Show up where neighbors are looking
The map and the results under it for the searches that bring work: your service plus your town, or “near me.”
5.0 on Google from 30 reviews · Since 2012
How much does local SEO cost?
Published local SEO pricing from a survey of 439 SEO providers and two firms that list their rates, plus what actually moves the number.
- A fixed quote before any work starts
- Month to month, no contract
- You deal with me, not an account manager
5.0 Google, 30 reviews5.0 Clutch, 5 verified reviews
14 yearsBuilding sites since 2012
$200K+Earned on Upwork, 154 jobsWhat you get
What local SEO should do for your business
You’re hiring someone who has done this for other businesses, not read about it. Thirteen SEO contracts on Upwork since 2016, from audits and setups for Eric W. and Nadia C. to ongoing work for Just Digital, Digital Concierge and Kenedy T., plus the local SEO I run for Captain Hook’s in the Florida Keys. The contracts are on my Upwork profile.
See what moved, every month
Rankings, Maps visibility, calls and form leads in one report, next to what I worked on and what is next.
Stop if it stops paying
Month to month, no lock-in. If the work is not paying for itself, you can end it.
Local SEO
From $2,000 per month
The price depends on how many locations and services you have, how much content you need, and how crowded your market is. You get a written, fixed quote after a free consultation. No contract lock-in.
The short answer on local SEO pricing
Local SEO costs about $1,557 a month on average, according to Ahrefs’ survey of 439 SEO providers. Agencies averaged $1,819 a month for local SEO, and freelancers about $1,150. WebFX puts the usual monthly range at $500 to $3,000. Here’s the spread across the ways you can buy it:
| Option | Typical cost | What drives it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do-it-yourself software | $41–$65/mo billed monthly for one location ($31–$49/mo billed annually) | Plan tier, number of locations | BrightLocal pricing |
| Managed service from a software company | From $499/mo | Scope of the plan | BrightLocal pricing |
| Freelancer, monthly | About $1,150/mo on average | Experience, scope | Ahrefs SEO pricing survey (updated August 15, 2024) |
| Agency, monthly | About $1,819/mo on average | Overhead, scope, number of locations | Ahrefs SEO pricing survey |
| Monthly retainer, typical range | $500–$3,000/mo | Locations, competition, how aggressive the campaign is | WebFX local SEO pricing |
| One-time project | $500–$5,000 | Audits, a new Google Business Profile, a set of location pages | WebFX local SEO pricing |
| Hourly consulting | $75–$100/hr most common; $75 to more than $200/hr overall | Experience | Ahrefs; WebFX |
I read each of these pages on November 7, 2026. Ahrefs polled SEO providers directly and checked their websites by hand. WebFX says its ranges come from 250 U.S.-based marketing and sales professionals, and WebFX also sells local SEO, starting at $575 a month on that same page.
What moves the cost of a local SEO plan
Number of locations. Each location needs its own Google Business Profile, its own listings across the directories, its own reviews and usually its own page on your site. Two locations mean two of everything.
How competitive your searches are. A roofer in a big metro is up against more businesses, with better websites, than a roofer in a small town. More competition means more pages, more content and more links before anything moves.
Content and links. This is the biggest gap between cheap and expensive plans. A plan that writes new service and area pages and earns links from local sites costs more than one that only updates listings and sends a report. My articles are $150 each if you want content on its own.
Your starting point. A business with a messy history, like an old address, a duplicate profile or a past penalty, needs cleanup before growth work starts. That’s often a one-time cost.
Who does the work. The Ahrefs survey found agencies charge more than freelancers on average. Ask who actually does your work, and whether you can talk to them.
Questions to settle before you pay for local SEO
What should a monthly local SEO retainer include?
At minimum, your Google Business Profile kept complete and current: categories, services, hours, photos and posts. Your name, address and phone number matching across the directories that matter for your trade. A system for asking happy customers for reviews, and replies to the reviews you get.
On the website side, a page for each service you want to rank for, and pages for the towns you serve where you have real work to show. New content as it’s needed. Links from local sources, like suppliers, associations, sponsors and local news.
And a report you can read. Rankings in Maps from points across your area, calls and direction requests from your profile, form leads from the site, and a plain list of what got done. WebFX’s list of typical deliverables covers most of this: profile management, citation management, review monitoring, keyword research, on-page work and monthly reporting.
Is a cheap local SEO package worth it?
Sometimes. If your profile is solid and your site already ranks, a low-cost plan that keeps listings accurate and reports monthly can be enough. If you’re trying to climb, it usually isn’t, because the work that moves rankings, new pages and new links, takes hours a cheap plan can’t pay for.
Watch for packages priced well under the survey averages that promise first-page rankings. No one can guarantee a ranking. Ask what gets done each month, in writing, and ask to see a sample report. Then check whose name the Google Business Profile and the domain are in. Some low-cost plans set them up under the provider’s account, which makes leaving harder than it should be.
What's the difference between one-time local SEO and a monthly plan?
One-time work fixes the foundation. That covers setting up or cleaning up your Google Business Profile, correcting listings, closing duplicates and fixing the technical problems on your site. WebFX puts one-time local SEO projects at $500 to $5,000.
Monthly work builds on top of it: pages, content, links, reviews and the profile updates that keep you ahead of competitors who are doing the same. If your business has a small service area and few competitors, a one-time cleanup may be all you need for a while. If you’re in a crowded market, the monthly work is where the rankings come from.
What I charge, and what $2,000 a month covers
Tell me what your business does and where, and you get a written, fixed quote. No contract lock-in.
Get my quoteOr call 586-221-0792My local SEO starts at $2,000 a month, month to month, with no lock-in. That’s above the survey averages, because it includes the profile, the listings, the reviews system, new pages and content, link building and a monthly report, all done by me. One location in one town sits near that number. More locations or a crowded market push it higher. You get a fixed written quote first.
If you only need the foundation, Google Business Profile optimization is $400, one time. If you want ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity to name your business, answer engine optimization is $1,500, one time. You own your domain, your site and your Google Business Profile either way.
The full monthly service is on my Michigan SEO page, and if your website needs work first, see web design. More breakdowns are in my pricing guides. Send me your website and your town, and I’ll tell you which of these you need.
How it works
What a month of local SEO work looks like
- 01
Audit
Your site, your profile and the businesses above you, written up in the order I will fix things.
- 02
Fix the foundation
Titles, page structure, speed, schema, redirects, duplicate listings and citation errors.
- 03
Build and earn
Service and town pages, articles for what customers search, profile posts, local links and a simple way to ask for reviews.
- 04
Report
Rankings, Maps visibility, calls and leads, plus what I did and why.
Who you'd work with
The web designer and local SEO consultant you'll actually talk to
I'm Ryan York, and WebPossible is a one-person web design and SEO company in Harrison Township, Macomb County. I learned the work as a scuba diver in the Florida Keys, tired of waiting on the person who ran our website, which is why I think about the phone ringing first and the design second. There's no team to hand you off to. The person who answers your first call is the person who designs your website, builds it and checks your rankings.
- 14
- years building sites, since 2012
- 154
- jobs completed on Upwork
- 5.0
- stars on Google from 30 reviews
Reviews
Reviews from SEO and web design clients on Google, Clutch and Upwork
5.0 stars from 30 Google reviews, 5.0 from 5 verified Clutch reviews, and 83 client reviews on Upwork since 2016. 6 of the 13 I quote in full, with the source linked.
Kara D.
I hired Ryan to help improve the SEO of my business website and he has been so easy to work with from the time I submitted my inquiry through the finishing touches. He is extremely responsive, organized in his approach, and thoughtful in his execution. I had many questions that I threw at Ryan, and he was able to answer them all, which made me feel really good about the entire process. Since the initial work started, I have added on more page updates because I am already seeing positive results. I look forward to continuing to work with Ryan and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to other business owners that I know!
Operations Manager, Friendly Logistics
Communication is key, and that's his strong suit.
Website HQ
Ryan was phenomenal to work with! He asked great questions, understood our project, and delivered without issue and right on schedule. I definitely will re-hire and recommend him.
Arlene S. Pedersen
I have used Ryan for many years and on many client websites, he has always been responsive, efficient and been great to work with. With his expertise, he has been able to facilitate creating websites I am proud of, and I have always been able to count on him. I trust him completely and have recommended him to my past clients for ongoing work.
General Manager, Cash Buyers Macomb
Ryan was a perfect fit. He's my first call if I ever need any help establishing or increasing my online footprint.
NewtonX
Ryan had excellent attention to detail and delivered with quality and speed when necessary.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about local SEO services and pricing
Can I do local SEO myself?
You can do a lot of it. Claiming and filling out your Google Business Profile, asking for reviews and keeping your hours current cost nothing but time. Software like BrightLocal starts at $31 a month billed annually for one location and helps you track rankings and listings. Where owners usually stall is the ongoing part, writing service pages and earning links month after month.
Is local SEO priced per location?
Often, yes. Each location has its own Google Business Profile, its own listings and its own reviews to manage, so the work multiplies. WebFX names the number of locations as one of the main factors in local SEO pricing, and BrightLocal's software plans step up by location count.
Why do local SEO quotes vary so much?
Because the work behind them varies. A low monthly price often covers reporting and listing updates. A higher one usually includes new pages, content and link building. In the Ahrefs survey, agencies averaged $1,819 a month for local SEO and freelancers averaged about $1,150. Ask for a list of what gets done each month.
Should I sign a long contract for local SEO?
I wouldn't. A provider doing good work doesn't need to lock you in. Mine is month to month. If someone requires six or twelve months, ask what happens to your site, your listings and your Google Business Profile if you leave.
Is local SEO worth the cost for a small business?
It's worth it if the work produces calls you can count. Before you pay, find out how many leads a month would cover the fee at your average job value. Then judge the provider by that number in their reports, not by rankings alone.
Service area
Local SEO for businesses across Michigan, from Harrison Township
I'm in Harrison Township, Macomb County, on the Lake St. Clair side of metro Detroit. Most clients are in southeast Michigan, and I work with businesses across the state and beyond by phone, video call and email.
WebPossible41253 Clairpointe
Harrison Township, MI 48045
586-221-0792
info@webpossible.net
See my Google Business Profile
SEO pages by area
Harrison Township, Michigan. Open in Google Maps
Also
Related services
Tell me what you need. I’ll tell you what it costs.
A free quote, a straight answer, and no sales pitch. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll say so.