How much does SEO cost for a small business?
Published 19 October 2026
SEO for a small business typically costs from about £300 to £1,000 a month from a freelancer or small agency, and £1,500 or more a month from a larger agency. Doing it yourself with a plugin costs little cash but a lot of time. Every figure below is a UK supplier's own price guide, so treat it as a range, not a rule.
The numbers come from UK SEO providers' published guides (listed at the end). They are sellers' figures, not an official survey. Prices in the US and Europe are quoted in other currencies and are not covered by these sources, so check local quotes. WdBasic charges the same number in pounds, euros or dollars, before tax.
Monthly cost of SEO help, in pounds
Logarithmic scale: each gridline is ten times the last.
What are the typical SEO prices?
| Route | Typical cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself with an SEO plugin | Basic versions of the main plugins are free, plus your time | Fields for titles and descriptions. You decide what to write. |
| Freelancer, small business package | About £300 to £1,000 a month | A focused package, often local. Limited hours, so a narrow scope. |
| Freelancer, wider range | £300 to £2,500 a month, or £40 to £100 an hour | More hours, usually including content and technical work. |
| Agency retainer | £1,500 to £20,000 or more a month, or £70 to £300 an hour | A team, reporting and strategy. Sensible for bigger sites. |
| Software that sends approved changes (WdBasic) | £0 to £79 a month, plus VAT | Changes written for your site that you approve one by one. No strategy hours. |
One of these guides warns that below about £500 a month you should expect largely automated work rather than strategy. That is a seller's view, but it is a fair prompt to ask exactly what you would receive.
Is SEO worth it for a small business?
It can be, if people search for what you sell and your site is easy for Google to read. Nobody can promise a position or a number of visitors, and results usually take months. A fair test is whether the basics are done: clear page titles, descriptions, a working sitemap and pages that answer real questions. Those basics are cheap to fix and expensive to ignore.
What should be included in an SEO quote?
Ask for these in writing before you pay anything:
- What will be done each month, in plain terms, not a list of buzzwords.
- Who does the work, and whether you can speak to them.
- What you approve. Nothing should change on your site without your say-so.
- How links are earned. Avoid anyone who buys links in bulk.
- How you will see progress, for example through your own Google Search Console.
- Who owns the work and what happens if you leave.
- The notice period. Be wary of 12-month lock-ins.
Should I choose a freelancer, an agency or do it myself?
Pick the cheapest route that covers what your site actually needs.
- Do it yourself if you have a few hours a month and enjoy learning. An SEO plugin gives you the fields to fill in.
- Choose a freelancer if you want a person to own the work, especially for local searches.
- Choose an agency for a large site, several locations or paid ads alongside SEO.
- Use a tool that proposes changes if your site is small, you are short of time and you want to stay in control.
How much does SEO cost per month for a local business?
For a local business with a small site, most of the quoted ranges start around £300 a month. The work that matters first is usually modest: page titles, descriptions, your Google Business Profile and a few useful pages. Ask any supplier which of those they will do in month one.
Where WdBasic fits
WdBasic is not an agency and does not replace strategy. If you have a WordPress site, we connect to it, audit it for free, and propose specific changes (page titles, descriptions, FAQs and technical fixes) that you approve before anything is published. Free covers the audit and three improvements a month. Paid plans are Monitor at £7, Assistant at £24 and Growth at £79 a month, plus VAT, with no contract. We cannot promise any position on Google. See how it works on our WordPress SEO service page or compare plans and prices.
For the wider costs of running a site, read our guide to website costs in the UK.
Sources
UK price guides, checked in October 2026. They change often, so check the current page.