How Much Does SEO Cost in the UK? (2026 Prices)

What UK SEO providers publish

Source	Local or small business	Freelancer vs agency	Audits and hourly
Whitehat SEO (Apr 2026)	Local or start-up £500 to £1,200 a month	Freelancer £300 to £2,500 a month, agency £1,500 to £20,000+	Audit £500 to £7,500. Freelancer £40 to £100 an hour, agency £70 to £300
Nautilus Marketing (Aug 2025)	Small business £300 to £1,000 a month, local business £300 to £1,500	Freelancer £300 to £2,000 a month, agency £1,500 to £10,000+	£50 to £150 an hour. Projects £500 to £5,000
Rubik Digital (Oct 2026)	One location £500 to £2,000 a month. Local trades £800 to £2,500	Not split this way	Audit £1,000 to £5,000. Consultants £30 to £300 an hour

All three are SEO agencies publishing their own price guides, so read them as what the market charges rather than independent research. They broadly agree on the shape: a few hundred pounds a month buys basic local work, and competitive or national campaigns cost several thousand.

What you get at each level

Doing it yourself. Your time, plus any tools you choose to pay for. Covers your Google Business Profile, reviews, consistent business details and writing a page for each service.
A few hundred pounds a month. Usually a freelancer or small agency doing local groundwork: Google Business Profile management, directory listings, on-page fixes and a short monthly report.
Around £1,000 to £2,000 a month. Typically adds regular content, technical work and link building for a business competing across a town or region.
Several thousand a month. National or highly competitive markets, ecommerce, and sectors like law and finance.

Whatever the level, ask what will be done each month, by whom, and how you will know it is working. Google's own advice says no one can guarantee a number one ranking, so treat any promise of one as a reason to walk away.

Free SEO for a small business

Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Categories, services, hours, photos and a link to your site. Keep the hours right.
Ask every happy customer for a review, and reply to the ones you get.
Keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere they appear: your site, Google, directories and social profiles.
Give each main service its own page, written in plain English, saying what it is, who it is for, where you do it and roughly what it costs.
Make sure the site is fast and works on a phone, because people searching nearby are often on one.

For many local businesses, getting those right does more than months of a cheap SEO retainer.

What our packages include for SEO

Our Grow and Scale packages include local SEO foundations as part of the build and the monthly fee:

Service pages that can rank on their own, and page titles and structure set up for local search.
Structured data, so search engines can read your business details, services and reviews.
Directory listings and review setup.
A rankings check: quarterly on Grow, monthly on Scale, with what to do next.
On Scale, one new or refreshed page a month, and a Google Business Profile for each location.

That is not an SEO campaign. There is no link building, no outreach and no ongoing programme of keyword research and content beyond what the tier lists. For a local business, the foundations are often what was missing. If you are competing nationally or in a crowded market, you may need an SEO specialist on top, and we will say so.

Our tier	What it is	Setup	Monthly	First year
Launch	A five-page site plus the Google groundwork, so local customers can find you.	£449	£39	£917
Grow	10+ pages and the local SEO foundations, for a business that wants to rank, not just exist.	£949	£59	£1,657
Scale	20+ pages for a business with a team or more than one site, so every service and location can be found.	£1,950	£129	£3,498

See everything included, or read what a website costs for the build side.

Questions to ask an SEO agency

What exactly happens each month? Tasks, not "ongoing optimisation".
Who does the work? The person you met, a junior, or an outsourced team.
How long is the contract, and what is the notice period?
What do you report on? Enquiries and calls matter more than rankings for terms nobody searches.
Who owns the content and accounts if you leave?

More on choosing suppliers in how to choose a web designer.

Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources: Whitehat SEO: SEO packages and pricing UK; Nautilus Marketing: SEO costs UK; Rubik Digital: how much does SEO cost in the UK; Google Search Central: do you need an SEO?. Platforms change prices and run offers, so check before you buy. Some prices exclude VAT.

Questions people ask

How much does SEO cost per month in the UK?

Published UK guides put small local business SEO at about £300 to £2,000 a month, with competitive and national campaigns costing several thousand. The figures come from SEO agencies' own guides, so check exactly what is included.

How much does local SEO cost?

Whitehat SEO publishes £500 to £1,200 a month for local or start-up SEO, Nautilus Marketing £300 to £1,500 for a local business, and Rubik Digital £500 to £2,000 for one location.

Is SEO included in your website packages?

The local SEO foundations are, on Grow and Scale: service pages, structured data, directory listings, review setup and a rankings check. An ongoing SEO campaign with link building and content is not.

Can anyone guarantee first place on Google?

No. Google's own guidance says no one can guarantee a number one ranking, and warns against SEOs who claim to.

Can I do SEO myself?

A lot of local SEO, yes: your Google Business Profile, reviews, consistent business details and a page per service. Those are often the parts that matter most for a local business.

Keep reading

What a website costsEvery route from free builder to agency, with real published UK prices.Small business websitesWhat a small business website needs to do, and what it costs to have one built and looked after.Website maintenanceWhat looking after a website involves, what it should cost, and what is not maintenance.

How much does SEO cost in the UK?