How much do you have to pay for SEO Services? To answer this question, we need to break it into two parts. The first part is how much SEO costs, and the second is how much you should spend on SEO services.
Let me try to answer both parts with real-life examples and the experiences I have gained over the last 18 years in the SEO services industry.
How Much Does SEO Cost?
Many small business owners ask me this first question, and it is perfectly normal to know in advance, before making a decision, how much SEO will cost your business.
To get directly to the point, there are 3 different pricing models when it comes to buying SEO services:
1) Per hour
2) Per project
3) Monthly
SEO Services per Hour
Per hour is the most popular pricing scheme. You pay the SEO Company or SEO consultant a fixed rate per hour.
What usually happens is that you agree to the activities to be performed and the estimated hours needed.
You are given a report with details and the actual number of hours worked at the end of each month (or project).
You then have to process payment according to the agreed hourly rate.
What is the range of hourly rates?
The SEO services rate ranges from $20 to $200 per hour. This huge difference depends on several factors, some of which are explained below:
Region—According to studies, SEO services in Australia cost more (on average) than buying SEO services from a United States firm.
Size of the company – The bigger the company, the more money you will pay for SEO
Of course, there are always exceptions to the above rules.
For example, our hourly rate is $50, and we offer SEO + Digital marketing services for small and medium businesses (see details below as to why we can offer lower prices).
SEO Services Per project
This is different than the per-hour pricing scheme. You agree with the SEO firm a standard price for the project as a whole regardless of the hours spend.
Usually, there is a 30% down payment, and the rest is based on predefined milestones (e.g., campaign completion, going live for a redesigned website, etc.).
This method is sometimes better when you are unsure how many hours are needed for a given task, and it is also preferable for budgeting purposes.
Monthly Services
Most successful SEO campaigns expand over one month so one of the best solutions is to agree on a monthly charge.
The most common monthly range is $500 -$1500.
This is also our most popular package and what most clients prefer, especially those in the US.
What is the best pricing model?
The best pricing model is a combination of all 3 above. What we do with clients is come to an agreement where:
- Any clearly defined tasks (like a website redesign) have a fixed charge
- We agree on an hourly rate and a monthly ceiling. In other words, we combine both the hourly rate and the monthly charge.
For example, if our current rate is $50 per hour and the client has a budget of $600 per month, then we agree that the maximum number of hours worked will be 12.
How Much Should You Spend on SEO Services?
So, you now have an idea of the hourly rates and the most common pricing plans, the next thing to decide is how much should you spend on SEO services.
It goes without saying that there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer since it depends on the type of business, current Internet presence, what you want to achieve from SEO, and many other factors.
The following guidelines may help you decide how much to pay for SEO:
SEO is not a cost but an investment – The first thing to understand is that SEO is not a cost for your business but an investment (and probably one of the best investments you will ever make).
The reason is that once you start practicing SEO, the results will be visible both in the short term and in the long term.
You can SEO your website this month and start getting more traffic, and that traffic will continue to grow for the next 12 months or more without having to do anything else.
What percentage of your profits comes from your online presence? If your business depends on online traffic, i.e., you have customers online, then SEO spending should represent your biggest budget.
I would also suggest associating that with your monthly profits, i.e., the more profits you make, the more money you should allocate to SEO and Internet marketing.
If you mainly work offline and just need a proper internet presence, a fixed monthly budget would be more appropriate.
I would say that hiring an SEO consultant or firm for 20 hours per month is sufficient to keep your presence (website and social media) in good shape.
Start low and go long-term rather than high and short-term. SEO takes time; this is a known fact. I would say that it may take up to 6-7 months for an SEO campaign to generate optimum results, so keep this in mind when fixing your budgets.
If you have $10,000 to spend on SEO this year, you should make it 10 months x $1000 rather than 2 months x $5000.
As general advice, when you decide to work with an SEO company or consultant, you should have these in mind:
Conclusion
SEO services are not expensive if you take into account the benefits and the high return on investment.
Prices vary per company and type of services offered but for small businesses that need to have a good presence on the web and social media should allocate a monthly budget in the range $500 to $1000 for SEO services.
