SEO Pricing: How Much Does SEO Cost? [+Free Calculator]

Key Takeaways

• Businesses report an SEO spend of $2,500 – $7,500 per month on average in 2024
• 49% of businesses pay for SEO because it’s more cost-effective than doing in-house
• 48% of businesses pay $2500 – $7500 per month for SEO
• 64% of businesses pay $50 – $100 per hour for SEO
• A monthly retainer had the highest satisfaction rating of SEO performance
• Price is the second most important factor in choosing an SEO provider

How Much Does SEO Cost?

So, how much does SEO cost? Well, we interviewed 500 U.S.-based sales and marketing professionals to find out.

On average, SEO costs $2500 – $7500 per month, $50 – $100 per hour, and $1000 – $5000 per project in 2024. How much you pay for SEO will depend on factors unique to your business, like your size, goals, and more.

• SEO Pricing by Business Size
• SEO Pricing by Frequency (monthly, hourly, etc)
• SEO Pricing by Provider Type
• In-House SEO

SEO Pricing By Business Size

Key Takeaways

• Smaller businesses pay the least for SEO
• Larger companies pay the most for SEO
• Brand reputation, site complexity, and SEO scale influence how much businesses will pay for SEO

When it comes to the cost of SEO and business size, larger companies will often pay more for SEO:

Why do larger businesses have higher costs? A few reasons, including:

1. Reputation: A company’s brand is invaluable — especially when that brand is well-known. That’s why larger businesses will partner with established SEO providers (who have higher SEO rates) vs. younger SEO companies or consultants (who have lower SEO prices).
2. Complexity: Larger organizations often have more complexity, from approval processes to unique website builds. That’s why they’ll often partner with enterprise-level SEO providers. These providers have enough experience working with larger brands to deliver a custom and effective SEO program.
3. Scale: Compared to smaller businesses, larger companies operate on a bigger scale. From more products to more markets, they need a partner that can meet their SEO needs, and for that, they often need an SEO company that specializes in enterprise SEO — which costs more.

What this means is experience and capabilities matter in search engine optimization pricing. You will pay more for those benefits if you want to hire an SEO provider with more experience, resources, and capabilities.

SEO Pricing by Frequency

When it comes to paying for SEO services, there are three main ways to do so: by project, by hour, and by month. How you pay for SEO can depend on a number of factors like your budget and the services you need.

• Per Month: On average, SEO costs $2500 – $7500 per month (48% of respondents). How much you pay for SEO will depend on your company’s size, with smaller businesses spending less than larger companies, which often coordinates with an organization’s SEO needs.
  

  Source Data

  Monthly SEO Cost	% of Marketers
  Less than $500	3.89%
  $501 – $1,000	10.10%
  $1,001 – $2,500	24.61%
  $2,501 – $5,000	34.97%
  $5,001 – 7,500	13.21%
  $7,501 – $10,000	7.77%
  More than $10,000	5.44%

• Per Hour: On average, SEO costs $50 – $100 per hour(64% of respondents). Around 28% of businesses pay less than $50 per hour, but report less satisfaction with their service provider than companies paying more for hourly SEO services.
  

  Source Data

  Hourly SEO Cost	% of Marketers
  Less than $50 per hour	28.95%
  $51-$75 per hour	43.86%
  $76-$100 per hour	20.18%
  $101-$150 per hour	3.51%
  $151-$200 per hour	0.88%
  More than $200 per hour	2.63%

• Per Project: On average, SEO costs $1000 – $5000 per project (51.92% of respondents), though some businesses pay upwards of $10,000. How much your SEO project costs will depend on the project’s scope, timeline, and requirements.
  

  Source Data

  SEO Project Cost	% of Marketers
  Less than $500	4.81%
  $501 – $1,000	10.58%
  $1,001 – $2,500	20.19%
  $2,501 – $5,000	31.73%
  $5,001 – 7,500	18.27%
  $7,501 – $10,000	7.69%
  More than $10,000	6.73%

Because SEO is a long-term digital marketing strategy, most businesses surveyed preferred to pay on a monthly basis.

Meanwhile, some businesses only feel the need to partner with an SEO provider for a shorter period of time, so they elect to pay by the hour (30% of businesses) or by project (28% of businesses).

Which SEO Pricing Model is Best?

There is no right answer when it comes to choosing an SEO pricing model. The best payment plan will depend on your business and its SEO needs. That’s why we’ve compiled each plan’s best use cases and some examples of how businesses use those plans:

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SEO Pricing by Provider Type

Learn how SEO costs change based on who you hire, an agency, consultant, contractor, or freelancer:

Compared to other service providers, SEO agencies cost more. Why? A few reasons, including:

1. Capabilities: With more team members and tools, search engine optimization companies can do more than other SEO service providers. Using WebFX as an example, your business can access SEOs, web developers, reporting software, and more — everything you need to do SEO.
2. Experience: SEO agencies will also have more knowledge that you can put to work. If your business needs an SEO expert, plus an ecommerce SEO specialist, for instance, an SEO company can often meet those needs. For a consultant, freelancer, or contractor, that’s more difficult.
3. Scalability: Most SEO companies can scale with a business’s SEO needs. That’s convenient because your organization doesn’t have to hire a new SEO agency. Instead, you can upgrade your SEO plan to start capturing more traffic. In comparison, other SEO providers can’t do that.

Multiple factors will determine whether your business partners with an agency, consultant, contractor, or freelancer — and pays their SEO prices. Besides cost, you’ll also need to consider what you want to accomplish with SEO, how involved you want to be in SEO, and what else you need from a provider.