How Much To Charge For SEO Audit? (Know The Factors)

An SEO audit is like a check-up for your website’s entire health. Just as a doctor examines a patient to know the physical health condition, then a search engine optimization audit inspects your website to identify shortcomings that might affect its performance. 

It involves technical aspects such as page speed and mobile compatibility, on-site factors like content and keywords, or off-site elements such as backlinks.

Simply put, SEO audits are powerful tools for improving website performance. But if you are a service provider, how much to charge for SEO audit? 

If you don’t know how to set up a perfect price considering everything, don’t worry! We have everything ready for you! 

First Things First: Understanding SEO Audits

SEO audits are very important for online businesses. These detailed evaluations, in particular, help new businesses develop effective SEO plans. 

For instance, an SEO audit can help fix things like slow page load times, missing tags, and broken links. By focusing on the targeted audience, you will increase the reach of your site and its growth potential.

An SEO audit identifies issues that may be affecting the performance and visibility of your website and resolves them accordingly. 

If search engine optimization efforts on your website need some improvement, then consider starting with SEO audits first. The insightful information it provides can result in significant improvements in exposure and profits, too. 

Regular investments in search engine optimization will ensure that you will stay ahead of competitors by always keeping your site up-to-date.

The Importance Of An SEO Audit For Websites

SEO audits are necessary to succeed online. They help you find the issues that may bring down your site’s SEO. Often, problems include missing tags, broken links, and slow page loading speeds. 

When you correct these things, the weak points become the strengths of your website. Regular SEO audit is responsible for keeping your site’s optimization and visibility.

Startups should do an SEO audit first. At their start, it helps them implement good SEO strategies. You can fix any shortcomings discovered during an audit. 

This proactive strategy can have a significant impact on website performance and traffic.

Great things occur after a complete SEO audit has been performed properly. Thus, an SEO audit is not just about a regular check-up anymore. Through this powerful tool, you might improve your website’s visibility and performance- metrics that matter most for businesses online! 

How Long Does An SEO Audit Take?

An SEO audit usually lasts for about 30 to 45 days. This timeline allows you to analyze your site’s performance in depth. 

Nevertheless, it may take up to a week, but some agencies can halve that time. Prices tend to increase if you want the results sooner.

Another determinant is the size of the website. Ten or fifteen pages can be done auditing within one week. It is possible to address any problems faster because it will take less time.

The evaluation will be much more time-consuming if the website consists of 100+ pages. 

Thus, the longer it takes for the content in question to be reviewed, the greater the chance that this period exceeds even 45 days. A broad sweep of every aspect of a larger property demands an exhaustive search.

Types Of SEO Audit You Need To Know About 

SEO audits are not confined to one thing only; there are many types of audits. A few of them are: 

Technical SEO Audit

In a technical SEO audit, you have to review the site’s code and structure. It is analogous to a mechanic peering under the hood to ensure that the car is running well enough. 

During this SEO analysis, your website’s code will be examined in depth. It looks for incorrect HTTPS status codes, sluggish website performance, and adequate XML sitemap submission, among other things. 

These technical issues are what you need to fix to increase the visibility of your website on search engines. This is an extraordinary way of enhancing ranks and general performance.

Content Audit

Conducting a content audit would facilitate the rise of organic traffic. The usefulness, effectiveness, and quality of content on your website are evaluated through this process, keyword density, readability, and meta description quality being the three main sections that come under fire in this audit. 

This clarifies two things: Is it interesting what information you are adding? What is its SEO framework like? Overall, you can improve your content quality and gain more visitors by identifying the problems. 

Link Auditing

A link audit checks all the links pointing to your site, which are referred algorithmically by Google Panda Penguin updates or both. At this stage, search optimization tools analyze the number and quality of such links. 

The objective here is finding and removing spammy or otherwise harmful backlinks, as they can negatively influence your efforts at achieving a higher ranking on search engines. 

Regular verification of the authority and quality of backlinks becomes crucial for the site to rank well. Google penalizes manipulative links such as those from irrelevant or low-quality sites. 

These harmful backlinks must be identified and removed if one desires to continue enjoying high domain authority and improved search engine rankings.

Social Media Audit

In addition to social media audits, SEO can also be assessed by conducting a social audit. The strength of your social signals, engagement, and accounts across diverse platforms is evaluated during this process. 

Rather than waiting for serendipity to happen, it is advisable to assess your present state of affairs on the various social media platforms through which you ought to have audited by now to maximize visibility online.

How Much To Charge For SEO Audit? (With Price Models)

There are different types of price models available that you can choose from while setting up your charges. Typically, for an intermediate SEO audit, you should charge between $750 – $5,000, for an advanced audit, you can charge around $5,000 – $10,000, and for an enterprise-level audit, you can charge between $10,000 – $20,000.

Still, you can pick from the following pricing models and set your price depending on your services and preferences.

Hourly Charge

The cost of search engine optimization audits is determined hourly, so the client spends only on the service provided. The ability of customers to see where their money is going makes it transparent. While agency rates average about $134/hour, freelancing rates average around $68/hour. 

Fixed Price Packages

You can also go for fixed rates. Packages with fixed costs range from $1,500 to $2,500. These products may not fit every complex need, but they have a clear pricing strategy. Fees for agencies and consultants typically fall between $2,501 and $10,000, depending on project scope.

Retainer Model

This model provides ongoing SEO services at a monthly fee, usually over 3K dollars. Regular optimization and auditing of this model are endorsed. It comes in handy when you have to do frequent updates. 

Many agencies charge above 1K monthly for their retainer services; however, this varies significantly.

Value-Based Pricing

Value-based pricing in SEO means relating costs to anticipated ROI or value derived. This approach suits larger corporations that benefit from considerable revenue uplifts associated with SEO activities well. 

Smaller agencies or startups are not ideal candidates for this due to possible high costs and lack of transparency.

A Hybrid Approach

Hybrid has a base cost and additional fees for extra services. This model could work for different types of clients because it is adaptable. It suits organizations that wish to fulfill as many needs as possible and stay in business forever.

Factors Influencing The Cost Of An SEO Audit

Hmm, now the real deal begins. When you want to set up the price, you need to think about a lot of things, and your head might be clouded a bit. Here, we have put everything simply:

The Complexity 

The scope of the SEO audit affects how much it will cost. Instead, a simple audit, which may just look at the overall health of your site, can be more economical than a full one. 

Technical SEO, mobile optimization, and content strategy are all part of comprehensive audits. Comprehensive assessments include optimization for mobile devices, technical SEO, and content strategies. 

The price tag would reflect the audited sites’ details and the breadth involved in the entire process. 

For instance, comprehensive audits can take anywhere from 20 to 200 hours at hourly rates ranging from $1k to over $25k, depending on the agency’s charge per hour and the complexity of the task.

Website Size

Another crucial point that determines the price of an SEO audit is website size. Auditing larger websites will demand more time and effort. 

This makes sense because there are more pages to go through and data to study during an audit process carried out on a large site than in a small business with fewer pages.

Previous Experience 

SEO experts or agencies undertaking the audit also influence its cost, among other factors such as the size or scale of company operations. 

In general, highly experienced professionals who have been in this industry for a long time typically charge higher fees.

Tools

The selection of SEO auditing tools used also determines how much it costs in total after considering other factors, too.

Companies investing huge amounts of cash into the latest technology might have to pay more as a result. Most of these audits need specialized software or extra resources, so they can end up being more expensive than others.

Required Time

The amount of time it will take to get an audit done affects the cost. Since rush services enable faster deliverables, a premium is usually levied on these kinds of audits. 

Increased efforts and longer lead times are responsible for the corresponding increase in prices attached to expedited audits. This means if you want it sooner rather than later, then expect higher audit prices.

Extra Assistance

Sometimes, audits come with additional services other than just going through reviews as usual. These could fall into the category of support, troubleshooting, or suggestions on ways to improve further. The inclusion of such services may escalate audit expenses. 

How Often Should You Get An SEO Audit?

You should at least perform an SEO audit every six months to maximize the effectiveness of your SEO campaigns. Consider conducting audits quarterly for bigger sites like e-commerce platforms. 

If you do regular audits, it keeps your website in top condition and shows you where it can be improved. Such proactive tactics ensure that your SEO strategy remains effective and current.

An ongoing evaluation process may also be valuable, even if a company is carrying out some of its search engine optimization work. It is advisable to go for an initial audit when launching a new digital campaign or foray into the world of search engine optimization. 

In this case, it ensures that your campaign is well-established and gives you a head start on formulating the best possible plan. 

More To Know About SEO Audit Pricing 

How much does an SEO audit cost in 2024?

Bearing between $650 and $14,000 will be the range of costs for one SEO Audit in 2024. For instance, small businesses may pay less than larger companies with more sophisticated websites. Ultimately, it all comes down to the size and complexity of the audit.

How much is a technical SEO audit?

A technical SEO audit starts at $500 for sites with low traffic but can go as high as $15k for bigger companies. Location/agency experience, website size/technology determine the scope of audit/costs. 

Is an SEO audit worth it?

SEO audits are necessary to ensure that your website runs smoothly. They also identify areas for improvement, prevent issues from arising, and increase organic traffic. Regular auditing is beneficial to search engine optimization over time because it helps to keep sites visible and competitive.

How can I do SEO audit for free?

Conduct a basic self-assessment by checking their content quality and meta tags or keywords. Also, look at site structure, page speed, and backlinks, among other things. Google Search Console has different tools that help with identifying issues in your SEO approach while keeping it free.

Who needs an SEO audit?

If you notice dwindling organic traffic, poor ranking in result pages, or unavailability during searches related to contents presented therein, then this is a clear indication that you need an SEO Audit as soon as possible. 

Summary Of How Much To Charge For SEO Audit

• Cost Range: From about $500 for small websites to over $15000 for big commercial sites, technical SEO audits have a wide price range.
• Influences: The cost is influenced by the size of the website, the technologies being used, the scope of the audit, and the location and expertise of the agency.
• Focus Areas: The usual analysis includes page performance, accessibility, mobile optimization, indexation, on-page elements, and infrastructure, among other factors, during an audit.
• Benefits: Audits help identify areas that need immediate attention and provide a strategy to improve SEO in the long term.