SEO for a small business costs $1,000 to $1,600 a month at Good At Marketing, and up to about $3,500 a month in highly competitive markets. Providers also bill by the hour or the project, and Ahrefs’ survey of SEO providers, published in December 2023, reported an average retainer of $2,917 a month.
By Donnie Strompf. Updated October 2026.
I’m Donnie Strompf. I run Good At Marketing in Boynton Beach, Florida, and we sell SEO, so I have included outside pricing data to compare against. Outside figures name their source.
Key takeaways
- Our SEO range is $1,000 to $1,600 a month, up to about $3,500 in highly competitive markets.
- SEO is billed as a monthly retainer, an hourly rate or a project fee. 78.2% of the providers in the Ahrefs survey published in December 2023 offered retainers.
- Where you compete moves the price. Ahrefs found local-only providers averaging $1,557 a month against $3,474 for providers selling worldwide.
- A fee buys hours. At Ahrefs’ average rate of $111 an hour, $1,000 a month buys about nine.
- Google says no one can guarantee a number one ranking, and buying links to rank breaks its spam policies.
- Google also says a small local business can probably do much of the work itself.
What are the three ways SEO is priced?
SEO providers bill in three ways. A monthly retainer pays for ongoing work, hourly billing pays for advice or a single task, and a project fee covers a defined piece of work such as an audit or a site move. Ahrefs, an SEO software company, polled 439 SEO service providers and published the results on December 17, 2023 (its page also shows an August 15, 2024 update). The three shares add up to more than 100% (Ahrefs figures), which suggests providers offer more than one model.
| Model | How it bills | Providers offering it | Most common band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | One fixed fee each month | 78.2% (Ahrefs) | $501 to $1,000 a month |
| Project | One fee for a defined job | 48.9% (Ahrefs) | $2,501 to $5,000 |
| Hourly | Time billed as used | 34.8% (Ahrefs) | $75 to $100 an hour |
The last column shows the price band Ahrefs found most common for each model. The average hourly rate was $111, and 90% of respondents charged $150 an hour or less in the survey.
Google’s SEO starter guide says some changes “might take effect in a few hours, others could take several months” (Google Search Central, updated December 10, 2025). In my view, that spread is why SEO is normally sold as a retainer. A project fee suits a defined fix, and hourly billing suits advice from a consultant.
What does SEO cost for a small business?
Our published SEO range is $1,000 to $1,600 a month, up to about $3,500 a month in highly competitive markets. The pricing page puts legal, med spa and home services at the upper end, and it lists ad spend and website projects outside the SEO fee. Prices reviewed October 2026. The SEO services page describes the service itself.
Outside sources give wider ranges. Ahrefs reported an average retainer of $2,917 a month across all provider types, and it says its averages assume each respondent charges the top of their price tier, which pushes the figures up. Our guide to how to choose an SEO company gives the averages by provider type.
SEO.com, a site run by the agency WebFX, lists $1,500 to $5,000 a month for agency and consultant retainers in a guide last updated October 2, 2026. SEO.com does not state a source for these ranges, so read them as a vendor’s estimate.
Ahrefs polled providers and not buyers, so its figures show what providers say they charge. They do not show what clients paid. Before you compare a $1,000 quote with a $3,500 quote, get a written list of what each one includes, because both can be fair when the work behind them differs.
What moves the price of SEO?
When you compare SEO quotes, ask how each provider priced these eight factors.
- Market competition. More competitors for the same searches means more work to rank. SEO.com’s guide names law, home services and healthcare as higher-cost industries, and our pricing page places legal, med spa and home services at the upper end of our range.
- Local or national. Ahrefs found local-only providers averaging $1,557 a month and worldwide providers averaging $3,474.
- Site size. SEO.com lists website size among its cost factors.
- Content volume. SEO.com lists content needs as a cost factor, since each new page or rewrite takes writing time.
- Links. Google’s spam policies list buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam (Google Search Central, updated August 28, 2026). Link work that follows them is paid in outreach and content time.
- Technical condition. SEO.com lists a site’s technical health as a factor. A site with crawl errors or slow pages needs those fixed first, and our guide to technical SEO explains what that covers.
- Provider type. Ahrefs reports separate averages for freelancers and for firms, and our guide to choosing an SEO company has them.
- Scope. Ask how the quote changes if you add a second location or a new service line.
What does each price level buy?
A fee buys hours of work, split among audits and fixes, content writing, link outreach and reporting. The table divides a monthly fee by three hourly rates from the Ahrefs survey: $75 (the low end of the most common band), $111 (the average) and $150 (the rate that 90% of respondents stayed at or under in the survey).
| Monthly fee | Hours at $75 | Hours at $111 | Hours at $150 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| $1,000 | 13 | 9 | 7 |
| $1,600 | 21 | 14 | 11 |
| $3,500 | 47 | 32 | 23 |
The $1,000, $1,600 and $3,500 rows match the ends of our published SEO range. These are theoretical hours, not hours a provider promises. The arithmetic assumes every dollar buys billable time, and the hours run lower once a provider pays for tools and account management, so read each cell as a ceiling.
Use the table to test a quote. Ask the provider how many hours it expects to spend on each item in the offer, and who does the work. A $500 offer that lists content, links, technical fixes and a report is a good place to start asking questions.
Which cheap SEO offers deserve a question?
Five checks apply to any price, low or high, and the first three come from Google.
- A guaranteed ranking. Google says “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google” (Google Search Central, June 5, 2026).
- A link package. Buying or selling links for ranking purposes is link spam, and Google says sites that violate its policies “may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all” (Google Search Central, August 28, 2026). Google also says “Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire.”
- Pages produced in bulk. Google’s policy on scaled content abuse covers pages “generated for the primary purpose of manipulating search rankings.”
- A price set before anyone looks at the site. Site size and technical health move the price, so a fixed quote with no look at your site has skipped the inputs.
- A scope with no tasks or hours. A list of deliverables with no hours behind it cannot be tested against the table above.
Our guide to how to choose an SEO company has the full list of 20 questions, and who owns your website and marketing accounts covers what to keep if you leave.
What can you do yourself before you pay anyone?
Google says “If you run a small local business, you can probably do much of the work yourself” (Google Search Central, June 5, 2026), and it points to its SEO starter guide as the place to begin. Our guide to what to expect from SEO covers the fundamentals in plain terms.
Consider hiring help if you lack the time or the expertise to do the work yourself, especially in a competitive market. The same Google page says “a great time to hire is when you’re considering a site redesign (the earlier, the better).”
How much should a small business budget for SEO?
Start from what a new customer is worth. Divide the monthly fee by your profit per customer, and the result is the number of extra customers a month you need to cover it. The numbers here are invented to show the arithmetic and are not a quote: at $1,200 of profit per customer, a $1,500 monthly fee is covered by 1.25 extra customers a month.
No fee guarantees those customers. Google’s starter guide says there is no guarantee that any particular site will be added to Google’s index, and that no secrets automatically rank a site first. SEO fees pay for work, so measure what the work produces: calls, form fills and booked jobs that came from search. Our guide to what a monthly marketing report should include lists the numbers to ask for.
If you are choosing between SEO and ads for the same budget, SEO vs Google Ads compares them, and how much to spend on Google Ads covers the ad side.
Two guides cover what drives local results: Local SEO Index: What Ranks a Business in Google Maps in 2026 and Why Your Local SEO Stopped Bringing In Customers.
Does SEO pricing include AI search?
Ask whether a quote includes AI search or lists it as a separate line. Our pricing page lists AEO as its own row, sold alongside SEO, and our AEO services page describes it. When someone asks ChatGPT who to call, the business it names is the one that gets searched next. We do AI visibility alongside SEO, never instead of it.
The how-to is in our guide to getting recommended by ChatGPT and AI Overviews, and what is answer engine optimization defines the term.
Good At Marketing is based in Boynton Beach and works with businesses across Palm Beach County.
Industry pages for this service: SEO for law firms, SEO for home services, SEO for medical practices and SEO for ecommerce.
Other cost guides
- How much does Google Ads management cost?
- How much does Google Business Profile management cost?
- How much do Local Services Ads cost? Per-lead pricing and management fees
- How much does AEO cost in 2026?
- How much does digital marketing cost for a small business?
Related reading
- Is SEO dead? What AI Overviews did to clicks and what still works
- In-house marketer vs freelancer vs agency: who should run your small business marketing?
- Do agencies that rank for Florida searches publish prices? A 10-city survey
Next step
For a number based on your own site and market, start with the audit and then book a call with Donnie Strompf.
Get your free AI-visibility audit
FAQ
Is $500 a month enough for SEO?
That depends on the scope, because a fee buys hours. A narrow job, such as fixing one service page or one location’s profile, can fit a small fee. A full site in a competitive market has more to do than a few hours cover, so ask for the task list and the hours in writing before you pay.
Is SEO a one-time fee or a monthly cost?
Both exist. A project fee covers a defined piece of work such as an audit, and 48.9% of providers in the Ahrefs survey offered one. Ongoing work is normally sold as a retainer, which 78.2% of providers in the same survey offered. Ask whether the quote is one-time or recurring, and what you keep if you stop.
Is SEO cheaper than Google Ads?
The two charge differently. Google Ads has a management fee plus ad spend paid to Google for clicks, and the clicks stop when the budget stops. SEO fees pay for work on your site and content, with nothing charged per click. Which costs less depends on your cost per lead, so compare both against what a customer is worth.
What should I get for my SEO fee each month?
Ask for a written list of work completed, the pages changed and a report on what search sent you: calls, form fills and clicks from Google. Without that list you cannot test the fee against the hours table above. Our guide to what a monthly marketing report should include explains the metrics.
Do SEO prices include ad spend or a website?
Check the quote. On our pricing page, ad spend is paid to Google on top of any management fee, and website projects are quoted separately. Ask any provider whether content, a site rebuild and ad spend sit inside the monthly SEO fee or are billed on top.
Do I have to sign a long contract?
Contract terms vary by provider, and our pricing page does not publish contract length, notice period or setup fees. Ask any provider for all three in writing before you pay, and confirm that you own the Search Console and Analytics accounts and your Business Profile. Our guide to who owns your website and marketing accounts explains what to check.
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