SEO Cost | Pricing Structures For Search Engine Optimisation

If you wish to make your mark on the search engines, there is no better way of doing it other than the SEO way. SEO helps you in keeping your business website right at the top of search results in major search engines, thereby helping you in getting the traffic you need to get the required sales and revenue numbers.

But SEO is not as easy as it used to be; It takes months of fine-tuning and adjustments to get your business website feature high up in the organic search engine rankings.

This skill and time that’s needed is what makes SEO a difficult thing to do and hence makes it pretty expensive.

And then there are other factors as well that contribute to the high SEO costs and expenses such as your project needs, deliverables, revenue, and other needs as specified by the client.

We will uncover various aspects of SEO price along with some frequently asked questions.

SEO Pricing Structure

Though there can be many ways in which the pricing structure can be classified based on the various requirements and pricing options provided by the provider. But the SEO service providers generally follow uniform standards.

SEO Pricing Models

As such there are 4 standard types of SEO pricing structures usually found in the UK which can be listed as under

Project-based SEO

This is usually quoted on the size of the project and what’s involved. The cost depends on the span and the scope of work that needs to be done. As per some of the market research studies, these types of SEO services are most used and very popular.

This model is used by many SEO companies as their primary pricing model. The cost depends on the services chosen and would depend more on what your specified requirements are.

Performance-based SEO

This is pay per performance when you pay an agency or freelancer to pay for keywords and rankings. This is another very popular pricing model that is being widely used by SEO service providers across the UK.

This pricing model is based on the model that needs you to pay only if you get the desired rank results.

This model is best suited for startups who are on a low budget and do not have a lot of money yet for SEO. However, ranking for just a few keywords does not always lead to the desired results.

Monthly retainer SEO

Usually, where set tasks are completed per month, and you are paying a monthly retainer. This is one of the strategies that most SEO companies use to enter into long term agreements rather than a single project that wraps up fast. This model is best for companies that do not have the resources to have an in-house team and rather outsource all the SEO work that is required for the business.

This is considered as one of the most useful models as it helps in building and achieving the desired SEO results.

SEO Hourly rates

The average cost of an agency or freelancer can be anything from £50 to £150 an hour depending on skills and experience.

Average SEO Monthy Cost

Cheap SEO

£50 – £500 PCM

Mid Level SEO

£1500 – £5000 PCM

High-End SEO

£5000 – £10000 PCM

But SEO is not as easy as it used to be; It takes months of fine-tuning and adjustments to get your business website feature high up in the organic search engine rankings.

This skill and time that’s needed is what makes SEO a difficult thing to do and hence makes it pretty expensive.

And then there are other factors as well that contribute to the high SEO costs and expenses such as your project needs, deliverables, revenue, and other needs as specified by the client.

We will uncover various aspects of SEO price along with some frequently asked questions.

Average SEO cost

As a business owner, it makes more sense to know the average costs in order to have a fair idea of how much you can actually allocate to SEO amidst all other operational costs.

Often businesses ignore the importance of SEO as a tool to maximize their income and profits and end up paying heavily by losing to their competitors who choose to opt for SEO services.

SEO services for obvious reasons are expensive, but the value they add and the business and revenue they can generate proves all the cost to be worth it.

If you are a small business owner, knowing the average costs becomes all the more important.

Hiring a freelancer or an agency that charges an hourly basis would cost between £80 to £130 on average, whereas the monthly retainer costs between £750 to £1500 per month.

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What pricing model would work for your business?

The answer to this question lies in a variety of factors that range from the scope and the requirements laid down in the project along with of course the resources and the budget that you have at your disposal to invest in SEO.

For instance, if you are a business owner looking for a way to improve your local search rankings, then probably a monthly pricing plan will be more suitable for your needs.

A monthly plan might be more financially viable than a hefty one-time yearly contract.

Also, when you cover a small area, you will be in for some stiff competition, and if you wish to get more local customers to your shop/business, it is essential to have someone working on this month-on-month to keep you at the top.

If however, you are a big business spanning at a national level, your needs would be different and in such a scenario you can opt for a pricing plan that is project-based and helps you get long term SEO support and strategies thereby helping you achieve national results.

This can involve different SEO strategies from on-page technical SEO, link building and content strategy.

No matter what the size or the span of the websites that you are running, SEO is going to help you see success but only if you are using the right team.

SEO promises higher closing rates of around 14.6% on average. As per studies, about 86% of the consumers always search for a local business on Google. With SEO, you get right where your customer is looking for you.

Let us now find out how all these pricing models look like in terms of the cost.

How much is performance-based SEO?

Performance-based means you pay if they perform to give you the desired results. So the promise to make SEO work for you is a guarantee in this pricing model and hence if you opt for this plan your money is safe.

Since the cost is performance-based – you will pay what you use and that too if it really worked for you.

Pros

Clients pay only if their SEO rankings improve
Zero risks for business owners
No ambiguity in pricing

Cons

SEO companies may not accept all keywords
Usually, a website will need to rank for multiple keywords to get true ROI

This works best for

Local/Small Businesses
Ecommerce websites

Monthly Retainer SEO

This remains the most popular SEO pricing model. You pay for the services that you have chosen every month. Thereby it reduces the burden of a huge yearly contract/bill.

The monthly retainers cost anywhere between £750 to £1500 per month. These plans work really well when you plan to outsource your SEO completely.

Pros

SEO company manages it completely.
Campaigns managed end-to-end by SEO.
It creates a sense of trust, and consumer-company partnership.

Cons

Unnecessary features may be added.
Commitments are long term.

This works best for

Businesses completely outsourcing the work
Cases where integration is required
Companies that are interested in long-term commitments.

Project-based SEO

Project-based SEO means you will be charged on the basis of the projects that you have.

This would mean that you can use multiple SEO companies for multiple projects, and they are with you once the project ends.

So, the commitment is short term, and you do not have to get stuck in one contract forever. The project-based prices vary as per requirements.

Pros

One time lump sum payments
The project scope and requirements are clear.

Cons

Chances of getting overcharges
Rigid Contracts
Poor flexibility
Additional charges to change or upscale campaigns

This works best for

Websites that are opened for specific purposes
For short term or long term projects.

Hourly rate SEO

This is the pay per hour basis SEO. This pricing model is usually available with freelancers and SEO agencies. You pay for the hours spent in finishing the project. So, the billing happens hourly. This makes sure that you know about everything that you are paying for on an hourly basis

Pros

Sense of reliability, accountability, and Transparency.
Tracking gets easy
Costs are easy to predict and plan

Cons

Results may take time to appear
Work is not done for results

This works best for

DIY users who have created their own websites
Small websites that need very less SEO work

Summery

In our experience working on SEO projects for over nine years, the monthly retainer model works best. This way, agencies can be transparent about the tasks completed and the results. For more information, contact us today.