How much does SEO cost in the UK?

Finding the average cost of search engine optimisation

A solution that is right for your business

As the process of improving the quality of a website and enhancing its ranking within search engines (such as Google), SEO attracts more visitors and potential customers to a business website.

For many clients, SEO is the single highest-performing channel available for their businesses, outperforming Google Ads, social media and traditional channels. 

Using WordPress content management system for your business website? Have a look at our WordPress SEO expert guide.

SEO pricing vary because all businesses and websites are different and require different levels of SEO (not a one-size-fits-all type of service). Agencies offer SEO packages at varying prices, so it’s tricky to know what you get for your money and how well the service is delivered.

What are the typical SEO prices are in the UK and how they can impact your business?

Low-cost SEO ranging from £100 to £300 per month would buy a business little quality or value and can often come with risk. It might be better for the business to try and optimise their website in-house, which is often a safer but slower method of optimisation.

Local SEO pricing starts at around £400 to £800 per month and focuses on geo-specific keywords that include city names as part of their phrase intent. For lower competition local SEO services by district, a business site may be able to rank well in search results without the need for an SEO consultant or agency.

National SEO focuses on ranking a company website for keywords in a broad area, often across the whole country. The UK SEO prices for this type of package can vary based on the size of a business and its competition in search engines. Typically, nationwide, commercial keyword phrases have fierce competition because there are a greater number of competing businesses vying for the top positions. Therefore, the cost of SEO naturally increases.

To get a fixed SEO quote, we firstly run a technical SEO audit checklist. It includes a list of findings, target keywords, timelines and fixed cost. 

SEO UK package prices range from as little as £100 a month, up to £2,500 or more depending on the SEO agency and what they’re offering.

These SEO costs vary depending on a range of aspects, such as the SEO agency you have chosen to work with, what you are aiming to achieve from your investment and the surrounding market competition.

If you find a trusted and reliable provider, cost of SEO packages will be considered an investment that can last years in your business.

Over time, with the correct service, your business will begin to reap the benefits from the investment. Through gaining a higher volume of quality organic traffic to your website and separating your business from your competitors, you will begin to gain more customers and higher revenue, offering a positive ROI.

Below is a more in-depth explanation to the different SEO package prices.

Baseline SEO isn’t something we typically offer.

It takes far more time and money to generate an organic stream of traffic to a website in order to sustain its ranking on Google. So, for one of the few truly skilled UK SEO agencies, this price wouldn’t be able to cover the quality of work and time spent doing it.

Cheap SEO may sound like a good marketing option for a small business that wants the basics of driving new traffic to its website.

Low-cost or cheap SEO isn’t always a good option if you want to keep a sustainable flow of authentic visitors and customers coming to your website.

Poorly implemented SEO can often open your business up to threats, such as harming the reputation of your business or causing a loss in revenue.

If your business doesn’t have the budget or isn’t prepared to spend more on SEO marketing, then it would be more beneficial to keep the work in-house. Find out more on what is SEO best practices. 

Using local SEO is an effective way of marketing a small to medium business online to drive new, organic visitors to its website in order to gain new customers.

This type of SEO is good for businesses that are based in a specific location and carry out their work locally. For example, a Bristol-based physiotherapist would benefit from local SEO because most of their customers would come from surrounding areas due to ease of travel and accessibility.

For COOLBISON, we targeted phrases like SEO agency Bristol it’s region specific and aligned exactly to what we provide.

Additional businesses that could benefit from local SEO includes shopkeepers, hairdressers, restaurants, surgeons and most other businesses that rely on local customers.

When looking at the ROI for local SEO packages, it is important to consider the short-term and long-term goals for your company. It is best to start off small and compete against the surrounding competition before attempting to grow your business further.

If your business could benefit from reaching new customers beyond a specific location and further across the UK, then national SEO will certainly aid..

National SEO has similar elements to local SEO, but instead of focusing on geo-specific marketing, nationwide SEO focuses on ranking a website for more broad key words.

This is something that would be beneficial for companies that can execute their service or deliver products to their customers regardless of their location (e-commerce business is a typical example). It will allow them to stand out from their market and take a step ahead of the competition on a greater scale.

This level of SEO takes time and should be thought of as a long-term marketing investment for your company.

Can’t tell if your company will benefit from an SEO package and what you expect to pay?

The answer to this is that most, if not all, companies will benefit from some SEO level. Improving website performance is a key strategy due to its capability to connect businesses with new customers. At a minimum, SEO offers new opportunities to expose the public to a brand, its content, products and services.

To get the best ROI, you need to understand what SEO packages will best benefit your business, as this will allow you to see a clear view of what direction your business will be heading as the SEO service is carried out.

Going straight for the higher package and spending more money won’t necessarily mean that you are getting the best service or that your business will reach its long-term goals faster.

Likewise, cheaper packages don’t mean you are going to get the best deal. SEO prices in the UK reflect what your business requires in order to meet its goals. As mentioned earlier, credible SEO packages don’t have a one-size-fits-all plan and are personalised to individual needs.

In many cases, SEO counts for about 75% of the deal. It focuses on driving new traffic and potential customers to a business website (whatever the SEO package cost). The other 25% is how well the website can perform – ease of navigation, clear contact information and ultimately what you want the website to achieve.

Improving this 25% will keep visitors interested, engaged and more likely to become a customer.

It can be overwhelming at first, but that’s why companies like us are here to help you understand how your business would benefit from SEO. Take time to research your options and talk to a few agencies, but remember, SEO is an investment, and in most cases, results are not found in the short term.