“How much does it cost to outsource SEO?” has no fixed market price. You are not buying a position in Google, you are buying work: an analysis, technical fixes, copy, a business profile that someone keeps up to date. What that costs depends on how much of the work you hand over. And as a small business, part of it you can do yourself for free before you pay anyone.
This article shows what you pay for, what to check yourself first, how long it takes before you notice anything and how to spot an unreliable provider. Wherever we quote Google or the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK), the source is linked.
What you pay for
SEO work is sold in three ways. Prices vary widely between providers, so always compare what a quote contains, not just the total.
- A one-off analysis or audit. Someone reviews your site and delivers a list of problems and improvements. You carry them out yourself or have that done separately.
- A project. A defined job, such as a technical clean-up, a set of new service pages or a move to a new site without losing your positions.
- A monthly retainer. Ongoing work: technical maintenance, new content, keeping the business profile up to date and a monthly report. This is a widely used form, because SEO is never finished.
To make it concrete, these are our own prices. Our smallest monthly package, Essential, costs €1,750 per month and includes technical SEO maintenance, management of your Google Business Profile, two optimised articles per month, keyword position tracking, competitor monitoring, a monthly report and a strategy call every quarter. Growth (€4,450 per month) and Scale (€5,950 per month) add more content, ad management and more channels. Ad spend is never included: you pay that directly to Google or Meta. Everything that is included is listed on the page about our digital marketing.
If you first only want to know where your site stands, a single analysis is enough. Our free SEO check scans one page per day without an account. The full report with every finding, your loading speed and a 90-day plan costs a one-off €19.99.
What you can do yourself for free first
Google says so itself in its explanation of hiring an SEO: “If you run a small local business, you can probably do much of the work yourself.” (Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?). The KVK website says the same: getting started with SEO yourself is often perfectly doable (KVK, in Dutch).
These five things cost nothing but an afternoon:
- Set up Google Search Console. It is a free service from Google (Google). You see which searches your site already appears for, in which position, and which pages Google has not indexed.
- Complete your Google Business Profile. That is free as well (Google). For a local business, this profile decides whether you appear in the map results.
- Check the title and description of your main pages. Do they say what you do and where? How to write them is in title and meta description.
- Give every service its own page. A page that lists five services can say very little about each of them. A page per service gives visitors and Google a clear answer.
- Scan your homepage with a free SEO check. You see a total score and a score per area, so you know where to start. The individual findings are in the paid report.
Which choices pay off most for a small business is covered in SEO for small businesses.
When outsourcing does pay off
Doing it yourself usually stalls on one of three things. Time: SEO is work that comes back every month, and it is the first thing to slip when it gets busy. Technology: problems with indexing, speed or a move to a new site need someone who knows what they are touching. And competition: in a trade or region where other businesses have invested for years, the occasional article will not get you alongside them.
If you recognise one of those three, outsourcing makes sense. If you do not, start yourself and check Search Console in a few months to see whether anything is moving.
How long before you notice anything
Not within a week. Google writes in its SEO Starter Guide that some changes take effect within a few hours and others only after several months, and that you will usually want to wait a few weeks before assessing whether your work had an effect (Google SEO Starter Guide). The KVK page on SEO states that results within a few weeks are only possible in very specific cases, and that it more often takes months or longer.
We ourselves expect noticeable movement after about three months and results that build up from six months. If someone guarantees you first place, Google’s advice is: find someone else.
Red flags in an SEO provider
Google and the KVK warn about the same patterns.
- A guaranteed position. “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google,” Google writes. The KVK page states that guaranteed results are often achieved with techniques that are not allowed.
- An unsolicited email. Google advises caution with agencies that email you “out of the blue”.
- Secrecy. A provider who cannot clearly explain what they intend to do is, according to Google, a reason to be careful.
- Link packages. Buying or selling links to influence rankings is listed explicitly in Google’s spam policies (Google spam policies). A package of “a hundred backlinks for a fixed price” can harm your site more than it helps.
- A remarkably low price. Cheap often turns out expensive, and SEO is no exception, says the KVK page.
And remember who is responsible. Google writes: “Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any companies you hire.” If an agency gets it wrong, your site bears the consequences.
Questions to ask before you sign
Google provides its own list of questions for a conversation with an SEO. In short:
- Can you show examples of previous work?
- Do you follow the Google Search Essentials?
- What results do you expect, and in what timeframe?
- How do you measure success?
- What experience do you have in my industry, and in my country or region?
- How long have you been in business?
- How will we communicate, and will you share every change to my site with the reasoning behind it?
Also ask about the contract: how long does it run, what is the notice period, and who owns the copy and the accounts if you stop? Our packages run month to month with one month’s notice, and everything we write remains yours.
Let a provider only look during a first analysis. Google advises granting read access to Search Console at that stage, not write access.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SEO cost per month?
There is no fixed price. It depends on how much work is included: only technical maintenance, or also new copy every month, the business profile and ads. Our monthly packages start at €1,750. Ask every provider exactly which tasks are included per month, so you can compare them fairly.
Can I do SEO entirely myself?
For a small, local business often yes, says Google. Search Console and Google Business Profile are free, and the basics (good titles, a page per service, a complete profile) mainly take time. Outsourcing makes sense when you do not have that time, when there are technical problems or when your competitors have been investing for years.
Is an SEO package with guaranteed positions trustworthy?
No. Google writes that no one can guarantee a first position and advises finding someone else if a provider does.
How soon will I see results?
According to Google, some changes take effect within a few hours and others only after months. Count in months, not weeks, and judge a provider on what Search Console shows after three to six months.
Where to start
Set up Search Console, complete your Business Profile and scan your most important page for free. Then you know where you stand before you pay anyone. If you then want to know what we would do and what it would cost, get in touch for a no-obligation half-hour call.
