- SEO is paid for by working time: as an hourly or daily rate, as a monthly retainer or as a fixed price for a project such as an audit.
- At UnitedAds, SEO management costs from €999 per month. An SEO strategy costs €2,000, an SEO audit €3,500, each as a one-time fee.
- According to StepStone, an SEO manager earns a median gross salary of €41,800 per year. With an in-house team, there are additional costs for copy, graphics, technology and tools.
- According to Google, nobody can guarantee the number 1 spot on Google. We agree with you on which inquiries and revenue we are measured by.
What SEO costs depends on who does the work and how much of it is needed. Agencies, freelancers and in-house teams bill differently.
In this article, we show the common billing models, our own prices and the costs of an in-house team. At the end are the questions you can use to compare offers.
You pay for SEO by the hour, monthly or per project
There are three common billing models for SEO. They differ in what you pay for.
| Model | What you pay for | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly or daily rate | the time worked | individual tasks, consulting, follow-up work |
| Monthly retainer | a fixed scope of services per month | ongoing work on technology, content and links |
| Fixed price per project | a defined result | Audit, strategy, individual pages |
In the first version of this article in 2022, we estimated agency hourly rates at €120 to €160. For freelancers, we gave €50 to €150.
The effort depends mainly on the size of your website and the competition. In every model, you pay for the same work: checking the technology and fixing errors, researching search terms, writing content and earning links.
How much work goes into a single new page is shown by our content process:
- We check which pages on the topic already exist on your website.
- We define the search intent the page is written for.
- Your team receives a briefing with structure, questions and search terms, or we write the text.
- We prepare the title and description for the search results and the internal links.
- After launch, we measure the page's visitors and inquiries. If it declines, we revise it.
Our SEO management starts at €999 per month
Our SEO prices are on our pricing page. We bill ongoing management monthly, strategy and audit as one-time fees.
| Service | Scope | Price |
|---|---|---|
| SEO management | Analysis, keywords, on-page, local SEO | €999 per month |
| Ongoing SEO management | Monitoring, review of visibility in AI answers, regular meeting | €2,500 per month |
| SEO for large websites and shops | complex websites and online shops with dedicated project management | from €5,000 per month |
| SEO strategy | Analysis of technology, content and AI visibility, keywords, competition | €2,000 one-time |
| SEO strategy with action plan | comprehensive strategy with an action plan | €3,500 one-time |
| SEO audit | Review of company websites | €3,500 one-time |
All prices net plus VAT. There is no minimum term.
In the SEO package for €999 per month, we fix technical errors and revise your content. We maintain your Google Business Profile, earn links and discuss the next steps with you once a month.
A one-time SEO consultation costs €3,500 with us. BAFA subsidizes such consultations at 50% in the western German states and 80% in the eastern German states, i.e. by up to €2,800.
BAFA only accepts applications until December 31, 2026. Requirements and process are described in our article SEO with BAFA funding.
For an SEO audit, we charge a one-time €3,500
An audit checks the condition of your website. The SEO strategy then determines which measures, in which order, make the biggest contribution to inquiries and revenue.
At Prismm, the visibility of a landing page collapsed after a text change. We analyzed the cause and rewrote the texts.
In the first 8 weeks after the relaunch, the page's impressions in the unpaid search results rose by 450%.
For every audit offer, ask whether a person reviews the results and ranks them by impact. Only this order tells you where to start.
According to StepStone, an SEO manager earns a median of €41,800 gross
An in-house team works only for your company and keeps the knowledge in-house. In return, you pay salaries even in months with little SEO work.
According to StepStone, an SEO manager in Germany earns a median gross salary of €41,800 per year. The range is €35,200 to €50,100 (retrieved on October 15, 2026).
On top of that come the employer's payroll costs. SEO also needs copy, graphics and development, for which an in-house team needs additional positions or service providers. Licenses for SEO tools come on top.
For comparison: our SEO management costs from €999 per month, i.e. €11,988 per year. It does not replace a full-time position.
In our view, an in-house team only pays off when there is enough work for permanent positions. The two can also be combined.
In SEO consulting, your team implements the measures while we provide analysis, priorities and guidance. Workshops on your website give your team the necessary knowledge.
According to Google, nobody can guarantee the number 1 spot on Google
A performance-based fee by rankings sounds fair: you only pay if your pages rise. But rankings are assigned by Google.
In its guide to choosing an SEO provider, Google writes that nobody can guarantee the number 1 spot. If a provider promises the number 1 spot, Google recommends looking for another one.
Whether a page rises also depends on competitors and on changes at Google. Which share is due to the SEO work can hardly be cleanly separated.
That's why we agree with you on which inquiries and revenue we are measured by. You pay for the work at fixed prices.
Violations of Google's spam policies cost your website rankings
Some practices violate Google's spam policies. Google lists, among others:
- hidden text and links that visitors don't see,
- keyword stuffing, i.e. search terms in unnatural frequency,
- bought links intended to influence rankings,
- mass-produced pages with no value for readers, including those generated with AI.
According to Google, such pages rank worse or no longer appear in the results at all. In addition to automated systems, Google employees also check websites for violations.
You remain responsible: according to Google, website owners are responsible for the actions of the service providers they hire. Cleaning up takes time, and until then you lack visitors from search.
Seven questions for every SEO provider before you hire them
Google recommends asking an SEO provider these questions before hiring them:
- Can you show examples of previous work and successes?
- Do you follow the Google Search Essentials?
- What results do you expect, in what time frame, and how do you measure success?
- What experience do you have in our industry, in our region and, if necessary, with international websites?
- How long have you been in business?
- How will you keep us informed, and will you explain every change?
- Are you interested in our business, our competitors and our customers?
Our results are in our case studies. UnitedAds has been around since 2006.
At ChargeOne, more than three times as many clicks come from search
Whether SEO pays off for you is shown by comparing the costs with the inquiries from unpaid search.
For ChargeOne, we built a topic area with expert articles and improved the technology. In addition, there were links from websites in the real estate and automotive industries.
Clicks from unpaid search more than tripled, from 482 to 604 per month in summer 2024 to over 2,000 in 28 days in spring 2026.
SEO takes time. First improvements are usually visible after three to six months, significant results after six to twelve months.
How fast it goes depends on the competition and the condition of your website. So plan the first months without the full effect.
A sample calculation with assumed figures: if an order brings you an average contribution margin of €500, two additional orders per month cover management for €999. Do the math with your own numbers.
Conclusion: before hiring, ask what you get for the price
SEO costs working time, whether you pay an agency, a freelancer or an in-house team. So compare offers based on scope of services, time frame and measurement of success.
Our prices are on the pricing page, and our way of working is on the SEO page. We describe how Google Ads agencies bill in our article on Google Ads agency pricing.
