When it comes to the world of search engine optimization (SEO), there’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to pricing. Some agencies and consultants are just as confused on pricing their campaigns as business owners are when trying to select the campaign and agency that will bring a healthy return on their investment. Numerous factors play a role in what both agencies and freelance consultants charge for their SEO services. The process of organizing these factors and communicating them properly to clients can be very complex, with no consistent template across the industry.
It’s common to see companies and contractors alike charge as little as $200 per month for various SEO services while others may charge up to $10,000 per month, sometimes far more. What could possibly create a gap so large? The answer is simple: Services.
If you’re considering outsourcing your brand’s SEO services, you have a right to understand exactly what you’re being charged for and how those services are working for your benefit. At top internet marketing agencies across the country you will find that campaigns, and the individual services they are comprised of, are clearly delineated in a way that makes it simple to understand exactly what you are paying for. Some companies, even companies that may deliver great results, don’t always report on exactly what services they are delivering, let alone justify the price tag. When marketers and business owners are doing all they possibly can to track the performance of their advertising dollars, knowing what you are paying for and ensuring you are getting value from your investment can be a difficult task, especially when costs can vary so widely from one agency to the next.
In an effort to paint a clear picture of pricing in the SEO industry, one that will help you make educated decisions when it comes to your marketing campaigns, we pored over the data in the recent Growth Ramp survey on SEO pricing then interviewed industry thought leader and SEO expert Paul Staten, CEO of SEO Werkz, a leading search engine optimization and digital advertising agency in Salt Lake City, Utah.
What Are You Being Charged For?
There might indeed be situations where paying $10,000 per month for SEO services is absolutely justifiable for your business – if such an investment is warranted, and it’s clear how those resources are being used. The goal here is to provide a good return on investment (ROI), and your SEO expert should have a clear plan for how they’ll use your funds to accomplish this.
Inquire specifically about the kinds of things your SEO is doing with your money. Keep a monthly list of tasks to accomplish and revisit it with them regularly.
What Do Experts Charge?
As a broad comparison point, let’s look at what respondents to the Growth Ramp survey – where experts in the SEO field were asked about their services – said they do in terms of general SEO pricing. First off, let’s look at a couple basic monthly categories:
- Under $1,000 per month: Per the study, 30.6 percent of respondents charge in this range.
- Between $1,000 and $2,000 per month: 24.6 percent of all those surveyed reported charging in this range.
- Between $2,000 and $4,000 per month: 21.8 percent were in this range.
- $4,000 and above per month: Roughly 23 percent of respondents were in this higher range, with about 10 percent over $5,000 per month and nearly five percent over $10,000 per month.
The hourly rates charged by respondents, though, indicated that perhaps some SEO contractors are underpricing themselves. The research indicated that over 75 percent of respondents charge under $150 per hour – many in the field feel that any quality SEO services should be charging at least this amount.
What Models Are Used?
There are a few different payment models generally offered by SEO contractors, and which you choose should depend on your goals. Are you looking for a one-time site fix for your SEO campaign, or are you looking for an ongoing long-term solution?
Here are some basic pricing models, plus their frequency of use among survey respondents:
- Monthly retainer: The most common payment method by far, 57 percent of SEO agencies and consultants use monthly retainers. This allows you to retain consistent services and track ROI and progress over time.
- Hourly: Just over 11 percent of consultants offer hourly rates.
- Project/fixed-based pricing: 21.5 percent of SEO agencies use a fixed pricing model based on individual projects or services.
- Other: The rest of the pricing models may include small elements of profit-sharing or growth-based pricing, or various hybrid pricing models.
Making Your Final Price Determination
"A big determining factor in how much you should pay for SEO is how competitive your marketplace is,” says SEO Werkz CEO Paul Staten. “If you are a law firm in Chicago going after Personal Injury, you'd better have a pretty hefty budget because there will be a lot of heavy lifting that is needed. If you are a roofer in Butternuts, New York with a population of about 2,000, you are not going to need to be as competitive with your budget to get to the top."
The single largest factor here? Asking your SEO what they’re doing with your money. Transparency is a huge key in this industry, and a huge indicator of whether you’re dealing with a legitimate SEO expert.
"There are way too many SEOs out there that are charging businesses without doing much at all or if anything,” according to Staten. “It gives good SEOs a bad name. This can easily be uncovered if business owners take a little bit of time to ask what their SEO company is doing for them and expect it to be communicated in terms that can be understood. Everyone deserves that service."