SEO in the UK costs anything from a couple of hundred pounds a month to several thousand. That range is so wide because “SEO” describes very different amounts of work. Here is what sits behind the price, what we charge and why, and how to tell whether it will pay for itself.
How much does SEO cost in the UK?
We have seen quotes at every level. At the bottom are freelancers and budget packages for a few hundred pounds a month. At the top are agencies charging thousands. Most small and mid-sized businesses end up somewhere between the two.
Our own plans are published: SEO Essentials at £600 a month, SEO Growth at £950 and SEO Pro at £1,500, with no VAT added. A one-off SEO audit and strategy is £750, and it is included at no extra cost when you start on Growth or Pro. You can see what each includes on our SEO pricing section.
What do you get at the cheap end?
Less than the price suggests. Low-cost SEO usually targets a small number of keywords and often ignores what the searcher actually wants from the page. Progress is slower, and the site struggles against bigger, more established competitors on the searches that matter.
Be cautious of a low price and always read the scope. Check that you are getting the whole job, including link building and AI search, and not just a monthly report.
There is a cheaper route that does work: pay for an audit and do the fixes yourself. It costs far less than a monthly plan, as long as you are fixing the right things. We cover that in can I do SEO myself?.
What should I ask before I sign?
- Who will actually do the work once onboarding is finished? It is common for an account to be passed down after the first few weeks.
- What is included each month, and what costs extra?
- How will you show me what has changed and what it achieved?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Why do SEO plans differ so much in price?
Three things change between our own plans: the strategy, the amount of work carried out each month, and how much of our time you have access to.
A new website going after local searches usually fits the lower plan. A business with a clearly defined customer, a longer sales process and higher-value services is better suited to the middle and top plans, which are built to compete for harder searches on sites that are already established. Links from other websites are handled differently at each level. On the lowest plan we tell you which links you can realistically get yourself and how to go about it, and you do the legwork if you want to. From the middle plan up we do that work for you, and on the top plan we can also source bespoke links.
Beyond the plan itself, the cost depends on the size of your company, how deep the work needs to go, how much of it you can do in-house, and the experience of the people doing it.
Why is there a six-month minimum?
Two reasons. The first is that most of the work comes at the start. In the opening weeks we audit the site, set the strategy, plan the campaign and fix the biggest problems. Doing all of that for a client who leaves after a month would not make sense for either side.
The second is that SEO compounds. When we set a six-month strategy we want to see it through, so the work is finished properly and has time to deliver. After six months our plans move to a rolling monthly agreement.
How does SEO make money for a business?
By bringing in customers you would not otherwise have reached, month after month, without paying for each click.
The simplest way to judge it is to compare the fee with what one new customer is worth to you. Take a business whose typical contract is worth about £2,500 and whose SEO costs under £900 a month. One extra contract a month covers the fee almost three times over. If that business wins eight to ten contracts a month, SEO only needs to add roughly one in ten to pay for itself several times.
If a single customer is worth far less than your monthly fee, the sums are harder and you need volume to make it work. That is worth knowing before you start, and it is the first thing we look at.
Where should I start?
Find out where your site stands before you pay anyone. Our free website audit shows how you appear on Google and in AI search. If you would rather talk through whether SEO makes sense for your business, book a call.
