Search 'SEO pricing' and you'll drown in tables showing $500 to $50,000 ranges with zero explanation of *why*. It's pricing theater designed to confuse you into overpaying.
I'm Martial Notarangelo. I built AuthoritySpecialist.com and the Specialist Network not by writing checks to fancy agencies, but by rolling up my sleeves — 800+ pages of content, 4,000+ writers managed, countless late nights staring at spreadsheets calculating cost-per-link.
Here's what that taught me: I know the exact wholesale cost of a 2,000-word article written by a subject matter expert. I know what a DR70 backlink actually costs to acquire before the markup. And I know that when you sign a $5,000/month SEO contract, you're usually buying two very different things: the actual assets (content, links, technical fixes) and someone else's rent, commissions, and profit margins.
Most businesses are hemorrhaging cash on the second category while starving the first.
This isn't another pricing guide. It's a forensic breakdown of SEO economics from someone who's operated on both sides of the invoice. By the end, you'll know exactly how to audit any proposal and ensure your money funds rankings — not someone's office espresso machine.
Key Takeaways
- 1The Dirty 70/30 Split: Most SEO retainers are 30% actual work and 70% agency overhead. I've seen the invoices. I've run the numbers. This is the industry's open secret.
- 2The $1,000 Trap: Sub-$1,000 packages are digital landmines. The links they build today become the penalties you pay to remove tomorrow. I've watched businesses spend $15K cleaning up $500/month 'SEO.'
- 3Assets Over Hours: Stop counting hours. Start counting pages and links. That's what moves rankings. Everything else is theater.
- 4The Missing Link Budget: If your proposal doesn't show a specific dollar amount for link acquisition, you're getting press releases and prayers—not competitive authority building.
- 5The Month 4-6 Coast: Agencies front-load work to impress you, then cruise on maintenance mode. Demand consistent velocity metrics, not just 'ongoing optimization.'
- 6The 'Dental SEO' Tax: Niche specialists often charge premium prices for template strategies. A skilled generalist with proven processes frequently delivers more value for less.
- 7Zero-Upfront Alternative: Sometimes the smartest SEO investment is $0 upfront. Affiliate structures and performance deals exist—agencies just don't volunteer them.