Professional SEO services make your website show up, and get clicked, more often when people search for what you sell. A typical engagement covers technical fixes, on-page work, content, links and reporting. On price, the clearest public data comes from Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO providers: 78.2% charge a monthly retainer.
The most popular retainer band is $501 to $1,000 a month. SEO is also changing fast. In Pew Research Center's 2025 study, people clicked a traditional result in only 8% of Google visits that showed an AI summary, against 15% when there was none.
Below we explain what SEO services include and how they're priced. We also compare agencies, freelancers and in-house teams, list what a monthly retainer should cover, and look at AI search, the first 90 days and how to choose an SEO partner company.
Key takeaways
- SEO is several services in one: technical, on-page, content, links and local, weighted differently for each business.
- Monthly retainers are the norm. Compare scope and deliverables, not just the price.
- AI summaries cut clicks on some searches. Your content now needs to be the source those answers cite.
- Nobody can guarantee a #1 ranking. Google itself tells you to beware of anyone who does.
- Measure leads and revenue from organic search rather than rankings on their own.
What Professional SEO Services Include
| Service area | What it covers | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | Crawling, indexing, site speed, mobile usability, structured data, redirects | Search engines must be able to find and understand your pages |
| On-page SEO | Titles, headings, internal links, page structure, search intent match | Each page clearly answers a specific search |
| Content | New pages and articles, updates to old content, topic planning | Content earns rankings, links and AI citations |
| Off-page and digital PR | Earning links and mentions from relevant, trusted sites | Signals authority to search engines |
| Local SEO | Google Business Profile, reviews, local pages and citations | Visibility in map and near-me searches |
| Reporting | Traffic, rankings, conversions and actions taken | Shows what the work is achieving |
Types of SEO Services by Business
| Type | Main focus | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Local SEO | Map results, reviews, location pages | Clinics, restaurants, service businesses, showrooms |
| Ecommerce SEO | Category and product pages, faceted navigation, product schema | Online stores |
| B2B and SaaS SEO | Problem, comparison, use-case and integration pages | Software and B2B services |
| Enterprise SEO | Large sites, many teams, technical scale | Big catalogues and publishers |
| International SEO | Language and country targeting, hreflang | Brands selling in several countries |
| SEO consulting | Audits, strategy and training for in-house teams | Companies with their own marketers |
What SEO Services Cost
| Finding from the Ahrefs survey (439 SEO providers, 2024) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Charge a monthly retainer | 78.2% |
| Most popular monthly retainer band | $501 to $1,000 (20.4% of respondents) |
| Most popular hourly rate band | $75 to $100 (24% of respondents) |
| Average hourly rate | $111 |
These are global figures. Indian agencies and freelancers often charge less than this. Our digital marketing cost guide covers wider budgets in India.
On UpBusiness, 9 verified companies list SEO among their services. In our October 2026 pricing benchmark, the SEO companies reported a median minimum project of about $260 and a median typical project of about $2,600. Local or small-site SEO sits at the lower end. Ecommerce or multi-market programmes cost a good deal more.
The price moves with the size and state of your site and with how competitive your market is. It also depends on how much content you get each month, how much link-building is involved and how many locations or languages you cover.
How Professional SEO Services Are Priced
Many SEO providers sell their work in more than one way. In the Ahrefs survey, 78.2% offer a monthly retainer, 48.9% price by project and 34.8% bill by the hour[1]. The shares add up to more than 100% because one provider can use several models.
| Pricing model | How it works | What the Ahrefs survey found | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | A fixed fee for an agreed set of work each month | Most popular band $501 to $1,000; agencies average $3,209 a month and freelancers $1,348 | Ongoing SEO for a site that publishes and competes every month |
| Per project | A fixed price for a defined job, such as an audit or a site migration | Most popular band $2,501 to $5,000 (21.2% of providers) | Audits, migrations and one-off clean-ups |
| Hourly | Billed against the time spent | Most popular band $75 to $100; average $111 an hour | Consulting, training or a small block of hours |
Where the provider is based makes a large difference. In the same survey, 76% of India-based SEOs charge $1,000 or less a month, 85.7% charge $30 or less an hour and 93.75% charge $1,500 or less per project. In the US and Canada, 79.1% charge at least $1,001 a month[1].
Experience moves the price too. SEOs in business for two years or less average about $1,541 a month on retainer, while those with 5 to 10 years average about $3,648. The survey page was last updated in August 2024 and the figures are self-reported. They show the shape of the market, not what a given agency will quote you.
SEO Agency, Freelancer or In-House Team?
The right choice depends on how much work you need each month and who on your side will manage it. An agency gives you several specialists under one contract. A freelancer costs less but covers fewer skills. An in-house hire gives you the most control, but you pay the salary whether the work is busy or quiet.
| Option | Typical cost | What you get | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO agency | About $3,209 a month on average (Ahrefs, global) | Technical, content and link specialists in one team | Senior people in the pitch and junior people doing the work |
| Freelancer | About $1,348 a month on average (Ahrefs, global) | One expert, direct contact and flexible hours | Limited capacity; you may need a second person for content or links |
| SEO consultant | About $3,250 a month on average (Ahrefs, global) | Audits, strategy and training for your own team | Someone on your side still has to do the work |
| In-house SEO | A full salary plus tools | Full control and deep knowledge of your product | Months to hire and ramp up; one person rarely covers every skill |
If you run a small or mid-sized business, start with an agency or an experienced freelancer. SEO needs technical, writing and outreach skills that a single hire rarely has. As the work grows, a common next step is an in-house SEO lead who manages the outside help.
Browse our curated list of Top Search Engine Optimization Companies
How AI Search Is Changing SEO
Some searches now end without a click. Pew found users ended their browsing session on 26% of Google pages with an AI summary, against 16% without one. More searching is also happening inside AI tools. Gartner predicted that traditional search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 as people turn to AI chatbots and agents.
The basics haven't gone away. Google's guidance on AI features and your website says the same SEO best practices still apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. What wins now is being the source. Pages with clear answers, original data, named experts and a clean structure are the ones most likely to be cited.
What to Expect in the First 90 Days
| Period | Typical work |
|---|---|
| Days 1–30 | Technical audit, analytics and conversion tracking set-up, keyword and competitor research, quick fixes |
| Days 31–60 | On-page improvements to priority pages, content plan, first new pages, internal linking |
| Days 61–90 | Ongoing content, link and PR outreach, local listings, first performance review against goals |
Ask every agency what results they expect and by when. Google lists this among the questions to ask an SEO.
What a Monthly SEO Retainer Should Include
A retainer is only as good as the scope written into it. Before you sign, ask for a sample monthly report and a written list of the work that happens every month. A clear proposal covers these points.
- A short plan for each month, agreed before work starts, naming the pages and searches in focus.
- Every technical change to the site, logged with the reason for it. Google suggests asking an SEO whether it will share all the changes it makes[2].
- How many pages will be written or updated, who writes them and who approves them.
- Links and mentions earned, listed by URL. You should be able to open and check each one yourself.
- A report that ties organic traffic to leads, calls or sales rather than to rankings alone.
- The name of your account manager and the hours or people assigned to you.
Two contract terms matter as much as the scope. Agree the minimum term and the notice period before you start. Then put in writing that the content, accounts and data belong to you, whoever set them up.
Red Flags When Hiring an SEO Agency
The biggest one is a guaranteed #1 ranking. Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking. It also warns against SEOs who claim a special relationship with Google.
- Large numbers of cheap links or private link networks.
- No access to your own analytics, Search Console or reports.
- Reports full of rankings but nothing about leads or sales.
- Vague deliverables. You should know what will be done each month.
- Cold emails promising quick rankings. Google advises caution with SEO firms that contact you out of the blue.
- Talk of link popularity schemes, or of submitting your site to thousands of search engines.
- Any provider that won't explain what it plans to do, or that asks you to link to its own site.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire
- Can you show examples of past work and results in our industry?
- Do you follow Google Search Essentials?
- What results do you expect, by when, and how will you measure them?
- What will you deliver each month, and who will do the work?
- How will you prepare our content for AI Overviews and AI search?
- Will we own all content, accounts and data if we part ways?
- What experience do you have in our country or city, and with sites in other languages?
- How will we communicate, and will you share every change you make and the reason for it?
How to Brief an SEO Partner Company
A clear brief gets you proposals you can compare. When companies have to guess your goals, their prices drift apart for reasons that have nothing to do with quality. Give every company the same information.
- Your goal in business terms, such as more demo requests from the US or more calls to one clinic.
- The pages that bring in money, and the services or products you most want to rank.
- Three or four competitors that outrank you today.
- Your monthly budget range and how long you can commit.
- Any past SEO work, including link building by an earlier agency, and any traffic drops you've seen.
- Who on your team approves content and site changes, and how quickly they can turn it around.
During an audit, give the company read-only access to Search Console rather than full control, as Google recommends[2]. You can also post the brief once on UpBusiness and hear back from SEO companies that fit it, instead of emailing each one.
SEO Metrics That Matter
| Metric | Why track it |
|---|---|
| Leads or sales from organic search | The business outcome |
| Organic traffic to money pages | Visits to pages that convert, not just blog traffic |
| Rankings for priority searches | Progress on the terms that bring buyers |
| Visibility in AI answers | Whether your brand is mentioned or cited by AI search |
| Technical health | Indexing, speed and errors that block growth |
Find an SEO Partner Company
Compare verified SEO companies on UpBusiness by TrustScore, team size and minimum project size, browse all digital marketing partner companies, or post your project to get matched. Selling software? Read our SaaS marketing strategy guide. Using AI in your marketing? See AI in digital marketing.
The Bottom Line
Good SEO is steady, measurable work on technical health, content, authority and now AI search. Choose a partner company that explains what it delivers each month, measures leads instead of only rankings and never promises the #1 spot.
Browse our curated list of Top Search Engine Optimization Companies
