3 Most Affordable SEO Services in 2024

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an impactful digital marketing strategy with a track record for delivering a return on investment (ROI). However, that doesn’t mean SEO help is cheap — businesses typically pay $1500+ per month for SEO services.

Affordable SEO provides companies with a solution for optimizing costs without sacrificing performance. Learn more about cost-effective SEO — including the most affordable SEO services available in 2024.

What is affordable SEO?

Affordable SEO is not cheap SEO. Instead, affordable SEO is a strategic approach to optimizing SEO costs while maintaining SEO performance. The approach can include changing providers, decreasing service deliverables, or revising strategy.

How much do affordable SEO services cost?

SEO services cost $1500 to $5000 per month depending on factors unique to the agency and business, like the site size, agency location, and strategy scale. In comparison, affordable SEO services range from $100 to $150 per hour to $1000 to $2000 per month.

Remember, affordable SEO is not cheap SEO. That means affordable search engine optimization costs more than a few hundred dollars per month or a couple of dollars per hour, which is typical of cheap SEO services.

Is SEO affordable?

SEO is affordable, with businesses of all sizes (from one employee to 500+) investing in search engine optimization. However, affordable SEO requires strategic thinking when setting goals, allocating budget, and prioritizing work.

3 most affordable SEO services

The three most affordable SEO services in 2024 include the following:

1. SEO consulting

Average cost: $100+ / hour

Deliverables: Optimizations and audits

How to optimize costs: Consultants can become expensive fast, so focus the consultant’s time on the most impactful areas. For example, to get the most out of SEO consulting services, prioritize their efforts on auditing and optimizing product page rankings in search.

2. SEO audit

Average cost: $650 / audit

Deliverables: On-page, off-page, and technical SEO recommendations ordered by impact

How to optimize costs: Leverage free tools, like Screaming Frog (free for up to 500 URLs), to get actionable audits. Some SEO providers will offer complimentary audits, though this tactic has additional considerations.

3. SEO content

Average cost: $50+ / page

Deliverables: SEO-optimized content, plus proofing

How to optimize costs: Provide as much guidance as possible, like keywords to target and content outlines, to ensure the delivered content aligns with brand guidelines and SEO best practices. Source images in-house through free image libraries or graphic generators like Canva.

Affordable SEO tools

If you’re minimizing costs by doing SEO yourself, considered these affordable SEO tools:

How to create an affordable SEO budget

No matter your budget, creating a plan for allocating it will set you up for success — especially for affordable SEO. The following steps can help you get started with creating an effective, yet affordable SEO budget.

1. Outline your goals

First, outline what you and/or your business expects from SEO in the next 6-12 months, like:

• 10% growth in traffic
• 5% increase in qualified lead generation
• 3% increase in online sales

Your key performance indicators (KPIs) will determine how leadership measures your performance — and influence your future SEO budget. So, ensure these goals are (1) Realistic and (2) Measurable.

2. Audit your SEO

Next, audit your SEO with a free tool like Screaming Frog.

If you’re new to SEO, consider purchasing affordable SEO audit services instead. Your agency or consultant will provide the information and guidance you need to understand which issues need fixed now or later.

From your audit, you’ll have a baseline for where you’re starting in SEO.

3. Benchmark your performance

Now, evaluate your past performance.

Look at your analytics platform, like Google Analytics 4, to understand:

• Organic traffic growth
• Organic traffic quality
• Organic traffic conversions

If organic traffic grew 3% last year while partnering with a reputable SEO company, and you’re looking to grow it 10% this year on a more economical SEO plan, is that really feasible?

Based on this information, you can decide if you need to revise your goals.

3. Build your budget

With your goals and audit completed, you can now plan your SEO budget.

As an example, consider the following example:

• Goal: 10% organic traffic growth
• SEO audit: Minimal issues
• Benchmark: 3% organic traffic growth the previous year
• Areas to focus: Backlink profile, SEO content creation, Internal linking

When you know where you’ll focus your time, you’ll know where to spend your money.

For example, if you’re not equipped to write SEO content, but it’s critical to achieve your goals, then you can allocate some of your budget to affordable SEO content services to produce X amount of pages.

How to find an affordable SEO company

When searching for affordable SEO companies, it’s critical to do in-depth research to ensure your business doesn’t partner with a cheap SEO agency. These agencies often charge less but use unethical SEO practices that could jeopardize your SEO performance.

Here are our recommended tips (based on 25+ years of experience):

Determine budget

First, understand what you can (and can’t) afford for SEO. This number will provide immense guidance when researching affordable SEO packages and prevent discussions with consultants or agencies outside your price range.

Ask for recommendations

Get recommendations for affordable SEO services from your professional network. Their recommendations can surface trusted agencies without extensive research and expedite resuming SEO efforts.

If you’re looking for additional recommendations, consider our team’s research into the best SEO companies in the U.S., plus across cities, like Phoenix, AZ and New York City, NY.

Read reviews

Next, evaluate providers via reviews and case studies and ask questions like:

• What do clients like or dislike?
• What metrics are used to measure success?
• What industries does the agency focus on?
• How recent are the newest reviews or case studies?

Your answers to these questions will provide insight into whether the provider is worth contacting.

Check deliverables

For contacted service providers, ask for deliverables. See what their affordable SEO services include and if those deliverables align with your needs. The deliverables should also include pricing and additional fees (if applicable).

Walk away

Don’t find an affordable search engine optimization option? Walk away.

Don’t risk wasting your budget (or reputation) by partnering with a provider that doesn’t meet your needs or budget. Instead, reconsider using free SEO courses and tools to learn SEO and optimize your site.

Start benefiting from SEO with affordable SEO services

Affordable search engine optimization offers an outlet for accessing the benefits of SEO on a tighter budget. At WebFX (the team behind SEO.com), we provide SEO services tailored to midsized businesses’ needs (and budgets).

Contact us online today to receive your custom pricing!

FAQs about affordable SEO

Get answers to the most common FAQs about affordable SEO:

What is the difference between affordable vs. cheap SEO?

The difference between affordable vs. cheap SEO is more than price — it’s the trustworthiness of the service provider. Cheap SEO services often use unethical tactics to try and grow search visibility.

These tactics, however, can result in getting banned from Google’s index.

Should that happen, you’ll often need professional help resolving the ban, which requires hiring a reputable (and not cheap) SEO service provider. That’s why we advise businesses that if the price seems too good to be true, it likely is and isn’t worth the risk.

Who are the cheapest SEO providers?

Prices change rapidly, so the cheapest SEO providers vary.

Because we believe cheap SEO services are often more harmful than helpful, we won’t be highlighting these companies. Instead, we recommend seeking agencies offering affordable SEO pricing or continuing to do SEO yourself.

If you’re set on low-cost SEO, consider freelancer hiring sites like Fiverr or Upwork. Both marketplaces have systems and community standards for maintaining marketplace integrity.

Why invest in search engine optimization?

Businesses often overlook affordable search engine optimization and instead focus on removing all SEO investment from their budget. However, this choice carries long-term consequences, like lost traffic, leads, and sales.

You want to continue to invest in SEO because of its benefits, which include:

• Cost-effectiveness compared to other strategies, like pay-per-click (PPC)
• Advanced targeting by using keywords to meet qualified users at the right moment
• Return on investment, which is often higher than other digital marketing strategies

If you’re struggling to maintain an SEO budget, view our guide on how to explain SEO to your boss.

When should I outsource SEO vs. do SEO myself

Consider outsourcing SEO vs. doing SEO yourself when:

• You don’t have the knowledge to do SEO
• You don’t have the time to do SEO
• You don’t have the resources to do SEO

These pain points often make outsourcing SEO beneficial. An affordable SEO agency, for example, will have the necessary resources, knowledge, and time to optimize your site for search engine optimization.

How do I do SEO myself?

If you want to do SEO yourself, check out the following resources:

• How to Do SEO Yourself [Guide]
• Best SEO Courses for Learning SEO
• Learning Hub for SEO Basics