Understanding SEO Pricing

When it comes to the world of search engine optimization (SEO) within internet marketing, there’s a lot of uncertainty in the pricing realm. Numerous factors play a role in what various companies charge for their SEO services, and the process of organizing these factors and communicating them properly to clients can be a complex one, with no consistent template across the industry.

As such, it’s common to see certain companies charge as little as $200 per month for various SEO services while others charge up to $10,000 per month. 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 SEO Werkz, our campaigns and services are clearly delineated in a way that makes it simple and clear to our clients, and our experts are always at the ready to explain the ins and outs of determining the best services for your business. Here are some basics on understanding SEO pricing in general, including comments from our SEO Paul Staten and data from a recent Growth Ramp survey in this area.

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 if 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 – experts in the SEO field – 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 will depend on your goals. Are you looking for a singular boost for your SEO, or are you looking for a more gradual project that tracks ROI over a longer period? 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 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."

To learn more about SEO pricing or find out about our transparent pricing, contact the SEO experts at SEO Werkz today.