What is the standard SEO company pricing?

Long gone are days when a cheap low-quality SEO can bring positive results to a web source. Search engines continuously update their ranking algorithms, making it difficult to game a system. That is why quality SEO is now of high value. The modern competitive digital landscape requires high involvement and a comprehensive optimization strategy. If you fail to build a strong optimization strategy, you will most likely lose your potential customers and sales. That is why it is essential to select a good SEO company that will provide you with a range of different optimization services including content developing, website speed improvement, website HTML code errors elimination, user experience improvement, and others. However, a professional optimization agency should provide you not only with on-site optimization services, but also with link building, search engine marketing, and social media marketing. You need to consider these aspects when comparing different agencies. 

One more thing you need to consider before selecting SEO company for your business is good planning. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Simple to say you need to decide what results do you want to get from optimization and for what period. You should ask yourself “Why do I need SEO?” as well as “How much can I spend on it for this month?” Finding the answer to these questions will help you to build a good optimization plan and provide strong guidance to your SEO consultants. 

If you need to build an optimization campaign from scratch, you should be ready to spend at least $3,000 per month. Moreover, I strongly recommend co-operating with a full-stack optimization agency that can provide you with all needed optimization services which are necessary at the initial stage of online business development. 

The majority of optimization agencies charge between $2,500 and $5,000, while the second most common price range is $1,000 to $2,500 per month. The price of the integrated digital marketing campaigns can be up to $5,000 per month. 

In this article, we will have a closer look at SEO company pricing and the factors that affect this pricing. But first, let us discuss what does an average SEO campaign entail. 

The components of an average SEO campaign

Currently, the role of an optimization services provider requires knowledge of web development, content marketing, technical SEO, link building and general marketing. That is why even the most average optimization campaign should consist of the following stages:

• Marketing research;
• Competitive analysis;
• Keyword research and implementation;
• Analytics implementation and setup;
• Technical SEO audit;
• HTML code corrections;
• Site speed optimization;
• Website architecture improvement;
• Link building and link outreach;
• Content optimization;
• Campaign tracking and reporting.

This list can vary depending on the company's direction and your business needs. You should be aware that all these services cannot be provided for $300 per month when an average hourly rate is $100. That is why do not try to save your money on optimization as you are risking to lose much more. You need to attract SEO as an investment in your business development that will bring a significant profit in the long run. If you think that conducting SEO in-house can save you more money, the next paragraph will open your eyes to the truth.

In-house or outsource SEO

Conducting in-house SEO, you will need to hire a professional copywriter, webmaster, SEO expert, analyst, link builder and other specialists. An average yearly salary you will need to pay for a web developer is $65,000, while an experienced SEO expert will cost you up to $73,000. If you were to hire at least one of those specialists as a part of your in-house marketing team, it would cost you over $5,000 per month, and they would not have all the skills needed to execute a full SEO campaign. 

An optimization agency will provide all the mentioned above services and many more for $3,000-$5,000 per month, saving your time and efforts. A personal time of business owner costs much more than $5,000. That is why outsource SEO has a huge privilege as compared with in-house one. 

Once you have understood that SEO agency is the best option for your online business development and optimization, you need to get a clear idea of how your budget is being used. 

How your money will be used by optimization company?

The money you will spend on your optimization will depend on the pricing model used by an agency. If firm bills hourly, you would get about 20 hours per work each month for $2,500. According to the industry figures, an average cost for hourly optimization services is $120. 

However, the most common billing is retainer-based, not hourly. This pricing model is popular as it provides value for the customer with the internal ability to accurately budget for expenses. 

An average budget breakdown for $3,000 per month should include the following services:

• Content research

Content specialists should research the topic and identify areas that could be improved.

• Content creation 

A quality and organic content is MUST for SEO. It costs $300-$500 per 1,000 words for high-quality content created by the specialists knowledgeable in a particular field. 

• Link building

Link builders should identify the sources suitable for brand references. Moreover, they look for the guest opportunities.

• Link outreach

Specialists spend at least 10 hours per month of outreach link building. The cost of these services can reach $1,300 per month. 

SEO agency also covers analytics set up and tracking for average budgeting. Moreover, they provide clients with a constant reporting.  

Do not try cutting your costs on SEO services as you are risking to damage your business. For instance, such low-cost optimization services as automated link building, copy-pasted content, spam, and low-quality guest posting can hurt your brand reputation and cause rankings drop and search engine penalties. If you have small budgeting on SEO, it is better to start doing SEO by yourself than paying for spammy black-hat SEO activities.