How much does SEO cost in Australia?

SEO, short for search engine optimisation, is the work of helping your business show up when people search Google for what you do. How much it costs depends on the work. Before you compare dollar figures, find out what each fee actually covers.

Here’s an example. Say you run an electrical business and two SEO providers send you a quote. One asks for $790 a month and the other asks for $2,900 a month. The cheaper quote might cover little more than a monthly report. The higher one might include writing new pages, fixing problems on your site and updating your Google listing. Both can be fair prices for different work, so the monthly figure alone tells you very little.

This guide shows what two recent Australian price studies found and what a monthly fee should include. It also shows how to work out the full cost of a commitment. When you are ready to compare plans, our SEO packages list every inclusion and price.

We run SEO for Sydney businesses, so we use our own price list for the worked examples. It is one provider’s pricing and not the market average.

What should you do before you compare SEO quotes?

Most Australian quotes look alike until you add up what they leave out. Put the same five questions to every provider:

1. What do I get each month, with counts? A fee that lists “on-page optimisation” without numbers tells you very little.
2. What is the setup fee, is GST (the goods and services tax) included and how long is the minimum term?
3. What is the smallest amount I’m agreeing to? That is the setup fee plus the monthly fee times the minimum term.
4. Who owns the pages, profiles and accounts if I stop?
5. Does the quote promise a number one ranking? If it does, look elsewhere, because no one can guarantee that.

The sections below explain each of these.

How much does SEO cost each month at Australian agencies?

Two Australian studies from September 2026 looked at the starting prices that providers advertise. One found a median of $1,200 a month and the other found $790. A median is the middle price when you line them all up from lowest to highest. These are the middle offers in two different samples, not the cheapest available prices or an average client bill.¹²

Here are the two studies side by side.

An entry price is what a provider charges for its cheapest package. Neither figure is what the average Australian business pays. Both count starting offers from providers that show a price. Digital Nomads HQ says its examples are advertised offers with the provider names removed, not market averages.²

An SEO retainer is an ongoing monthly fee for agreed search work. An audit is a once-off review that finds problems and does not automatically include fixing them.

Why do SEO price surveys disagree?

They sample different providers and count different things. Local Digital found a $1,200 median while Digital Nomads HQ found $790, so both can be accurate for their own samples.

Four reasons explain most of the gap:

• Agencies that publish a price tend to be smaller and cheaper. Local Digital states this limit itself. It also counted itself among the 232 agencies.¹
• GST is often unclear. Of the 53 agencies with a published price, 18 stated their price excluded GST, one stated it included GST and 34 said nothing.¹
• Entry offers are starter packages. The studies measure the cheapest package a provider shows, which is not what a growing business usually buys.
• The studies use different units. One counts agencies and the other counts offers.

Don’t average the two medians. They answer different questions, so a blended number would describe nothing.

How do SEO providers charge: monthly, hourly, by project or by result?

Most providers use one of four models. The model matters as much as the amount, because a cheap hourly rate can cost more than a retainer if the work never ends.

What should a monthly SEO fee include?

A monthly fee should name the finished work you receive, not just the hours or the effort. If a quote lists “on-page optimisation” (changes to the pages themselves) and “content strategy” (a plan for what to write) without counts, ask for numbers.

Here is what to look for and what to ask.

A brief is a plan for a page and not the page itself. Briefs and finished content are priced very differently. If you must write the pages yourself, you are buying advice and not finished work.

What is the total cost once setup fees and minimum terms are included?

The smallest commitment is the setup fee plus the monthly fee multiplied by the minimum term. The minimum term is the shortest time the contract runs. Digital Nomads HQ uses a first-year version of the same sum, which is twelve months of fees plus any required setup. It warns that a first-year projection is not necessarily a contractual commitment.²

Here is that sum worked through for our own plans. The figures come from our published prices and are not a quote or a forecast of results. The picture below shows it for SEO Growth while the table after it covers every plan.

Compare month to month and six months

Monthly fee × months chosen

+ setup fee

= total cost

SEO Growth

Month to month

1 × $2,900

+ $750 setup

= $3,650 + GST

Optional six-month commitment

6 × $2,900

+ $0 setup

= $17,400 + GST

Cancel anytime. Setup is waived when you commit to six months.

Kavera prices in this guide.

Every SEO plan is month to month, so you can cancel anytime. We recommend six months to see real results. The twelve-month figures show the cost if you stay a year, not a required term. The full inclusions sit on our SEO packages page while every service price is on the pricing page.

Kavera note: Our Suburb SEO plan is $890/month + GST with no setup fee and month-to-month terms. Each month it covers two new suburb or service pages, one article, three page upgrades, four Google Business Profile posts and two listing fixes. If we miss a month’s agreed numbers, the next month is free. That is a commitment about delivery and not a promise of rankings, leads or revenue.

Should you choose an audit, a monthly plan or hourly advice?

Choose an audit if you do not know what is wrong. Choose hourly advice if someone in-house can act on it. Choose a monthly plan if the work needs ongoing production. Each format answers a different question.

An SEO audit gives you a prioritised list before you decide on ongoing work. Our audit is free, with implementation separate unless retained.

Hourly advice suits a business that already has a web developer. A monthly plan suits one that wants someone else to write pages, update the Google Business Profile and report on what changed.

Does AI search work cost extra?

AI search work means getting your business named and linked in answers from tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI features. Whether it costs extra depends on what the provider includes. Google says its AI features need no new files and no special writing style. Some SEO work adds extra code that labels the facts on a page for software, which is called markup. Google says its AI features don’t need a special version of that code. It also says the basics of good SEO still apply.⁴

That means most AI search work is the same pages, facts and checks that good SEO already needs. It also needs a way to keep an eye on the answers AI tools give. One Australian price comparison lists AI SEO as included in one $890 + GST plan, sold separately at $800 + GST or added to a retainer at $1,000 + GST.² Ask which of those you are being quoted.

In our plans AI search work sits inside the monthly fee. The plans track a set number of AI search questions each month, from 25 in Suburb SEO to 250 in SEO Authority. Our AI SEO guide explains the work. Ask each provider to list any extra tool charges in writing.

Is cheap SEO worth it?

Cheap SEO is worth it when the fee names the work and you can see it done. A vague price is the real problem, not a low one.

Google lists warning signs to look for. It says no one can guarantee a number one ranking and advises finding someone else if an SEO promises first place.³ It also advises asking for examples of previous work and checking business references.³

Watch for four things in a low-cost quote:

• A promise of a ranking position or a date
• No count of what is delivered each month
• Mass-produced pages with little original content, which Google says may break its spam policy when they add no value for users⁵
• A long lock-in with no stated way out

What affects the price of SEO?

Price follows the amount of work. The amount of work follows how much ground you want to cover. The biggest drivers are listed below.

• The number of services and locations you want to win
• How much new content is needed
• The condition of your site and Google Business Profile at the start
• How many competitors already hold the results you want
• Whether you sell locally, nationally or through an online store

Our own plans scale on the first driver. Suburb SEO covers one suburb, Local SEO up to three suburbs, SEO Growth up to three areas and SEO Authority up to six areas.

How do you judge whether a quote is good value?

A quote is good value when you can see what you receive, who owns it and how you will know it is working. Google suggests asking what results the provider expects and in what timeframe.³

Use this short list on every quote:

1. What is delivered each month, with counts?
2. Who owns the pages, profiles and accounts if you stop?
3. What is the full cost with setup, GST and the minimum term?
4. Which measures will be reported and how often?
5. Can you see previous work and speak to a past client?

Past work should be specific. For example, in two checks about two months apart, our client SHORE went from absent to first in one Sydney builder shortlist (see ChatGPT SEO).

Kavera note: We built SHORE’s website and run its SEO. Between two four-week windows its non-brand Google appearances (searches that didn’t include its name) rose from 1,204 to 9,492, about 7.9x, as reported in our GEO guide. That figure counts website and Maps appearances together. It does not measure enquiries or revenue. We do not offer it as a forecast for your budget.

What is the fine print on these figures?

On hourly rates, Local Digital also reports a $124 median of hourly rate-band midpoints across 146 Australian firms listed on Clutch, a site that lists agencies. A midpoint is the middle of the band a firm lists, so this is not a median of actual hourly rates. The source of those figures labels the bands in USD and warns that many agencies enter AUD figures without converting them. Because the currencies are mixed, $124 is not a reliable benchmark for an Australian-dollar quote.¹

Where can you compare Kavera’s SEO plans?

Our SEO audit is free. Implementation is separate unless retained. Compare the SEO packages for monthly scope and terms. No SEO package guarantees rankings, leads or revenue.