SEO Services Pricing

Learn about SEO services pricing to get the best value for your money.

How Much Does SEO Cost?

SEO pricing varies – now learn reasons why

Are you confused about SEO pricing? Most business people are confused about SEO services pricing because they do not have a solid understanding of what is required to do truly good work, or even how much time is involved.

This page was designed to help you better understand SEO pricing. You can learn how much to spend on SEO services, relative to getting the best value for your money. Our SEO services page explains types of SEO work.

As a business person you understand the costs of running a business. You understand the value of having suppliers that are reliable and stable. Often, pricing is an indicator of the quality of an SEO company. Hiring the best SEO company for your business starts with being able to evaluate SEO services pricing. The first thing to know is that SEO is a service, not a commodity. You’re basically buying hours of work, and (theoretically) paying higher rates when hiring higher skilled SEO service providers.

How our SEO service pricing compares to others

First, we’re flexible and work with our client to find what fits their needs. We offer customized SEO services – not bundles or packages. Our SEO pricing plans include your choice of a one-time, flat rate price or monthly billing. Our flat rate SEO pricing plan is best for a website SEO overhaul or tune-up. Our monthly SEO services are usually part of an integrated internet marketing program for highly competitive situations. Our approach provides our clients with better value relative to cost control and quality of services rendered.

Most SEO companies develop SEO pricing packages with fixed price points to make it easier for sales reps to pitch. These packages include a static list of things they propose to do for you. The problem with one-size-fits-all SEO packages is that they do not address your specific needs. You will pay for things you do not need, and not get some things you do need. The only time these should be considered is when you have a very limited budget, and need a basic overhaul. Don’t necessarily expect stellar results from these SEO packages.

Why do SEO rates vary so much?

Understanding SEO pricing can be confusing because the rates and fees vary quite a bit. Some examples of why SEO packages and plan costs cover a wide range are:

Cheap SEO Pricing plans (under $500 month) could reflect work done in a country where labor is ultra cheap and the cost of living is low; people who are trying to make a little cash on the side and not running a legitimate business; people who have no idea what it costs to run a business. Chances are, the work quality will be very poor, and you’ll quickly become dissatisfied. Amazingly some people will simply switch to another cheap SEO provider and again expect a different experience.
Mid Range SEO Pricing plans are the norm and are driven by the cost of doing business and what the market will allow. The higher end around($1,500-5,000 month) here is most likely a company that has better resources and invests more time in a strategic pursuit of quality results. The lower end (under $500-1,500 month) may use free tools, outsource work to the cheap SEO people, and cut corners (hours) in research and attention to details. It’s possible that the lower end here could have low operating costs and/or providing a basic maintenance level of SEO work.
Expensive SEO Pricing plans (above $5,000 month) usually reflect one of two types of providers. One is an agency with high overhead and highly paid staff, probably of very high quality but best suited to support very large corporate clients. The second is an opportunistic SEO company that hunts for clients who confuse high fees with an assurance of getting superb results.
Other Considerations are that SEO pricing plans simply reflect the scope-of-work to be completed. A short-term agreement requires a SEO company to ask for compensation for all of the implementation time and quickly recover costs for research and planning. A longer term agreement allows for start-up costs to be amortized over the entire contract and blended into the ongoing management time.

SEO done with ROI in mind

Many companies pick up SEO services with the idea that if they have somebody working on it then they can consider it done. These companies usually think that throwing a few hundred dollars a month into optimization work is adequate. They do not understand the large number of hours required to do things correctly, and that they have to outpace their competition. They see SEO pricing and think of the services as an expense, and not as an internet marketing investment.

Investing in SEO with ROI in mind is the practice of highly successful company. Strategic search engine marketing programs consider where committing time and money can yield the best results. Some companies find that the cost to be ranked for their low margin products has a negative ROI, and focusing on high margin products or services has a multi-fold positive ROI.

A competent and ethical SEO company will include the cost for consulting and strategic planning to align their work with the needs of your business. Being ranked for the top revenue producing parts of your business is investing with an eye on ROI.

What are typical SEO pricing package costs?

Asking “what does SEO cost” is about like asking about the cost of a house or a car – there’s a very wide range. While we will address this here in a relatively brief format, we encourage you to read this exceptional Cost of SEO Survey conducted by the fine folks at MOZ.

A summary of SEO pricing in the United States is:

Hourly SEO Prices fall in the range of $75-$200 per hour.
Monthly SEO Prices vary from$250-$5000. This is further segregated into two main ranges; $250-$500 and $2,500-$5,000 per month.
SEO Project Fixed Flat Rate Prices include work done with a defined scope-of-work and completed as a single initiative. These SEO services prices vary from $1,000-$7,500. Obviously the amount of work to be done in a one-time project varies, thus the large spread for SEO services costs.