How Much Does SEO Cost? Here's How We Think About It

We don’t publish a price list, and we’d be wary of any agency that does — the honest answer to “how much does SEO cost” is “it depends,” and anyone who skips straight to a number without asking about your site first is guessing. Here’s what actually determines scope and investment, so you know what you’re being quoted for.

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Last updated: September 25, 2026

What Is Professional SEO?

Professional SEO refers to the services provided by SEO experts. These professional SEO experts can assist you when you need to have your website optimised to rank on Google but lack the expertise to do so. You may choose a different SEO plan for your business website depending on the type of service you require.

In the case of an e-commerce website, these professionals will provide you with a different SEO plan than for a service provider website. It depends on the services they offer and the deliverables they will provide that determine the cost.

How Is Professional SEO Pricing Calculated?

Professional SEO experts determine the pricing structure based on the services they provide to individual websites on a monthly, weekly, and hourly basis. Those clients who need customised SEO plans can even get a customised pricing structure. Their SEO plans include a set of services and deliverables. The set monthly cost does not include additional services.

A typical SEO pricing model can be found below, which is used by most SEO service providers in order to determine their SEO charges.

What Services Are Provided Under Monthly SEO Plans?

Monthly SEO plans include services like

Initial Review & Analysis
On Page Optimisation
Tools Setup & Optimisation
Link Building
Content Marketing
Video Marketing
Local Search Optimisation
Monthly Reporting
Support Email Tickets & Phone Support

What Services Are Provided Under Hourly SEO Plans?

Website owners can choose which services they want as part of hourly SEO plans. Often the company with which you work will customise a plan to better meet your needs.

What Services Are Provided Under Customised SEO Plans?

If a client requires additional services, they will be included. In the event that a website owner is seeking SEO services, he or she can select those under the customised SEO plan. The charges are determined by the services that the website owner selects.

What Services Are Provided Under One Time Project Based SEO Plans?

An SEO service provider generally provides one-time website optimisation as part of one-time project-based SEO plans. The website is optimised in all major aspects.

Consider These Tips And Find Your SEO Plan!

Choose an SEO agency with a minimum of 15 years of experience.
Don’t focus on the promise of cheap rates. In most cases, the companies behind those rates won’t focus on ensuring your site reaches the traffic levels you’re working to achieve.
Go for agencies that provide key deliverables.
Select an agency that provides monthly reports. By doing so, you will be able to monitor the progress of the website.
Look for SEO companies that provide plan customisation.
Ensure that the SEO service provider you choose has satisfied the needs of at least 500 clients. An experienced company will be able to provide quick visibility to your website, as they understand the basics of website optimisation.

By taking into consideration the above tips, you will be able to select the most appropriate SEO plan (and company) for your business website.

How Much Does SEO Cost For Small Businesses?

The cost of SEO services for small businesses can range from £750 to £3000 per month. To achieve visible SEO results, we recommend that you set a budget of £1000. By doing so, you will be able to increase your website’s visibility within six months. A starting rate of £150 to £300 per hour may be appropriate if you decide to pay on an hourly basis. There is also the option of one-time SEO for your business. SEO starts at £5000 on average for a one-time project.

What Are The Factors That Determine SEO Pricing?

SEO rates depend on various factors. Let us see below what determines the pricing for SEO.

The time invested
Number of website pages
Links to acquire
The current technical state of the website including penalties and spam score
Target audience
Existing rankings
Industry sector
The SEO service providers’ expertise and experience

Let us examine the above factors in more detail to gain a better understanding of SEO budgets.

The Time Invested

The SEO service provider’s time investment directly affects the SEO rates. A longer period would also result in a higher SEO cost. The cost of the SEO plan will be determined by the length of the agreement, such as six months. Moreover, if they had a 12-month plan, the price would be higher than the 6-month plan.

The Number Of Website Pages

SEO rates are also determined by the size of the website. The SEO budget for optimising a website with 50 pages would be by the number of pages. If a website has 100 pages, the SEO company will set the pricing accordingly. An e-commerce website with a thousand products or more will incur a much higher SEO cost than a services provider website with 15 to 25 pages.

Links To Acquire

The SEO rates are also influenced by the number of links a website acquires. Generally speaking, the higher the number of links that an SEO company acquires for a client’s website, the higher the SEO budget.

Current Website Technical State

If a client has a high spam score or a Google penalty and wants SEO help, the cost will be higher than for a website without a spam score or penalty. SEO rates are also influenced by other technical aspects of the website.

Target Audience

A client’s target audience will play a significant role in determining the SEO pricing structure. Ranking a website on the first page is challenging if the target audience is in a competitive geographic area. As a result of such factors, SEO costs may differ as well.

Existing rankings

It is also important to take into account the current ranking of the website when calculating SEO costs. Making your website visible on Google will be challenging if it does not have Google visibility. Similar to the example above, if your website appears on the second page of the search engines’ results and you aim to move it up to the top five positions on the first page, it would be challenging since the competition is high on the first page. In determining the SEO cost for the client’s website, the current rankings play a significant role.

Website industry sector

The industry sector is considered a factor because the level of competition is different in each industry. It is true that some industries are highly competitive while others are not. Consequently, SEO costs for websites in a competitive industry will be higher than those in a moderately competitive industry.

The SEO service providers’ expertise and experience

A highly-rated SEO company with more than 10 to 12 years of experience will have a different SEO pricing structure. Expertise and experience in the SEO field are key factors. A company with extensive experience will be able to assist you in gaining visibility more quickly.

SEO Pricing FAQs

Do you publish your SEO pricing?

No — and we’d be wary of any agency that sells SEO off a fixed-price menu. The right scope depends on your site, your competitors and your goals, not a one-size table. Start with a free AI Visibility Audit and we’ll come back with a plan and a quote built around your business.

Is SEO worth the investment?

Unlike paid media, SEO compounds — the work you do this year keeps paying off next year, instead of stopping the moment you stop spending. That’s the honest case for it, not a specific ROI number we can’t verify for your business in advance.