How Much Does SEO Cost in Australia?Real Prices, No Sales Call
Most Australian small businesses pay between $500 and $3,000 a month for SEO. Offshore packages start under $100, and big city agencies run past $10,000. Below is the whole market, what drives the price, when you should not pay at all, and exactly what we charge.
- The whole market, with ranges
- What drives the price
- When not to pay for SEO
- Our own prices, published
Why the Price Is So Hard to Find
Search this question and you get page after page saying "it depends", followed by a form to book a call. On the call, the price lands close to whatever budget you mentioned.
Prices do vary. They also follow patterns anyone can learn in five minutes. So this page gives you the whole market first, then a way to test any quote, and only then our own prices.
One idea will save you the most money: compare the price per piece of work, not the monthly fee. You will see why below.
"It depends", and then the price lands near your budget.
What SEO Costs in Australia
There are five ways an Australian business buys SEO. These are the monthly ranges we see, on one scale.
Australian dollars a month. The scale is compressed, so each step to the right is a much bigger jump in price.
What Each One Buys, and the Honest Verdict
| Who | Typical cost | Honest verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Offshore packages | $99 to $400 a month | Automated reports, directory listings and thin pages. Cheap because very little is done, and cleaning up bad links later can cost more than the subscription did. |
| Freelancers | $75 to $150 an hour, or $500 to $1,500 a month | Can be excellent if you find a good one with time for you. You are buying one person's hours, so quality and continuity ride on that person. |
| Niche specialists | $500 to $3,000 a month | Specialists in one industry. The research is shared across similar clients, so more of your dollar becomes work. This is our category. |
| City agencies | $2,000 to $10,000 or more a month | Real capability. Your fee also funds account managers, a sales team and a city office. Built for large companies, and oversized for a local workshop. |
| In house hire | About $85,000 a year | One person on one site, full time. SEEK lists that as the typical salary for an SEO specialist, before superannuation and tools. It only adds up when you can keep them busy every day. |
What the Biggest Survey Says
The largest public study is the Ahrefs pricing survey, which polled 439 SEO providers around the world. It found an average of $2,917 a month, with most businesses, 63%, paying between $500 and $5,000.
Two details matter for a local business. Local SEO averaged $1,557 a month, and the single most common price band was $501 to $1,000.
Ahrefs, updated August 2024. The survey is international, so read its figures as US dollars. Ahrefs notes that its averages assume the top of each price band, which pushes them up.
The Survey in Four Numbers
SEO providers polled
pay $500 to $5,000 a month
average for local SEO
charge a monthly retainer
What Drives the Price
Three things explain almost every quote you will ever be given.
Competition
Outranking three sleepy competitors in a suburb is a different job from outranking forty hungry ones in the inner city. A suburban workshop usually faces a handful of nearby shops with thin websites.
Scope
What is delivered each month: pages written, links earned, fixes shipped, reviews answered. A plan built on "monitoring and optimisation" is priced on hope.
Overheads
Every fee splits between work and structure. At a large agency, structure means account managers, a sales team and an office. A specialist who does the work carries far less of it.
Two Invoices for the Same Month
The first is the kind of invoice many businesses receive. The second is a month on our Build plan. Look at what you can count.
- SEO services, monthly$1,500
- Monitoring and optimisationincl.
- Reportingincl.
- Nothing else is listed
- Pages built this month2
- 8 ranking pages, built and publishedincl.
- Backlinks organisedincl.
- Every review answered by handincl.
- 8 Google Business Profile postsincl.
- A chat bot built to convertincl.
- 4 Friday reportsincl.
The lower fee is not always the cheaper plan, and here it is both. Ask every provider what they will deliver this month that you can point at.
Test Any Quote Before You Sign
Put in a quote you have been given, and what one average job is worth to you. It takes ten seconds.
The quote.
Tap the buttons. Count only pages built that month.
Build is $1,000 a month for two pages a week, counted here as eight a month. The result uses your own numbers, and it is not a promise of jobs.
Five Questions to Ask Before You Sign
Ask these of any provider, including us. The answers tell you more than the price does.
| Ask this | A good answer | Walk away if you hear |
|---|---|---|
| What will you deliver each month? | A list you can count: pages, links, posts. | "Monitoring and optimisation." |
| How will I know it is working? | Tracked rankings, against a baseline recorded on day one. | Reports of activity, with no rankings. |
| Is there a lock in contract? | No. Month to month. | Twelve months, paid whatever happens. |
| Who owns the website and the content? | You do, from day one. | They do, until a term is paid out. |
| What happens if it does not work? | A written guarantee, with a date on it. | "SEO takes time", with no date. |
Same fee, different destinations for your dollar.
Already Holding a Quote?
Bring it to your free visibility check. We will put it through the same test with you, line by line, and tell you what each page is costing.
If it is a fair quote, you will hear that too. There is no charge, and no obligation to switch.
When You Should Not Pay for SEO
An honest page about price owes you this section. There are three times SEO is the wrong purchase.
Your Bays Are Already Full
If you are booked out and have no plan to grow, more enquiries are a problem, and SEO would only add to it.
You Need Cash This Month
SEO builds over months. A cash problem this month is a job for the phone, your past customers and perhaps ads.
You Cannot Give It Three Months
If the business cannot carry three to six months of investment before returns build, wait until it can.
If Your Budget Is $99
Do not buy a $99 package. Spend an hour instead on the three things that cost nothing and work.
- Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
- Ask every happy customer for a review
- Reply to every review you get
The right marketing in the wrong order burns money. Our mechanic marketing guide covers the order, channel by channel.
The Other Way to Buy Customers
You can also pay for each click with Google Ads. This is what advertisers pay for one click on the searches a workshop wants.
| Search | One click |
|---|---|
| car service near me | US$3.72 |
| mechanic near me | US$3.69 |
| diesel mechanic near me | US$3.63 |
| logbook service near me | US$3.50 |
| roadworthy certificate near me | US$3.16 |
Our KWFinder research export, Australia. The tool reports these in US dollars.
At US$3.72 a click, 300 clicks a month from "car service near me" costs an advertiser about US$1,100, every month. Ads work, and they stop the day you stop paying. A ranking page keeps earning those clicks. SEO or Google Ads first?
What We Charge, and Why
We are a niche specialist: one system, refined on mechanic workshops in Brisbane. That is why these prices sit at the lower end of the specialist range. Every plan starts with a $500 setup.
Currently unavailable
Boost
$500 a month
- One new ranking page a week
- Google Business Profile optimised
- Citations organised
- A report every Friday
Most popular
Build
$1,000 a month
- Two new ranking pages a week
- Backlinks organised
- Every review answered by hand
- Two Google Business Profile posts a week
- A chat bot built to convert
Boss
$2,000 a month
- Four new ranking pages a week
- Social posts and video
- Four Google Business Profile posts a week
- Google Ads management included
Your First Year, Added Up
No price is complete until you see a year of it. This is the setup plus twelve months, with nothing left out.
A plan can stop in any month. A salary cannot. There is no lock in contract and there are no hidden fees.
One Year of Each
$500 setup, then 12 months at $1,000
$500 setup, then 12 months at $2,000
One salary, for one year
The salary is SEEK's typical figure for an SEO specialist, before superannuation and tools.
What Happens After You Pay
You should know what your money is doing in every week of the first three months.
Your Baseline Is Recorded
Rankings and search performance are logged, so improvement is measured, not debated.
Research, Then Twelve Pages
A week of market research, then your twelve most important pages built or revamped.
New Ranking Pages
New pages each week, and a plain English report every Friday.
The Guarantee Date
Improved against your baseline, or a full refund of everything you have paid.
Our 90 Day Guarantee. If your tracked keyword rankings in Mangools and your search performance in Google Search Console have not improved within three months of setup, you receive a full refund of your setup fee and every retainer you have paid.
What the Money Can Bring Back
Price only means something next to what comes back. These are two results from workshops we work with, and two estimates built on them.
SemCar Automotive Group
Three Jobs in the Bays at Once, From One Page
$6,000 a month, estimated
Our estimate, at a conservative $2,000 a job and three a month from a single page we built.
Singh Mechanic Workshop
42nd to 1st for Logbook Servicing in His Local Area
$7,200 a year, estimated
Our estimate, from just two extra logbook services a month at $300, before those customers return for their next service.
The two teal figures are our estimates, not reported sales.
SEO Pricing, Asked Straight
Why is SEO so expensive?
What does the setup fee cover?
Do I have to sign a contract?
How long until SEO pays for itself?
Does SEO cost less in Brisbane than in Sydney?
What should a monthly SEO report show?
About This Guide
Written by Erlandas Saudargas, founder of Vindas Solutions. He sets the prices on this page and does the work himself. Last updated in October 2026.
Where the numbers come from
- The five market ranges are what we see quoted to Australian businesses.
- Survey figures are from the Ahrefs pricing survey of 439 providers.
- The salary figure is SEEK's typical salary for an SEO specialist in Australia.
- Click prices are from our own KWFinder research export.
- Our prices are the same ones on our pricing page.
Seen a figure that looks wrong? Tell us on WhatsApp and it will be checked.
Keep Reading
Know Exactly What You Would Be Paying For
The free visibility check shows what your money would be working on: where you rank today, what your competitors are doing, and which plan fits, or whether you need one at all. It costs nothing, and the findings are yours to keep.
- You send your details.Your name and your workshop name are enough to start.
- A short, honest conversation.Where you rank, the gap to the top three, and whether SEO fixes the problem you have.
- Your free visibility check.Rankings mapped suburb by suburb, and the findings are yours to keep.
Prefer to talk? Call 0456 001 198, or message Erlandas on WhatsApp. Servicing mechanic workshops across Brisbane from Belmont.
413 London Rd, Belmont QLD 4153. Open 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, seven days.
Areas we service: Belmont, Capalaba, Tingalpa, Carindale, Morningside, Wynnum, Mount Gravatt, Woolloongabba, Moorooka, Rocklea, Salisbury, Coopers Plains, Archerfield, Underwood, Darra, Geebung, Virginia, Stafford, Albion and the rest of Brisbane.
★★★★★Declan Chadfield Google review"Hands down the best experience I could ever receive from someone making my website and improving my own business. 10/10 service would recommend."