SEO services cost anywhere from $500 for a basic technical audit to $10,000+ per month for enterprise campaigns targeting competitive national or international markets. Most small to mid-sized businesses in Ottawa, Toronto, or Montreal pay between $1,500 and $4,000 monthly for a legitimate ongoing campaign that includes technical fixes, content production, and link acquisition. Hourly consulting runs $75–$250 depending on the practitioner's track record, while project-based work like site migrations or penalty recovery can range from $2,000 to $15,000. Pricing breaks down by service model. Monthly retainers cover ongoing optimization, content creation, and outreach—expect 15–40 hours of work per month depending on the rate. One-time projects like comprehensive audits, local SEO setup, or keyword research typically cost $500–$3,500. Hourly consulting works for businesses that can execute in-house but need strategic direction. Performance-based pricing exists but often signals inexperience, since no agency can guarantee rankings against algorithm updates and competitor behavior. What drives cost is competition and scope. Ranking a Toronto law firm for "personal injury lawyer" demands vastly more content, links, and technical work than ranking a Kanata HVAC company for "furnace repair Ottawa." Agency overhead matters too—a solo consultant charging $100/hour has different economics than a 15-person team with project managers and content writers. At Ottawa SEO Inc., we run campaigns from $1,800 to $6,500 monthly depending on market difficulty and how many services the client can handle internally versus needing us to execute. Beware of $300/month SEO packages. They either deliver almost nothing, use tactics that risk penalties, or rely on offshore labor with no strategic oversight. Legitimate SEO requires research, technical skill, content production, and outreach—none of that happens at scale for a few hundred dollars. If a quote seems too cheap, you're either getting templated work or paying for reporting instead of results. Conversely, $15,000/month makes sense for national e-commerce or SaaS, but a local business rarely needs that level of investment unless competing in Toronto real estate or Vancouver legal markets.