How much does SEO cost for a small business?

One-off or monthly?

Most SEO offers are monthly contracts. For a small business that is often the second step. The first is a check: which technical problems does the website have, which pages are missing, what should be fixed first?

Our SEO check is built for that. You pay once and get a to-do list, most important first. Some of it you can do yourself or hand to your web designer. Then you decide whether to continue monthly.

Monthly work pays off when customers search for your service regularly and your competitors look after their pages too. Then there is something to do every month.

What the monthly price covers

A monthly price says little until the work behind it is named. With us, what gets improved each month is agreed in writing first. You also get a report.

For one location that means: pages for your area, business details kept current, for example on Google Maps, and improvements every month. More locations, stronger competition or several countries mean more work and a higher price. The packages are in the overview further down.

Unlimited new texts and a rebuild of your website are not in the price unless agreed. We cannot promise a particular place on Google. The minimum term and notice period for monthly packages are on the pricing page.

What you can do yourself for free

Part of the work only costs your time. Set up a Google Business Profile and keep it current: name, address, opening hours, services and real photos. According to Google, complete details help match your business to the right searches.

Write your business details the same way everywhere: on your website, in the profile and in directories. Give each service its own page that says what you offer, for whom and where.

Paid help is worth it for what is hard to check yourself: technical problems, how your pages are organised, and what your customers actually search for.

Source: Google Business Profile: local ranking

SEO or Google Ads?

Ads bring visitors for as long as you pay. SEO takes longer. In return, improved pages can still be found without an ad budget. If you need enquiries in the next few weeks, ads are the likelier start.

Both need a website that says clearly what you offer and makes it easy to get in touch. Without that, a bigger budget helps little. How long SEO takes and how to choose between the two is covered in the guides at the end of this page.

Comparing SEO quotes

Google advises caution with providers who guarantee first place. Nobody can promise that. A useful quote describes the work that gets done each month.

Ask every provider the same questions.

• What exactly is done each month?
• Who writes new texts, and are they in the price?
• What does the report show, and how often does it arrive?
• How long is the minimum term, and how do I cancel?
• Is a particular place on Google being promised?

Source: Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO?