How much does SEO cost per month?
Most monthly SEO retainers fall between $500 and $5,000. Ahrefs polled 439 SEO providers and found agencies average about $3,209 a month, freelancers about $1,348 and consultancies about $3,250. The single most common retainer band was $501 to $1,000 a month, chosen by 20.4% of respondents.
Those are averages from a global poll, so treat them as a guide rather than an Australian price list. They still line up with what most Australian small businesses get quoted: a few hundred dollars for basic upkeep, a couple of thousand for a proper campaign, and more for national or ecommerce sites.
The average is pulled up by big accounts. If you run a local service business, the middle of the range is more useful to you than the average.
Source: Ahrefs, SEO Pricing: How Much Does SEO Cost? 439 People Polled (updated August 2024). Currency not converted to AUD.
How do SEO companies charge for their services?
SEO is sold three ways: a monthly retainer, an hourly rate, or a fixed project fee. Monthly retainers are the most common. Ahrefs found 78.2% of providers charge a retainer, 48.9% charge per project and 34.8% charge hourly, with an average hourly rate of about $111.
A retainer suits ongoing work like content, links and technical fixes. A project fee suits a one-off job such as an audit or a site migration, where Ahrefs found the most common fee was $2,501 to $5,000. Hourly rates suit small, clearly defined tasks.
SE Ranking's 2025 agency survey points the same way: 64% of agencies charge under $1,000 a month, and 60% charge under $100 an hour. Cheap retainers are common. Whether they buy much work is a separate question.
Source: Ahrefs SEO pricing poll (August 2024); SE Ranking SEO pricing survey (December 2024, 260 agencies).
How much does local SEO cost?
Local SEO usually costs less than national SEO because you compete with businesses in your area, not the whole country. Expect the lower half of normal retainers. Google says local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence, and that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.
Local SEO is mostly about your Google Business Profile, reviews, location and service pages, and mentions on other local sites. Google says links from other websites and your review count both feed into prominence, and more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking.
SE Ranking found 94% of agencies serve small or local businesses, so you have plenty of choice. A plumber in one suburb does not need the same budget as an online store selling nationally.
Source: Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google; SE Ranking SEO pricing survey (December 2024).
What affects the price of SEO?
Four things drive the price: how competitive your search terms are, how much your website needs fixing, how much new content is required, and how many quality links you need. A tradie in a regional town and a national finance brand can both buy SEO, but the work involved is very different.
Competition matters most. If the top ten results for your main search are big brands with years of content, you need more work to get near them. If they are thin pages from other small businesses, you need less.
Site condition comes next. A slow site with broken pages needs technical work before content and links will pay off. That is why many providers start with an audit.
Is cheap SEO worth it?
Sometimes, but be careful. SE Ranking found 30% of agencies charge under $500 a month. At that price there is rarely time for real content or link work. Cheap SEO is fine for basic upkeep on a small local site, but it will not move you in a competitive market.
Ask exactly what you get each month: how many pages written or improved, what technical fixes, what links and from where. If the answer is vague, the work probably is too.
SEO is also not always the right first step. If you need enquiries this month, Google Ads is faster. If almost nobody searches for what you sell, SEO will never bring much traffic no matter what you spend. A good provider will tell you that.
Source: SE Ranking SEO pricing survey (December 2024).
What does MarketingOnWeb charge for SEO?
MarketingOnWeb charges one flat $990 a month + GST for SEO, GEO and AEO combined. It is month to month with no lock-in contract. An SEO audit starts from $490 + GST, and link building packs start at $199 for 10 links, with no GST added on link packs.
GEO and AEO mean optimising your pages so AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI answers can find and quote them. We include it in the same fee rather than selling it separately.
We are based in Melbourne and work with businesses across Australia. Like any honest provider, we do not guarantee rankings or AI mentions. Nobody can.
Can anyone guarantee first page rankings?
No. Google's own guidance says no one can guarantee a number one ranking on Google, and if an SEO promises first place you should find someone else. A provider can promise the work they will do and how they will report on it, but not where Google puts you.
Google suggests asking any SEO what results they expect, in what timeframe, and how they measure success. Ask to see examples of past work and whether they follow Google Search Essentials.
Source: Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?
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