How much does SEO cost in Australia?
About $1,500 to $2,500 a month for a small business with an agency, $2,500 to $5,000 in a competitive market, and from $5,000 for national or ecommerce work, on the guides Australian agencies published in 2025 and 2026. What each band buys in hours, what a $300 package cannot do, where AI search fits in the same bill, what doing it yourself costs, and eight months of search numbers from a client on a new domain.
- Small business
- $1,500–2,500 a month
- Competitive
- $2,500–5,000 a month
- National
- from $5,000 a month
- Agency hour
- $150–250
- Audit
- $2,000–5,000, once
- In-house
- about $98,000 a year
- Price
- see our own price list
What Australian agency guides published in 2025 and 2026, mostly before GST.
Australia · 2026$1,500 to $2,500 a month for a small business, and the hours are the real price.
The pricing guides Australian SEO agencies published in 2025 and 2026, twenty of them, agree on $1,500 to $2,500 a month for a small or local business, $2,500 to $5,000 in a competitive industry or across several locations, and from $5,000 for national, ecommerce or enterprise work, usually before GST. Agency time costs $150 to $250 an hour, so the bands are really hours: $1,500 buys six to ten a month, $500 buys two or three, which is why packages under about $800 lean on automated reports and directory or bookmarking links. A one-off audit is $2,000 to $5,000 and a site migration $3,000 to $10,000. Doing it yourself costs the tools, from US$29 a month for Ahrefs' starter plan to US$139 for Semrush, and Google says a small local business can probably do much of the work itself. A full-time specialist costs about $98,000 a year with super. AI search belongs in the same bill, not a second one: Google calls optimising for its AI features "still SEO", and Search Console has reported AI Overview and AI Mode impressions for free since 31 August 2026. Our programme starts at $1,000 a month, and the audit is free.
What each band buys.
What Australian agencies publish for each level of SEO, and what that money buys in hours. These are the market's figures, not ours; our prices and a client's results are further down.
| A month | What that buys | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| A month under $800 A package | What that buys A fixed list. A few keywords tracked, two pages optimised, a monthly report, and links from directories, bookmarking sites and "search engine submissions". Some automate an article a fortnight and build no links at all. | Who it suits A business that wants a report to read. Google calls mass submissions useless and lists low-quality directory and bookmark links as link spam. |
| A month $800–1,500 Entry, done by a person | What that buys The basics, with someone accountable. A technical check, on-page fixes, a Google Business Profile looked after, and a few hours of content or local work. | Who it suits A sole trader or a single-suburb business in a quiet category. |
| A month $1,500–2,500 A small business, properly Where we sit | What that buys Six to sixteen hours a month. Technical fixes, two to four pages or articles, local and Business Profile work, links earned rather than bought, and a report you can check against your own Search Console. | Who it suits Most small and local businesses. The guides converge here, and most put the floor for real results at $1,000 to $1,500. |
| A month $2,500–5,000 A competitive market | What that buys More content, digital PR and link earning, several locations or a whole region, and a senior strategist's time each month. | Who it suits Law, finance, health, trades in the big cities, and businesses with more than one site. |
| A month $5,000+ National, ecommerce or enterprise | What that buys Catalogues and sites with thousands of pages, technical SEO at scale, digital PR, and a team rather than a person. | Who it suits National retailers, ecommerce brands, enterprises. |
| A month $2,000–5,000, once An audit | What that buys A crawl, a technical review, the content and links read against the competition, and a list of fixes in order, priced. Large sites run to $10,000 or more. | Who it suits Anyone about to redesign, migrate or hire an agency. |
| A month $3,000–10,000+, once A migration | What that buys Every old address redirected, the titles and structure that rank kept, and Search Console watched for weeks after launch. | Who it suits Anyone changing platform or domain. |
From 20 Australian agency pricing guides published or updated between June 2025 and October 2026, read on 11 October 2026; most quote before GST, half never say, and several copy each other's figures. Hours are our arithmetic at the $150 to $250 an hour the same guides quote. We start at $1,000 a month, below this band, and most of our programmes land between $1,000 and $2,500.
A new business, a new domain, eight months of search.
774
visits from search in September
against 120 in March, the store's first full month
14%
of all visits came from search
in September, against 3% in March. Paid social still brought 58%
55%
of search visits began on a cap or a collection
July to September, rather than on the home page
Made Quiet's Google Analytics, read on 11 October 2026: visits are sessions in the Organic Search channel, 98% of them from Google. Made Quiet sells premium sports caps, and was a new business on a new domain when its store opened in February 2026. It engaged us for that store, a headless Shopify build of six working days, and for its SEO. Paid social brings most of its visits, and some people who see an ad search the name later, so not every search visit is SEO's doing. ChatGPT has sent 26 visits since July.
What the tools cost, if you do it yourself.
Two of Google's tools are free and do most of the measuring. The paid suites add keyword research, competitor data and rank tracking. Prices read on 11 October 2026, in US dollars unless shown.
| Tool | What for | Cheapest plan | The next one |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | What for Clicks, impressions, indexing, AI Overview impressions | Cheapest plan Free | The next one Free |
| Google Business Profile | What for Your listing in Maps and local results | Cheapest plan Free | The next one Free |
| Ahrefs | What for Keywords, competitors, backlinks | Cheapest plan US$29 a month, Starter | The next one US$129, Lite |
| Semrush | What for Keywords, rank tracking, site audit | Cheapest plan US$139 a month, US$117.33 billed yearly | The next one US$199 with AI search tracking |
| SE Ranking | What for Rank tracking and AI search, for agencies | Cheapest plan US$129 a month, US$103.20 billed yearly | The next one US$279, Growth |
| Moz Pro | What for Keywords and links | Cheapest plan US$49 a month, one site | The next one US$99, Standard |
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | What for Crawls your site for technical faults | Cheapest plan Free to 500 addresses | The next one £199 a year |
From each vendor's own pricing page, read on 11 October 2026; most take 17 to 20% off for paying yearly. Google says a small local business can probably do much of the work itself, starting with its free SEO Starter Guide.
Who does SEO in Australia, and what to ask them.
- 01
Previous work, with the numbers.
Google's own first question. Ask to see a current client's Search Console, shared with you, rather than a screenshot.
- 02
What results, by when, measured how.
Also Google's. An honest answer gives a range and names the metric: enquiries and sales from search, not positions alone.
- 03
Every change they will make to your site.
Google says to expect each change shared with its reasoning. If they cannot explain it, they should not ship it.
- 04
Where the links will come from.
Directories, bookmarking and "submissions" are what Google's spam policy calls link spam. Earned mentions take longer and last.
- 05
AI advice that matches Google's.
Google added this question in June 2026. Advice that sells special files or markup for AI is advice Google says it does not use.
- 06
We do.
Croissant & Baguette is a small Sydney studio with a network of Australian specialists, developers first, so a technical fix ships in your code rather than a report. The audit costs nothing but a 20-minute call, and the receipt on this page comes from an SEO client's own analytics.
Built in Sydney, never offshored. The programme starts at $1,000 a month.
What we charge.
- Free AI visibility and website report emailed within the hour · shareable link
- free
- AI Visibility Audit with a 20-minute call · one per business
- free
- GEO & SEO programme 3-month min · typically $1–2.5k a month
- from $1,000/mo
- Technical SEO fixes only one-off · existing sites · typically $2–6k
- from $2,000
What moves the programme above $1,000:
- how many services and locations need pages of their own
- the competition in your category, measured on the audit's own questions
- how much the site needs fixing before content can do its work
- whether the work reaches beyond the site, to listings and earned mentions
Why we start at $1,000, not $300
Because $300 buys two hours at most at Australian agency rates, which is a report. $1,000 is one market and one core service with the work actually done, the fixes deployed, the pages written, the listings claimed and the number reported each month. Software does the measuring, which is why the audit is free and the fee goes on the fixing.
Prices exclude GST. The programme has a three-month minimum; the report and the audit are free.
Ask away.
Eight things people ask before they pay for SEO. Still one missing? Ask us.
How much does SEO usually cost?
$1,500 to $2,500 a month for a small Australian business with an agency, on the pricing guides agencies published in 2025 and 2026, with $2,500 to $5,000 in a competitive market and from $5,000 for national or ecommerce work, usually before GST. Hourly rates run $150 to $250 and a one-off audit $2,000 to $5,000. A global survey of 439 providers by Ahrefs puts the average at about US$2,900 a month.
Why is SEO so expensive?
Because it is skilled hours at $150 to $250 each in Australia, and $1,500 a month buys six to ten of them across technical fixes, content and earning links, none of which is quick. Against a $300 package, which buys two hours at most and usually a report, it looks dear. Against a full-time specialist, about $98,000 a year with super at SEEK's October 2026 median, it is cheap.
Is SEO still worth it in 2026?
Yes, for most businesses whose customers search before they buy, but the arithmetic has changed. Where Google shows an AI Overview, the top result now gets 58% fewer clicks than it did in 2023, in Ahrefs' study of 300,000 keywords. The pages that win are the ones the answer quotes, and Google says optimising for its AI features is still SEO: one bill, aimed at both.
Can I do SEO on my own?
Much of it, according to Google, which says a small local business can probably do much of the work itself, starting with its free SEO Starter Guide. Search Console and Business Profile are free; Ahrefs starts at US$29 a month and Semrush at US$139. The hard parts alone are the technical layer and the hours: new content, fixes and links, every month, for months.
How much should I budget for SEO?
Budget the hours, not the package. $1,500 a month buys six to ten hours of agency time in Australia, enough for one market done properly; $2,500 to $5,000 covers a competitive one; below about $800, expect reports rather than work. Allow six months before you judge it, and judge it on enquiries and sales from search rather than on rankings.
How long does SEO take to work?
Weeks for a fix to register, months for rankings. Google's Starter Guide says some changes take effect in a few hours and others take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging. In Ahrefs' study, 1.74% of newly published pages reached Google's top 10 within a year. Google removed its old "four months to a year" line from its advice in June 2026.
Can ChatGPT do SEO?
It can draft, research and check, and it is good at all three. It cannot change your site's code, earn links, or know what customers in your town ask. Google's spam policy names generating many pages with AI tools without adding value as scaled content abuse, so ChatGPT used to write faster is fine; used to write more, it is a risk to the site.
Who is the best SEO in Australia?
Nobody can say without your market: the right agency for a Sydney law firm is rarely the right one for a national store. Put Google's own questions to anyone on your shortlist: previous work with numbers, what results by when and measured how, and every change they will make. We would put ourselves forward for technical SEO and AI visibility, with a client's search numbers on this page.
Sources
Read on 11 October 2026. The agency guides behind the market bands are not named, by our own rule.
- 01 Do you need an SEO? Google Search Central · updated 5 June 2026
- 02 Guide to optimizing for generative AI features Google Search Central · updated 10 July 2026
- 03 Spam policies for Google web search Google Search Central · link spam and scaled content
- 04 SEO Starter Guide Google Search Central · how long changes take
- 05 Generative AI performance report Search Console Help · worldwide since 31 August 2026
- 06 SEO pricing survey Ahrefs · 439 providers, updated August 2024
- 07 AI Overviews reduce clicks, 2026 update Ahrefs · 300,000 keywords, February 2026
- 08 How long does it take to rank in Google? Ahrefs · May 2025
- 09 SEO Specialist salary in Australia SEEK · October 2026
- 10 Super guarantee rate ATO · 12% from 1 July 2025
- 11 Semrush pricing Semrush · SEO and AI search plans
- 12 Ahrefs pricing Ahrefs · Starter to Enterprise
- SEO & AI Visibility. The free audit, the programme, and the number we report every month.
- AI visibility reporting costs. What it costs to know whether AI answers name you, from nothing to a programme.
- SEO or AI visibility? What each optimises for, how each is measured, and which to lead with now.
- Technical SEO. Crawling, speed, structured data and AI crawler access, fixed in the code.