# What will SEO cost each month? > Price an SEO programme: audit and setup, monthly hours, articles, locations, link building and reporting. Priced at R850 an hour. Canonical page: https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/seo/ Language: en SEO calculator Start with an audit and setup, choose a monthly programme, then set how many articles and locations we cover. The quote separates once-off setup from your monthly retainer. [Build your quote](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/seo/#calculator)[All pricing calculators](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/) - **R850/hour**One rate for every service - **40% deposit**to start the work - **Up to 12 months**to pay larger projects Initial**–** Monthly**–** [View quote](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/seo/#quote) Your quotation ## Review, share or save it. ### **Add your company details**They appear on the quote, its PDF and any link you share. Company Contact person Email Phone Address Registration number These details stay in your browser. They're only sent to us if you request a formal quotation. Turn on JavaScript to see your itemised quote and payment schedule, or [email us](mailto:hello@webvelopment.co.za) and we'll price it for you. Approve quotation ## Approve and sign A signed PDF is emailed to you and to our team. Next step ## Turn this into a formal quotation. Send us your details and we'll review this configuration, check anything that needs a closer look, and send a formal quotation with timelines and terms. The quote you've built here is attached automatically. - **Your details**So we know who to send it to. - **Your project**A few questions so the quotation fits. Price a single service ## Price another service. Each one uses the same R850/hour rate and the same payment terms, so you can price a single service or combine several in the [full agency calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/full-agency/). [Website A business website on WordPress or a custom CMS, from a few pages to a large content site. Open calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/website/)[E-commerce An online store on WooCommerce or Shopify, with payments, shipping and the integrations your operations depend on. Open calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/ecommerce/)[Web apps and integrations Customer portals, internal systems, dashboards, automation and API integrations, built in Laravel or PHP. Open calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/web-applications/)[Mobile app Cross-platform iOS and Android apps, with the backend and admin tools behind them. Open calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/mobile-app/)[Content and copywriting Website copy, articles, product descriptions and case studies written to rank and convert. Open calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/content/)[SEO Technical, on-site and local SEO with content that earns rankings, reported monthly. You're here](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/seo/)[Organic social Planned, designed and published social content with community management and monthly reporting. Open calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/organic-social/)[Paid media Google, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok campaigns: tracking, ad creation and optimisation, with your ad spend shown separately. Open calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/paid-media/)[Hosting and care Managed hosting, updates, backups, security and a support team for one website or a whole portfolio. Open calculator](https://webvelopment.co.za/pricing/hosting-care/) ## How SEO is priced SEO has a once-off setup and a monthly programme. The **setup** audits your site, researches keywords, connects Search Console and analytics, and agrees a 90-day plan. The **monthly programme** is a fixed number of hours spent on on-site improvements, technical fixes, reporting and strategy. **Content** is priced separately, at three hours per article or landing page: research, writing, optimisation and publishing. Search engines reward sites that keep publishing useful pages, so content usually has more impact than any other monthly item. **Locations** add local SEO for each extra branch: map listings, location pages and local citations. The first location is included. ## Analytics and reporting Every programme includes monthly reporting. For a live view across Search Console, GA4 and rankings, add the reporting dashboard. ## What every SEO programme includes These items are in every quote, whatever you choose further down, because the work can’t be done properly without them. Together they come to 16 hours at R850 an hour. - **SEO audit and keyword research.** Technical crawl, content gaps and keyword opportunities. (8 h) - **Search Console, GA4 and tracking setup.** Verified properties, conversions and rank tracking. (3 h) - **Google Business Profile optimisation.** Categories, services, photos and review strategy. (2 h) - **Strategy and 90-day roadmap.** Prioritised plan agreed with you. (3 h) ## Basic, Standard and Premium compared The monthly programme sets how many hours we spend improving your rankings each month. Articles and extra locations are added on top. **Monthly SEO programme** | Level | What you get | Hours | Price | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Basic: Foundation | Steady on-site and technical improvement for a local business. On-site optimisation; Technical fixes; Monthly ranking report; Up to 8 hours a month. | 8 h | R6,800/month | | Standard: Growth | Competitive growth across more keywords and pages. Everything in Foundation; Landing page optimisation; Internal linking and schema; Monthly strategy call; Up to 16 hours a month. | 16 h | R13,600/month | | Premium: Authority | Aggressive growth in competitive national markets. Everything in Growth; Digital PR and link outreach; Conversion rate optimisation; Fortnightly reporting; Up to 32 hours a month. | 32 h | R27,200/month | ## How the work runs - **Audit and research.** A technical crawl, a content gap analysis and keyword research, which together set your baseline. - **Setup and roadmap.** Search Console, analytics and rank tracking, plus a prioritised 90-day plan agreed with you. - **Monthly programme.** On-site, technical and content work each month, published and tracked. - **Reporting.** A monthly report on rankings, organic traffic and enquiries, with what we’ll do next. - **Quarterly review.** We revisit the strategy and change the programme as results come in. ## Ways to manage the budget - **Start with Foundation if you’re a local business.** Eight focused hours a month are enough to win local searches. - **Put budget into content.** Articles and landing pages usually move rankings more than any other monthly item. - **Fix the technical issues once.** Speed or migration problems are cheaper as a once-off add-on than spread across monthly hours. - **Give it six months.** Cutting a programme at month three often leaves the gains half-built. ## Before you request a quote Have these ready and the formal quotation will be faster and more accurate: - Your website address and access to its CMS - Access to Google Search Console and Analytics, if they’re set up - The services or products that matter most to your business - Your main competitors in search - The areas or branches you serve - Any past SEO work, and what happened ## SEO pricing questions A few useful answers before you decide. ### What's included in the setup? An SEO audit with keyword research, Search Console, GA4 and rank tracking set up, Google Business Profile optimisation, and a strategy with a 90-day roadmap. That’s 16 hours once-off. ### What's the difference between the programmes? Foundation (8 hours a month) suits a local business improving steadily. Growth (16 hours) covers more keywords and pages and adds a monthly strategy call. Authority (32 hours) adds digital PR, link outreach and conversion work for competitive national markets. ### How long before SEO works? Technical fixes can show results within weeks; competitive rankings usually take four to six months of consistent work. That’s why SEO is priced monthly rather than as a project. ### Is there a minimum contract? Yes. Monthly services are on a 12-month contract with a 3-month minimum, and the contract renews for another 12 months unless you give one calendar month’s notice before it ends. If you need to stop early, you pay 3 months’ fees after the month you give notice, starting with your one calendar month’s notice. For example, notice in month 3 means you’re billed for months 1 to 6. The commitment covers our fees, including campaign and boosting commission; ad and boost spend paid to the platforms isn’t included. Competitive rankings usually take four to six months, so the 12-month term gives the work time to pay off. You can change your programme level as results come in. ### Do you guarantee rankings? No one can honestly guarantee rankings. We commit to the work and report on what changes: rankings, organic traffic and enquiries from search. ### Why are articles priced separately? Content usually has more impact than any other monthly item, so we let you set the volume directly. Each article or landing page takes about three hours: research, writing, optimisation and publishing. ### How does local SEO for several branches work? The first location is included. Each extra branch adds an hour a month for its map listing, location page and local citations, so a business with ten branches is visible in each area it serves. ### What reporting do I get? Every programme includes a monthly report on rankings, organic traffic and enquiries. Add the live dashboard if you want to check Search Console, GA4 and rankings in one place at any time. ### Do you need access to my website? Yes. On-site and technical work means editing the site. If we didn’t build it, we’ll ask for CMS access and, for technical fixes, hosting access, and agree with your team who changes what. ### What if my site has technical problems holding it back? The audit will find them. Smaller fixes come out of the monthly hours; larger ones such as Core Web Vitals or a site migration are separate add-ons, so they don’t eat the time meant for growth.