Video transcription:
How much does SEO cost? If you're thinking about hiring an SEO company, you've probably seen prices across the board.
When you Google search, there are tons of ads claiming to be the #1 SEO company with services starting at only two hundred dollars. Meanwhile, you know big businesses are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on SEO.
To find out what's realistic and how much your small business should pay for SEO, keep watching.
Hi, I'm Tom Malesic, Founder and President of EZMarketing, and you're watching Ask EZ. This is where small business owners go to get real answers to their marketing questions.
How Much does SEO Cost?
SEO costs can vary widely depending on the scope of work and the size and experience of the SEO company, but here are a few ballpark numbers.
- Monthly retainers can be anywhere from $250 a month to $5,000 plus a month.
- One-time projects we frequently see between $1,000 and $7,500.
- And then if they're charging hourly, you generally see that between $75 and $200 an hour.
So let's break this down a bit.
Monthly retainers
Let's start with monthly retainers. This is by far the most common SEO pricing model and quite honestly, it makes sense because SEO services are a long-term game that usually take months to start generating results.
On the low end, SEO campaigns that are around $500 a month will likely be really
limited in scope and probably focused on local SEO and very simple optimization.
Now contrast that to on the high end, if you're spending over $5,000 a month, it probably means you have a huge website or you're in a really competitive market. Large enterprise companies can easily spend $10,000, $50,000 or even a $100,000 a month.
But for most small businesses who want to be competitive and stand out online,
we recommend that you start between $1,000 and $3,000 a month.
One-time fees
You might also see companies charging a one-time fee.
Because SEO is long-term and usually involves recurring tasks, fixed-cost pricing models are less common, but you may come across one-time SEO costs for things like setting up a blog or social media channels. They might be creating specialized content, or maybe they're doing a site or content audit.
We offer basic SEO site audits and a free report. Just click on the link below.
Hourly fees
While most SEO agencies don't charge by the hour, remembering that typical rates are $75 to $200 an hour can really help you spot that SEO scam.
Look, if someone is promising top rankings, great content, and tons of backlinks for $100 a month, that's realistically an hour of work or less. Do you really think they can do all that in an hour?
Remember, cheap SEO services often aren't worth it and can cost you big in the long run. Before you hire an SEO company, make sure you're asking questions about their experience and process so that you get a company that you
can trust.
How much should you pay for SEO?
Since SEO costs can vary, how do you figure out if you're on the $500 a month spectrum or the $5,000 a month?
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
What are your goals?
Are you looking just to boost some visibility for a couple of main keywords, or do you really want to drive tons of new leads and sales from organic search? The more aggressive your goals, the more you should probably invest in SEO to get the results that you want.
What's your current situation?
SEO is easier for some businesses than others. If you're in a highly competitive industry, you're not ranking at all, and your website is poorly designed, look it's gonna take a lot more work and a lot bigger investment to make SEO effective.
What's your timeline?
Any good SEO campaign is going to take time, but the faster you want things done, the more you're going to need to invest. Increasing your budget will allow your SEO company to accomplish more faster to move the needle.
Affordable SEO SERVICES for Small Business
How much SEO costs can vary widely, but again, most small businesses who get the most value for their money are spending between $1,000 and $3,00 a month.
If you're looking for an SEO company, we have affordable SEO pricing packages built for small businesses.
Contact us, and we'll help you find the right services to fit your needs and
your budget. Plus we'll give you a free SEO audit with our recommendations.
And if you like this video, don't forget to like and subscribe.
