Digital Marketing Pricing Survey | Get Gredo: Average SEO Agency Pricing & Hourly Rates

Average SEO Agency Pricing & Hourly Rates


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Average SEO Agency Rates

SEO companies worldwide charge on average $134.99. SEO agencies in the United States charge on average $147.93 per hour. SEO consultants worldwide charge on average $139.29 and SEO consultants in the United States charge on average $144.68 per hour.

Search engine optimization (or SEO as it is usually called) is the practice of improving a site’s rankings and therefore its traffic and revenue.

It is important to never lose sight of the fact that the ultimate goal of hiring an outside SEO company is to grow your business’ revenue through organic traffic.

So just tracking rankings or looking at traffic trends is not enough to determine whether or not the channel is working for you.

We’ll cover more on this below the graphs and takeaways.

Here are the highlights of the SEO pricing results, with SEO pricing models and graphs below.

How Much Does SEO Cost: Agency and Consultant Pricing

  • Marketing providers worldwide from our dataset charge on average $112.22 per hour.
  • SEO providers charge on average $134.99.
  • SEO agencies worldwide charge on average $134.14 per hour (out of 320 survey respondents).
  • SEO agencies in the United States charge on average $147.93 per hour.
  • SEO consultants worldwide charge on average $139.29 according to our data.
  • SEO consultants in the United States charge on average $144.68 per hour according to our data.
  • 85.49% charge between $50-$200 per hour. Finding an agency that charges more or less than that is rare. In fact, you are more likely to find an agency that charges more than $200/hr (8.71% of respondents) than under $50/hr (5.8%). The most common range is $100-$200/hr, which accounts for 57.26% of all respondents.
  • Only 60.95% of SEO professionals have a single project minimum of greater than $1,000 per month.
  • 8.44% worldwide (5.83% of US respondents) do not have a single project minimum.
  • 30.03% have a monthly retainer minimum of $1,000 or under. Said another way, 60.84% of respondents have a monthly retainer minimum of greater than $1,000 per month. 7.05% do not have a monthly retainer minimum.
  • About 1/3 (30.29%) do not have a minimum engagement length (their contracts are month to month even from the start, I assume). 
  • Almost another 1/3 (29.77%) have a minimum retainer of 6-12 months.
  • This leaves 39.95% with a minimum retainer of less than 6 months, with 16.19% reporting a minimum retainer of 1-3 months and 23.76% reporting a minimum retainer of 3-6 months.
  • Only 16% of respondents offering SEO have an onboarding fee in the first month for an SEO campaign. A further 35.77% “sometimes” have an onboarding fee, which means that a full 47.52% (almost half) do not charge an onboarding fee at all.
  • There are 103 (27%) agencies that offer SEO but do not offer PPC
  • Concurrently, 91% of surveyed agencies who offer PPC also offer SEO!
  • Only 22% of surveyed SEO agencies do not offer content marketing. Said another way, ~78% of SEO agencies offer some form of content marketing
  • 62.66% of SEO agencies surveyed do not offer link building
  • 15% of surveyed PPC agencies do not offer social ads. Said another way, more PPC agencies offer SEO than offer Facebook ads.
  • 42.53% of agencies that offer PPC also offer link-building services. A likely explanation is that full-service firms are more likely to offer link building than smaller firms

Tracking SEO Services Properly Means Paying Properly

Knowing how to track SEO services properly also helps you determine how much you should pay to reach your goals.

While it’s easy to buy from someone offering cheap backlinks, it is also easy to get your website banned from Google for doing this.

Hourly and Monthly SEO Pricing Not Top Priority

Hourly rate or monthly minimum SEO costs are good measuring sticks to use, but they are not the most important.

When hiring an agency, you should ask what it is that you will get for paying their fees.

Maybe it’s a certain number of hours.

Perhaps it’s a certain number of calls and times looking at your account per week or month.

Maybe it’s additional reporting and strategy calls or an audit followed, by a six-month action plan that you then hire them to implement.

It is important to understand how pricing works in the SEO industry and what’s within the bounds of normal pricing. Pricing can vary depending on if you need local SEO, keyword research, an SEO strategy, Technical SEO, an SEO audit, or a combination of two or more.

Beyond that, look at what they are going to give you for what they charge and determine if that is:

A) Within your budget
B) If those actions will get you to your goals (which of course presupposes that you have goals already set).

Frequently Asked SEO Pricing Questions

How Much Does SEO Cost In 2o23?

Some businesses pay anywhere from $1500 to $5,000 monthly for SEO. However, a few factors can impact how much SEO services cost. Prices can vary greatly depending on how much a website needs, what future work was scoped, and who the SEO provider is.

How Much Does SEO Cost For a Small Business?

The cost of SEO for a small business can range in price, but it typically falls within $500 to $5,000 per month. The actual cost will depend on several factors, including the size of the business, the level of competition for keywords, the complexity of the website, and the desired level of professional support. It’s important to note that SEO is an ongoing process and the cost may increase over time as the business grows and its SEO needs change. It’s best to discuss your budget and goals with an SEO service provider to ensure you receive the best possible return on investment.

How Much Do Local SEO Campaigns Cost?

The cost of local SEO for a business also falls on a sliding spectrum, but it typically can be estimated at  $500 to $2,000 per month. The actual cost will depend on multiple factors, including the size of the business, the difficulty of local keywords, the complexity of the website, and the degree of professional expertise. Local SEO involves optimizing the business’s online presence for local search engines and involves tasks such as creating a Google My Business listing, submitting the business information to local directories, and optimizing the website for local keywords.

How Much DO SEO Freelancers Charge?

The cost of SEO services from a freelancer can vary greatly and depend on elements such as the location of the freelancer, the level of experience of the freelancer, the scope of the project, and the desired outcome. On average, freelance SEO specialists charge between $50 to $150 per hour, but some may charge as low as $30 per hour, while others may charge upwards of $200 per hour or more. Some freelancers may also offer project-based pricing, where they charge a flat fee for a specific project, rather than hourly rates. It’s best to communicate with several freelancers and get quotes to determine the cost that best fits your budget.

Are Monthly SEO Services The Better Option?

Generally speaking, SEO techniques are based on backlinking and a content marketing approach. Successful SEO requires constant updates and analysis for the desired result. SEO has several pros attached to it compared to other marketing options like PPC, influencer marketing, etc. Determining which service is best for your business requires a discovery phase and speaking with industry experts to fully understand your short and long-term goals.

What Determines SEO Pricing?

There are numerous factors affecting SEO pricing. Depending on what type of SEO services your site chooses, the scope, and the agency with whom you work with, all impact the total cost on the bill.

Why Do Some SEO Companies Charge Only a Few hundred Dollars a Month?

SEO firms that charge less than $500 / month often ship the job out of the US. Often the results of such campaigns can be filled with poor copywriting, shoddy technical optimization, and inadequate link quality. Cheap SEO is more damaging than beneficial for your website performance and rankings.

This page last updated on February 10, 2023 by John Doherty

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