What you’re actually paying for
SEO is mostly skilled time. A monthly fee buys some mix of:
- Google Business Profile work: categories, services, photos, updates and reviews, which drive the map results.
- Technical fixes: speed, indexing, structured data and anything that stops Google reading your site properly.
- On-page work: page titles, headings and content that match what people actually search for.
- Content: new pages and articles that answer real customer questions.
- Local listings and links: consistent details across directories, plus mentions from local press, partners and organisations.
- Reporting: rankings, traffic and, most importantly, enquiries.
The price moves with how competitive your searches are, how many areas you want to rank in, and how much content and link-building is included. A locksmith who wants to rank in Ilford needs far less than a solicitor who wants to rank across London.
Typical UK SEO prices in 2026
| What you’re buying | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Local SEO for one location | £300 to £1,500 a month |
| A growing business, several areas or a whole region | £1,500 to £3,000 a month |
| An online shop | £2,000 to £8,000 a month |
| A one-off SEO audit | £500 to £5,000 |
| A one-off local SEO setup | £250 to £800 |
| A freelancer, by the hour | £30 to £150 an hour |
| An agency, by the hour | £70 to £300+ an hour; senior London specialists £250 to £400+ |
Ranges from Whitehat SEO, Whito and Visionary Marketing’s 2026 UK pricing guides. London agencies typically charge 30 to 50% more than those elsewhere (Whitehat SEO).
Why London costs more, and when it doesn’t need to
London agencies carry London overheads: rent, salaries, layers of account management. That’s where much of the premium comes from. But the competition you face depends on the searches you want to win, not on your agency’s postcode. A plumber targeting Romford and Ilford isn’t competing with a Mayfair law firm, and doesn’t need a budget built for one.
What each budget usually buys
- Around £300 to £700 a month: the foundations for one location. A fully optimised Business Profile, consistent directory listings, on-page fixes to your key pages, review monitoring and a monthly report. Done properly, that’s the right starting point for many local trades and shops.
- Around £700 to £1,500: all of that, plus regular content, a review routine, more keywords and areas, and competitor tracking.
- £1,500 and up: link-building and digital PR, several areas or services, deeper technical work and content at scale. This is where competitive London markets start.
Budget SEO has a bad name, sometimes deservedly: at the cheap end, some providers automate everything and promise the earth. What separates a good small package from a bad one is scope and honesty: a narrow, clearly defined job done properly, rather than vague promises of rankings.
Retainer, one-off or do it yourself?
- Do it yourself if you have the time and a simple local market. Start with your Business Profile and reviews: they matter most for the map results.
- A one-off audit and setup if you want an expert plan and the foundations fixed, then carry on yourself.
- A monthly retainer if you want steady progress without doing the work. SEO is slow: most local businesses see meaningful movement in three to six months, which is why most providers ask for a six to twelve-month minimum.
Where paid ads fit
SEO and Google Ads do different jobs. Ads put you at the top today and stop the moment you stop paying; SEO takes months but keeps working. Many local businesses use ads to fill the gap while SEO builds.
If you do, keep two things apart: the ad budget, which goes to Google or Meta (ideally paid from your own card, in an account in your name), and the management fee, which pays someone to run the ads. Management is usually a flat monthly fee or a percentage of what you spend; one London agency, for example, charges £850 a month or 10% of spend, whichever is greater. And make sure enquiry tracking works before a single pound is spent.
Red flags
- Guaranteed rankings. Google itself says no one can guarantee a number-one spot.
- Cheap link packages. “500 backlinks for £99” buys links Google ignores at best and penalises at worst.
- Pricing by the number of keywords, or reports that only ever show rankings, never enquiries.
- Accounts in the agency’s name. Your Business Profile, Google Analytics, Search Console and any ad accounts should belong to you.
- Long lock-ins with no way out, and vague deliverables such as “ongoing optimisation”.
What we charge
We publish our prices. Our local SEO packages start at £395 a month (Starter), with Professional at £695 and Premium at £1,195 a month. Each has a one-off audit and setup fee of the same amount and a six-month minimum term, so Starter comes to £2,765 over six months. Commit to twelve months and the monthly price drops by 20%. There’s no VAT on top.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What exactly will you do each month, and what won’t you do?
- How will you measure enquiries, not just rankings?
- Can I see results for a business like mine, and speak to that client?
- Who will actually do the work?
- Will every account be in my name?
- What’s the minimum term, and how do I leave?
- Is the ad budget included, or separate?