SEO Pricing Guide: How Much Do SEO Services Cost [2023]

Do you know how much you should expect to pay for professional SEO services in 2023? Let’s check out this SEO pricing guide that will help you a lot.

In today’s digital world, SEO pricing is influenced by many factors, such as the country where SEO work is done, the quality of the work, the experience of the SEO team, and the competitiveness of the category in which SEO work is done.

These are some of the very crucial factors that influence the final cost of an SEO campaign.

The above statement is a general description of how SEO working works without a specific number of shoppers or clients to evaluate an SEO proposal.

So, here is a quick overview of different types of SEO campaigns along with their SEO services pricing, so that you can make a decision about whether to avail of SEO services from a particular provider or not.

SEO Pricing Guide 2023

As a rule, you should avoid falling into the trap of low SEO pricing. Although, the cost can never be a distinguishing factor to determine the quality of SEO services offered by two different parties.

But, in general, the low price of SEO services from unknown agencies is just a tap to loot or fraud clients without any real results for their business.

Here is a list of different types of SEO services along with their cost structure in this SEO pricing guide:

One-Time SEO

(Price Slab: 1,000 USD – 100,000 USD)

One-time SEO, as the name suggests, refers to on-site optimization work and is usually associated with a follow-up consultation to explain the work to the client about how to proceed. With guidance.

Pricing of one-time SEO largely depends upon the size and complexity of the site. The competitiveness of the market does not affect the pricing much here as it is done to remove any deficiencies (such as technical, organizational and contextual) on the website.

Note: The primary difference between a one-time SEO service and an SEO audit is that one-time SEO involves hands-on work on the website, whereas SEO audit is a document from an expert SEO professional, which reflects changes related to SEO, and those that need to be done. This needs to be done on a website to be optimized.

SEO Site Audits

(Price Slab: 500 USD- 100,000 USD)

Unlike local SEO, hands-on work on the website is not a part of SEO audits of a website.

SEO audit focuses on preparing a clear, concise document indicating SEO-related deficiencies in a website and a roadmap about how to clear those deficiencies by implementing the changes.

(Monthly) Local SEO

Price Slab: 250 USD- 5,000 USD

Small businesses in a limited geographic area with low competition can avail of local SEO services easily to improve their online presence and generate more sales. Local SEO services pricing is also reasonable.

Small print shops, car washes, etc. are some of the services that are best for local SEO.

Although, there are high competition categories like legal, healthcare, etc. that will cost high even for local SEO work.

Related: How Much Does it Cost for SEO Services in Singapore?

(Monthly) National SEO

Price Slab: 750 USD – 10,000 USD

Businesses, targeting clients or customers countrywide or looking for higher rankings on search engine result pages can avail of such types of SEO services.

eCommerce businesses are the most common ones looking to avail of such kinds of SEO as per the latest SEO services statistics. The competition is very high in this category, compared to local SEO, which is clearly reflected in the SEO services pricing too.

Hourly SEO Services

Price Range: 50 USD- 700 USD

SEO services offered on an hourly basis or as-needed basis are a part of this category. The clients are charged on the basis of the number of hours spent by SEO experts in optimizing the client site.

The experience level and technical expertise of the best SEO agencies or freelancers affect the hourly SEO services cost greatly in many regions.

Factors that Should not Impact SEO Pricing

Here are some of the most common factors that should not affect the SEO services cost:

• Number of keywords that have been worked upon during the SEO campaign
• The volume of link acquisitions during an SEO campaign
• Pages to be optimized during an ongoing SEO

Top Facts About SEO Services Cost

The monthly Retainer Fee is the most popular among SEO service providers

As per Ahrefs recent survey, 74.71% of SEO providers (both freelancers and SEO agencies) charge prefer a monthly retainer fee from clients, which stands around $5K/month or below in most countries.

India is the primary exception in Ahref’s survey, as 91.3% of India-based SEO charges $1,000 or less per month.

Multiple/Customized Cost Models are Popular among SEO Providers Globally

More than one-third of the SEO providers across the world like to offer customized costs for their SEO services, as per the Ahrefs survey.

This is getting popular among SEO agencies every passing day to meet up with the clients’ varying project needs.

SEO Pricing for Different Categories in More or Less Same Globally

• Monthly retainer SEO services, the most popular pricing is 500 to 1000 USD. 
• In the hourly SEO category, the most popular pricing is 100 to 150 USD globally.
• As per the project SEO category, the most popular pricing is 500 to 1000 USD. 
• Hourly rates for SEO services never exceed 150 USD in most regions, as per the Ahrefs survey.

SEO Agency Prices are More Costlier than Freelancers or Consultants Globally

The average fee of SEO agencies is 134 USD globally, which is nearly double the freelancer SEO service fee globally, as per the Ahrefs survey.

SEO Services in India and Latin America are Cheapest (Economical)

As per an Ahrefs survey, SEO agencies, freelancers, and consultants in both America and India offer the most economical services to clients worldwide, starting at $60/hour or less, which is almost half of the global average of 108 USD.

As per the project and monthly retainer category, the story is more or less the same in both countries.

Did you find this SEO Pricing Guide useful? Did you find any loopholes in the average SEO cost structure for different categories in the above article?

If yes, please send your suggestions via contact form section. Also, write about the current SEO pricing structure in your locality/region/country.