What each service costs
These are typical agency rates for an established local business, per month. Freelancers often charge less; big markets and multiple locations run higher. Untick anything you don't need and the total updates.
| Include | Service | Per month | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| $200 to $600 | Site size, how many edits are included | ||
| $1,500 to $5,000 | How competitive your market is, number of locations, content volume | ||
| $500 to $2,000 | Your ad spend and number of campaigns; often 10 to 20% of spend with a minimum | ||
| $1,000 to $3,000 | Platforms, posts a month, how much video | ||
| $1,500 to $5,000 | Pieces a month and how much research each one takes | ||
| $500 to $2,500 | List size, sends a month, automated sequences | ||
| $300 to $1,500 | Locations, platforms watched, how replies are handled | ||
| $1,000 to $3,500 | How many AI tools are tracked, content and citation work | ||
| Full program, first seven services | a month | ||
A new website is a one-time project on top: about $6,000 to $15,000 from an agency for a small-business site with a content system, more for large or custom builds. Spread over the first year, that adds $500 to $1,250 a month.
Ad spend is not in any of these numbers. The money you pay Google or Meta for clicks is separate from what the agency charges to run the ads. When you budget, count both.
Where $5,000 to $20,000+ a month comes from
That range is the full program added up, not a guess. The core four (website care, SEO, ads, and social) come to about $3,200 to $10,600 a month at agency rates. Add content, email, and reviews and it is about $5,500 to $19,600. Add AI search optimization and the top reaches about $23,100. That is the "+".
It also explains why a quote for one service can come in far below that range without anyone being wrong. A $1,500 SEO retainer and a $15,000 full program are different purchases. When you compare quotes, compare what is included, line by line.
We publish every one of our prices next to the work it buys.
Compare it to what we chargeHow agencies charge
The quote in your hand is almost always one of five models, and each one tells you something.
- Monthly retainer. The most common by far. In a survey of 439 SEO providers, 78% charged this way, and a 2025 survey of agencies found 85% prefer it. A fixed monthly fee for an agreed scope. Ask exactly what the scope is.
- Project fee. For one-time work: a website, an audit, a launch. The price should come with a list of what you get and how many revisions are included.
- Hourly. Less common for ongoing work; it shows up mostly for small add-on tasks. Ask for an estimate and a cap.
- Percent of ad spend. The standard for ads management, usually 10 to 20% of what you spend on ads, with a monthly minimum. It means the fee grows as your ad budget grows.
- Pay for results. Rare. In one small survey of 135 agencies, about 6% used it at all, and usually as a bonus on top of a regular fee.
Whatever the model, ask four things before you sign: what is included, what costs extra, how long the contract runs, and who owns the accounts.
What moves your price
- Who does the work. A freelancer costs less than an agency, and an agency usually costs less than an internal team on your staff. A marketing specialist in the U.S. earns a median of $78,760 a year, and a marketing manager $166,790 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025). Benefits add about 43% on top of wages, so one specialist costs about $9,400 a month all in, before software or ad spend.
- How many services and platforms. Every channel added is more work every month.
- How many locations. Each location has its own listings, reviews, and local pages.
- How competitive your market is. The cost of a lead from ads varies about fivefold from one industry to another, and the same is true of the effort it takes to rank.
- Your goal. Holding steady costs less than taking market share.
- Your ad spend. Bigger budgets take more managing, and many fees are a percentage of it.
Freelancer, agency, or an internal team?
A freelancer is one person, and hiring one is a real step up from doing it yourself. When you are just starting out, it is often the right move.
But one person cannot be an expert in SEO, ads, social, email, and your website at the same time. When they are sick, booked up, or move on, the work stops. And nobody checks their work before you see it.
Once steady revenue is coming in and you have grown from a solo operator into a business owner, your marketing should grow up too: to professionals. That means an internal team on your staff, or an agency that is a real business like yours. You wouldn't hire a freelancer to put a new roof on your house; you'd hire an insured roofing company.
An internal team gives you people who work only for you, at about $9,400 a month for one specialist before software and ad spend. An agency gives you a team of specialists, often for about what one internal hire costs. A freelancer costs the least, and can do the least.
How much should you spend?
Treat marketing like taxes: a set-aside, funded first, before anything new and shiny. 5% of revenue is the floor, 7 to 8% is the standard for an established business (the U.S. Small Business Administration's guidance for businesses under $5 million in revenue), and 10 to 15% is for growth.
A $2 million business at 7.5% has about $12,500 a month for all of it, ad spend included. At agency rates, that buys one or two services, not the full program. That gap is the problem we built MPower to solve.
The full method: the tiers in dollars, what to fund first, and how to plan by the year and the quarter.
Read the budget guideIs it worth hiring a marketing agency?
Yes, when you can see what it brings in. A good agency can tell you how many calls, form leads, and booked jobs came from its work, and what each lead cost. If you are paying every month and nobody can answer those questions, you are paying for activity, not results.
It is also worth it when the price leaves room in your marketing budget. If one service eats the whole budget, nothing is left for anything else, and most businesses need more than one thing working at once: ads that bring in calls this month, and SEO that keeps them coming next year.
How to tell if a marketing agency is legit
A good agency passes every one of these. Ask before you sign, or ask the one you have now.
- You get the price in writing before you sign, with what costs extra spelled out.
- You own your accounts. Your website, domain, Google Business Profile, and ad accounts are in your name, and you keep them if you leave.
- They report leads and cost per lead, not just impressions and clicks.
- No guaranteed rankings. Google itself says it plainly: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google."
- You can leave. Month to month, or a short term stated up front, with a clear notice period.
- They can explain last month's work in plain English, and why it matters to your phone ringing.
What we charge for the same work
We publish every price, so you can hold us to this guide. SEO plans run $497, $997, or $1,397 a month with no setup fee. A custom-coded website starts at $1,500 plus $199 a month, with hosting, security, and unlimited edits included. An AI receptionist that answers every call starts at $47 a month. The same kinds of work, priced so an established local business can run multiple engines at once.