“How many hours do I get?” I get asked this most weeks. It makes sense. You want to know you’re getting a fair amount of work for your money. But hours on their own can be pretty misleading, and some providers use them to make a thin service look bigger than it is.
How many hours of SEO is normal for a small business?
There isn’t a normal. I’ve seen packages sold as 5 hours, 10 hours and 40 hours a month, and the hour count didn’t line up with the results in any of them. What matters is who’s doing the hours and what they’re spent on.
Why don’t hours tell you much?
Ten hours from someone who knows exactly what to fix is worth far more than thirty hours of someone guessing. Experience speeds everything up. After nearly 20 years I can usually spot the main problems on a local business site in a few minutes. Someone newer might spend a day getting to the same place.
Then there’s what the time goes on. An hour writing a strong service page is worth much more than an hour building a report. Some providers spend a big chunk of the “hours” on meetings, admin and reporting. You’re paying for it either way.
Where should the time actually go?
For a local business, the hours that make a difference tend to go on the same few things. The first is your Google Business Profile. It’s often the quickest win for “near me” searches, and I’ve written about getting into the Google Maps top 3 if you want the detail.
Next come your main service pages. You want one clear page for each job you’d like more of. A plumber who wants boiler work needs a boiler page, not a line buried on the home page. After that it’s fixing what’s broken. Slow pages, sites that fall apart on a phone and errors Google keeps tripping over all hold you back. My SEO fixes page covers the usual suspects.
Then there’s reviews. A simple routine that keeps them coming in each week does more than any clever trick. Last are local links and listings. Real sites in your area, with your name, address and number matching everywhere. None of it is glamorous. It’s just the work that tends to move the needle for a business with a van or a shop front.
If most of the time is going anywhere else, ask why.
What should you ask instead of hours?
Ask what they’ll actually do in the first month, and what happens every month after that. Ask who does the work and whether any of it gets sent abroad. Ask how you’ll know what’s been done, and how you’ll both tell whether it’s bringing in work. Those five questions tell you far more than an hour count ever will.
A good SEO person will answer all of those without blinking. If you get waffle, that’s your answer. I’ve put more questions like these in how to choose the right SEO company.
Does more time mean faster results?
Only up to a point. Some things just take time no matter how many hours go in. Google has to find new pages and decide to trust them. Reviews build up week by week. You can’t rush either.
What I’ve seen work best is steady, consistent effort. A big burst of work followed by three quiet months usually does worse than a bit every week.
How do you see what’s been done without counting hours?
You look at the work and the results, not a timesheet. Every client I work with gets a live reporting portal they can log into any time. It shows where you rank, how many people found you on Google and how many called or clicked through. You don’t have to wait for me to send a report or take my word for anything.
Alongside that I tell you what I did that week in plain English. New page written. Listing updated. Broken links fixed. If you can see the jobs getting done and the numbers in the portal heading the right way, you won’t care how many hours it took. If the numbers aren’t moving, you’ll see that too, and we’ll talk about why. It’s also why I don’t tie anyone in. My no contract SEO post explains how that works.
How do I charge for SEO?
Not by the hour. It’s £125 a week on a 30 day rolling basis, and I do what your business needs that week. Sometimes that’s a new page. Sometimes it’s sorting your listing or chasing reviews. You always hear what was done. Here’s what a monthly SEO fee should cover, and the full list is on my SEO campaigns page.
Want to know where the time should go on your site?
Send me your website and I’ll look at it myself. I’ll tell you the first few jobs I’d do and why, in plain English. No hour counts, no jargon.
If you want me to crack on, it’s £125 a week, about £18 a day, on a 30 day rolling basis.
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Checked by me, not a tool.
Rather message? WhatsApp 07463 631121 or call 0151 402 0925.
Questions people ask me
How many hours of SEO do I need a month?
There’s no magic number. Ask what will be done instead. The right work matters far more than the hour count.
Do you charge by the hour?
No. It’s £125 a week on a 30 day rolling basis, and I do what your business needs.
Is SEO outsourced?
Not with me. The work is done by me and my small in-house team.
Why are some packages so cheap for so many hours?
Usually because the work is automated or outsourced very cheaply. Quality tends to match the price.
How much time goes on reporting?
As little as possible. A short plain update is enough.
Can more hours get me to page one faster?
Not always. Google needs time to find and trust changes, however much work goes in.
What’s the most valuable hour of SEO?
For most local businesses, an hour on the Google listing or a key service page.
Can I see a log of what you’ve done?
Yes. You get a live reporting portal you can log into any time, and I tell you each week what was done.
Keep reading
If you’re still weighing up the money side, how much SEO costs in the UK gives you honest price ranges. If you’re not sure you need outside help at all, read do you need an SEO company? first. And if you’d like to know what I look at before quoting, what I check in a free SEO audit walks through it.
Hi, I’m PeteWant to know what I’d do first?
Send me your website. I’ll tell you the three things I’d sort first and roughly how long each would take.
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