WHITO GLOSSARY · MEASURED DEFINITIONS
A fixed monthly fee for ongoing search engine optimisation work. UK businesses typically pay £500 to £2,000 a month, with local-only campaigns from £300, and prices up 15 to 30% since 2024.
The number: UK SEO Costs.
What it means in practice
The common mistake is buying a retainer before the site has pages worth ranking. SEO multiplies what already exists. It cannot rank pages that are not there, and a monthly fee does not change that.
Ask for the deliverables in writing, then check the fee against the published band before you sign. If the number sits outside it, the seller owes you a reason.
Whito stage: Build. Buy this once the foundations are set, not before.
The numbers to hold onto
- UK SEO prices are up 15 to 30% since 2024, with local work from £300 a month. UK SEO Costs.
- The median entry SEO package is £447 a month; the median across all published SEO prices is £799. UK Marketing Cost Calculator.
- 69.5% of UK Google searches now end without a click, so agree what success looks like beyond rankings. SEO Spend and Zero-Click UK.
Where to go next
- Check an SEO quote against published prices
- UK SEO costs, the full research
- What zero-click search does to SEO spend
Related: PPC management fee, Cost per click (CPC), Agency retainer