SEO
How much does SEO cost? Prices, pricing models and what you get for your money
SEO costs as much as it takes to overtake your competitors on Google. That sounds evasive, but it is the core of it: a trade business in Hanau needs less effort than an online shop competing against big brands across Germany. Here you will find our real prices, the usual pricing models and a checklist you can use to compare quotes.
What SEO costs with us
Ongoing SEO support costs from €1,500 per month with us. The first step is free.
| Service | What it includes | Our price |
|---|---|---|
| Initial analysis | Where your website stands and which three levers will bring the most | free |
| Ongoing SEO support | Technology, content, internal linking, link building, reporting | from €1,500 per month |
| Google Business Profile | Upkeep and optimisation of your profile for Google Maps and local search | from €500 per month |
| Local SEO | Google Business Profile, company details in directories, reviews, location pages | from €1,500 per month |
| AI SEO (GEO) | Visibility in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews | part of ongoing SEO support |
| In-depth SEO audit | Complete analysis with an action plan | from €990 one-off |
| Technical SEO as a standalone project | Loading speed, indexing, structure, redirects | from €1,500 one-off |
| SEO consulting | Strategy and priorities for your own team | €200 per hour |
Anything else that becomes necessary, such as a larger rebuild of the website, we discuss with you beforehand. There are no items that only show up on the invoice.
Which pricing models there are
Most SEO providers bill according to one of four models. Each has advantages and disadvantages.
Monthly retainer
You pay a fixed amount per month, and the agency works continuously on your visibility. This is the most common model, because SEO is not a one-off project: content, links and technology build on one another over months. Make sure the quote states what happens each month, not just how much it costs.
Project price
For clearly defined tasks there is a fixed price, for example for an SEO audit, the technical optimisation of a website or support during a relaunch. Good for getting started or for companies that carry on by themselves afterwards. With us, the in-depth audit costs from €990, and technical SEO as a standalone project from €1,500.
Hourly rate
Consulting is often billed by the hour. That fits if you have your own team that does the implementation and you mainly need strategy and priorities.
Payment by results
Some providers bill per ranking achieved. That sounds fair, but it sets the wrong incentives: rankings for search terms without purchase intent are easy to achieve and bring you no enquiries. A page in position 3 for a search without purchase intent brings less than position 6 for a search after which customers send you an enquiry. That is why we measure success by enquiries, not by positions.
What SEO costs depend on
The cost of SEO depends above all on the competition. After that come the condition of your website and the amount of new content.
- Competition: Local searches such as “Küchenstudio Hanau” (kitchen studio Hanau) are usually easier to win than nationwide searches. In big cities like Frankfurt, competition is often higher than in smaller towns.
- Condition of the website: A fast, technically clean website makes progress with less effort than one where loading speed, indexing and structure have to be fixed first.
- Content: Every service that should be found needs its own good page. If you have ten services but only one service page, you have a lot of catching up to do.
- Locations: Every location needs its own business profile and its own page with real content.
- Links: Good backlinks come from customers, partners, industry portals and local media. That takes time, but it is sustainable.
- AI search: If you also want to be mentioned in ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews, you need content that answers questions clearly and in a quotable way. With us, this is part of the ongoing support.
What the monthly support includes
Ongoing SEO support covers the complete search engine optimisation of your website: technology, content, internal linking, link building and reporting. It starts with a plan with clear priorities. After that, we implement the most important measures every month.
Once a month you get a report that fits on one page and answers three questions: What did we do, what did it bring, what comes next? You see clicks and impressions from Search Console, the positions of your target keywords, the enquiries that came via Google and the measures for the next month. This is described in detail on the ongoing SEO support page.
Why cheap SEO can become expensive
A cheap SEO offer becomes expensive if it harms your website or only delivers numbers that bring no enquiries. Three warning signs:
- Ranking guarantees: Google itself states that no one can guarantee position 1, and advises you to be wary of providers who make such promises (Google Search Central).
- Bought links: Links in exchange for money to influence rankings violate Google’s spam policies. You carry the risk, not the agency. The guide to backlinks explains how good link building works.
- Reports without enquiries: If the reporting only shows a visibility index and positions, but never how many enquiries came via Google, you do not know whether the money is worth it.
Before you start, also ask: Who implements the measures, and how do you see what has been done? Is there an analysis of your competitors or only general promises?
DIY SEO, consulting or ongoing support?
Which option fits depends on how much time and knowledge you can contribute yourself.
| Do it yourself | SEO consulting | Ongoing SEO support | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | your time | €200 per hour | from €1,500 per month |
| Who implements | you | your team | us |
| Fits if | you have time and want to learn | you have your own team | you want to focus on your business |
If you want to start yourself, the basics in the SEO glossary are a good place to begin. For strategy and priorities without implementation, there is SEO consulting.
Does SEO pay off?
SEO pays off if the additional jobs bring in more than the support costs. A worked example: suppose one job brings you €1,000 after deducting your costs. Then two additional jobs a month cover support costing €1,500.
Plan for time. The first visible improvements usually appear after 3 to 6 months, reliable results after 6 to 12 months. The guide How long does SEO take explains why. After that, SEO keeps working without click costs, unlike ads, which stop as soon as the budget runs out. You can find the comparison in the guide Google Ads or SEO.
Dogcare24 shows what this looks like on larger projects: according to Search Console, clicks from Google rose from 8,627 in April 2025 to 29,528 in March 2026. By now, almost 50 leads a day come from organic search (as of October 2026), more than twice as many as in December 2025. For local businesses the numbers are on a different scale, but the principle is the same. Shafiq Khan, Owner of MAINe Küche in Hanau: “The most impressive thing was how quickly my new site landed among the top Google search results.”
How to get a fixed quote
You get a fixed SEO quote from us in two steps:
- Free initial analysis: We check your website and your most important search queries. You see where you stand and which three levers will bring the most.
- Quote: You get a fixed monthly price with clear goals and measures.