SEO costs vary widely based on three factors: the competitiveness of your market, the scope of work, and who's doing it. A local Ottawa plumber competing for 10–15 keywords might spend $800–$1,500/month with a small agency. A national e-commerce brand fighting Amazon in product categories could easily justify $8,000–$25,000/month because the link-building, content production, and technical work scale dramatically. Most Canadian agencies structure pricing as monthly retainers. Expect $1,200–$3,000/month for local SEO (GMB optimization, local citations, basic content), $3,000–$8,000/month for regional or moderately competitive industries, and $8,000–$20,000+ for national campaigns or large sites with 500+ pages. Freelancers typically charge 30–50% less but lack team depth. Project-based audits run $1,500–$5,000 depending on site complexity. Hourly rates tell you less than retainer value, but for context: junior SEOs bill $75–$125/hour, mid-level $125–$200, senior strategists $200–$350. Agencies bundle this into retainers so you're not watching the clock. At Ottawa SEO, we run fixed-scope retainers because SEO results come from sustained effort over 6–12 months, not hourly sprints. The biggest cost driver is link acquisition. Earning or building 5–10 legitimate backlinks per month in a competitive vertical can consume 40–60% of your budget through outreach, content creation, and relationship work. If someone quotes you $500/month and promises page-one rankings in 90 days, they're either lying or using tactics that'll get you penalized. Watch out for agencies that won't itemize what you're paying for. You should know how many hours go to technical fixes vs. content vs. links. Also ask what happens if you pause: do you own the content and citations, or does it vanish? Cheaper isn't better if you're renting results instead of building owned assets.