SEO costs 2025: budgets & prices of SEO agencies
This is how much SEO can cost ✓
To optimize your website for online revenue, it’s important to think of SEO strategy much like maintaining a car. A website, much like a car, requires both “fuel” (in the form of content and SEO) and maintenance to get from point A to B effectively.
Short-term solutions such as Google Ads (AdWords) can be helpful, but should not be the main strategy. A long-term investment in a comprehensive SEO campaign is often more effective and sustainable. It aims to ensure long-term success rather than short-term, budget-dependent top rankings.
In general, it is important to first understand how SEO prices are made up in the first place – let’s move on to the next section.
Strategy planning for SEO and SEA
The following section deals in detail with the aspects that make up the costs of an SEO optimization or SEO campaign. It can be said in advance that the costs of an SEO campaign depend on a combination of these factors. These should be carefully planned and discussed in order to achieve the best results.
#1 SEO experience
More experience = higher costs
#4 Product niche
Specific niche = lower costs
#7 Monthly SEO costs
Individually customizable
#2 Duration of care
Long partnership = higher costs
#5 Cheap SEO?
Mostly a rip-off
#3 Company size
More employees = higher costs
#6 3 models
Three models = three different goals
To provide a systematic overview of the different types of SEO experts, let’s look at four main categories:
When deciding whether a one-off SEO optimization or a long-term SEO partnership is suitable for your project, you should consider the specific needs and goals of your company.
One-off SEO services are ideal in situations such as:
Long-term SEO partnerships are recommended when:
These examples should help you to identify the right SEO strategy for your company. Please note that the cost of SEO services varies depending on the scope and type of work required.
Overall, SEO costs depend on the task at hand and should be individually adapted to the needs and goals of your project.
Would you like to find the most lucrative keywords for your company and successfully cover the search intent?
The common assumption that larger companies with more employees are automatically better is not always true, especially when it comes to SEO services.
While large companies and SEO agencies have the advantage of broad expertise and resources, their size often leads to higher operating costs. These costs can be reflected in their prices. Large agencies tend to offer standardized, generic SEO solutions, especially for smaller clients. These “one-size-fits-all” strategies can be effective, as many companies have similar SEO challenges. But in some cases, this approach may not be sufficiently customized.
Smaller agencies or independent SEO experts, on the other hand, often offer customized solutions that are specifically tailored to the needs and goals of each individual client. This individualized approach can be particularly valuable if SEO is a critical aspect of your online business. Smaller providers can be more agile and personal in their approach, often offering more cost-effective solutions.
To summarize, the cost of SEO services depends on both the specific task and the size of the company offering the service. While larger agencies may offer a broader range of services, smaller agencies or individuals may offer more specialized and customized solutions at potentially lower prices.
SEO costs are significantly influenced by market size and the intensity of competition.
In large and highly competitive markets, such as love & relationships, technology and online casinos, the SEO effort required is significant. These industries entail large investments, which are justified by their potentially high revenues and strong customer interest. To be successful in these markets, significant budgets are often required to ensure high visibility and competitiveness.
For local companies that want to be found more easily in their city or region, the effort is usually less. This is particularly true for professional groups such as doctors, lawyers, tax consultants, architects and smaller businesses such as hairdressers and bakers. In these cases, local SEO is an effective strategy for increasing your online presence. For further information on local SEO, the corresponding links can be used.
Companies in the automotive industry on a global scale face significant SEO costs, which can range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of euros. Similarly, the financial markets, which often rely heavily on Adwords campaigns, can quickly lead to high budget consumption. The same applies to the private investigator sector for Adwords advertising.
In conclusion, it can be said that SEO costs not only depend on the specific task and the size of the provider, but are also significantly influenced by the size of the market and the intensity of competition.
Does that all sound too complicated? Comprehensible!
Let’s start with a quote from John Ruskin, a British writer:
There is hardly anything in this world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and people who are only guided by price become the fair prey of such people.
It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s even worse to pay too little. If you pay too much, you lose some money, that’s all. If, on the other hand, you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the purchased item cannot fulfill its intended purpose.
The law of economics forbids getting a lot of value for little money. If you accept the lowest offer, you have to add something for the risk you are taking. And if you do that, you will have enough money to pay for something better.
John Ruskin (1819-1900)
The saying “You spend more time being annoyed by poor quality than by high prices” is particularly relevant when it comes to search engine optimization. The question “What does SEO cost?” and “How much should it cost?” cannot be answered in general terms and depends on many factors.
A simple Google search using the term “SEO fee” can give you an insight into the variety and opacity of pricing in the SEO industry. You’ll discover a wide range of offers, from suspiciously cheap to high-priced packages.
For example, you may come across offers such as “SEO for €99/month”. Such bait offers are usually not serious. SEO is a complex process that requires an individual approach, continuous maintenance and adjustments. Such low prices can hardly cover this comprehensive work.
Offers that promise an on-page analysis, keyword analysis and optimization for €350 can also seem tempting. But it’s important to read the small print and understand the details. Often, such packages only cover the most basic aspects of SEO and do not offer the depth and quality required for an effective and sustainable strategy.
It is advisable to convince yourself of the quality of various offers. A sound SEO strategy requires careful planning, expertise and continuous adjustments to meet the ever-changing algorithms of search engines. Cheap offers can deliver short-term results, but in the long term, high-quality SEO leads to better and more sustainable results.
Choosing the right SEO strategy and the right billing model is crucial to the success of search engine optimization. Here are three common models:
Pay based on business success: This model carries a high risk for the SEO, as it includes factors that are beyond their control, such as the offline operation of the business, market competition and competitors’ investments in SEO. In this model, a percentage of revenue growth is often set as a fee. The challenge here is that SEOs fear being underpaid for their work, while clients worry about paying too much. This model is therefore less common.
The aim of this billing model is to make the support service transparent and tangible for the customer. At SeoGuideline, we rely on the concept of deliverables. Our offer details the deliverables that you can expect from us within a 12-month period.
Important findings on SEO billing models:
Model |
Description |
Suitable for |
Hourly rates & daily rates |
Billing according to working hours |
Projects with an unclear scope |
Flat rates & packages |
Fixed price for a set of services |
Smaller companies with regular requirements |
Performance-based SEO |
Payment based on results |
Companies that want to minimize risks |
Clearly defined delivery items (this is how we do it) |
Individual approach |
Every type of company |
Hourly rates and daily rates are particularly useful if the scope of the SEO measures is not precisely defined or the result is uncertain. They allow flexible handling of workload and costs.
Advantages of hourly and daily rates:
Flat rates and all-inclusive packages are ideal when recurring SEO services are required. They are particularly suitable for small and medium-sized companies with a clear need for regular SEO optimization.
Advantages of flat rates and packages:
Performance-based SEO models are performance-related and offer an interesting alternative for companies that want to measure their expenditure directly against the results achieved. In practice, these are rarely agreed.
Advantages and disadvantages of performance-based SEO:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Now let’s answer the question of all questions: How much does SEO cost per month? The cost of search engine optimization varies greatly depending on company size, geographic reach and market environment. It’s important to note that this is a list based on our estimates and experience. Here is an overview of typical price ranges and associated services.
Smaller companies with a local focus usually operate within this budget range. This budget should be sufficient for basic local SEO measures in order to be successful in a smaller geographical area.
Who is it suitable for?
This budget segment also targets local SEO, but is aimed at companies with a smaller geographical reach and a larger customer potential. It is ideal for getting started with local SEO measures. For small towns, the budget tends to be around €2000, while for district towns or larger cities, you can expect to spend €3500. Companies in very specific niches can also be successful nationally with this budget.
Who is it suitable for?
Companies with national target markets should expect a monthly budget of at least €4,000. In highly competitive markets with high demand, the costs for SEO increase significantly.
Who is it suitable for?
When expanding to international markets or multilingual websites, the costs for an SEO concept can be between €9,000 and €15,000.
Who is it suitable for?
The pricing of SEO agencies for their monthly flat rates is based on the effort involved in typical SEO measures. Here are some examples:
These examples illustrate that SEO services for €100 or €200 per month are unrealistic and often misleading.
Traffic promises, proof of performance and objectives
It is advisable to record goals in detail in writing, especially in fixed-term contracts. At the same time, it must be taken into account that the Google algorithm is constantly changing and the competition remains active.
That’s why we at SeoGuideline only define goals that we can achieve independently:
Other targets are often unreliable and comparable to weather forecasts.
Cooperation with customers also plays an important role. With larger customers, delays can occur more frequently. It is therefore difficult to make firm promises regarding traffic or rankings.
While performance reviews and proof of performance are essential, they are not the same as ranking promises or traffic numbers. As an SEO expert, it is impossible to predict the behavior of all competitors and the development of the Google algorithm over the next 12 months. So let’s look at SEO like sport: persistence, training and continuity lead to success.
INCREASE ONLINE VISIBILITY
Through targeted search engine optimization, your website will be ranked higher in search results and therefore found more quickly.
ORGANIC VISIBILITY
Customers discover your company online without you having to resort to cost-intensive advertising measures.
MORE CUSTOMERS
Greater online visibility leads to an increase in customers and therefore to a successful positioning of your company.
RETURNING CUSTOMERS
With a strong online presence, you don’t have to worry as much about attracting new customers, as your visibility on Google ensures a constant flow of traffic.
CUSTOMER QUALITY
SEO allows you to attract the kind of customers you want by tailoring content and keywords to their needs.
ADDRESSING TARGET GROUPS
Through the targeted placement of relevant keywords and content on your website, you address your target group directly and thus increase the probability of successful customer acquisition.
TARGETED APPLICATION OF SERVICES
You can use SEO to highlight and advertise specific services, such as private treatments.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
With a well thought-out SEO strategy, you have a competitive advantage over other companies and businesses.
COST SAVINGS
Compared to conventional marketing measures such as print advertising or posters, SEO marketing is more cost-effective.
Our company’s pricing for SEO services is based on a combination of factors to ensure that we deliver high quality results:
Given the detailed insights into the many aspects and challenges of search engine optimization, it’s no wonder that companies are often surprised by the costs that SEO entails. The complexity and amount of work behind the various SEO measures, such as detailed audits, comprehensive content creation and strategic link building, justify the investment in professional SEO services.
There are also tool costs for professional SEO analyses. Tool costs alone for two SEO tools such as SEMRush or Ahrefs amount to €499 or €899 per month. These tool costs contribute significantly to the overall costs of an SEO campaign, especially if an agency wants to achieve the greatest possible benefit for its clients. This explains why prices for professional SEO services can be higher than expected.
That’s why we at SeoGuideline place great emphasis on transparency in our pricing. We understand that clarity about costs and the resulting benefits are of utmost importance to our clients.
Are you looking for professional SEO support that focuses specifically on the needs of doctors? My expertise is based on successful projects with established companies from Switzerland that benefit from a monthly traffic of over one million visitors. You don’t need an SEO agency for doctors.
I am particularly passionate about local companies that have a significant physical location factor.
It is a personal concern of mine to promote smaller, locally rooted businesses that strive for a strong presence in local search results. I focus on targeted optimization for local search queries to ensure that your law firm is visible exactly where potential clients are searching.
Kristian Trpcevski
SEO expert & lecturer
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