SEO costs $2,917 a month on average, according to an Ahrefs survey of 439 providers, but the most common retainer is $501 to $1,000. With Google Ads you pay for two things: ad spend, which you set and has no minimum, and management. Your cost per lead, which you can estimate for free with Google Keyword Planner, should drive your budget.
The problem? Most quotes lump "SEO" and "PPC" into one monthly figure, so you can't tell what's labor, what's media, and what you actually get each month.
How much does SEO cost per month?
The most complete public data comes from Ahrefs' survey of 439 SEO providers (last updated in 2024):
| Pricing model | Most common rate | Also worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | $501 to $1,000 (20.4% of providers) | Average $2,917; 42.8% charge $501 to $2,000 |
| Hourly | $75 to $100 (24% of providers) | Freelancers average $71.59, agencies $98.90 |
| Per project | $2,501 to $5,000 (21.2% of providers) | Typical for audits and site migrations |
Rates are self-reported, so treat them as reference points, not list prices. Ahrefs also found that providers in Central America, South America, and India charge the least, which is part of why nearshore teams can stretch an SEO budget further.
How much does SEO cost for a small business?
For a local or single-location business, the most common band ($501 to $1,000) is the right place to start comparing quotes for ongoing work: technical fixes, a few pieces of content a month, Google Business Profile upkeep, and reporting. You pay more when you compete in expensive markets (legal, home services, healthcare), when you run several locations, or when the site needs a rebuild before SEO can work.
A one-time audit is not the same thing. An audit tells you what's broken; a monthly retainer fixes it, publishes, and measures.
What should be included in monthly SEO services?
| Area | What it covers | Question to ask your agency |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | Speed, indexing, redirects, structured data | Who fixes the code when the site is the problem? |
| Content | Pages and articles that answer what your buyers search | How many pieces a month, and who approves them? |
| Local SEO | Google Business Profile, reviews, consistent listings | Who responds to reviews? |
| Authority | Mentions and links from relevant sites | Where do the links come from? |
| AI visibility | Answers ChatGPT and Google AI can cite | How do you check whether assistants mention us? |
| Reporting | Leads and revenue, not just rankings | What changed this month, and why? |
If your agency can't touch the code, technical SEO stays half done. For a Central Texas home builder, we moved the site off WordPress to a static build with a 301 redirect for every URL, and mobile performance went from 35 to 99 in PageSpeed Insights. See the case.
How much does Google Ads cost?
You're paying for two different things:
- Ad spend: what you pay Google for clicks. There's no minimum. You set an average daily budget; Google may spend up to twice that on a high-traffic day, but over a month it won't charge more than 30.4 times your daily budget.
- Management: what you pay for strategy, ads, landing pages, and optimization. It can be a flat monthly fee or a percentage of ad spend; ask what it covers and how it's calculated.
Always ask for the two numbers separately, and make sure the ad account is in your company's name.
How much should I spend on Google Ads?
Start from the outcome, not the budget:
Monthly ad spend = leads you want per month × cost per lead
Cost per lead = cost per click ÷ your landing page conversion rate
An example with round numbers, just to show the logic:
| Input | Example value | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | $2 | Google Keyword Planner |
| Conversion rate | 5% (5 of every 100 visitors contact you) | Your landing page, tracked from day one |
| Cost per lead | $40 | $2 ÷ 5% |
| Leads you want per month | 20 | Your sales goal |
| Monthly ad spend | $800, or about $26 a day | 20 × $40 |
The example numbers aren't an average: your cost per click comes from your keywords and your conversion rate comes from your page. That's why the landing page matters as much as the bid: double the conversion rate and each lead costs half as much.
How do I check what a keyword costs before launching?
Use Google's Keyword Planner. It's free inside a Google Ads account once billing is set up. Set the location to where you actually sell (Austin, or a radius around it), enter your keywords, and look at the top-of-page bid range. That's the best local estimate you'll get before spending a dollar.
What is a good CTR for Google Ads?
There's no universal good CTR: it varies by industry, keyword, and ad position. And a high CTR on leads that never buy just burns budget faster.
The metric that matters is cost per qualified lead. For a bilingual insurance agency in Central Texas, we captured each ad click ID on the form and reported it back to Google as a conversion only once the lead was qualified. That way Google optimizes toward real customers, not empty form fills. See the case.
How do I run effective campaigns on a small budget?
- Pick a short list of high-intent keywords ("pricing", "quote", "near me") instead of broad terms.
- Limit the location to where you actually serve.
- Send each ad to a landing page for that service, with one call to action. Your homepage rarely converts as well.
- Track conversions from day one. Without that, you're guessing.
- Review the actual search terms every week and exclude the ones that don't sell.
Red flags when you hire for SEO or Google Ads
- A guaranteed number one ranking. Google is clear that no one can guarantee it.
- The Google Ads or Search Console account isn't in your name.
- Reports only show rankings and impressions, never leads.
- The quote blends ad spend and fees into one number.
- Nobody can explain what was done this month.
One honest caveat: an example like this shows the logic, not what your campaign will return. We don't publish our clients' campaign numbers, so the only real benchmark for your business is your own first 60 to 90 days of tracked data.
Want to know what each customer really costs you?
We're engineers and marketers on the same team: we fix the site, build the campaigns, and connect every lead to your sales pipeline. Our Sidekick model starts at $1,000 a month and covers marketing, development, and infrastructure on a single invoice. To compare against other agencies, read how much a digital marketing agency costs, and if you also want to show up in AI assistants, see how to get recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI. Explore our digital strategy.
Sources
- Ahrefs, SEO pricing survey (439 providers): https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-pricing/
- Google Ads Help, average daily budget: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2375423
- Google Ads Help, Keyword Planner: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7337243
- Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/do-i-need-seo