What does SEO cost?
There is no fixed price for SEO, because every website starts from a different position. We have no minimum packages for SEO either. We agree the scope for each project. The cost can still be worked out as hours multiplied by the hourly rate. The notice period is usually three months to the end of a month, and a shorter one can be agreed for a trial phase.
For SEO, however, a trial phase of less than three months says little. SEO is a marathon, and in our experience new content and technical improvements usually take several months to have an effect. If you need quick results, search engine advertising (SEA) is the better choice. Our article on Google Ads costs shows what it costs.
| Area | Hourly rate at Rheinwunder | Typical tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | €150 | Crawling, indexing, loading speed, structured data, redirects |
| Content | €120 | Keyword analysis, topic planning, copywriting, maintaining existing content |
Prices exclude VAT. For comparison, three agencies from Germany and Austria publish figures. Evergreen Media quotes €150 to €300 per hour for agencies, Columbus Interactive €100 to €200 and Netgrade €90 to €200. As these figures come from individual agencies, they are only a rough guide.
To assess a quote, divide the price by the agency’s hourly rate. That tells you how many hours the quote should cover.
SEO is often seen as a “free” channel, because visits from organic search incur no click costs. To compare SEO with paid channels, spread the agency costs over the results. Divide the monthly costs by the enquiries from organic search to get the cost per lead (CPL), or by the orders to get the cost per order (CPO), also known as cost per sale. An example with assumed figures: €900 in agency costs per month and 30 enquiries give a CPL of €30. You can set this figure directly alongside the CPA of your Google Ads campaigns. As SEO takes time to work, it is best to calculate over several months.
What determines the effort
The hourly rate says little as long as the scope is open. These points have the greatest influence:
- Size of the website: A shop with many categories needs different checks from a website with 30 pages.
- Technical condition: Problems with indexing, redirects or loading speed often have to be fixed first.
- Competition: Contested search terms need more content and more time than a niche.
- Content: Existing copy can be revised, while missing content has to be created.
- Implementation: It makes a difference whether we work in the system ourselves or your team implements the recommendations.
- Markets and languages: Each additional country increases the effort for content and technology.
Billing models compared
| Model | Suitable for | What to look out for |
|---|---|---|
| One-off project | Audit, concept or relaunch support | Clear scope and clear result, after which the work ends |
| Monthly support | Ongoing optimisation and content | Hours, tasks and reports should be agreed |
| Consulting by effort | Teams that implement themselves | Billing by actual hours, implementation stays with you |
| Performance-based | Rarely sensible | Rankings also depend on Google and on competitors, and metrics can be interpreted in different ways |
An SEO analysis is often a good way to start. It shows which work your website actually needs and makes quotes comparable.
Three typical situations
Where the hours go differs considerably from website to website:
- Local service provider: Few pages, but location pages, a Google Business Profile and reviews. The effort is mostly in content and local signals.
- Online shop: Many categories and products. The effort is in technology, filter pages, structured data and category copy.
- B2B company before a relaunch: The effort is in redirects, protecting existing rankings and content for long decision-making processes.
How to spot a weak offer
- Ranking guarantee: Nobody can promise a specific position, and neither can we.
- Packages without analysis: The effort cannot be judged reliably without looking at your website.
- Unclear services: It should be clear what happens each month and who does it.
- Link packages: Bought links violate Google’s spam policies and can harm your website.
- No reports: You should be able to see what has been done and how visibility and enquiries are developing.
