Last updated on November 7th, 2024.
SEO is a tricky thing. There is no clear price structure. With Google Ads, there’s a price per keyword, with banners a cost per mille (CPM). With SEO, it’s different.
This article aims to shed light on the darkness. Make yourself a tea and sit down.
No time for tea and in a hurry? Here is the summary of “What does SEO and Content Marketing cost in Switzerland”:
- SEO consulting costs between CHF 150 and CHF 250 per hour.
- SEO costs between CHF 3000 and CHF 7000 per month.
- SEO and Content Marketing cost between CHF 36000 and CHF 84000 per year.
- SEO audits cost between CHF 1260.00 and CHF 9800.
- Optimizing the Google Business Profile costs between CHF 990 and CHF 5000 in Switzerland.
- Keyword research costs CHF 3400.00.
- SEO training typically costs between CHF 2000 and CHF 5000.
- There are price differences between the language regions in Switzerland. Generally, the French-speaking region is cheaper.
In the article, I will address the following two types of pricing:
- Time-based SEO pricing: This includes hourly rates, monthly rates, and annual rates.
- Price per SEO service: This includes costs for an SEO audit, a content briefing, keyword research, etc.
Finally, we will look at the influencing factors and what is included in the price. Here is the detailed table of contents:
Time-Based SEO Pricing
Let’s start with time-based SEO pricing. We’ll look at the hourly rate, the monthly SEO price, and the annual SEO price.
How much does SEO consulting cost per hour in Switzerland?
SEO consulting per hour costs between CHF 150 and CHF 250. The price depends on the service provider. Agencies tend to charge more than freelance SEO consultants. Prices in the French-speaking region are lower than in the German-speaking region.
As a Zurich-based SEO consultant, I charge CHF 190. I know Zurich agencies that charge CHF 250 per hour.
In Western Switzerland, freelancers charge around CHF 150, while Geneva SEO agencies charge CHF 210 per hour.
How expensive is SEO per month in the German-speaking part of Switzerland?
SEO per month costs between CHF 3000 and CHF 7000. Monthly rates depend heavily on how many hours are budgeted in the retainer each month.
My price for monthly SEO services is CHF 5130.00. Typically, a monthly SEO service includes an SEO audit and then the execution of the SEO activities defined in the audit. This could look like the following:
| Month | Tasks |
|---|---|
| Month 1 | – SEO Audit – Definition of the SEO strategy |
| Month 2 | – Implementation of Google Search Console – Creation of a dashboard in Google Looker Studio |
| Month 3 | – Local SEO: Google Business Profile of two locations |
| Month 4 | – Technical SEO improvements, e.g., correction of hreflang – Quarterly reporting |
| Month 5 | – Keyword research – Localization of landing pages for Switzerland |
| Month 6 | – Optimization of your landing pages – Optimization of internal linking |
| Month 7 | – Content briefing for 2 blog articles – Training of the editorial team |
| Month 8 | – Backlink building – Quarterly reporting |
| Month 9 | – Review of blog articles from an SEO perspective |
| Month 10 | – Technical SEO improvements like Schema Markup |
| Month 11 | – Content briefing for three blog articles |
| Month 12 | – Correction of meta descriptions – Final reporting |
How expensive is SEO per year in the German-speaking part of Switzerland?
Based on the monthly flat rates mentioned above, SEO costs between CHF 36000 and CHF 84000 per year. For me, the annual SEO maintenance including content briefings costs CHF 61560.00. This is made up of twelve monthly rates. 12 x CHF 5130.00 = CHF 61560.00.
Now that we’ve looked at time-based SEO prices, it’s time for a short visual break:
Pricing per deliverable of an SEO task
You don’t want to commit to a year, but have specific SEO work packages in mind? Below we go over the services per SEO work package. Typical SEO work packages are:
- SEO audit
- Optimization of Google Business Profile (Local SEO)
- Keyword research
- SEO training
Price for an SEO and website audit in Switzerland
I’ve seen prices from CHF 1260 (provider from Bern) to CHF 9800 (provider from Basel).
The price of an SEO audit depends on the scope.
A web check for CHF 1260 is simple but does not include an in-depth human interpretation of the results, which is crucial.
It’s important to priorities fixing SEO errors. Twenty identical meta-descriptions are not good. But what if you accidentally put a noindex tag on a money page? It is crucial to have a professional support your action plan.
My SEO audits cost between CHF 1900.00 (SEO audit light) and CHF 5400.00 (complete SEO audit with action plan). More details about these two offers can be found here: ➡️ SEO Audit Light ➡️ SEO Audit
Price for Local SEO in Switzerland
Optimizing a Google Business Profile costs between CHF 990 and CHF 5000 in Switzerland. Local SEO aims to appear in the Google Map Pack and local search results (e.g., hairdresser Murten, Freiburg).
The scope of service varies per SEO agency. My local SEO audit and optimization cost CHF 2400.00. The local SEO package includes:
- Google Business Profile audit in Google Spreadsheet
- Keyword research light for your main keyword and the 5 most important services
- Personalized action instructions in Google Docs
- Text for the description of your business
- Text for the description of your services
More information about my Local SEO package.
Price for Keyword Research in Switzerland
Keyword research identifies terms that users type into Google to find your services. During keyword research, I also check if it is realistic to rank for these terms with your website. Not all keywords are achievable. My keyword research deliverable includes:
- Up to 8 keywords for landing pages (also called service pages)
- Up to 10 keywords for blog articles (content marketing)
Keyword research costs CHF 3400.00.
The price is per language. For national projects in Switzerland, German, French, and Italian are necessary to cover all the regions of the country. It is advisable to work with local SEO experts because nuances are important.
Would you like to see what the result of keyword research looks like?
Here’s a preview of keyword research.
Price for SEO Training in Switzerland
SEO training typically costs between CHF 2000 and 5000. The price depends on whether the training is online or in person, and the duration of the training also influences the cost.
I charge CHF 3700.00 for SEO training, which includes:
- 30-minute call to discuss the audience and focus of the training
- Personalized training materials for your company. In the training, I use your website as an example.
- 3.5 hours of training on-site in Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne, Bern, Winterthur, Lucerne, St. Gallen, or Lugano (basically anywhere in Switzerland).
- A meeting room for 4 people if we do the training in Zurich.
This concludes the project-based SEO and content marketing prices. If you have any questions, feel free to write them in the comments or contact me. To relax your mind a bit more, here’s a nice picture of the Limmat in Zurich:
What is included in the SEO price?
The costs mentioned above are gross prices and include:
- The working time of an SEO expert
- The expertise of an SEO expert – in my case, that’s 8 years of expertise in one head
- The costs for SEO tools like SERanking and Screaming Frog.
SEO tools are unfortunately quite expensive. I invest over CHF 2500 annually in my tool stack.
What are the influencing factors on the SEO price?
The biggest influencing factor in Switzerland, in my opinion, is the region. I’ve noticed that agencies and freelancers from the French-speaking region have lower hourly rates than those from the German-speaking region.
Otherwise, the SEO price is also influenced by how much the company can execute itself. For example, if there is a strong editorial team in the company, this can lower external SEO costs.
SEA vs SEO, which is cheaper?
The big question: Which is cheaper, SEA or SEO?
It depends on your goal. If you need 10 leads for your business quickly, SEA (Google Ads) can be cheaper. You start today and have traffic on your site tomorrow.
SEO, on the other hand, is a long-distance run. You start today and have traffic on your site in six to twelve months. However, this traffic is long-lasting.
If you stop paying for SEA, you no longer receive traffic.
This is clearly illustrated in the graphic below.
From February to July, the company invested in Google Ads. When the company stopped paying in July, the traffic disappeared.
If the company had invested in SEO, they could reap the benefits over a longer period.
If you want long-term traffic, I recommend SEO.
Example of SEO success
Does SEO work? Yes. Here is a practical example from my portfolio:
My SEO prices as a freelance Zurich SEO expert
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed your tea.
If you want real-life SEO prices at a glance, here is my price list:
| Service | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One-Time SEO Consultation | Would you like to discuss specific SEO problems with me? Send me the questions upfront and in a one-off Zoom call, I advise. | CHF 250.00 |
| SEO Audit | The audit is a comprehensive SEO health check for your website. You will receive the following: – Getailed spreadsheet outlining the SEO opportunities of your site – Google Docs with a prioritized action plan – SEO text review of two pages of your website I will walk you through the action plan in a 1-hour call. ➡️ More about the product: SEO Audit | CHF 5400.00 for websites up to 100 pages |
| SEO Starter Pack | The SEO Starter Pack (or SEO Audit light) is ideal for small businesses and start-ups with a limited budget. The offer includes the following: – In-depth SEO analysis of one page of your website – SEO text review of one page of your website ➡️ More about the product SEO Starter Pack | CHF 1900.00 |
| SEO Retainer | Outsource your SEO work to me. ➡️ More about the product: SEO Retainer | CHF 5130.00 per month |
| Google Profile Optimisation | Local SEO Audit and optimisation of your Google profile to ensure you appear on the Google map pack. ➡️ More about the product: Google Profile Optimisation | CHF 2400.00 |
| SEO Training | 3-hour personalised SEO training session for your team. Unlimited participants. ➡️ More about the product: SEO Training | CHF 3700.00 |
| Keyword Research | Keyword research for your services and blog pages. – Up to 8 keywords for landing pages (also known as service pages) – Up to 10 ideas for blog posts ➡️ More about the product: Keyword Research | CHF 3400.00 |
| SEO Localisation for the Swiss Market | Optimisation of your texts for the Swiss market based on existing website content. | CHF 190 per hour |
| Recruitment for SEO Manager | Support for hiring your first SEO position in the team. Includes job posting, pre-screening, interviews, conducting case study with the candidate, and distribution of the job posting in my network. | CHF 190 per hour |
