How Much Does SEO Cost in Florida?

How Much Does SEO Cost in Florida?

Many factors go into the costs of SEO, both geographic and demographic. All types of SEO plans also exist no matter which SEO agency is chosen. To break down Florida in general, however, the best that can be done is an average. A service business that is a national chain with a location in Florida will need more advanced SEO as more keywords will need to be targeted, while a small business selling only local products needs less SEO to hit the first page of Google and all the other Search Engines.

SEO pricing, with all its variables, follows the pricing guides of the locations in Florida from which a company operates. Some higher-end areas like Mar A Lago, which is a resort location and home to many billionaires, have a higher cost of living and therefore SEO companies have greater expenses in upkeep.

As a starting point in Florida, however, the cost of good SEO can range from $250 to $5000 a month for local SEO as there is less competition for the keywords due to the specific targeting, while national SEO can range from $750 to $10,000 per month. This is just a starting point as packages exist as do different types of SEO work.

Approximate costs of Miami SEO

Miami SEO can also reflect that of the city’s overall cost of living. Since Miami is more diverse, the costs can be “slightly” more affordable than other places in Florida, due to a very minuscule lower cost of living. The overall cost of living in Miami is about 10 percent higher than that of other cities in Florida, as it is a huge metropolis. All companies, including SEO companies, will show variations in pricing due to the cost of goods and services as well as the salaries of employees.

Orlando SEO costs evaluation

Orlando is the County seat of Florida, and if seeking SEO affordable services especially local SEO it can be a good place to start looking for SEO in Florida. A simple search will reveal that of all the locations in Florida, there is a real dearth of SEO companies. Some are listed as Marketing Agencies, but because of the sheer number of SEO companies existing within Orlando, the pricing can be more affordable. Research however is needed.

Tampa Bay area SEO possible costs

Searches of the demographics of Tampa will show that the median household income is lower than that of many other cities in Florida. Smaller businesses such as cigar shops and “mom and pop” stores are common so the keywords would be more local and not as competitive. While many SEO companies exist, there are special one-time-only deals with some packages starting at just $99 a month. Miracles at that price probably should not be expected, but if someone is seeking “mild” SEO it could be a consideration.

Fort Lauderdale SEO costs can end up high

With a primarily blue-collar population, the demographics show that most industries are automotive, and hospitality related, with high competition keywords needed that are localized. The best prediction that can be made on costs of SEO in Fort Lauderdale is to expect to pay at least $399 a month for SEO that is at least moderately effective. Next to automotive industries, some brokerages exist which are white-collar and in competition with each other as the population is under 200,000. It is a smaller area with much competition for only a few types of businesses.

Jacksonville SEO is unique in cost and approach

This is because Jacksonville itself is unique not just within Florida but within the USA. The landmass is 14 percent larger than the rest of Florida and all other locations in the USA. The demographics show an increase in population by 45 percent in the last decade, and millions of individuals live in Jacksonville. Businesses that thrive here are hospitality and sports, with many universities located in Jacksonville. The SEO firms in Jacksonville are advertising mostly SEO audits and “fixes” of SEO flaws as it seems that SEO is common in Jacksonville, with simple site audits being only $119.95. That does not include any work on a site, however.

The above information is very diverse according to location as much goes into the process of SEO. With that said here are a few guides.

How to estimate SEO costs?

There are many factors:

  • History of a website (how long it has existed)
  • The competitiveness of the keywords
  • The number of competitors
  • How many quality backlinks need to be found
  • How many times new content is added

The Search Engines, especially Google loves good, relevant content and the more times it is added the more times a site is crawled by the Search Engine Spiders which bumps up the rankings.

How much does performance-based SEO cost?

This is a tough question as performance-based SEO companies vary and tactics are not transparent.

Questions to ask before committing to this type:

  • How much is the set-up fee if there is one?
  • Is there PPC (Pay-Per-Click) used to achieve quick rankings?
  • Once the 30-, 60-, or 90-days period is over what happens then?

The advantage of performance-based SEO is that a customer can cancel at any time and many companies promise a full money-back guarantee. There is no long-term contract, and all audits are free as the report.

The disadvantages are that unless a budget is set entirely, and PPC is used, a huge bill can be run-up. In addition, once the rankings are achieved, and the SEO stops, a website drops like a stone in the rankings.

According to AHREFs, a website authority, it takes approximately 2 years to rank on the first page for any keyword, so although instant rankings are promised by performance-based companies, any website owner should look carefully before jumping into these services. Another disadvantage could also be link-building from sites that are questionable in nature. While this might get past Google initially eventually non-relevant, “purchased” links can get a site dropped or banned entirely.

How much does a monthly SEO retainer cost?

There is a wide discrepancy in these costs. Most companies have at least a minimum fee of 250 dollars, but most want several hundred, with some big-name companies commanding tens of thousands of dollars monthly depending on work needed and the competition of the keywords.

The advantages of monthly retainer SEO services are that they can be cancelled also at any time and clients can assess their budgets and stay within that budget. Clients can also upgrade or downgrade at any time.

The disadvantages are the same as performance-based SEO as when the services stop the rankings immediately drop.

How much do SEO projects cost?

Overall, this is extremely variable. As a site grows the costs increase. That is what SEO is for, to increase exposure. The longer a business is IN business, the more it scales up as well.

The advantages of starting slowly if new to SEO are that a client gains experience and the site becomes higher ranked organically if a good SEO company is chosen. A budget must be in mind though initially.

The disadvantages of starting with a low budget are that rankings are obtained slowly while trying out a too high budget can cause a financial loss.

The “true” answer is that there is no solid answer!

How much does hourly SEO cost?

A high-end SEO firm can charge hundreds of dollars per hour. A smaller firm just starting a fraction of that. If a website already is experiencing decent rankings, going offshore or using a freelance SEO specialist to maintain the rankings can save thousands of dollars.

The larger companies of course have the advantage of being vetted usually and years of experience behind them. The smaller companies or freelancers might not have the experience to maintain rankings.

Categories of SEO packages

All companies can call the packages different names, such as beginner, pro, and advanced, or Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, etc., but the smaller the package the less content, fewer backlinks, fewer reports, and less follow up.

General Pricing:

  • Low-Cost Packages range from $200 to $500 per month depending upon the size of a site
  • Mid-Cost Packages, again depending upon the size of the site run from $2000 to $4000 per month
  • High-Cost Packages are generally needed for large sites with many locations and cost $5000 to $20,000 or even more per month

How much does an SEO audit cost?

Some SEO companies will do a very general audit that is not in-depth for free if a visitor to their site gives up their email and phone number, but the cost is emails and phone calls. In-depth audits can range from $200 and up depending upon the size of the site and even the number of pictures on a site as this also must be factored into SEO. The “free” audits are not very useful as the data is sparse.

How much do backlinks cost?

There are several types of backlinks, and the best are relevant and original links to high authority sites.

  • Outreach guest posting writing or submitting an article to a high authority site to create a link back. This is the best type of organic link building. Some guest posting sites are free while others have a signup fee.
  • Press Releases to quality press release sites create another sort of backlinks and are free on many online PR sites.
  • Links to videos that are relevant to a site or creating a video. Costs vary from free to a few hundred for an explainer video which is quite the rage now and favored by Google.
  • PBN Postings. These are Private Blog Network Postings and are not favored by Google. Can be considered a black hat technique as these postings are done between networks or blogs that post each other’s links.
  • Local Citations. These do create a link but are outbound only and more of a reference-type link.
  • Directory Listings. These can help enormously in linkbacks.
  • Google Maps Listings. These are almost essential lately for the best in SEO linkbacks.

Small business SEO is different from Enterprise SEO or e-Commerce

  • Small business SEO is usually localized and may not need a great deal of SEO as other marketing efforts are in place.
  • e-Commerce SEO is a must as all sales occur online. Without SEO no one sees an offering in an eCommerce site no matter whether goods or services are being sold.
  • Enterprise SEO should not be left to a freelancer or new company as it entails a large scale offering to a large-scale audience. The best SEO company with Enterprise SEO experience should be chosen for these types of projects which can have universities and healthcare operations which need SEO.

Final thought

With the absolute abundance of “30 days to top rankings” ads online these days, one must be careful when choosing the type of SEO needed and most importantly the company. SEO is not a quick fix in any way, and no one can guarantee rankings. A quality SEO company will simply give an estimate on cost and have several packages and offerings to choose from, either paying by the hour, the month, or a recurring package. While some PPC can be used initially to bump up rankings quickly, organic results save money in the long run. A good rule of thumb is to use good judgment, choose cautiously, ask for references and view testimonials, and of course, check the SEO Company’s rankings. If they get most of their rankings via PPC and not organically chances, are they are not good at achieving organic rankings.

Florida is so diverse in population, density, businesses and land mass that the costs of SEO in Florida are just as diverse and anyone seeking SEO services there needs to step cautiously and research completely.