SEO retainer
A business that wants steady growth from search.
Flat monthly fee, no long contract. Never by the hour. That is £0.50 under the median of 338 published prices.
- Keyword plan and technical fixes
- New and improved pages every month
- Monthly report on rankings, traffic and enquiries
- No long contract
How long: Monthly, rolling
What other agencies charge for SEO
| Who | Price | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ellul.ai | £449 | Monthly | Fixed, this page |
| Market median | £449.50 | Monthly | 338 published prices, middle half £297.50 to £800 |
| getatradeswebsite.co.uk | £39 | Monthly | their page read Nov 2026 |
| concoctt.com | £297 | Monthly | their page read Nov 2026 |
| goseoservices.uk | £449 | Monthly | their page read Nov 2026 |
| seobacklinks.co.uk | £450 | Monthly | their page read Oct 2026 |
| freelanceratecalculator.net | £800 | Monthly | their page read Oct 2026 |
| thegeekonomy.com | £4,972 | Monthly | their page read Oct 2026 |
Prices as each agency publishes them on its own site, read November 2026. Most are "from" prices. All 338 with sources.
What people say they paid
- £30 (Paid)“I subscribe to one and pay £30 a month and haven't seen any improvement in the last 5 months of paying them.” r/smallbusinessuk
- £39 (Charges (provider))“He then went on holiday and when he was back I proposed the £39/month service to post to his profile for him each week so he didn't have to worry about it, which he agreed to and he signed up and b...” r/smallbusinessuk
- £360 (Paid)“I've hired an SEO company who are charging me £360 a month for 3 article style paid backlinks each month plus some polish on the site here and there.” r/SEO
- £420 (Paid)“For the past 2 years he had an SEO guy who didn’t really seem to be doing much, switched to a new guy 7 months ago and is paying him £420 a month.” r/SEO
- £600 (Paid)“We started paying an SEO agency around July or August, at £600 a month.” r/smallbusinessuk
- £1,200 (Paid)“Been paying this seo agency £1200 + vat a month.” r/smallbusinessuk
How many people are asking for it
149 posts on Reddit asked to hire someone for SEO retainer between November 2025 and November 2026, 72 of them in the last 90 days, most on r/freelance_forhire, r/forhire, r/SEO. Three of them: request 1, request 2, request 3. Every service ranked. These are businesses looking to buy each service, not jobs we are offering: ellul.ai sells these services and does not recruit through this site.
What you supply
- Access to Google Search Console, Analytics and your site's editor
- The services, areas and customers you want to be found for
What the price does not cover
- Google decides rankings; the fee covers the work, not a position
- No links are bought; a full site rebuild is quoted separately
- Search results usually take months to move, not weeks
The rules that apply
- Google's spam policies class buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam, and say sites that break the policies may rank lower or not appear at all. Google Search Central: Spam policies
- Google's spam policies treat generating many pages mainly to manipulate search rankings as scaled content abuse. Google Search Central: Spam policies
How it works
Pick what you need
Choose a service and leave your details.
Get your fixed price
A written scope and price by email within a day.
Work gets done
Done in-house, once you approve the scope.
Questions
How much does SEO retainer cost?
SEO retainer costs £449 a month at ellul.ai, a fixed price agreed in writing before work starts. Other agencies publish a median of £449.50 a month for SEO (338 prices, middle half £297.50 to £800).
What is included?
Keyword plan and technical fixes. New and improved pages every month. Monthly report on rankings, traffic and enquiries. No long contract.
What do you need from me?
Access to Google Search Console, Analytics and your site's editor. The services, areas and customers you want to be found for.
What does it not cover?
Google decides rankings; the fee covers the work, not a position. No links are bought; a full site rebuild is quoted separately. Search results usually take months to move, not weeks.
Which rules apply to SEO retainer?
Google's spam policies class buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam, and say sites that break the policies may rank lower or not appear at all. (Google Search Central: Spam policies) Google's spam policies treat generating many pages mainly to manipulate search rankings as scaled content abuse. (Google Search Central: Spam policies)
How many people are looking for SEO retainer?
149 posts on Reddit asked to hire someone for SEO retainer between November 2025 and November 2026, 72 of them in the last 90 days, most on r/freelance_forhire, r/forhire, r/SEO. Every service ranked the same way: https://ellul.ai/demand
How long does it take?
Monthly, rolling. The written scope gives the timeline before anything starts.
Is it charged by the hour?
No. ellul.ai never charges by the hour or the day. Monthly work is a flat fee with no long contract.
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