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SEO costs 500 to 2,500 euros a month at the Belgian agencies that publish a price, and a one-off SEO audit costs 500 to 2,500 euros. Agencies in Western Europe quote 1,500 to 2,500 euros a month for a small or mid-sized business, with the UK and Germany above that and Central Europe below. Below 500 euros a month, too little is left for content, technical work and follow-up.
That range tells you little until you know what happens for the money. This guide puts next to every amount what is online after twelve months: how many new pages, which technical fixes, which reports. You read what the European market charges, how to read a proposal, and three worked examples for three kinds of business. What five weeks of work can build, you see further down at Business Centrum.
What drives the cost of SEO
- Where you startA technically sound site with ten good pages needs less work than one that must be fixed first: slow pages, duplicate titles, pages Google cannot find. The SEO checker gives you a first picture.
- Competition on your search termsA plumber in a small town competes with a handful of firms. An online shoe store or a law firm in a capital city competes with hundreds, and they publish every month too.
- How many pages you needMost growth comes from new pages on terms people actually type. Every page is research, writing, images, publishing and internal links.
- The number of languagesBelgium alone has three. A site in English, German and French is three times the text and three sets of search terms, each with its own competitors. We build those as multilingual websites from the start.
- Who writesIf your team writes and the agency handles technique and planning, the monthly fee drops. If the agency writes everything, it rises.
- Local or internationalA business that wants customers in one city wins a lot with its Google Business Profile and local SEO. A business selling across Europe needs more pages, in more languages.
How much SEO costs per pricing model
Almost every proposal falls into one of three models. They differ most in what you own after a year.
A year of SEO, three ways to pay
One-off audit500 to 2,500 euros, once
After a year: 500 to 2,500
+ A report and a plan− Doing the work in the planMonthly retainer500 to 2,500 euros a month
After a year: 6,000 to 30,000
+ Plan, technique, new pages, a report− Whatever the agreement leaves outPer textTen texts a quarter, 0.07 to 0.25 euros a word
After a year: 2,240 to 8,000
+ Forty texts of 800 words− Research, technique and publishing
Amounts before VAT, market prices of Belgian agencies. The per-text row is our own worked example.
| Model | What it costs | What you get | What is not included |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-off audit | 500 to 2,500 euros, up to 10,000 at some agencies for large sites | A report on what is wrong technically and in content, and a plan in order of impact | Doing the work in that plan |
| Monthly retainer | 500 to 2,500 euros a month in Belgium, often with a three-month minimum | Strategy, technical follow-up, new or rewritten pages, a monthly report | Whatever you do not agree on: count the pages per month |
| Per text | 0.07 to 0.25 euros a word for an experienced writer, about 4 hours per finished text | One text on one search term | Keyword research, technique, publishing and internal links |
| Per hour or per day | 60 to 120 euros an hour for a consultant, 750 to 1,500 euros a day for a senior | Advice, a workshop, help with a migration | Execution, unless you buy more hours |
An audit without execution changes nothing in Google. A retainer without a page count can report for months while nothing new goes online. And loose texts without a plan become pages that compete for the same terms. What an SEO specialist charges by the hour, country by country, is in SEO specialist hourly rate.
SEO prices across Europe
| Market | Monthly retainer for a small or mid-sized business | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 500 to 2,500 euros, 500 to 1,500 for a local business | Only a handful of agencies publish a price |
| Western Europe overall | 1,500 to 2,500 euros | 5,000 to 10,000 in competitive niches |
| UK and Germany | Above the Western European range | Higher salaries and office costs |
| Central Europe | Below the Western European range | Check that texts are written natively |
| Worldwide | Largest group of providers at 501 to 1,000 dollars | Often one freelancer, one channel |
A public rate is the exception in this trade. Where agencies do publish one, the ranges overlap. What differs is what sits inside the monthly fee, so compare proposals on the work: number of pages, who writes, how long you are tied in.
What SEO costs per month, by budget
- Under 500 eurosEnough for a technical check, some fixes and a monthly report. Hardly any new content, unless you write yourself.
- 500 to 1,500 eurosThe usual budget for a local business: a plan, technique in order and a few pages a month on proven search terms.
- 1,500 to 2,500 eurosMore pages a month, a second language or a sector with more competition.
- 2,500 euros and upNational or international ambitions, online stores with thousands of products, several languages at once.
Five weeks of SEO at Business Centrum
- Mid-SeptemberFound by name, little elseBusiness Centrum, a payroll and HR office in Ghent, had 220 impressions a day in Google. Thirteen search terms without the brand name stood on page 1.
- From mid-SeptemberThe technical baseOne address per page, titles on search terms, everything findable for Google, in Dutch, French, English and Turkish.
- 7 and 14 OctoberOver 130 guides and comparisonsGuides, articles and comparisons on terms taken from Google itself, every figure with an official source.
- 19 to 21 OctoberPay scales and a term mapPay scales for 113 joint committees straight from the federal database, 13 city pages and a map of 182 search terms, each on its own page, joined by 771 internal links.
- 21 OctoberWhere it stood after five weeks10,200 impressions a day, 46 times as many. 1,593 search terms without the brand name on page 1, 518 of them in the top 3. The site grew to more than 1,680 pages.
That pace does not fit a retainer of a few pages a month: the site grew by more than 1,400 pages in five weeks, on terms with proof and with a source register behind every figure. If you want that, compare proposals on what goes online each month rather than on the fee. How we approach this for clients outside Belgium is on web development agency in Europe.
What the price of SEO leaves out
- VATAgencies quote without VAT. A Belgian agency invoicing a business in another EU country applies the reverse charge, so the VAT is settled in your own country.
- Development workIf your site runs on a system the agency does not manage, a technical fix can become a separate invoice from your developer. Ask up front who touches the code.
- ImagesPhotos of your work, team or products are rarely part of an SEO plan.
- ToolsA paid keyword suite is a monthly subscription. Some agencies pass it on, some do not.
- AdvertisingGoogle Ads is paid separately, to Google. What a campaign costs is in Google Ads cost.
- Your own timeSomeone has to check the texts against what you really do and sell. Count on a few hours a month.
Three worked examples
Our own worked examples, using the market ranges above, amounts before VAT.
| Situation | Budget | First year | What is online after twelve months |
|---|---|---|---|
| A contractor in one city, site of 15 pages | 1,000 euros a month | 12,000 euros | Technique in order, 48 new pages at four a month, a strong business profile |
| A B2B firm selling in English and German | 2,000 euros a month | 24,000 euros | Four pages a month per language, 96 in all, with their own terms per language |
| An online store with 800 products | 2,500 euros a month plus a 2,000 euro audit | 32,000 euros | Category and filter pages fixed, 300 product texts rewritten, a series of buying guides |
For the contractor each new page costs about 250 euros, research, writing and publishing together. For the bilingual firm the biggest trap is translating instead of writing per language: German buyers search with different words. For the store the first gains sit in the technical work, only then in new text.
The question every monthly fee must answer: what is online after twelve months that is not there today?
Do it yourself, a freelancer or an agency
- Do it yourselfif your site is small, your market local and you like writing. Start with the SEO checklist and keep a few hours free each month.
- Hire a freelancerfor a clear job, such as an audit, a migration or a set of texts, while you do the follow-up.
- Hire an agencyif you want pace, several languages, or technique, writing and measurement in one hand. What agencies charge in general is in digital marketing agency cost.
Red flags in an SEO proposal
- A ranking guaranteeOnly Google decides on positions. A promise like "page 1 in three months" is a reason to keep looking.
- Twelve months with no exitA three-month minimum is common; a year without seeing what happens is not.
- Reports without workCharts of positions are not work. Ask which pages went online that month.
- No access to your own dataSearch Console and your analytics belong in your name.
- Classic SEO onlyMore people ask ChatGPT or see an AI answer in Google first. What that changes is in SEO vs GEO; whether SEO still matters at all is answered in is SEO dead.
Check an SEO proposal before you sign
- How many new or rewritten pages go online each month?
- Who writes the texts, and do you review them before they go live?
- Which search terms, and what proof that people type them?
- How long is the contract, and what do you keep if you stop?
- Do you have your own access to Search Console and analytics?
- Who changes the code of your site, and is that billed separately?
- Is there no ranking guarantee anywhere? Only Google decides on that.
- Is the price with or without VAT?
Short answers on what SEO costs
How much does SEO cost per month?
At Belgian agencies that publish a price, 500 to 2,500 euros a month, with 500 to 1,500 as the usual budget for a local business. Across Western Europe a small or mid-sized business usually pays 1,500 to 2,500 euros.
How much does an SEO audit cost?
Usually 500 to 2,500 euros once. For large sites or a full technical audit some agencies quote 2,000 to 10,000 euros.
Is SEO cheaper in Eastern Europe?
Rates in Central Europe, such as Poland, are lower than in the UK or Germany. Check that the writers know your market and language: a cheap text in the wrong words does not rank.
Can I pay for SEO per page?
Yes, some writers and agencies charge per text or per word, around 0.07 to 0.25 euros a word. Research, technique and publishing are usually extra.
Is cheap SEO worth trying?
Below 500 euros a month you mostly get checks and small fixes. That can be useful if you write yourself. Do not expect new pages from it.
How long do I pay before I see results?
Google often shows new pages within weeks; enquiries usually follow later. Some agencies ask for a three-month minimum; count on six months before you can really judge.