What you should pay for SEO in 2026
The SEO industry is full of overpricing. Here's what reasonable, real-world rates look like in 2026:
By Service Type
- Local SEO (single location): CAD 500–1,500/month or AUD 600–1,800/month
- National SEO (broader keywords): CAD 1,500–4,000/month or AUD 1,800–5,000/month
- E-commerce SEO: CAD 2,000–6,000/month or AUD 2,500–7,500/month
- Enterprise SEO: CAD 5,000+/month (custom scope)
- One-time SEO audit: CAD 500–1,500 or AUD 600–1,800
- One-time site migration: CAD 1,500–3,500 or AUD 1,800–4,000
What's a rip-off — red flags
- "Guaranteed #1 ranking": Impossible to guarantee — if they say this, run.
- Long contracts (12+ months no exit): Good agencies don't need to lock you in.
- Cheap CAD 99/month "SEO packages": Usually link spam from bad networks. Will hurt rankings long-term.
- No reporting transparency: If they don't show keyword rankings + traffic + conversions monthly — they're hiding something.
- Bought from cold call: Reputable SEO agencies don't cold-call. They get inbound leads.
What's worth paying for
- Original content production: 4-12 high-quality blog posts per month.
- Quality backlinks: 5-15 natural links from relevant sites per month.
- Technical SEO: Schema, page speed, internal linking, fixing broken stuff.
- Local SEO: Google Business Profile, citations, local listings.
- Reporting + strategy calls: Monthly review with actionable next steps.
What we charge
Marketing4Leads SEO retainers start at CAD 599/month for local SEO. We're 30-40% cheaper than typical Canadian/Australian agencies because we're based in Ludhiana, India — not because we cut corners.
See our SEO packages →