Tech Explained: what you are buying when you pay for online marketing
We wrote this for the owner who has been offered search or online marketing help. Before signing, you should be able to read the offer line by line. A fair proposal makes that possible. This page shows how to read one with the facts that matter. It does not tell you which provider to choose.
A fair marketing proposal names what will be done, who does it and what cannot be promised, so we judge a provider on those three things and not on a promised ranking.
Three questions every proposal should answer
What will be done
A proposal should list the work by name. That means what will change on the site, what will be written and how often, and which reports you will receive. Ask for each of those in writing. Google’s guidance on hiring an SEO asks how success is measured. It also asks what results to expect, and in what timeframe.
Who does the work
Ask who will carry out each task, and whether any of it goes to someone else. A provider controls its own work, its reports and how fast it answers questions. Google also asks whether a provider follows its Search Essentials guidelines. Ask for that answer in writing. A provider who will not state its method has told you something too.
What nobody can promise
No one can guarantee a number-one ranking on Google. A provider who promises first place is a reason to look elsewhere. Local results cannot be bought either. Google’s local ranking guidance says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Read every promise for what it commits to and what it leaves open.
Read the proposal in this order
Work through the proposal in this order, one step at a time. Each step tells you what to ask next. Mark each line as a promise, a task or an open question. Keep the marked copy with the contract.
- Find the list of work, and ask for a plain description of any task that has none.
- Mark what the provider controls: its own work, its reports and how it answers your questions.
- Mark what no one can promise: a rank, a date or a fixed traffic figure.
- Ask how success is measured and which report will show it.
Trade-offs you will actually face
A monthly retainer buys ongoing attention, and it suits work that never stops. It runs for as long as you keep paying. A one-off project has a clear end and a fixed scope, but nobody maintains the result afterwards. A specialist knows one part of the work deeply. A generalist can join several tasks together. Doing part of the work in-house keeps the knowledge with you, at the cost of your time.
Questions that separate a clear quote from a vague one
A clear quote names the task, the person doing it and the report that shows the result. A vague one names no task and stops at a word like “optimize”. Treat a guaranteed ranking or a guaranteed date as a warning sign. Treat hundreds of automatically written pages the same way. Google says many pages without value for users may break its policies, and Google’s guidance on generative AI content explains why. If you would rather hear these questions talked through, the short video below covers choosing an SEO company.
The figures, and where they come from
There are three figures on this page, all from one survey of 439 providers. The source is Ahrefs’ SEO pricing survey. The survey year is not stated, and the page was last updated on 15 August 2024. Read the numbers as one source’s view and as a guide to scale, not as a quote for your own work.
| Figure | What it measures | Period and source |
|---|---|---|
| $250 to $10,000 per month | Usual monthly cost of SEO; most businesses (63%) spent $500 to $5,000 | Ahrefs, 439 providers, US-wide; updated 15 August 2024, survey year not stated |
| $3,209 agency, $1,348 freelancer, per month | Average monthly charge by type of provider | Ahrefs, 439 providers, US-wide; updated 15 August 2024, survey year not stated |
| $1,557 per month | Average for local SEO, which costs less than general SEO | Ahrefs, 439 providers, US-wide; updated 15 August 2024, survey year not stated |
Two places to check this against
- Google Search Central’s SEO Starter Guide: Google’s own plain-language explanation of how a site gets found, and a fair yardstick for anything an SEO provider tells you.
- NH Small Business Development Center: free, confidential advising for New Hampshire small businesses, worth a call before you spend money on marketing.