How much does SEO cost for a small business per month?
Most SEO providers charge a monthly retainer between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars. The best public price data is a survey of 439 SEO providers by Ahrefs, an SEO tool company, last updated August 15, 2024 (Ahrefs).
| What the survey found | Figure |
|---|---|
| Most common monthly retainer | $501–$1,000 (20.4% of providers) |
| Charge $2,000 a month or less | 68.8% |
| Local SEO, average | $1,557 a month |
| Agencies, average | $3,209 a month |
| Freelancers, average | $1,348 a month |
| Most common hourly rate | $75–$100 (24% of providers) |
| Providers who use monthly retainers | 78.2% |
Source: Ahrefs, 439 providers polled. These are prices sellers charge, not what buyers pay.
For small businesses, Ahrefs puts the likely cost at "around $1,557 per month on average," and says "About 42% of SEOs charge between $250 and $1,000 per month" (Ahrefs).
SEO prices in the US vs Canada
Ahrefs reports the US and Canada together, with no separate Canadian figure. In that group, prices run higher than the global numbers above (Ahrefs):
- 79.1% charge at least $1,001 a month on retainer.
- 66.7% charge $75–$200 an hour.
- 83.3% charge at least $1,001 per project.
No public survey we found splits Canadian SEO prices from US ones. When comparing quotes across the border, check which currency each quote is in.
What each price level buys
A monthly retainer buys hours. In the survey, $75–$100 an hour was the most common rate and 90% charged $150 or less (Ahrefs):
| Monthly fee | Hours at $75–$150 an hour |
|---|---|
| $500 | About 3–7 |
| $1,500 | About 10–20 |
| $3,000 | About 20–40 |
Ask the provider to list the month's work in hours: a new service page, Business Profile updates, review requests, a technical fix. If the list doesn't fill the hours you pay for, ask why.
Ask any provider which of Google's listed SEO services you are paying for: site review, technical advice, content, keyword research, training, local market expertise, or "Optimizing for generative AI" (Google: Do you need an SEO?). A fee with no list of monthly work is a red flag.
What SEO costs if you do it yourself
Showing up on Google costs nothing:
"Google never accepts money to include or rank sites in our search results, and it costs nothing to appear in our organic search results." (Google: Do you need an SEO?)
"If you run a small local business, you can probably do much of the work yourself." (same page)
A Google Business Profile is free too (Google Business Profile), and there is "no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google" (Google Business Profile Help). Your real cost is time: Google's free SEO Starter Guide is the place to start.
Is SEO worth it for a small business?
It is worth it when two things are true: one new customer pays for months of fees, and you can wait.
- It's slow. Google says some changes "could take several months" to show (Google SEO Starter Guide).
- Most new pages never reach page one. In a 2025 Ahrefs study, only 1.74% of newly published pages reached Google's top 10 within a year; on a cleaner sample of 2 million English pages, 6.11% did (Ahrefs).
- Nobody can promise results. "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." (Google: Do you need an SEO?)
The break-even test: divide the monthly fee by the profit from one new customer. If one customer a month covers it, SEO can pay. If you need five, SEO has to work very well to pay, and paid ads or referrals may be the better first spend.
Red flags when you buy SEO
Google's own warnings (Google: Do you need an SEO?):
- "Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google."
- "Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that email you out of the blue."
- "You should never have to link to an SEO."
- "If an SEO creates deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, your site could be removed entirely from Google's index."
Questions Google suggests asking first include "What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?" (same page).
Example
An electrician at $500 a month
Average job profit is $400. The $500 fee breaks even at about one and a quarter new jobs a month. Realistic if the profile already gets calls and the work is upkeep.
A family law firm at $3,000 a month
One new client is worth $8,000 in fees. One client every two months covers the cost. Worth it if the firm can wait several months for results.
A cleaner at $1,500 a month
Each new regular client is worth $150 profit a month. Ten new regulars are needed before the fee is covered in the first month. Better to start with the free Business Profile and reviews.
Different for you?
- Deciding who to hire: SEO agency vs freelancer vs in-house vs AI.
- Signing a contract: Marketing agency contract terms.
- Wondering when results start: How long SEO takes.
- Thinking of letting AI do it: Can AI do SEO?
- Setting a whole marketing budget: Small business marketing budget.
- Want the work done every day: SEO & GEO.