SEO pricing isn't arbitrary, but it can feel that way when you're comparing proposals. The real cost drivers come down to four things: market competition, starting authority, scope of work, and who's doing it.
Market Competition
Ranking for "wedding videographer Los Angeles" is a fundamentally different challenge than ranking for "videographer Boise." In major metros, you're competing against studios with years of domain authority, active link profiles, and full-time content teams. That requires more sustained effort — which means higher monthly cost. In smaller or mid-size markets, the same budget goes further and gets there faster.
Starting Authority
If your site is brand new, has thin content, or has never had any SEO work done, there's baseline infrastructure to build before rankings move. That groundwork — technical fixes, foundational content, local citations — takes time and resources. Sites with some existing authority can build on it faster.
Scope of Work
Local SEO (ranking in your city's map pack and organic results) costs less than a full content and authority-building campaign targeting multiple service lines or regions. A production company trying to rank for commercial videography, event coverage, and corporate video across three cities needs a broader strategy — and a larger budget to match.
Who's Doing It
Freelance SEO specialists, boutique agencies, and full-service digital firms all price differently. Freelancers often offer lower monthly rates but may lack bandwidth for technical audits, content production, and link outreach simultaneously. Agencies bundle these but charge for the overhead. Neither is inherently better — it depends on what your site actually needs right now.
The honest takeaway: price reflects scope, not magic. Any proposal you receive should map clearly to deliverables, not just hours or vague "optimization work."