So you are a business owner who is considering SEO to start getting some traffic on your website and hopefully turn that traffic into paying customers but you’re not sure how much SEO will cost or what is included? This blog post will provide a summary of Irish SEO prices, and the different options that are available to you!
SEO Rates 2024 in Ireland – What You Need to Know
Depending on a number of variables like the extent of your project, your industry and its competitiveness, SEO rates in Ireland might vary. The average monthly SEO cost in Ireland in 2024 is around €400 per month, however depending on the complexity of a project and the particular needs of the company, it may vary anywhere from €200 to over €10,000 per month.
The price of SEO services in Ireland depends on different factors, such as project size, your industry and its competitiveness, and your location.
- Project size: Larger businesses usually have more extensive SEO requirements and usually need a more complex SEO plan, therefore increasing expenses. Larger companies may spend more money on content creation (blog posts, website updates, etc.) and link building (getting backlinks from relevant, high authority websites).
- Industry: Some sectors are more competitive than others, so more focused SEO is needed to rank well in search engines. Industries like banking or real estate, for example, need more attention and SEO work to keep ahead of their competition, hence adding to an increase in SEO cost.
- Location: SEO services might cost more than in more competitive locations like Dublin than it would in smaller counties with less competition for ranking.
What pricing options do I have for SEO?
You can either pay hourly rates to get specific things achieved for SEO, you can pay project-based rates or you could have SEO on a monthly retainer. See some examples below:
- Hourly rates: Depending on their expertise and the extent of the work needed, SEO professionals in Ireland might bill anywhere from €50 to €300 per hour.
- Project-based rates: Agencies or independent contractors could charge a set cost for certain SEO initiatives. Depending on the scale and complexity of the project, this might run from €200 to thousands – it depends on what you need.
- Monthly retainers: The most common price structure used for SEO services is monthly retainers. Depending on the degree of service and the aims of the company, monthly retainers for SEO in Ireland might vary from €200 to over €10,000.
What is the Suitable Budget for SEO?
SEO is composed of 4 core areas: On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, Technical SEO and Content. If you have an SEO budget of €500 per month, you could get decent results within 6 months which would set a foundation for future improvement. Bigger budgets will improve overall SEO efforts and should in turn see better results.
Some SEO budget examples:
Up to €500: With a budget up to €500 per month for SEO, you could get on-page SEO optimisation on an ongoing basis, technical SEO, blog posting, off-page link building (getting backlinks from websites), as well as having your Google My Business profile optimised.
Between €500 to €1000: For mid range budgets between €500 to €1000 per month, you could have on-page SEO, off-page SEO (link building), technical SEO, Google My Business profile optimisation and blog posting. The difference of price would be attributed to three main things: Backlink quality, blog posting quantity and quality & hours dedicated to your project. Good backlinking requires a lot of time and effort and that’s why companies will charge more for better quality and more backlinks. High quality blog posting isn’t cheap as copywriters with experience in SEO writing and blogging charge their fair share.
More than €1000: For budgets that are more than €1000, you would be able to get on-page SEO, technical SEO, off-page SEO, Google My Business profile optimisation and high quality blog posting. Again, with a bigger budget, you will be able to get better quality and more of the same SEO done for your website. Like purchasing a car, you can get a standard model for a cheaper price than the same model with extras, but it depends on what you require, and how much you would like to spend.
Freelancers vs Agencies vs In-House SEO
So you have a rough idea now of what is available and at what price but you’re unsure of whether you should contact a freelancer on a website like Fiverr or Upwork, hire an SEO agency in Ireland or to let your in-house marketing team do the job. Here are the pros and cons of each.
Freelancer SEO – Pros and Cons
Freelancers can be a great option for your websites SEO if you are looking to save some money and only hire on a one-off basis for a specific job which you know what needs to be done. They are flexible, you can have a rough idea of their experience and work quality by checking their reviews on freelancing websites, and you can change freelancer easily as there are no strings attached. However, as freelancers are ‘one-man bands’, their turnaround time will be slower, they may only have expertise in specific areas of SEO and they may not be as reliable as an agency.
Pros: Cheaper, no contract, flexibility, can get specific freelancers for specific jobs
Cons: Project turnaround time, limited expertise, reliability
Agency SEO – Pros and Cons
Agencies offering SEO offer both pros and cons. While agencies offer greater expertise in multiple areas of SEO, may have more experience and can do jobs quicker and better, that comes at a cost. They will be more expensive than freelancers and you will likely be tied to a ongoing contract where you will have SEO done in accordance to what you have agreed.
Pros: Expertise, experience, accountability, turnaround time, tools / software
Cons: Cost, tied to a contract, lack of flexibility
In-house SEO done by your own marketing team – Pros and Cons
While it may seem a no-brainer to get your already employed marketing team or other employees to look after your SEO, please be mindful that you don’t do more harm than good for your SEO. Make sure that they follow SEO best practices (tips on SEO) and don’t follow black-hat SEO techniques (SEO practices that help in the short term but will affect your website in the long term).
Pros: Full autonomy, flexibility, already have the employees so costs can be managed better
Cons: May not be experienced in SEO, may be doing more harm than good
*Very important: SEO is a complicated marketing practice and requires know-how and experience. Please do not implement black-hat SEO techniques which may cause Google to de-index your site. If you are link building, never ever ever buy cheap backlinks from Fiverr or somewhere else. While you may think that buying 1,000 links on Fiverr for €20 seems like a great deal, this will do more harm than good for your website and you would be better not to buy links at all. Good quality backlinks are not cheap and definitely won’t be sold on Fiverr in the bucket load!
How Much Does Google Charge for SEO?
Google provides distinct paid services; SEO is the process of improving your website to rank higher in search results, hence it is not directly charged for by Google. SEO is enhancing the backlinks, structure, and content of your page to satisfy Google’s often shifting algorithms. Although Google offers free to use tools like:
- Google Search Console: A free tool for tracking Google search result visibility on your website.
- Google Analytics: is a free tool that monitors and reports website traffic, therefore enabling you to better grasp user behavior and the success of your SEO plan.
Google’s business model relies heavily on advertising revenue. They don’t offer clear guidance for SEO and change their algorithm on an ongoing basis. It probably makes sense when you realise that over 75% of Google’s revenue in 2023 came from Google Ad revenue!
So, where do I go from here?
As us Irish know, “there are many ways to skin a cat” and that also applies to SEO. There are different options for you depending on factors like: your budget, goals and timeline for results.
If you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss your website’s SEO, feel free to contact us!
