Why is SEO so Expensive? The Cost & Value of Ranking

Having a strong online presence is crucial for most businesses to succeed. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). However, many business owners shy away from investing in SEO because they perceive it as too expensive. But is SEO truly as costly as it seems, or is this merely a myth?

To better understand the costs associated with SEO, let’s delve into a case study that showcases the remarkable returns it can deliver. Zapier, an automation platform, is a prime example of how a strategic SEO long-term SEO strategy can pay off handsomely. Despite initially facing a low monthly search volume for their primary keyword, “automation software,” Zapier built a formidable content strategy that now drives over 1.6 million organic visits to their blog each month.

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Before venturing into SEO, Zapier realized that their primary keyword, ‘automation software’ had a 200 monthly search volume. Instead of giving up, they built a powerful content moat that delivers millions of dollars worth of traffic to their site by ranking for related and non-related keywords. 

Recently, I stumbled on a post on LinkedIn from Gaetano Nino DiNardi, a professional Growth analyst, disintegrating the costs of outranking Zapier for one of their primary keywords, ‘employee onboarding software.’ 

The total cost to rank for that keyword is $30,000! 

What are the benefits?

Based on the same case study, it may take a year or more to outrank Zapier for this keyword (depending on your domain authority). 

Zapier earns $31000 worth of organic traffic from that keyword every month. That is equivalent to $371000 worth of traffic YoY (year-over-year). That’s over 91% return on investment (ROI) from one keyword! 

Zapier’s success story exemplifies that while SEO requires an upfront investment, the long-term rewards can be exponential. By gaining insights into the factors driving SEO costs and making informed decisions, businesses can maximize this marketing channel’s potential and reap substantial returns on their investment in the form of higher conversion rates and improved search rankings.

In the following sections, we’ll explore the various factors that impact the cost of SEO, provide insights into budget considerations like hourly rates and monthly retainer options, and offer guidance on whether to opt for an in-house SEO specialist or an agency is the better fit for your needs. By the end, you’ll understand why SEO may initially seem pricey but ultimately proves a worthy investment for companies striving to dominate their online space.

Factors Affecting The Cost of SEO 

The cost of SEO is influenced by various factors that shape the effectiveness of your SEO strategy. Understanding these factors helps budget and optimize your investment for the best results. Without further ado, let’s explore these factors…

1. Level of Expertise

Typically, the more experienced the SEO agency/consultant, the higher the costs. 

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Reputable agencies with a proven track record of successful long-term SEO strategies charge higher fees for their services. They usually hire skilled talents to increase their success rate. Also, if the agency offers full-service SEO, i.e., content marketing, web design, technical SEO, etc., you’ll pay more. 

On the flip side, agencies with less than five years of experience charge less for their services (as seen in the chart). This is not indicative of a lack of skill or expertise, as the agencies in this category may be trying to attract clients while building their portfolio.  

However, ensure you check the agency’s portfolio, client testimonials, and industry experience before investing. 

Read more: How to choose the right SEO agency for your business. 

2. Costs of tools

SEO tools are essential for an effective SEO specialist to analyze search rankings, monitor organic search traffic, optimize content creation and more, and the best of them aren’t cheap. Ahrefs costs $99/mo for the smallest plan, but you have to pay more to access advanced features. This is probably not the only tool you’ll need in your tech stack. Other premium website optimization software like Screaming Frog, SpyFu, Yoast SEO, etc., also compounds the costs. 

See this example from Josh Spilker, digital marketer for Terra: 

Now, let’s calculate the cost of each per month: 

• Ahrefs – $99
• Keywords Everywhere – $1.25
• SERPWoo – $49.95 
• Screaming Frog – ~$22
• Google Analytics/Search Console – Free
• Clearscope – $199 
• Total – $371/month (excluding the costs of Content King and SEO Minion)

If you’re handling your SEO, I believe the costs of these tools are quite affordable. However, if you intend to hire an SEO expert to handle your campaigns, evaluate your budget to allocate resources effectively. 

Tip: If the costs of these tools (coupled with hiring an SEO professional) are beyond your budget, partnering with an SEO agency will be your best bet. This way, you won’t have to worry about paying subscription fees for these tools. Reputable SEO or digital marketing agencies already have access to these tools, with an in-depth understanding of how to wield them to your advantage. 

Read more: 20 questions to ask an SEO agency before you hire them.

3. The complexities of the SEO project or business goals

Another thing you need to consider is the scope of your SEO project. How broad is it? Do you want to optimize your website or create content for SEO? The complexity of your SEO project and business goals can impact the cost of SEO services. 

Typically, SEO costs are lower if your goals are minimal, for instance, creating a Google Business Profile and optimizing for local SEO. Enterprise sites or start-ups looking to establish industry dominance will cost more. 

Another thing to consider is the type of SEO you want. SEO comprises three distinct types – technical SEO, on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and local SEO. It’ll cost less to hire a professional for any of these services compared to the full-service SEO. Let me explain. 

Assuming you own a review site and are not getting traffic as you used to. After research, you discovered your site is experiencing technical issues. Hiring a technical SEO expert to remedy this issue will cost less compared to hiring a full-service SEO professional/agency. 

This is why you need to have clearly defined goals before investing in SEO to allocate resources more effectively. 

4. Level of competition in your industry

If you are in a highly competitive industry where many brands are competing to rank on SERPs, the effort required to achieve top search engine rankings can increase SEO costs.

For instance, imagine trying to rank for ‘finance software.’ The keyword difficulty is 64%, and you have to compete with authoritative sites like Hubspot, Zapier, Zoho, etc. 

That said, the more competitive the keyword is, the harder it is to rank for it.  

On the other hand, in industries with lower competition, the SEO costs may be lesser, as less effort is required to stand out. So, assess your industry’s competitiveness to gauge the potential investment you need for an effective SEO campaign.

5. Keyword Difficulty

Ranking for short-tail keywords doesn’t happen overnight. 

Your content has to be incredibly informative and backed by numerous quality backlinks to your site. Also, you need a high domain authority to outperform other authoritative sites on the search results.   

For instance, if you run a real estate company and want to rank for highly competitive keywords that many businesses are targeting, such as “real estate” or “Property for sale,” it will require more time, effort, and resources, resulting in higher costs. On the flip side, long-tail keywords like “Property for sale in Nevada” are less competitive with lower difficulty.  

6. Size of your company

The size of your company has a huge impact on the cost of SEO services. Larger companies with extensive website pages, numerous products or services, and a broad target audience often require more comprehensive SEO strategies. 

For instance, if you’re a small business owner with a simple website that caters to a local audience, your SEO needs and costs will be comparatively lower. In contrast, if you manage an enterprise site, you’ll need to invest more in SEO to boost your site visibility and meet the competition. 

7. Current rankings/state of your SEO performance

Your site’s current search rankings significantly influence the cost of SEO services. If your website already ranks high in search engine results, the costs may be lower as refining and maintaining those rankings requires less effort. Conversely, if your site has poor rankings or lacks optimization, the cost will be higher due to the increased work needed to enhance visibility and performance.

Additionally, the state of your website’s technical SEO, content quality, and backlink profile impacts SEO service costs. Existing robust technical SEO, high-quality content, and a strong backlink profile reduce costs. However, addressing deficiencies in these areas can increase the investment needed for effective SEO services.

Read more: What does SEO cost in 2024?

How much should SEO really cost? 

There’s no one-fixed price for SEO. 

As I mentioned earlier, the size of your business and goals can influence your SEO budget. For instance, if you want to establish local dominance or rank for local keywords, it will cost less compared to ranking for a competitive keyword such as ‘best SaaS SEO tools.’ 

Basically, in SEO, you get what you pay for. If you invest in publishing more in-depth content and optimizing your site for a better user experience, then you’ll get better results in terms of rankings and traffic and vice versa. If you’re spending less, expect slower results. 

Here’s some tip from Maya Garnaat, Content, and SEO manager:

“… you can start with something modest and introductory, for instance, $1000 or $1500 a month. You could also go up into the thousands, tens of thousands, or one-time projects if you’re in a saturated industry where there is a lot of competition. Also, consider the value of one conversion to your business.”

In addition, you also need to consider the competition. If you’re trying to outrank a competitor spending thousands of dollars every month on SEO, you’ll need a similar budget (or more) to compete successfully. 

Maya reaffirms it:

“…you have to be able to play at the other businesses level if you want to really dominate. Often when you look for budget-friendly SEO services, it’s more expensive in the long run. It’s like paying for repairs over and over again for a faulty machine when you can replace it or pay more to see ROI.” 

So, how much should you pay for SEO? 

Keep in mind that there are hundreds of SEO agencies and freelancers with different service offerings and prices. But every time you find a too-affordable or budget-friendly SEO, be wary of what you’re saving money on. This is because you could be saving money on expertise, the time they spend on your project, etc.  

According to research, agencies and consultants charge more than freelancers (obviously because of their access to tools and industry-vetted experts)

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… and experienced SEOs charge higher:

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Read the full case study here.

Are there any benefits of using an SEO service?

Yes! There are several perks you enjoy partnering with an SEO service provider. The three most important: 

1. Improved conversions: 

SEO isn’t just about increasing traffic or getting ranked in the top spot. It’s more about attracting the right audience that’ll sign up for your services or buy your product. Effective SEO is conversion-focused, and working with an SEO service provider helps you tailor your efforts to customers with conversion intent.  

2. Long-term return on investment: 

While paid advertisement (PPC) delivers immediate results, it could take a while (months or years) to get results from your SEO efforts and see improvements in search rankings and organic traffic. Once your website ranks on top of the search results for a competitive keyword in your industry, you’ll continue to get a stream of traffic to your site even after you’ve discontinued your partnership with the SEO provider. 

3. Boost credibility and authoritativeness

Sites ranking on the first page of the search results are perceived to be more authoritative and credible. SEO agencies/professionals can help to develop a targeted strategy to boost your visibility and credibility on search engines. They also know the required steps to take to build a quality backlink profile, which is one of Google’s top three ranking factors.  

4. Access to expertise 

SEO is an ever-evolving field. If it’s not your strength, you’ll find it challenging to keep up with the constant updates and trends. An SEO agency or service provider always has access to experienced professionals who stay updated on industry trends, algorithm updates, and best practices. 

Which way to go: SEO agency or In-house professional?

Neither is more advantageous than the other. 

If you’re hiring an in-house professional, you’ll have control over your SEO campaigns. Also, you’ll have someone fully invested in your business, as agencies may have multiple clients to deal with. 

In terms of costs, hiring an SEO agency is more cost-effective compared to hiring in-house. Plus, you get access to several digital marketing specialists at the cost of one. You don’t have to worry about employee onboarding, training, or software subscription fees because they’re all included in the payment plan. 

Anna Crowe, a content marketing professional, shares her experience as SEO director in an enterprise company: 

“…The caveat – ‘bring SEO in-house,’ meant I was the only person to execute SEO. At this company, that meant partnering with UX to design the website and working with web dev. on our page speed, all while executing on-page and link building, not to mention writing content. I took on this challenge to make a business use case with a budget for SEO that allocated funds toward scaling my internal SEO team and hiring an SEO agency.   

When looking at the side-by-side comparison, it may seem like building an in-house SEO team is cheaper, but an agency can execute faster. 60% of my time is spent getting leadership and cross-department buy-in to SEO as an in-house SEO professional. With an SEO agency, SEO work is still getting done.”

Conclusion

Is SEO expensive? I don’t think so. If you work with the right agency/professional, you’ll get recurring returns on your investment. Also, keep in mind that there’s no cheap SEO. Any professional offering a too-good-to-be-true rate for page one ranking is most likely after your money. The right agency/service provider will thoroughly educate you on what you need to do to get conversions. If you need an SEO professional to help your decision-making process, contact one of our team immediately. Schedule a cost-free interview to know how much it’ll cost to scale your SEO efforts.