Free tool · UK prices · October 2026
SEO cost calculator
Tell it what kind of business you run, drag a few sliders, and it shows what UK freelancers and agencies typically charge for that work. Every figure comes from published UK price lists and surveys, all listed at the bottom. I’ve kept my own prices out of it.
The calculator
Start from your business, or from your budget
What comes out is a typical UK range, not a quote. Use it to sense-check a proposal before you sign anything, or to work out what a budget you’ve already set will realistically pay for.
The interactive calculator needs JavaScript switched on. Every range it uses is in the tables further down this page, with sources.
What kind of business?
Few rivals, or rivals who aren’t doing much SEO. The published bands as they stand.
Where is the site now?
Who would do the work?
Ticks: £447 is the median entry-level package and £799 the median package across published UK prices (Whito). £2,182 is the global average from Ahrefs’ survey of 439 providers, converted from dollars.
01
Freelancer, small agency or larger agency
The dashed band is the scope your answers point to. Each bar is that type of provider’s typical UK monthly range; the dark part is where it overlaps your scope.
Provider ranges: Whito (freelancers £300–£2,500, small agencies £1,000–£3,000, mid-size £3,000–£7,000, large £7,000–£20,000+), matching Whitehat SEO on freelancers. Scope bands: Whito, Fly High Media.
02
One-off costs before the monthly work
Most providers want to look under the bonnet before the retainer starts. These are the extras that typically apply to a site in your position.
03
Against hiring someone in-house
An employee costs more than their salary. These bars add employer National Insurance (15% on pay above £5,000) and the 3% minimum workplace pension to the median advertised UK salary.
Salaries: IT Jobs Watch, median advertised pay in the six months to 20 October 2026. National Insurance: GOV.UK. Pension: MoneyHelper. The totals are my arithmetic and leave out recruitment, software, training and holiday cover.
04
The same money on Google Ads
Ads buy visits straight away, and the visits stop the day the budget does. Pick the sector closest to yours.
100–300 clicks
05
How long before it shows
06
Questions to ask at this price
Red flags to check for
“If an SEO makes any promises with regards to ranking or traffic from Search, that’s usually a red flag.”
Google’s John Mueller, reported by Search Engine Journal, July 2025
01
What that budget usually buys
Growth
What under £300 a month tends to buy
- Whito lists ongoing SEO under £300 a month as a red flag.
- Whitehat SEO is wary of anything under £500 that claims to go beyond basic local work.
- MR-Marketing describes the £99–£150 local packages as largely tool-driven.
- Fly High Media says the lowest tier tends to mean generic, templated reports and automated content.
02
A typical month at this budget
An illustration of where the hours tend to go at this level, drawn from Whito’s description of each price band. The proportions are mine, not measured.
03
If it all went on one thing
Another way to see a month’s budget: what it would buy if you spent all of it on a single item.
04
How long before it shows
Local businesses tend to see meaningful results in 3–6 months; competitive or national work takes 6–12. Early signals can show inside the first three months. Sources: Whito, Whitehat SEO, MR-Marketing.
05
Questions to ask at this price
Red flags to check for
“If an SEO makes any promises with regards to ranking or traffic from Search, that’s usually a red flag.”
Google’s John Mueller, reported by Search Engine Journal, July 2025
The data
The ranges behind the calculator
Everything the calculator uses, in one place. Where sources disagree, both are shown. Prices are monthly and before VAT unless marked otherwise.
| What | Typical UK range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Junior freelancer | £300–£800 | Whito |
| Experienced freelancer | £800–£2,500 | Whito |
| Freelancers overall | £300–£2,500 | Whitehat SEO |
| SEO consultant (strategy) | £500–£2,000 | Whito |
| Small agency | £1,000–£3,000 | Whito |
| Mid-size agency | £3,000–£7,000 | Whito |
| Large or enterprise agency | £7,000–£20,000+ | Whito |
| Agencies overall | £1,500–£20,000+ | Whitehat SEO |
| Global average: freelancers / agencies | ~£1,009 / ~£2,401 | Ahrefs (converted) |
| What | Typical UK range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Local service business | £300–£800 | Whito |
| Local or regional business | £500–£1,500 | Whito |
| Small or local business | £500–£3,000 | Polaris (its FAQ says £500–£2,000) |
| SME growth | £1,500–£5,000 | Whito |
| SMEs and e-commerce | £1,500–£4,000 | Fly High Media |
| E-commerce | £2,000–£8,000 | Whito |
| Mid-market B2B (30–50 hours) | £2,500–£5,000 | Whitehat SEO |
| Multi-location or mid-market | £3,500–£10,000 | Whito |
| National | around £6,000 | Fly High Media |
| Enterprise or national | £10,000–£25,000+ | Whito |
| What | Typical UK range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer, per hour | £40–£100 | Whitehat SEO |
| Freelancer, per hour (junior to experienced) | £30–£150 | Whito |
| Agency consultant, per hour | £70–£300+ | Whitehat SEO |
| Consultant, per hour | £100–£250 | Whito |
| Hourly, where offered | £80–£250 | Polaris |
| Day rate: junior / mid / senior | £200–£400 / £400–£700 / £700–£1,200+ | Whitehat SEO |
| Advertised contract day rate (median) | £419 | IT Jobs Watch |
| Global hourly average: freelancers / agencies / consultancies | ~£54 / ~£74 / ~£128 | Ahrefs (converted) |
| What | Typical UK range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SEO audit | £500–£3,000 (up to £7,500) | Whito, Whitehat SEO |
| Keyword research | £300–£1,500 | Whito |
| Local SEO setup (profile, citations, reviews) | £250–£800 | Whito |
| Advertised local setups | £149–£279 | MR-Marketing |
| Site migration | £1,000–£5,000 (up to £15,000) | Whito, Whitehat SEO |
| Large-site technical clean-up | +£5,000–£15,000 | Whitehat SEO |
| Penalty recovery | £2,000–£10,000 | Whito |
| Content strategy | £1,000–£3,000 | Whito |
| 1,000-word article | £80–£300 | Whitehat SEO |
| Link placement, by site authority | £60–£380 | Whito |
| What | Typical UK range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SEO Executive salary (median) | £36,000 | IT Jobs Watch |
| SEO Manager salary (median) | £49,500 | IT Jobs Watch |
| Employer National Insurance | 15% above £5,000 | GOV.UK |
| Minimum employer pension | 3% of qualifying earnings | MoneyHelper |
| Executive, all-in (my arithmetic) | about £41,500 a year | Salary + NI + pension |
| What | Typical UK range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Most UK small businesses | £1.50–£2.50 | Whito |
| All-industry average | £3.50–£3.65 | Whitehat SEO |
| Home services / home improvement | £1.50–£5.50 / £5.50–£7.85 | Whito, Whitehat SEO |
| Legal | £4.50–£15+ / £6.00–£9.00+ | Whito, Whitehat SEO |
| Finance | £3.00–£10.00 / £5.00–£6.50 | Whito, Whitehat SEO |
| Health and dental | £1.50–£5.00 / £4.00–£5.50 | Whito, Whitehat SEO |
| Average cost per lead: all / legal | about £52 / £98 (converted from US$70.11 / $131.63) | Whitehat SEO |
Method
How these numbers work
Nobody has published an independent survey of UK SEO prices that I could find. Most of the data comes from providers’ own price lists and blogs, plus one aggregator (Whito, which collected 45 published prices from 16 UK providers in June 2026) and one global survey (Ahrefs, 439 providers). So treat every figure here as indicative: a fair picture of the market, not a guarantee of what anyone will quote you.
- Your answers pick a band from the published UK tables. If they land between two bands, say a business with five branches, the calculator blends the two. Those in-between figures are my interpolation rather than a number anyone published.
- The competition slider adds nothing at “Quiet” and scales up to the 30–50% premium Whitehat SEO reports for competitive sectors such as legal, finance, health and e-commerce.
- One-off costs show the full published range. Where two sources differ, the wider one is mentioned alongside.
- Ahrefs reports in US dollars. I converted at 1.3367 dollars to the pound, the HMRC rate for August 2026.
- Hours per month divide the budget by published hourly rates: £40–£100 for freelancers and £70–£300 for agency consultants (Whitehat SEO).
- Google Ads clicks divide the money by published cost-per-click ranges. Whito notes that no primary UK-wide survey of click costs exists, so these are third-party estimates too.
- The month breakdowns in budget mode are illustrations based on Whito’s descriptions of each price band. The percentages are mine.
- Figures are usually quoted before VAT. London and the South East tend to cost 15–50% more, depending on the source.
Last updated October 2026. Nothing on this page uses SMB SEO’s own prices.
FAQ
SEO pricing questions
How much does SEO cost per month in the UK?
Across 45 published prices from 16 UK providers, the median was £799 a month (Whito, June 2026). Budget packages run from £99 to £300, mainstream work sits at £350–£1,000 and established agencies charge £1,500–£5,000 or more. Ahrefs’ global survey of 439 providers puts the average higher, at about £2,182, because it includes much bigger contracts.
Is an SEO freelancer cheaper than an agency?
Usually. UK freelancers charge £300–£2,500 a month depending on experience, small agencies £1,000–£3,000 and mid-size agencies £3,000–£7,000 (Whito). Ahrefs found freelancers average about £54 an hour worldwide, against £74 for agencies and £128 for consultancies. The label matters less than who does the work and how many hours you actually get.
What do SEO consultants charge per hour or per day?
Whitehat SEO puts UK freelancers at £40–£100 an hour and agency consultants at £70–£300 or more. Day rates run from £200–£400 for juniors up to £700–£1,200 for senior people. Advertised SEO contracts had a median of £419 a day in the six months to October 2026 (IT Jobs Watch).
How long does SEO take to work?
Local businesses tend to see meaningful results in 3–6 months, while competitive or national campaigns take 6–12 (Whito, Whitehat SEO). Early signals can appear in the first three months. Ahrefs found only 6.11% of new pages reached Google’s top 10 within a year. Separately, Fly High Media asks for a six-month minimum.
Is cheap SEO worth it?
At £300–£800 a month, Whito describes the work as a Google Business Profile, citations, basic on-page fixes and a ranking report, with no content or links. Below that there’s even less room. Whito flags ongoing SEO under £300 a month as a warning sign, Whitehat SEO is wary of anything under £500 that claims to go beyond basic local work, and MR-Marketing describes the £99–£150 packages as largely tool-driven.
Is it cheaper to hire an SEO in-house?
Rarely, for a small business. The median advertised salary is £36,000 for an SEO Executive and £49,500 for an SEO Manager (IT Jobs Watch, October 2026). Add 15% employer National Insurance on pay above £5,000 and the 3% minimum pension, and an executive costs about £41,500 a year, or roughly £3,460 a month, before recruitment, software and holiday cover.
Sources
Where the figures come from
Checked October 2026. Dates are the publication or update date shown on each page.
- Whito. UK SEO costs: provider, scope and project ranges. Page dated 20 Oct 2026; price study collected June 2026. whito.co.uk
- Whito. UK SEO pricing data: 45 published prices from 16 providers. Verified 12 Oct 2026; collected June 2026. whito.co.uk
- Whito. UK PPC costs by industry. Q1 2026 data. whito.co.uk
- Whito. Link building costs in the UK. Re-checked 10 Sep 2026. whito.co.uk
- Whitehat SEO. SEO costs in the UK (agency blog). 13 Apr 2026. whitehat-seo.co.uk
- Whitehat SEO. Google Ads PPC pricing, citing WordStream 2025. 16 Mar 2026. whitehat-seo.co.uk
- Fly High Media. How much does SEO cost in the UK? (agency blog). Updated 27 Feb 2026. flyhighmedia.co.uk
- Polaris. SEO pricing guide (agency blog). 1 Jan 2026. polarisagency.com
- MR-Marketing. Local SEO packages. 8 Oct 2025. mr-marketing.co.uk
- Ahrefs. SEO pricing survey of 439 providers (global, US dollars). Updated 15 Aug 2024. ahrefs.com
- Ahrefs (Patrick Stox). How long does it take to rank in Google?. 15 May 2025. ahrefs.com
- IT Jobs Watch. SEO Executive salaries, UK (advertised permanent roles). Six months to 20 Oct 2026. itjobswatch.co.uk
- IT Jobs Watch. SEO Manager salaries, UK (advertised permanent roles). Six months to 20 Oct 2026. itjobswatch.co.uk
- IT Jobs Watch. SEO contract day rates, UK (advertised). Six months to 20 Oct 2026. itjobswatch.co.uk
- GOV.UK. Employer National Insurance changes from 6 April 2025. 2025. gov.uk
- MoneyHelper. Auto-enrolment: how much you and your employer pay. Undated page. moneyhelper.org.uk
- Search Engine Journal (Roger Montti). Google’s advice on hiring an SEO. 11 Jul 2025. searchenginejournal.com
Want a straight answer for your own site?
Ranges only go so far. Send me your site and I’ll tell you what I think it needs and roughly what that should cost, whoever you end up hiring.
Curious what I charge myself? It’s on what I charge and why.