Costs
How much does SEO cost?
Short answer
SEO costs depend on four things: the size and technical state of your website, the competition for your search terms, how much new content is needed and whether the work is one-off or ongoing. Agencies and specialists charge by the hour, per project or with a monthly fee. An honest proposal states exactly what work is included and does not promise rankings.
Pricing models
Hourly suits one-off jobs, such as a technical audit. A project suits a defined improvement, such as a new page structure. A monthly fee suits ongoing work: content, technical fixes and reporting. With any model, ask what is actually delivered.
What pushes the price up
A large site with many templates, technical debt from earlier migrations, a market where strong players have ranked for years, and many new pages to be written.
What to check in a proposal
Does it state which search queries will be targeted and why? Which pages will be created or improved? How is reporting done, and is it about enquiries or only rankings? Who owns the accounts and content if you stop?
Red flags
Guaranteed first-page rankings, 'hundreds of backlinks' for a fixed fee, or reports with rankings only and no traffic or enquiries.
How FOR3 charges
At FOR3, SEO is part of a project with a fixed scope and price agreed upfront, or ongoing within a plan. On Start you pay €0 fixed and a fee per validated enquiry; Growth is €1,995 per month excl. VAT. Which fits depends on your number of enquiries. We do not promise rankings.
Frequently asked questions
Is an SEO freelancer cheaper than an agency?
Per hour, often yes. A freelancer usually covers one area; an agency combines technical work, content and measurement. Compare what you actually get each month.
How long should I invest in SEO?
Expect months rather than weeks before new pages are found consistently. Agree on interim measurement points so you can judge whether it works.
Can I start with a small budget?
Yes: with Search Console, a technical check and one good page per key service.
More questions about costs
- How much does a website cost per year?After launch, a website's yearly costs consist of six items: the domain name, hosting, licences (such as plugins or a CMS subscription), maintenance and updates, security and backups, and further development.
- How much does Google Ads cost?With Google Ads you set your own budget.
- What is SEO?SEO stands for search engine optimisation.
- How do I rank higher on Google?You rank higher on Google by creating a page per service that answers the search query better than the pages currently at the top, by getting the technical basics right and by being visibly trustworthy, with a complete Google Business Profile and links from relevant websites.
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