Let me tell you something that will make agency owners uncomfortable: I know their margins.
When you run AuthoritySpecialist.com, manage 4,000+ writers, and operate the Specialist Network, you see the raw unit economics. You learn that a link your agency charges $400 for costs them $47 to acquire. You discover that the 'senior strategist' on your account is actually three junior VAs in different time zones.
Here's my confession: I used to price packages the same way everyone else does — based on what the market would bear. Then I realized I was part of the problem.
Most SEO services packages are fiction. They're constructed by working backward from an agency's rent payment, not forward from what your site needs to rank. The Bronze/Silver/Gold structure exists because it's easy to sell, not because it's effective to execute.
I hold a deeply contrarian view: cold outreach is a dying game. The real play is building authority so magnetic that clients chase you. But you can't build that on a 'Bronze Package' budget that allocates $200 to content — roughly the cost of one mediocre article that'll rank for nothing.
In the next 14 minutes, I'm going to do something reckless for my industry: I'm going to show you the actual math. The 'Retention Economics.' The operational costs that agencies pretend don't exist. And I'll prove why paying $500/month for 24 months ($12,000) often produces worse results than paying $3,000/month for 6 months ($18,000).
By the end, you'll know exactly whether your current agency is building assets for you — or simply renting you their time until you notice nothing's working.
Key Takeaways
- 1Those 'Gold/Silver/Bronze' tiers? They're optimized for agency profit margins, not your rankings. I'll show you the math.
- 2If someone offers 10 links for $500, they're selling you a future penalty. I've cleaned up enough of these messes to know.
- 3Real SEO pricing has exactly three variables: Content Depth × Link Velocity × Technical Debt. Everything else is theater.
- 4I call it 'The Month 3 Cliff'—agencies charging mid-tier prices often ghost you after the initial flurry. Demand a 12-month roadmap on Day 1.
- 5You're not paying for hours. You're paying for my Rolodex—access to 4,000 writers, publisher relationships, and tools that cost $2,000/month to maintain.
- 6The dirty secret: 'Link Placement Fees' and 'Content Refresh' charges that mysteriously appear outside your retainer. I'll teach you to spot them.
- 7My 'Content as Proof' approach costs more upfront. It also cuts your customer acquisition cost by 40% within 18 months. Pick your pain.
- 8Setup fees are legitimate exactly once: when they include a technical audit I could sell separately for $3,000. Otherwise, you're paying for their CRM data entry.