs poll is $111.00, and 90% of providers charge $150.00 an hour or less. SE Ranking found that 45% of agencies charge $50.00 to $100.00 an hour, and that 40% of those in the US and Canada charge over $125.00.
A monthly fee is hours by another name. Divide the quote by an hourly rate and you know roughly how much work fits in it.
| Monthly fee and what it usually covers | Hours |
|---|---|
| $500.00 A monthly report and a few profile updates | 5 |
| $1,000.00 Google Business Profile upkeep and fixes on two or three pages | 9 |
| $2,000.00 The profile, review replies, listings, page fixes and some new content | 18 |
| $5,000.00 Several locations, new pages every month and the research behind them | 45 |
Hours: the monthly fee divided by the $111.00 average hourly rate in the Ahrefs poll, rounded to the hour. The work listed for each fee is our estimate of how long each task takes, not survey data.
What each part of SEO includes
A quote usually bundles the kinds of work below. Ask which ones it covers, and how much of each.
Audit
A one-time review of what Google sees: your site, your Business Profile and how you measure calls and forms. Google's own advice on hiring an SEO says an audit "should be about giving you realistic estimates of improvement, and an estimate of the work involved". At that stage, Google adds, give the SEO read access to Search Console and nothing more. Our marketing audit costs $500.00, credited in full if you sign a plan within 30 days.
Local SEO
Your Google Business Profile: posts, photos, categories, review replies, and the same name, address and phone number on the directories that matter. Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and its local ranking page says: "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." What you pay for is the work on those three factors. Our local SEO page explains how we do it.
Content
Service pages and articles that answer what your customers search. Most of the cost is research and writing. On our price list, an extra 1,000-word article costs $400.00, and its version in the second language $150.00.
Links
Links from other websites still count. Google's local ranking page lists how many websites link to your business among the signals of prominence. The safe way to get links is to earn them: local press, associations, suppliers, events you sponsor. It's slow work, and it's why honest link building costs more than buying links.
Reports
A useful report shows your position for the searches you chose, and the calls, direction requests and website visits they brought. Google suggests asking any SEO: "Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site?" If the answer is no, you can't check what you're paying for.
Signs that a price is too low
A low price is fine when the scope is small. When a low price promises a lot, the work has to come from somewhere, and these are the usual places.
- Links by the dozen. A package with a fixed number of new links every month, for a small fee, is usually buying them. Google's spam policies name "buying or selling links for ranking purposes" as link spam, and that includes paying with goods or services.
- Pages by the hundred. Google calls it scaled content abuse when "many pages are generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings and not helping users", "no matter how it's created". We use AI for drafts too. Google's test is whether the pages help the reader, however they were made.
- A guaranteed first place. "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google," says its page on hiring an SEO.
- Nothing you can check. No access to your own Search Console, no list of changes, a report with charts and no calls. Google's advice: "Be careful if a company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do."
Besides the money, you put the site at risk. According to the same spam policies, sites that break them "may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all".
What our SEO costs
Our Starter plan costs $1,500.00 a month for one location, with no setup and month to month. It covers your Google Business Profile with 4 posts a month, review replies and directory listings, plus fixes on up to 4 pages a month. The monthly report shows your position on the map for up to 15 searches. It's the same price in English and Spanish.
Growth adds 4 articles or service pages a month and technical work, and Pro covers up to 3 locations or a whole metro area. Both have a 3-month minimum, and we walk you through their price on a call, as our pricing page explains. Bought links are not on any plan. The full scope is on our SEO services page. For how we work with businesses here, see SEO in Miami.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SEO cost per month?
In both surveys we read, the most common retainer is $500.00 to $1,000.00 a month. SE Ranking found 64% of agencies under $1,000.00, and Ahrefs found 68.8% of providers at $2,000.00 or less. In the US and Canada prices run higher: 79.1% charge at least $1,001.00 (Ahrefs). Ours starts at $1,500.00 a month.
How much does local SEO cost?
In the Ahrefs poll, providers who serve local markets charge $1,557.08 a month on average, against $3,473.74 for those who work worldwide. Our local SEO starts at $1,500.00 a month for one location, with no setup and month to month.
Can an SEO company guarantee first place on Google?
No. Google's page on hiring an SEO says: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." It also tells you to beware of anyone who claims a "special relationship" with Google.
Is it safe to buy backlinks?
No. Google's spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam, whether you pay with money, goods or services. Sites that break those policies may rank lower or disappear from the results.
Can I pay Google to rank higher on Google Maps?
No. Google says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence. Ads can appear above the map, but they are ads, and they don't change your position in it.
Before you sign
Ask for three things in writing: the hours or the deliverables each month, access to your own Search Console and Business Profile, and a list of every change. If a quote can't give you those, its price doesn't tell you much. If you also run Google Ads, our article on what a Google Ads click costs in Miami covers the other half of the budget.