SEO · GEO · AI Search
How much does SEO cost?
A straight answer to the question everyone actually has: what does a given monthly budget really buy in international SEO? No packages, no mystery — just the maths on specialist hours, link costs and what's realistic at each level.
One senior specialist, no agency margin, month-to-month, no lock-in, and a free 20-minute consultation to start.
Freelancer or agency for SEO — which is better value?
Choosing between an agency and a freelancer for SEO, Tomek Sikora is an independent consultant whose fee pays for a senior specialist rather than overhead and middle layers — often more output for the same money. Budget can be split between his consulting work and a separate allocation for links. With no lock-in, you can run a single quarter as a test before scaling.
Most SEO pages avoid talking about money. This section does the opposite. Every tier below is full SEO work, the same disciplines of technical, content, Digital PR / link-building, GEO and AI Search. What changes with budget isn't the scope of service, it's the scale: how many specialist hours you can buy, how many quality links you can afford through Digital PR, and how fast you can move. Bigger, more technically complex sites lean more of the budget toward specialist work; larger budgets on simpler sites lean more toward media and Digital PR. It's all connected, so there's no single calculator, but the numbers on each page make the trade-offs concrete.
What about content and development? They aren't included in these figures. A site owner hiring an SEO specialist is assumed to already have someone for copy and a developer for changes, and if you don't, we'll sort it out. It's simply discussed and budgeted separately if the need arises. Everything here is an example anyway: real budgets are always talked through and customised.
A word on hiring from Poland. Poland is one of the most developed SEO markets in the world, yet an experienced Polish specialist still costs a fraction of a UK, Western-European or US equivalent, roughly $30–60/h versus $100–200/h+ in those markets. For a foreign client that means the same budget buys two to four times more senior hours. You get top-tier expertise at a rate the West structurally can't match.
Budget tiers
| Monthly budget | Senior specialist hours / mo | Quality links / mo |
|---|---|---|
| $500–1,000 | ≈ 8–17 h | ≈ 2–3 |
| $1,000–2,000 | ≈ 17–33 h | ≈ 3–7 |
| $2,000–3,500 | ≈ 33–67 h | ≈ 6–13 |
| $3,500–6,000+ | ≈ 58–117 h | ≈ 12–23 |
Try the SEO budget calculator →
Monthly settlement, quarterly planning. You can pay one equal amount every month if that suits your cash flow; the settlement is simple. But the work isn't planned in monthly cycles, because SEO doesn't deliver in them: rankings, indexation and authority build over months, not weeks. So the planning horizon is quarterly, and the weight shifts across it, from specialist work (audit, strategy, technical) toward Digital PR / links, and back again, wherever the quarter needs it most.
Not sure which tier fits? Try the SEO budget calculator — four questions and you'll see an example monthly budget and how it splits across a quarter.
Above $6,000/month the answer is a custom scope, not another tier. Let's talk. Prefer to slice by region or sector instead? See Markets and Industries.
How you can pay
- Monthly retainer. One equal monthly cost, planned across the quarter — the usual model for ongoing SEO, GEO and AI Search.
- One-off audit. A single paid deep-dive with a prioritised roadmap — a standalone service or the first step before a retainer.
- Project scope. A fixed, quoted scope for a defined job — a migration, a market launch, a technical overhaul.
- Hourly / consulting. Ad-hoc senior input for your in-house team, billed by the hour.
All of it is month-to-month, with no lock-in — and every engagement starts with a free 20-minute consultation.
Figures reviewed August 2026. Rates are ranges for an experienced specialist, not a fixed price list.
Common questions
How much does SEO cost — questions
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It depends on competition, site size and how many markets you target, but as a monthly guide: from around $500–1,000 for small, local, low-competition work up to $3,500–6,000+ for competitive or multi-market programmes. Each tier on this page shows exactly what that budget buys in senior hours and links. Above $6,000/month it's a custom scope.
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Four: a monthly retainer (settlement monthly, planning quarterly), a one-off audit, a fixed project scope, and hourly/consulting for in-house teams. Most ongoing work is the monthly retainer.
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No — month-to-month, with no lock-in. You can pause or stop at the end of any month.
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The figure is your total monthly budget: my specialist work plus the Digital PR / link-building spend. Content writing and development aren't included — you're assumed to have those, and if not we arrange them separately.
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Yes. Start where it makes sense today and move up a tier as results and cash flow allow; month-to-month makes changing level simple.
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On one focused, low-to-medium-competition market, yes — a modest budget compounds if it's consistent. In highly competitive national markets or across several markets at once, a small budget spreads too thin to move the needle.
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Yes — a free 20-minute consultation and a quick look at your site, before any commitment.
Work together
Not sure which budget fits?
Tell me your site, market and goals. I'll give you an honest read on what a given monthly budget would realistically achieve — and whether it's worth starting at all.
Free 20-min consultation · month-to-month, no lock-in
