Law firm SEO costs: a UK pricing guide.

The £7,000 initial SEO fee is separate from the monthly fee. Monthly fees start after the initial work. Ask the proposal to identify what will be delivered in each stage, what your firm must approve and when the ongoing engagement begins.

At our £1,500 monthly starting level, the initial fee plus six monthly fees comes to £16,000 (£7,000 + 6 × £1,500). At £5,000 per month, the same calculation is £37,000. These illustrate the SEO fees across those stages, not a promise to complete both stages within six calendar months. The monthly range extends above £5,000 where the scope requires it.

Confirm tax treatment and any separately scoped project or operating costs in the commercial agreement. A £1,500 monthly headline alone does not describe the total commitment.

A quote for profile updates is different from a programme that includes service-page writing, technical implementation and reporting. Ask each supplier to identify the actual pages, tasks and responsibilities before comparing the monthly fee.

Check whether the firm needs a one-off repair, a migration or ongoing search work. A retainer can conceal a project dependency if the current website cannot support the proposed content or measurement.

• Which named pages or technical issues will the provider work on first?
• Who writes, checks legal accuracy, approves and publishes each change?
• Are local search work, development and reporting included or separately scoped?
• How will the report distinguish contact clicks, qualified enquiries and instructed matters?

An illustrative model: a £7,000 initial fee plus six £2,000 monthly fees totals £19,000. If each additional accepted matter contributes £1,000 after the relevant delivery costs, 19 additional matters would cover those SEO fees in a simplified calculation.

This does not forecast 19 matters, account for the time between enquiry and income, or prove that SEO caused them. Add tax where applicable, other acquisition costs and the firm’s actual margins, collection timing and capacity before relying on the model.

A useful worksheet records monthly spend, qualified enquiries, accepted matters, contribution per matter and the evidence connecting those matters to the channel. Avoid dividing a monthly fee by all firm revenue and calling the result ROI.

RankMyFirm charges £7,000 for initial SEO work before monthly fees begin. The ongoing engagement starts with a six-month term, then moves to a monthly arrangement with 30 days’ notice. Website, AI agent and automation projects have separately scoped terms. See the pricing page for the current offer.

Regardless of supplier, the proposal should explain what happens when access is delayed, a draft needs legal review or an implementation dependency changes. Those practical details can matter more than a small difference in the headline rate.

If the starting workload is unclear, a scoped SEO audit can define priorities before a larger commitment. If you know the services to target, compare the ongoing SEO scope with the work your own team can handle.

The in-house versus agency guide helps separate resourcing decisions from the fee comparison.