One of the most common questions we get from tradespeople is: “How much should I be paying for SEO?” It’s a fair question — the market is full of wildly different prices and promises. Here’s an honest breakdown.

The SEO Price Spectrum

£99–£250/month — Danger Zone

At this price point, you’re either getting automated software with no human oversight, offshore work of questionable quality, or a glorified Google Business Profile update. Real SEO requires real people doing real work. At £150/month, there isn’t enough budget to do anything meaningful. These services often leave your site worse than they found it.

£300–£600/month — Starter Territory

This is viable for very small local markets — single tradespeople in rural areas with limited competition. You’ll get basic on-page optimisation, Google Business Profile management, and some citation building. Progress will be slow and scope limited. Reasonable for a plumber in a small town, not suitable for competitive city markets.

£600–£1,500/month — Competitive Local SEO

This is the realistic budget for most trades businesses trying to compete in city markets like Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, or Manchester. At this level, you should expect: full technical SEO audit and fixes, content creation, link building, local citation management, Google Business Profile optimisation, and monthly reporting. This is where real, consistent results start to happen.

£1,500–£3,000/month — Dominating Multiple Locations

Appropriate for larger trades businesses targeting multiple cities or highly competitive keywords. Multi-location strategy, high-volume content production, aggressive link acquisition. Suitable for businesses with multiple vans and significant revenue targets.

What You Should Be Getting for Your Money

At any budget level, a legitimate SEO agency should provide:

  • A written strategy document (not just a sales pitch)
  • Monthly reporting with actual rankings data, traffic, and leads
  • Transparent communication about what they’re doing and why
  • Clear targets with realistic timelines
  • Access to their work (you should be able to see what changes are being made)

Red Flags That Should Make You Walk Away

  • “We can get you to #1 on Google in 30 days” — impossible without using techniques that will eventually get your site penalised.
  • No reporting or transparency — if they can’t show you what they’re doing, they’re probably not doing much.
  • Guaranteed rankings — Google doesn’t allow anyone to guarantee rankings. Any agency that does is lying.
  • Long, locked-in contracts — 6–12 month lock-ins with no exit clause are a warning sign. Good agencies earn your business month to month.
  • They won’t tell you who’s working on your account — some agencies white-label offshore work at UK prices.

SEO vs Google Ads: Where Should You Start?

If you need leads now, start with Google Ads. If you’re thinking 6–12 months ahead, invest in SEO. The best strategy is usually both — Ads give you immediate revenue while SEO builds compounding long-term value.

What We Charge at Grwthhub

We’re transparent about pricing. Our trades SEO service starts from £600/month for local market dominance. We don’t do lock-in contracts — we prove our value every month. See our full pricing or book a call to discuss your situation.