The essentials
- Three profiles: a freelancer (€400 to €700 a day), a senior consultant (€700 to €1,200), an agency (retainers of €800 to €5,000 a month depending on scope).
- What sets a good supplier apart: an audit before any quote, quantified objectives on traffic and conversions, a prioritised action plan, readable monthly reporting.
- Warning signs: a guarantee of first place, secret methods, a 12-month commitment with no way out, reporting limited to rankings.
- The contract: a precise scope, deliverables, ownership of the content and the access, one month's notice.
The aim of SEO is an investment of several months whose results depend largely on the supplier. The market runs from the beginner freelancer to the fifty-person agency, with very different practices and prices. This guide describes the profiles, the questions to ask, the deliverables to demand and the clauses that protect your investment. For the Google listing, there is a dedicated guide: choosing a Google Business Profile supplier.
The profiles and their rates
| Profile | Indicative rate excl. VAT (2026) | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance | €400 to €700 / day; monthly retainers of €500 to €1,500 | Responsiveness, a direct contact, price | Limited capacity, sometimes partial skills (technical or content or links) |
| A senior independent consultant | €700 to €1,200 / day | Expertise, strategy, audits, training your teams | Doesn't always produce (content, development) |
| A specialist SEO agency | €800 to €5,000 / month depending on scope | A complete team (technical, content, link building), tools, continuity | Possibly a junior contact, standardised processes |
| A general web agency | Variable, often as an add-on to a site | One relationship for the site and the SEO | Sometimes superficial SEO; check the actual skills |
The initial audit is billed separately, between €1,000 and €5,000 depending on the size of the site; that is a normal investment, described in running a full SEO audit. A supplier who offers a monthly retainer with no prior audit doesn't yet know what they are going to do.
The ten questions to ask
- How will you diagnose my site before proposing a plan? Expect an audit with a crawl and an analysis of rankings, competitors and links.
- What quantified objectives do you propose? Organic traffic, conversions, attributed revenue, at 6 and 12 months. Not rankings alone.
- Show me three results on comparable sites. Search Console or GA4 traffic curves, with the context and the duration.
- Who will work on my account? Name, experience, time allocated per month.
- How do you produce content? Writers, AI with human review, approval by you; who retains ownership.
- What is your link building practice? Methods, typical sites, any buying budget and how transparent it is; see 12 strategies for earning backlinks.
- What does the reporting contain, and how often? Monthly, with traffic, conversions, rankings on the target queries, actions taken and actions next.
- How do you work with my developer or my web agency? Technical recommendations documented, prioritised, followed up.
- What happens if the results don't come? An honest answer talks about timescales, revising the plan and a possible exit.
- What do you expect from me? A good supplier asks for approval time, business information and quick decisions.
The deliverables to demand
- An initial audit with a prioritised action plan (impact, effort, owner).
- A keyword strategy mapped to pages, with volumes and intents.
- Technical recommendations documented, testable, with implementation tracking.
- Content (new pages, optimisations) with briefs and approval.
- Links obtained, listed with source and date.
- Monthly reporting and a quarterly strategy review; the metrics are detailed in measuring your SEO agency's results.
The warning signs
| Signal | Why it's a problem |
|---|---|
| A guarantee of first place | Nobody controls the algorithm; it is either an impossible promise or one kept on worthless queries |
| "Secret" or "proprietary" methods | SEO is documented; secrecy often hides risky techniques |
| A quote with no audit | The supplier is selling a package, not an answer to your situation |
| Reporting limited to rankings | Rankings don't pay; traffic and conversions do |
| A 12-month commitment with no exit clause | You lose all leverage if the work is inadequate |
| Content and access that remain the supplier's property | You start from scratch when you change supplier |
| A volume of pages or links promised per month | Quantity isn't an SEO objective |
The contract
An SEO contract specifies the scope (site, languages, number of pages or pieces of content), the deliverables and their frequency, the time allocated, the price and what falls outside the retainer (development, link buying, tools), ownership of the content and the accounts (Search Console, GA4, tools), confidentiality, the term (3 to 6 months' initial commitment, then monthly with one month's notice) and reversibility (handover of documents, access and history). Refuse any clause that makes the supplier the owner of anything belonging to you.
Judging at 3, 6 and 12 months
- 3 months: the audit is delivered, the priority technical fixes are done, the first content is live, the reporting is in place. Results aren't expected yet.
- 6 months: impressions and rankings on the target queries are improving; organic traffic starts to rise.
- 12 months: organic traffic and conversions have risen measurably against the previous year, at a comparable time of year. If not, change the plan or the supplier.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's SEO module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SEO work cost for a small business?
An initial audit between €1,000 and €3,000, then monthly support of €500 to €2,000 excluding VAT for a brochure site or a small e-commerce site. Budgets rise to €3,000 to €5,000 a month for large sites or very competitive sectors. Content production is often billed on top.
Freelancer or SEO agency?
A freelancer suits a modest site with a budget under €1,500 a month and a need for closeness. An agency brings a complete team, useful as soon as technical work, content and link building have to advance together on a substantial site. In both cases, it is the method and the reporting that count.
Do you need a supplier specialised in your sector?
It is an advantage (knowledge of the queries, the media, the competitors) but not a condition. A good generalist learns a sector in a few weeks with your help. Be careful with a supplier already working for a direct competitor: a conflict of interest.
Can you do SEO without a supplier?
Yes, with training, time and a tracking tool. A small business can cover the basics (simple technical work, content, the Google listing) in-house and reserve the supplier for the initial audit and a quarterly review. See our SEO training for that route.