How Much Should SEO Cost?

Page one ranking guaranteed! SEO services starting at $500 per month! We’ll optimize your site in 24 hours! If these taglines remind you of cut-rate used car dealerships or late night weight loss infomercials, you have good instincts. You need to cut through the BS and really ask yourself, “how much should SEO cost?”

While you can absolutely compare “before” and “after” SEO results, there is no magic pill to boost your website rankings. Effective optimization is a customized, multi-phase process, and honest SEO cost estimates reflect reality-based strategies.

Keep that in mind as you read on. 

There’s no cookie-cutter template for determining the cost of SEO, but when you’re shopping for a search engine optimization firm, these are the points to keep in mind when you’re accepting proposals: 

Important Factors That Positively Impact SEO

1. Website architecture

Search engine optimization begins with responsive, fast-loading websites and user-friendly navigation. Outdated servers, media-heavy sites, and cumbersome coding aren’t as easy to remedy when a site has hundreds of product pages or content assets. Clients in a position to take advantage of our free SEO audits are often ready for a top-down website overhaul, though our comprehensive analytics often reveal opportunities to streamline existing properties until our clients are ready to invest in a redesign. 

2. Management practices and preferences

Prior site management factors into pricing. We encounter more than a few clients who have assigned their digital marketing managers with the task of in-house updates and SEO management. Digital marketing and content managers are experts in their own field and often rely on the elementary and often incorrect advice of popular SEO “gurus”.

We respect the desire to manage websites in-house—for some businesses, it’s a necessity. If that sounds like you, you’ll want an SEO firm prepared to help you establish SEO best practices for continuity and performance, with scheduled audits and evaluations for course corrections. 

3. Relevant keyword research

Who’s your intended audience, and how will your SEO strategy predict their query habits? Is your brand competing for high-volume keywords, or targeting a local niche? Do your keywords attract qualified leads or traffic that will increase your bounce rate? 

Dynamic keyword research, integration, and reporting demands time, skill, and intimate knowledge of the customer’s audience and goals. SEO is less about competing for high-value keywords than it is about understanding your user’s search intent. That requires your SEO team to understand your market as well as you do.

4. Technical page optimization

Do your page titles, URLs, and schema send the right signals to search engines? Can search engine crawlers understand each page’s purpose when the on-page content is limited to alt text? After all, crawlers can’t “see” images or videos so metadata and page descriptions must advocate for your page’s value and relevance.

Snippet-savvy site descriptions help Google decide that your content aligns with user queries, and URLs and titles containing your prime keywords induce a better click-through rate. Your SEO consultant should identify and test technical page optimization techniques not just for SERP placement, but for traffic quality and conversion rates. 

5. User-valued, optimized content

It’s true: Quality content reinforces your brand’s legitimate use of keywords. But more important, content that’s useful to your audience keeps them engaged and draws them through the sales funnel. Longer dwell times improve SEO, as does content your audience shares on social media or their own sites. Blogs, infographics, and video generate legitimate, quality backlinks while elevating your brand as an industry authority. 

Content isn’t about stuffing keywords. We believe quality transcends quantity, and we connect our clients with creators who adapt to your brand character, speak to your buyer persona, and write with the skill and knowledge you’d be proud to present as your own. 

6. Backlinks and off-site authority 

How often is your brand referenced by other authoritative sources? On-site content generates backlinks, but we can help you identify and use off-site opportunities to generate domain and brand authority. Engage your audience on third-party review sites, update your Google My Business posts, and exchange guest posts with strategic partners and high-profile industry bloggers. Genuine, organic backlink acquisition takes time and effort, but it scores higher with search engines than do purchased backlinks or other “black hat” cheats. 

7. SEO analytics, reporting, and interpretation

Any SEO—or do-it-yourself site operator—can generate traffic and conversion reports. There are excellent keyword research tools available to anyone willing to pay the subscription costs. Even free plug-ins can provide useful insight into SEO success, but context is key. Your SEO success isn’t measured by charts and graphs alone. SEO strategies include A/B testing, industry-specific conversion experiments, and benchmarks set to monitor visitor behavior during cross-channel campaigns. 

Who you are and what you do influences your SEO strategy

We at Avintiv Media service clients in a variety of industries, tailoring our services accordingly. Our approach for optimizing a regional luxury auto dealership website will barely resemble our recommendations for a national organic skincare line, and both would very much differ from an eCommerce CBD brand. Site structure, content, keywords, and local SEO emphasis all differ among the three, as do customer intent and behavior. 

Think of us as your strategic partners. Like you, we’re not cheap; we’re experts in our field delivering measurable results. Quotes for our average cost of SEO reflect our dedication to your business’ growth and market agility, and we encourage you to regard the cost of SEO in terms of value rather than price. Contact us for a FREE SEO audit. 

Once we know more about you and where you stand, we can tailor your SEO roadmap to help you achieve your goals. See how our Cannabis/CBD client grew 2000% in under a year or how our Supplement eCommerce client increased organic traffic by 600%.