What does SEO cost across the market?
Ahrefs found 63% of SEO budgets fall between 500 and 5,000 US dollars a month, Neil Patel's buyers mostly spend 500 to 7,500, and 1,001 to 2,500 is the most common band among them. Average hourly rates run from 50 to 111 dollars, and one-off projects mostly cost 1,000 to 5,000. The spread is wide because the surveys price different jobs.
Two surveys asked sellers and one asked buyers, so I've kept them side by side. Where a site lands depends on what's wrong with it, and an audit that finds what's actually broken is how I find out.
| Survey | Who it asked | Per month | Per hour | Per project |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs, updated August 2024 | 439 SEO service providers | Usually 250 to 10,000; 63% spend 500 to 5,000 | 111 on average | 2,501 to 5,000 is the most popular fee |
| Backlinko, updated December 2025 | Over 300 SEO professionals | 1,000 to 2,500 on average | 50 to 100 on average | Generally 1,000 to 5,000 |
| Neil Patel, 2025 | 500 U.S. professionals whose businesses buy SEO | Most spend 500 to 7,500; 1,001 to 2,500 is the most common range | 17.8% of buyers pay hourly rates | 26.2% pay project-based fees |
These are American-led figures. I haven't found a Canadian survey built the same way, so I won't invent a Canadian range, and I price in US dollars on Upwork wherever the client is.
How much does SEO cost, and what does the price depend on?
SEO pricing comes down to three things, and they matter more than who's quoting. The first is size. A 20 page service site and a store with thousands of product URLs don't take the same time to crawl, read and fix. The second is how much is broken, which nobody knows until someone looks, and that's why an audit comes before any quote for fixes. The third is whether the fixes are in the price or written down for somebody else to do.
The platform matters a little. Ongoing work matters, because a one-off repair and a monthly plan are different jobs. What shouldn't matter much is the city you're in. I work remotely, over Zoom, Meet or recorded video, wherever the site's owner is.
| What moves the price | Why it moves it | What to ask the person quoting |
|---|---|---|
| Size of the site | More URLs means more to crawl, read and check by hand | How many pages is this price for, and what happens if there are more? |
| How much is broken | Indexing faults, slow templates and bad redirects each take their own time | Is this price based on a look at my site, or on a guess? |
| Fixes included or not | A list of problems is a fraction of the work of fixing them | When you're done, will the problems be fixed, or will I have a list? |
What do my packages cost, and what's in each?
I publish my prices because "how much does SEO cost" deserves a real answer. There are two one-off packages and two monthly plans, each fixed before anything starts. The one-off prices show in the notes in this post, and every figure, the two monthly ones included, is listed in the plans on my homepage and written into my terms of service.
| Package | What's in it | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Deep audit and growth report | An audit of indexing, speed and schema, a fix list ranked by the clicks at stake, and a Loom walkthrough of what I found | Owners who want to know what's wrong before they spend more, and who may fix it themselves |
| Audit and fixes | Crawl, indexing, schema and speed fixes, a before and after report, and everything documented and handed over | A site with real problems that need finding and fixing fast |
| Site and SEO maintenance | Maintenance of the site and its SEO, month to month | A site that's in good shape and needs to stay that way |
| SEO growth with maintenance | Growth work with the maintenance included, month to month | A site that's already sound and now needs to win more searches |
The audit report is yours to keep, whoever does the work. If you'd rather hand the fix list to your own developer, the audit still earns its fee by telling them where to start and what to leave alone.
I don't sell link building, ads or site builds, so none of those are hiding inside a package. If a quote you're comparing includes them, it's a different job with its own costs.
Deep audit and growth report: US$149 one off, on Upwork. An honest read on what's holding your WordPress site back in Google.
It's the cheapest way to find out whether you need anything more.
Rather have me do this? One person, whole job.
Book a call on UpworkHow I turn a site into a fixed price, step by step
Whether a site fits a package or needs its own quote, the route to a number is the same.
- Step 01
You tell me the problem
Send the site and what's gone wrong, since a traffic drop and a slow mobile site start in different places.
- Step 02
I match it to a package, or write a quote
A site that fits a published package gets that package. One that doesn't, a big store say, gets a written quote on Upwork after a short call.
- Step 03
We agree the scope in writing
Each package lists a scope, a deliverable and a timeframe. Anything outside it gets quoted before it happens.
- Step 04
The price goes on Upwork as a fixed contract
It's paid through Upwork milestones, each one released when you approve the work. You're never paying for hours you can't see.
- Step 05
The clock starts when I've got access
Timeframes start when I have the WordPress and Search Console access the work needs, not at payment. A login that takes a week to arrive doesn't eat into your delivery date.
- Step 06
If the site's bigger than it looked, I stop and say so
If a site turns out much larger than a package's limits, I pause and quote the difference. I won't quietly deliver a thinner version to protect the price.
A price that moves after work starts isn't a fixed price. The number only changes if the scope does, and only after you've approved the new scope in writing.
Why is SEO so expensive, and why do quotes vary so much?
Mostly because the quotes aren't for the same work. Two people can look at one site and price two different jobs, which is why an average cost of SEO can't tell you what yours should cost.
The biggest gap is fixes. An audit that ends with a spreadsheet is a smaller job than one that ends with the problems gone. The next gap is the pricing model: an hourly rate looks cheap until nobody can tell you how many hours it'll take, a monthly retainer runs until someone stops it, and a fixed project price looks dearer until you notice it can't run over.
Then there's what's bundled in. Some monthly plans include link building, content or ads, whether or not your site needs them. With me, the person you message is the person who fixes the site.
So I'd line quotes up on the three levers above: pages covered, an actual look at the site, and problems fixed at the end.
Audit and fixes: US$999 one off, on Upwork. For a site that needs the real problems found and fixed fast.
This is the one-off package where the fixes are in the price, not left on a list for someone else.
How do I check SEO can pay for itself before I quote?
I start with what one new customer is worth, not with traffic. For some businesses a single new client covers the whole fee. For others it'd take dozens. That one figure decides more than any ranking report can. Whether SEO is still worth it at all is a separate post.
Traffic can mislead you in both directions. One case study on this site is an interior design firm near Washington DC whose site took 22 clicks in a quarter. Two days after that window closed, on 13 September, its enquiry form brought in a commercial interior design project with a budget of 50,000 to 150,000 dollars. For a firm like that, one enquiry of the right kind is worth more than a lot of casual visits.
Work out what a customer is worth over the time they stay, look at what search brings in today in Search Console, then ask how many extra customers the fee needs to pay for itself. If that's one or two, the question's easy. If it's fifty, SEO probably isn't worth it for you yet, and I'd rather say so.
What I can't give you is a promise that the customers arrive. Nobody honest can, because rankings depend on Google and on your competitors as well as your site, and that limit shapes what an SEO contract can promise. What I can give you is a fixed scope, the work done, and a plain report of what changed, measured in your own Search Console.
If you're asking how much SEO should cost you, start with what a customer's worth. It sets the ceiling on what the work can sensibly cost.
What should you ask before paying for any SEO?
Google publishes its own advice on whether you need an SEO and what to ask one. These are the questions I'd ask. Five come from Google's list, and two, about price and what's included, are mine.
- i.
Can you show me work you've done before?
Google's first suggested question asks for examples of previous work. Real Search Console numbers beat a row of logos.
- ii.
How will you measure success?
Google's list asks this one too. I'd want the answer to be your own Search Console and enquiries, not a score from a tool you can't check.
- iii.
What results do you expect, and when?
Google suggests asking this too. A confident date for a ranking is a warning sign.
- iv.
Will you tell me every change you make?
Google says an SEO with access to your server should be willing to explain every change they make. You should get a record of what changed and why.
- v.
Is this price fixed, and what does it cover?
Ask how many pages the number covers and what happens if the site's bigger than that. Get the answer in writing before you pay anything.
- vi.
Are the fixes included, or just the list?
It explains most of the gap between quotes. If it's the list, ask who does the fixing and what that'll cost.
- vii.
How will we talk, and how fast will you reply?
It's on Google's list too. I answer every message within one business day, as my terms say.
Google's own words: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." It also warns about SEOs that email you out of the blue. If a quote promises a ranking, walk away from it, whatever the price.
