SEO pricing guide: What SEO costs in 2025

In 2025, businesses are continuing to invest heavily in search engine optimization (SEO), with good reason: SEO remains one of the top three marketing channels for ROI. But the industry is at an inflection point.

AI is reshaping how people search, and Gartner predicts a 25% drop in traditional search volume. This shift is forcing agencies to evolve beyond simply answering questions–SEO now requires understanding granular user intent, creating content for complex needs, and ensuring visibility across traditional search engine results pages (SERPs), AI agents, voice interactions, and digital assistants.

This evolution raises critical questions: Are your pricing models keeping pace with industry standards? How should you adjust rates as client expectations shift? What pricing strategies are successful competitors using?

If you're an SEO provider reassessing your rates or exploring new pricing approaches, this guide provides the market intelligence you need. We've researched current industry standards so you can make informed decisions about your SEO pricing strategy.

How much does SEO cost?

How much SEO costs depends on a number of factors. Based on extensive market research across leading agencies, the cost of SEO varies significantly based on client size and service scope:

• Small business clients: $1,500 - $3,000/month

• Mid-market clients: $3,000 - $7,500/month

• Enterprise clients: $7,500 - $20,000+/month

The sweet spot for most agencies falls between $2,500 - $5,000 per month, representing the bulk of mid-tier engagements. However, nearly 48.9% of agencies report expectations that client budgets will increase over the next 12 months, suggesting room for upward rate adjustments.

Local SEO services: Agencies focusing on local SEO campaigns typically charge between $1,500 - $3,000 monthly. Local SEO pricing reflects the more focused scope and reduced complexity compared to national or international campaigns.

Factors driving your agency's pricing strategy

As you consider your agency’s pricing, it’s helpful to assess your strategy by the following factors:

1. Service complexity and scope

Comprehensive strategies including technical SEO, content creation, link building, and conversion optimization justify premium pricing. Agencies offering full-funnel solutions can command 2-3x higher rates than those providing basic optimization.

2. Industry specialization

Agencies with deep expertise in competitive verticals (finance, healthcare, legal, ecommerce) typically charge 30-50% premiums over generalists. Your specialized knowledge of compliance requirements, search engine algorithms, industry-specific ranking factors, and proven case studies justify higher rates. For example, dental SEO pricing is based on the fact that a single new patient can generate $2,000-$5,000+ in lifetime value, making the ROI on SEO investment extremely high for dental practices.

3. Team expertise and track record

Clients pay for expertise, not just execution, so consider your team's collective experience when setting prices. An experienced SEO agency with documented success stories, industry certifications, and senior-level strategists can command premium rates.

4. Technology and tools investment

Agencies using enterprise-level SEO tools have higher operational costs but can deliver superior insights. Factor these investments into your search engine optimization pricing while emphasizing the value they bring to clients.

Different SEO pricing models

The right pricing model depends on your clients' SEO budget constraints and specific objectives. Consider whether they need comprehensive, ongoing optimization or targeted solutions for specific challenges.

Project vs retainer model pricing serves different client needs: retainers work best for businesses requiring continuous SEO support and long-term growth strategies, while project-based pricing appeals to clients with defined deliverables, limited budgets, or strong internal teams needing specialized expertise.

Offering multiple pricing structures allows you to capture diverse market segments, from startups needing affordable project work to established businesses ready for substantial monthly investments. This flexibility maximizes your revenue potential while meeting clients where they are in their SEO journey.

We re-evaluate our website design pricing every 6 months. This regular review helps us stay aligned with industry trends, account for changes in our cost structure, and ensure we’re offering competitive and fair pricing for our clients.

Josh Kimmes, CEO, Bear North Digital

Monthly retainers 

Monthly retainers are the most common pricing model, and for good reason–SEO requires consistent, ongoing effort. But what do monthly SEO services cost? According to our research, these are the current market rates for SEO services pricing:

• Entry level: $500 - $1,000/month (typically solo SEO consultants or small SEO companies)

• Professional: $2,500 - $5,000/month (established agencies with proven track records)

• Premium: $5,000 - $10,000/month (specialized or full-service agencies)

• Enterprise: $10,000 - $20,000+/month (large agencies serving Fortune 500 clients)

When to use this model: Best for comprehensive SEO consulting and ongoing support, including content creation, technical optimization, link building, and continuous monitoring.

Hourly pricing

Hourly rates offer flexibility for consulting work by SEO professionals with specialized expertise:

• Standard Range: $75 - $200/hour

• Most Common Rate: $100 - $150/hour

• Premium Consultants: $200 - $300/hour

• Specialized Technical SEO: Up to $500/hour for elite consultants

When to use this model: Ideal for strategic consulting, technical audits, training sessions, or when clients have strong in-house teams needing periodic expert guidance.

Project-based pricing

Project pricing works well for one-off digital marketing services or add-ons:

• Small projects: $500 - $2,000 (technical audits, competitor analysis)

• Medium projects: $2,000 - $5,000 (site migrations, content strategies)

• Large projects: $5,000 - $30,000 (complete site overhauls, enterprise implementations)

The most common project range falls between $1,000 - $2,000, though 38% of agencies charge $2,500+ for comprehensive projects.

When to use this model: Best for one-time SEO projects, site migrations, penalty recovery, or initial setup before transitioning to retainer arrangements.

Pricing is an individual agency decision based on tools, skills, and capabilities of their team. You also have to factor in the people skills and challenges of working with a wide variety of clients and numbers of decision makers. We are comfortable with our flat rate pricing as we track time for all parties involved throughout the process and have been doing so for years. This gives us a higher degree of comfort that our pricing will provide the desired return on investment over all clients and not based on a single project.

Bob Reynolds, CEO, Profusion Web Solutions

Establish the value of your SEO pricing packages with reports that showcase search rankings, SEO traffic growth, and algorithm impact analysis. Try AgencyAnalytics free for 14 days!

What agencies actually charge for SEO services in 2025

Based on market research and industry standards, for most SEO companies, monthly SEO services typically include a combination of these core services:

Foundation services

• Website audit and analysis: Initial technical SEO analysis guide and assessment

• Keyword research and strategy: Identifying target keywords and search opportunities

• Competitor analysis: Understanding the competitive landscape

• SEO strategy development: Custom roadmap aligned with business goals

If you're just getting started, price it where you think your prospects will have minimal friction on coming on with you, and continuously raise your prices at each RFQ until you feel your pricing allows you to deliver the absolute best product possible. 

Josh Kimmes, CEO, Bear North Digital

Technical SEO

• Site speed optimization: Improving page load times and Core Web Vitals

• Mobile optimization: Ensuring mobile-friendly design and functionality

• Technical fixes: Addressing crawl errors, broken links, and indexation issues

• Schema markup implementation: Structured data for enhanced search visibility

Check out the Google Lighthouse integration with your free 14-day AgencyAnalytics trial!

On-page optimization

• Content optimization: Optimizing existing pages for target keywords

• Meta tags and descriptions: Title tags, meta descriptions, and headers

• Internal linking strategy: Improving site architecture and page authority flow

• Image optimization: Alt text, file compression, and SEO-friendly naming

Content services

• Content creation: Blog posts, landing pages, and other optimized content

• Content calendar planning: Strategic content scheduling aligned with SEO goals

• Content auditing: Reviewing and updating existing content for performance

Off-page SEO

• Link building campaigns: Building quality backlinks through outreach and content creation. Be sure to factor costs of link building into your pricing strategy.

• Local SEO (for applicable businesses): Google Business Profile optimization, local citations

• Brand mention monitoring: Tracking online reputation and opportunities

Track GBP alongside 80+ marketing platform integrations, with AgencyAnalytics. Try it free for 14-days!

Reporting and analysis

• Monthly performance reports: Tracking important SEO metrics including rankings, traffic, and conversion data

• Analytics setup and monitoring: Google Analytics and Search Console optimization

• ROI tracking: Measuring business impact and goal completions

• Strategy consultations: Regular meetings to discuss progress and adjustments

Package tiers

Most agencies offer tiered packages. The pricing of those packages depends on client needs, budget, and business objectives, but most agencies break SEO into its component parts: technical SEO, content, on-site optimization, and off-site SEO.

Market data reveals interesting patterns in actual agency pricing:

Reality Check:

• 64% of agencies charge below $1,000/month (often serving local/small businesses)

• 60% set hourly rates below $100/hour

• 66% price projects under $2,000

However, many SEO agencies targeting mid-market and enterprise clients command significantly higher rates:

• Professional agencies average $2,500 - $7,500/month

• Enterprise-focused agencies routinely exceed $10,000/month

• North American agencies charge 20-30% more than European counterparts

Justify your monthly SEO packages with professional reports that track everything from small scale SEO wins to major search rankings improvements. Try AgencyAnalytics free for 14 days!

Adapting your SEO pricing for the AI era

With AI reshaping search behavior, agencies need to evolve their value propositions and SEO package pricing accordingly. Let’s take a look at some trending options that many agencies are leveraging today.

New service offerings to consider:

• AI-Optimized content strategies: $3,000 - $7,500/month

• Search generative experience (SGE) optimization: $2,000 - $5,000/project

• Chatbot and voice search optimization: $1,500 - $3,500/month

• Entity-based SEO and knowledge graph optimization: $2,500 - $6,000/month

Value-based pricing opportunities:

Instead of charging solely for time or deliverables, consider performance-based components:

• Base retainer + performance bonuses for ranking improvements

• Revenue share models for ecommerce clients

• Tiered pricing based on organic traffic growth milestones

Don’t be afraid to adjust based on the value you’re providing. As your experience and portfolio grow, so should your confidence in pricing. Remember, pricing isn't just about what the market will bear; it's about ensuring you have the resources and bandwidth to deliver exceptional quality and service.

Josh Kimmes, CEO, Bear North Digital

Communicating your value to justify premium SEO pricing

As an agency leader, your ability to articulate the value of your SEO packages directly impacts your pricing power. Higher SEO costs aren't out of reach, you just need to know how to sell them. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Focus on business impact:

• Convert SEO metrics into online sales and revenue projections.

• Demonstrate ROI through case studies with similar businesses.

• Provide competitive intelligence showing the opportunity costs of inaction.

Differentiate through specialization:

• Develop proprietary methodologies or frameworks for boosting SEO performance.

• Offer exclusive access to beta features or tools.

• Provide C-suite level strategic insights, not just tactical execution.

Build trust through transparency:

• Clearly outline deliverables and timelines.

• Provide detailed reporting dashboards.

• Offer performance guarantees where appropriate.

Setting your 2025 SEO agency pricing strategy

Now that we have an understanding of how most agencies go about pricing their SEO services in 2025, here’s a framework to approach your own pricing strategy:

1) Audit your current rates: Compare your pricing against the market benchmarks above. Are you leaving money on the table or pricing yourself out of your target market?

2) Evaluate your service offerings: Consider adding high-value services like AI optimization or technical SEO audits that command premium rates.

3) Test pricing tiers: Focus on creating SEO packages with good/better/best service levels to capture different client segments while maintaining your margins.

4) Document your value: Build a library of case studies, testimonials, and ROI calculations to support your pricing conversations.

5) Consider annual contracts: Offer 10-15% discounts for annual commitments to improve cash flow and client retention.

Customize a local SEO dashboard and keep track of client results 24/7. Check it out free for 14-days with your AgencyAnalytics trial.

Structure your SEO efforts into service packages that sell

SEO pricing in 2025 reflects both the increasing complexity of search optimization and the growing recognition of its business impact. While marketing budget constraints exist at the lower end of the market, agencies demonstrating clear value and specialized expertise continue to command premium rates.

The key is to create custom SEO pricing models that align with your agency's strengths, target market, and ability to provide SEO services that affect search engine rankings. Whether you charge $1,500 or $15,000 monthly, success comes from delivering measurable organic search results that justify your rates.

As search continues evolving with AI and new technologies, agencies that adapt their search engine optimization services and pricing models accordingly will thrive. The question isn't whether to adjust your rates to align with average SEO costs, but how to structure them to reflect the true value you deliver in this transformative period for search marketing.

Remember: Your pricing isn't just about covering costs and generating profit—it's a strategic tool that positions your agency in the market and shapes client perceptions of your value. Price confidently, deliver exceptionally, and don't be afraid to charge what you're worth.

Stand out among SEO firms by providing clients with clear visibility into their SEO investment returns–from local SEO cost analysis to search engine ranking improvements. Start your 14-day free trial of AgencyAnalytics today!