Most SEO pricing pages refuse to give numbers. Here are the real ranges for 2026, what each option actually includes, and where the money hides.
| Option | Typical UK cost | What you get, honestly |
|---|---|---|
| Agency retainer | £800 to £5,000/mo | A team, a strategy, monthly reports. Quality varies enormously; contracts of 6 to 12 months are common. |
| Freelancer | £300 to £1,500/mo | One person’s hours. Brilliant when they are brilliant; fragile when they are busy. |
| Tools, you drive | £95 to £199/mo + your hours | Semrush from £95.07 a month, Ahrefs from £99 (their own prices, checked September 2026). The tool tells you what to do; the doing is yours. |
| Done-for-you with approval (Dhucha) | £39 to £249/mo | Research, pages, posts, listings and plain-English weekly reporting, everything approved by you before it publishes. No contract. |
The free Dhucha scan reads your website, your Google listing and your rivals, and shows the searches worth money in your trade. One minute, no sign-up.
Run my free SEO checkAgencies typically charge £800 to £5,000 a month for small business retainers. Freelancers commonly £300 to £1,500. Tools you drive yourself run £95 to £199 a month plus your hours. Done-for-you services like Dhucha run £39 to £249 a month.
Cheap usually means volume content or bought links, both of which Google’s policies now target directly. Judge any offer by what is actually produced, whether you approve it, and whether the numbers reported are real.
The tools are free (Search Console, Google Business Profile) and the method is public. The cost is around four focused hours a week, indefinitely. Our DIY SEO guide gives you the honest plan.