Blog · SEO and AI search
SEO prices vary a lot. Here is what drives the cost, what is typical in the UK and how to judge a quote. By Kellie Lee Stewart, Founder.
SEO for a UK small business typically starts at a few hundred pounds a month for light local work and rises with competition and scope. The price depends on site size, keyword competition, technical work and content. Our local SEO and AI search service starts from £595 a month ex VAT.
SEO is one of the hardest services to put a single price on. The cost depends on the size of your website, how competitive your market is and how much work is needed. That is why many agencies quote individually. Even so, you can understand what drives a quote and judge whether a proposal is sensible.
In the UK, small business SEO is often offered as a monthly retainer, and prices commonly run from a few hundred pounds a month for light local work up to well over a thousand for national or competitive campaigns. One-off audits and fixes tend to be priced as separate projects. These are general market ranges, not quotes, and the right figure for you depends on the factors above.
Be cautious of very cheap packages that promise page one rankings, and of vague quotes that do not say what you are getting.
Our local SEO and AI search service starts from £595 a month ex VAT (A$1,100 or €650 in other regions). That covers ongoing work on your visibility in local search, Google Maps and AI search answers, with a person reviewing your account and reporting back in plain language. If you only want to know where you stand first, our paid audit starts from £149 ex VAT.
Usually, yes. Local SEO targets a smaller audience and less competitive searches, such as a service plus a town name. A business with a premises or defined service area can often see good results from local SEO without a national budget. National campaigns compete against much larger sites and need more content, links and time.
SEO is a longer-term investment. Most businesses see movement over months rather than days or weeks, because search engines need time to crawl, understand and trust changes to your site. If you need leads this month, Google Ads usually works faster, and many businesses run both, using ads for speed and SEO for steady growth.
Many small businesses start with an audit or a small project to see how an agency works before committing to a longer retainer. That is a sensible approach.
A good agency will ask about your site, your competitors and your goals before proposing anything. They should tell you what is included, how often a person reviews your account and how you will see progress. Avoid generic packages offered without any questions.
If you would like a clear view of where you stand, get in touch or start with an audit.
Be wary of guaranteed rankings, long lock-in contracts with no reporting and quotes that cannot explain what you get each month. Good SEO is steady, transparent work.
Keep a simple record of enquiries before and after you start, so you can judge the value of the spend for yourself.
FAQ
It varies with scope and competition. Light local work often starts at a few hundred pounds a month, and national campaigns cost more. Ours starts from £595 a month ex VAT.
Website size, keyword competition, technical issues and how much content and reporting is included.
Usually, because it targets a smaller audience and less competitive searches such as a service plus a town.
Most businesses see movement over months rather than days. It works best as a sustained investment.
A fixed fee suits a defined project like an audit. A retainer suits ongoing optimisation, content and reporting.
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