If you have ever asked three agencies "how much does SEO cost" and got three wildly different answers, you are not imagining things. SEO pricing is genuinely hard to compare because the work hides under one word that can mean a single audit, a full content programme, or anything in between. This guide breaks down what actually drives the price in 2026, the real difference between a one-off project and a monthly retainer, and four indicative packages you can use as a sanity check before you sign anything.
I will keep it practical. By the end you should be able to look at any quote and know roughly what you are paying for, and which tier fits a business at your stage. For the underlying service breakdown, you can also see my SEO services page.
SEO Growth starts at €340/mo with 6 hours of active technical and on-page execution. In-depth audits start at €400, while custom SEO for e-shops, larger websites and competitive niches starts at €600/mo. Lighter ongoing care with basic SEO is part of the Care plan at €220/mo within website management. The final number depends on your starting point, competition and the actual scope of work.
SEO pricing 2026
All three scopes in one place. The prices come from my current price list on the SEO audit and monthly growth page. I am not a VAT payer, so the amounts are final.
| Package | Price | Who it's for | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
SEO audit + plan |
from €400, one-off |
a site where you want to know the state and the order of steps |
technical audit, on-page review of the top 10 pages, keywords and competitors, ranked action plan, 1 h consultation, delivery in 5-7 days |
SEO Growth |
from €340/mo |
a business that wants to grow actively |
6 h a month: technical and on-page fixes, one priority page or content optimisation a month, report and consultation |
Custom SEO |
from €600/mo |
e-shops, larger and multilingual sites, competitive niches |
scope set by the market: content clusters, larger technical work, local SEO, link building by plan |
SEO Growth from €340/mo. I do SEO personally as a specialist based in Ostrava, not as an agency: technical and on-page fixes, content and AI search visibility with a monthly report. A one-off SEO audit with a plan starts at €400.
Lighter ongoing care with basic SEO (Search Console, GA4 and indexing checks, minor fixes) is part of the Care plan at €220/mo within website management; what each management retainer costs is covered in how much website management costs. Every monthly plan can be cancelled monthly.
Before you decide, you can get 3-5 concrete findings about your website for free through the free SEO audit.
What actually drives the cost of SEO
SEO is priced on effort and competitiveness, not on a fixed menu. A handful of factors move the number more than anything else.
Your starting point
A site that was built well and has a few years of history needs a different kind of work than a brand-new domain or one that was migrated badly. If the technical foundations are shaky, a chunk of early budget goes into fixing crawling, indexing, speed and structure before any "growth" work can pay off. A quick way to see where you stand is to run through a technical SEO checklist, the more boxes you already tick, the cheaper the early months tend to be.
How competitive your niche is
Competition affects difficulty, but a competitor's spending does not determine how many articles or links you need. Compare the actual offer, content, technical obstacles and demand. More work alone does not guarantee overtaking a competitor.
Scope: audit vs ongoing work
This is the distinction most quotes blur, so it deserves its own section below. A one-off audit and a monthly retainer are not two sizes of the same thing, they answer different questions.
Content and links
The split between content, technical work, links and reporting depends on the agreed scope. For a small maintenance plan, checks and minor repairs may be the main work. Do not assume a monthly fee includes new articles or link building. AI-search preparation should likewise specify concrete checks rather than a citation promise; see how to get your company into AI search.
Worked example: SEO work needs a visible deliverable
ORIGINAL EXAMPLE · FICTIONAL DATA
| Monthly task | Example output | Verification |
|---|---|---|
| Finding | Service missing from navigation | Check internal link |
| Change | Link to bicycle servicing | Open destination URL |
| Content | Answer about adjustment pricing | Match actual offer |
| Review | Query and enquiry record | Same period and definitions |
Example deliverables, not a promised monthly volume or ranking.
One-off audit vs monthly retainer
The most useful thing you can do before comparing prices is to decide whether you need a project or a partner.
A one-off SEO audit and plan is a fixed-scope project. You pay once, and you get a clear picture of where the gaps are, technical issues, content holes, structural problems, plus a prioritised plan of what to do about it. It is finite. Nothing is implemented for you unless you arrange that separately. This is the right starting point when you want clarity before committing to anything ongoing, or when you have an in-house team that can execute but needs direction.
A monthly retainer purchases the execution explicitly included in the agreement. That might be technical checks, on-page updates or a larger content programme. A recurring payment does not automatically include all of them or guarantee compounding growth. Review completed work and business outcomes separately.
Put simply: an audit tells you what to do; a retainer does it.
Decide what you are buying before you compare prices. An audit is a finite, fixed-scope project, it shows the gaps and gives you a prioritised plan. A retainer is ongoing execution, someone keeps doing the work month after month. If you are unsure, start with the audit: you spend once, learn where you stand, and decide your next move with eyes open.
How much does SEO cost: four indicative scopes
Here are four concrete scopes so you have real numbers to anchor against. These are my packages; use them to compare deliverables rather than price labels alone.
How much does an SEO audit cost: from €400, one-off
A fixed-scope project that shows where the gaps are and exactly what to do about them. You receive a prioritised action plan covering technical health, content and structure. The €400 starting point applies to a smaller business website; e-shops, larger and multilingual sites are quoted based on templates, URL count and analysis scope.
Lighter SEO care: the Care plan, €220/mo
For a smaller website that needs regular checks and minor improvements rather than a full SEO team, I don't have a standalone SEO package. The Care plan at €220 a month covers it: site monitoring and 3 hours of work, which I use to review Search Console, GA4, indexation and technical alerts and make priority changes such as metadata, internal links or local SEO. Unused hours roll over to the next month. New articles, link building and substantial development are not included.
SEO Growth, from €340/mo
Active monthly execution of 6 hours for businesses that want priorities implemented, not only monitored. The scope includes technical and on-page changes, indexation and internal-link work, one priority page or content optimization, reporting and a consultation. A horizon of at least three months is sensible for evaluation, yet you can cancel monthly and scope and continuation remain transparent.
Monitor continuously. For substantial content changes I suggest a review over several months, not a guaranteed growth deadline. A technical repair can be checked immediately after deployment; an effect on clicks and sales may emerge later or remain unproven.
Custom SEO, from €600/mo
A custom scope from 10 hours a month for e-shops, larger sites, multilingual projects and competitive niches. Depending on the plan, it can include larger technical changes, content clusters, local SEO, link building or a higher publishing cadence. External publishing and media budgets are approved separately rather than hidden inside a vague retainer.
How long until SEO shows results
Google's SEO starter guide says some changes might take effect in a few hours while others could take several months, and recommends waiting a few weeks before assessing whether your work had an effect. In practice, each type of work has a different moment when you can measure it fairly:
| Type of work | When you can verify it | How |
|---|---|---|
| Technical fix (indexing, redirects, errors) | Right after deployment, in the data after a recrawl | URL Inspection in Search Console, indexing report |
| Page titles and descriptions | After a few weeks of data following reindexing | Click-through rate and impressions in Search Console |
| Improving an existing page | Usually within weeks to months | Positions and clicks for specific queries |
| New content and links | Within months | New queries, clicks and enquiries from organic search |
That's why for active growth I recommend a horizon of at least three months and evaluate results change by change, not by one traffic number. Anyone promising the top spot in two weeks is promising something they don't control.
Hourly, retainer or project
SEO is sold in three ways, and each suits something different:
| Model | How you pay | Suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
Project |
Fixed price for a defined output |
Audit, SEO migration, one-off fix |
Exact scope and what the deliverable is |
Monthly retainer |
Regular fee for capacity and scope |
Ongoing care and growth |
How many hours and which outputs you get per month |
Hourly rate |
By time worked |
Small consultations, helping your own team |
Without a plan you easily pay for time instead of results |
In a global Ahrefs survey of 439 SEO providers, 78.2% offered monthly retainers, 48.9% per-project pricing and 34.8% hourly rates. It's an international market, so don't convert its dollar prices to your local market; it does show that the retainer is the standard, because SEO is ongoing work.
I don't bill SEO by the hour. The audit is a fixed-price project from €400 and ongoing work has a monthly scope with listed outputs. You know in advance what you get for your money and you don't have to watch a timesheet.
SEO for an e-shop: what's different
An e-shop has hundreds to thousands of pages generated from templates, which brings problems a typical business website doesn't have:
- Filters and sorting create thousands of URL combinations. Without rules for crawling and indexing, they waste Google's crawl capacity.
- Product variants (size, colour) need a correctly set canonical URL, otherwise they compete with each other.
- Supplier descriptions are the same on a hundred other shops. Your own copy for key products and categories is an investment that must show up in the quote.
- Categories are often more important for search queries than products, yet frequently have no text at all.
- Product data (price, availability, ratings) in structured data and in the Google Merchant Center feed.
That's why for e-shops I start with an audit priced by the number of templates and URLs and handle ongoing work within the Custom SEO scope from €600 a month. What to check first on an e-shop is covered in the SEO guide for e-shops and the article on the most common e-shop SEO mistakes.
What to watch out for when comparing quotes
A few things separate a fair quote from a bad one.
- Vague deliverables. "SEO services, €X/mo" with no detail is a red flag. You should be able to see roughly how much goes to content, technical work and links.
- Guaranteed rankings. Nobody controls Google's algorithm. Anyone guaranteeing a #1 position is either misinformed or hoping you are. Google says it plainly in its guidance on hiring an SEO: no one can guarantee a #1 ranking. What to ask before you sign is covered in how to choose an SEO agency.
- A low price with no scope boundary. Lighter care can make sense at €220/mo, which is what my Care plan with 3 hours of work costs, when you know you are buying only a few hours of checks and minor changes. The red flag is a provider promising full content, link building, development and fast results for that same fee.
- No clear starting point. A provider who quotes work without understanding your site's current state is guessing. For smaller care, an initial diagnostic can happen in month one; an in-depth paid audit does not have to be a mandatory gate. My SEO guide for business owners covers more of these traps in plain language.
- Lock-in with no exit. Minimum commitments are normal and reasonable for SEO; multi-year contracts with no off-ramp are not.
Before you spend anything, you can sanity-check whether deeper work is even worth it: the free SEO audit reviews your site's technology, content and visibility and sends you 3-5 concrete findings by e-mail, usually within two business days.
Worked example: Two "SEO" quotes may differ in scope
ORIGINAL EXAMPLE · FICTIONAL DATA
| Item | Quote A | Quote B |
|---|---|---|
| Audit | Recommendation list | Prioritised findings |
| Fixes | Excluded | Named URLs and changes |
| Content | "Regular articles" | Topic, author and approval |
| Report | Visit count | Enquiries + measurement limits |
Fictional quotes; prices are not comparable without scope.
When each tier makes sense
To make the decision concrete:
- Choose the audit from €400 when you want clarity first, have a team that can execute, or need an independent roadmap. Larger and e-commerce sites are quoted by scope.
- Choose Care at €220/mo when a smaller functioning website needs regular monitoring and a few prioritized improvements without new content or link building. It is a website management plan, so alongside basic SEO you also get the site monitored.
- Choose SEO Growth from €340/mo when you want active technical and on-page execution plus regular improvement of a priority page.
- Choose Custom SEO from €600/mo for e-shops, larger or multilingual websites, competitive niches, link building or a higher content cadence.
A common, sensible path is to start with the audit, see what the work actually involves for your situation, and then step into a retainer with realistic expectations rather than a salesperson's promises.
The short version
So, how much does SEO cost? Active SEO Growth starts at €340/mo, an in-depth audit at €400 and custom work for e-shops or competitive niches at €600/mo. Lighter ongoing care with basic SEO is covered by the Care plan at €220/mo. A low entry price is reasonable when the limited scope is explicit. The right number depends on your starting point, your niche and whether you need a roadmap, regular checks or hands-on execution. Compare the exact scope on my SEO services page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SEO cost per month?
With me, active SEO Growth starts at €340 a month (6 hours of work). Custom SEO for e-shops, larger websites and competitive niches costs from €600 a month (from 10 hours). Lighter ongoing care with basic SEO is part of the Care plan at €220 a month. Which scope makes sense depends on the state of your site and the strength of the competition, alongside the budget and the business's capacity to implement changes.
How much does an SEO audit cost?
An SEO audit with an action plan starts at €400, one-off, for a smaller business website. It covers a technical audit, a review of the top 10 pages, keywords, competitors, a ranked plan and a one-hour consultation, with delivery in 5-7 days. E-shops, larger and multilingual sites are quoted by scope. For a quick look at no cost, the free SEO audit sends 3-5 findings.
Why do SEO prices vary so much between providers?
The word SEO covers anything from an automated report to months of technical and content work. The difference comes from capacity (how many hours are actually worked), whether the provider ships the changes or only recommends them, and how competitive your niche is. Compare scope and deliverables, not just the monthly figure.
Is SEO a one-off investment or a monthly cost?
Both, depending on the stage. An audit is a one-off project with an end. Execution and growth are ongoing work, because search engines and competitors change every month. For active growth I recommend a horizon of at least 3 months; the actual interval depends on the change and available data.
Do the SEO prices include VAT?
I am not a VAT payer, so the listed prices are final and no VAT is added.
Do I have to sign a long contract?
No. The audit is one-off and you do not have to continue with monthly work afterwards. Monthly packages can be cancelled monthly; for SEO Growth I only recommend giving the work at least 3 months before judging it.
How long until SEO shows results?
You can verify a technical fix right after deployment, a title change after a few weeks of data, and new content or links within months. Google itself says some changes take effect in a few hours and others in several months. For active work, I therefore recommend assessing results after three months at the earliest, change by change.
Do you bill SEO by the hour?
No. I do the audit for a fixed price from €400 and ongoing work in monthly scopes from €340 with listed outputs. Hourly billing in SEO tempts you to pay for time instead of results; a fixed scope is clearer for both of us.
How much does SEO for an e-shop cost?
I price an e-shop audit by the number of templates and URLs; ongoing e-shop work starts within the Custom SEO scope from €600 a month. An e-shop needs more work than a business website because of filters, variants, categories and product data. The audit sets the exact scope based on catalogue size and competition.