How much does SEO cost in Australia? Research suggests that SEO pricing in Australia can be as little as $99 per month to as much as $5,000 or even $10,000 for some SEO packages. It’s difficult to put an exact figure on SEO services, as agencies and professionals advertise wildly different fees. This is why it’s so important for marketing managers and business owners to understand precisely what they are getting and paying for.
It’s natural to become frustrated with SEO agencies and with the services they offer. So many business owners, marketing managers and other professionals have had bad experiences with search engine optimisation in the past, perhaps being burnt by dodgy operators, flawed SEO strategies, and false promises.
Other professionals might simply feel lost — unsure who to trust or have no idea which SEO company can truly provide what they promise. If either of these scenarios sounds familiar, you’re not alone. For Australian businesses, running SEO campaigns can be a complex, confusing and costly process.
In this article, we’re going to be looking at how much it really costs to do SEO the right way. We’ll be looking at the critical areas of technical SEO, content strategy, and link building. There is no such thing as a good cheap SEO agency. Quality SEO costs money, but you still need to know what you are paying for.
Why does SEO cost so much in Australia?
“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a cheap price.”
This adage is true in lots of different fields, and search engine optimisation is no exception. This is because SEO projects are so complex, bringing together lots of different aspects, all of which need to work together as a unified whole.
A successful SEO campaign involves a range of different factors, including:
- Competitor analysis
- Audience and keyword research
- SEO auditing and recommendations
- Technical SEO
- On-page optimisation and internal linking
- Content ideation, creation, publication and promotion
- Local SEO
- Copywriting
- Link building
- Reputation management
- Project management and reporting
For more information on hiring the best SEO specialists, see How to Choose an SEO Agency.
Why do SEO prices vary so much?
One aspect of SEO pricing that is sometimes forgotten is company background — basically, the type of company that is calling upon SEO services.
Start-ups
A start-up will typically need SEO services from the ground up. These businesses may need to complete comprehensive keyword research and competitor analysis to form the basis of their strategy.
Small businesses
Small business owners may already have some idea of what their SEO campaign will look like. They probably will not be starting from scratch with their campaign and will already have a platform to build from. The business’ product range, roster of services, and team of personnel are likely to be small, allowing for more streamlined campaigns at a relatively low cost.
Medium-sized businesses
Most medium-sized businesses already have a foundation for an SEO strategy to build upon. This strategy may need to be refreshed, with new keyword research and other initiatives, but some of the costs may be reduced. However, the business is likely to be more complex than a start-up operation or smaller company, and so this may increase the overall cost of the project.
Franchises
A franchise does not exist in isolation — it is part of a much broader network. This gives a franchise more resources to draw upon as they plan their SEO efforts, reducing the cost of the project. Individual franchise SEO goals will need to be aligned with the goals of the wider network.
Corporations and enterprises
Corporation and enterprise-level businesses are likely to have existing SEO strategies that can be updated and refreshed, potentially reducing some of the costs as the project does not need to begin from scratch. The flip side of this, however, is that corporations are highly complex organisations, and the SEO provider may find it difficult to manage the multiple aspects of the project. This, in turn, could increase the cost of SEO success.
Charities and NGOs
While these technically fall under the other categories depending on the size and mission of the organisation, the unique challenges of the charitable sector is worth mentioning. SEO for these organisations must be built along the framework of their specific industry regulations. For example, content marketing and SEO for NDIS providers would be subject to certain rules and regulations around what providers can say or claim, plus specific language conventions and technical SEO requirements for inclusive content.
What is technical SEO and why do I need it?
Most SEO agencies — at least those that are focused on high-quality SEO results — will provide technical services.
Technical SEO is any process that improves the operation and performance of the website, with a view to boosting the search engine visibility. For example, a technical SEO professional will target improvements in:
- The loading speed of the website
- The crawlability of the website — i.e. how easily it can be indexed by Google
- The website’s sitemap, ensuring that there are no orphan pages or broken links
- The performance and functionality of key features on the webpage
- The overall user experience as they browse
This is critical to your SEO results for a number of reasons, chiefly because Google uses technical aspects of performance as key ranking factors.
Understanding Core Web Vitals in relation to SEO
Google’s Core Web Vitals score has an effect on your page’s SEO performance. There are three layers to the way Google scores your site load speed:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
The time taken to render the largest image or block during page loading.
First Input Delay (FID)
The delay between the user input and the page’s response.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
Measuring the stability of the web page in response to user actions.
It’s critical that your chosen SEO agency has a solid understanding of these technical aspects of on-site optimisation. This can also push hourly SEO rates up.
What is the difference between copywriting and content writing?
Copywriting and content writing are often used interchangeably, but this is not quite right. Your SEO team will need to differentiate between the two disciplines.
Copywriting
Copywriting is generally designed to persuade and encourage. Your advertising materials may include copywriting, and calls to action (CTAs) on your page will also feature this kind of messaging.
Content writing
Content writing is more about informing the reader, engaging them, or entertaining them. SEO companies need to be able to craft genuinely valuable content for your business — pieces that will meet your reader’s needs while also impressing Google’s algorithms.
What is a content strategy and why do I need one?
Content strategies are essentially inbound marketing strategies. When your content is indexed on Google and features highly on the results pages of search engines, customers can find this content at any time and end up on your website.
This means you achieve organic traffic for years to come. Not only this, but you achieve qualified website traffic, as your visitors have already searched for the topic your content covers and have expressed an interest in this. Factoring a content strategy into your SEO budget can result in significant returns on investment in years to come.
Why do I need to invest in creating content?
We’ve touched on how valuable content creation is, but where does this value come from exactly? SEO agencies need to provide a professional service that delivers value at all stages of the purchase funnel, and content is a key part of this.
For more information on quality content, see Why Adding Value is Key to Writing Helpful Content.
Top of the funnel
This is where you can generate interest in your products and ignite the spark of interest among your audience.
Example blog post title: 10 Reasons Why a Roof Restoration Will Save You Money this Winter — Generating interest and identifying with a key customer pain point.
Middle of the funnel
Audience members are already interested but need to learn more about the product before they make a purchase. The right content in your SEO package will help move them in the right direction.
Example blog post title: How to Plan Your Roof Restoration Project: Our Complete Guide — Now that the lead is interested in roof refurbishment, you can begin to explore how to plan the project.
Bottom of the funnel
At the bottom of the funnel, your content is focused on closing the deal — pushing your prospects over the finish line and into conversion.
Example blog post title: Typical Roof Restoration Costs in Perth — This post is targeting customers actively comparing competitors in the market and is part of their final considerations before conversion.
What is content promotion and why do I need it?
Remember the different factors that lead to SEO success. Yes, your content needs the right keywords and citations, but it also needs backlinks and interest from audience members. Letting your keywords do all the work is bad SEO. Instead, you need to give your content a helping hand as it achieves prominence.
Social media marketing plays an important role here. By generating engagement on social media channels, through Facebook Ads for example, you are building user engagement.
Paid advertising strategies — such as Google Ads — will also be useful. This kind of pay-per-click advertising adds extra costs to your strategy, but it can be a vital component as you energise your audience at different stages of the buyer’s journey, from awareness and consideration through to the purchase decision and even brand advocacy.
Why does content cost so much?
Why is creating content so expensive? Well, it doesn’t have to be. Cheap SEO companies can knock-up a blog post or content strategy for you, but this kind of “affordable” SEO can fall short when it comes to the results.
This is because content strategy is about far more than “knocking up a blog post”. It encompasses the following aspects:
- The content ideation phase
- Researching the content
- Pitching the content
- Writing the content brief
- Writing the content itself
- Editing it
- Optimising it for the search engines
- Publishing the content and properly formatting it
- Promoting the content on social media and elsewhere
- Building links to the content through a targeted outreach campaign
Basically, SEO specialists have a lot of work to do as they prepare, optimise and post your content. This results in a higher cost.
What is link building and why do I need it?
Link building means encouraging connections between other websites and your own. This is critical, as good-quality links are the lifeblood of Google’s algorithm. These links show Google that other websites are linking to your content, proving its value.
But link building must be organic, but it is hard, and expensive. Your SEO agency should focus on producing great content that other publishers will link to. This in isolation is not enough. You have to actively promote your content through targeted outreach. This is a time consuming process and one of the main reasons link building costs so much.
The more high quality, industry relevant backlinks you have, the more ‘trustworthy’ your website is. These links are seen as votes of confidence in your site, and increased search visibility (rankings) will follow.
Why can’t I just use Fiverr or pay an offshore company to do my SEO?
You can. There is nothing to stop you from heading to Fiverr or another freelancing platform and finding ultra-cheap SEO professionals who can get the job done on a shoestring budget.
However, as we have seen, SEO costs money because there are so many different factors involved, so cheap SEO services are likely to be substandard.
They might even get you into trouble. Cheap SEO and digital marketing services may use black hat SEO techniques.
This means unethically or even illegally manipulating Google’s search engine rankings. An SEO company like this needs to be avoided.
How much does it cost to rank at the top of Google Search?
When business owners ask this question, they tend to mean: “how much does it cost for a quality SEO agency to send me to the top of Google search?”
This is a difficult question to answer.
SEO professionals can charge a wide range of different prices and cannot guarantee that their services will land you at number one on Google’s SERPs. However, genuinely good SEO can certainly raise your position on Google, generating the organic traffic and qualified leads you need to thrive.
Achieving the number one spot means you garner 34% of the clicks from any given search, twice as much as number two, and more than numbers five through twenty combined. The result ranked at number ten achieves 143% of the clicks achieved by number eleven.
Basically, a high ranking on Google matters, so it is worth investing in good SEO services delivered by professionals you can trust.
We’ve been providing search engine optimization services in Perth for 20 years. If you want to learn more about SEO pricing or how we can help deliver a better ROI on your organic website traffic, book a free 30 minute phone consultation or email us today.
