How much does SEO cost in Quebec?

How much do SEO agencies charge in Quebec?

Few Quebec agencies publish their prices. We recorded those of three Montreal agencies that do, on the date given at the top of this guide. We don’t name them: we never name a competing agency. The amounts are reproduced as posted, in Canadian dollars.

As for hourly rates, a Quebec agency directory listed, on the same day, 36 Montreal agencies in its SEO category that posted theirs: from $60 to $150 an hour, and more than half charged no more than $100. That rate is not specific to SEO: these agencies offer other services too.

These prices can’t be compared as they stand. One counts hours, another counts content, a third adds a setup fee. Before judging an offer, bring it back to what it delivers each month: we come back to this below.

Why don’t more SEO agencies post their prices?

Because the work depends on your site, your territory and your competition, and one package doesn’t fit everyone. A serious agency can still give you a range after a first conversation, then justify each item in its proposal. Above all, be wary of a firm price given before anyone has looked at your site.

What do international surveys say about the price of SEO?

Two public surveys give figures to work with. Ahrefs polled 439 SEO providers; published in December 2023, its survey was updated on August 15, 2024. SE Ranking, working with the Duda platform, gathered prices from 260 agencies in a survey dated December 13, 2024. Neither states the currency of its amounts. Since their North American respondents are mostly American, we treat them as US dollars, and we converted them at the Bank of Canada’s 2025 average rate: CA$1.3978 per US dollar.

Two caveats before you use these numbers. Of SE Ranking’s 113 North American agencies, only seven are Canadian. And Ahrefs calculates some of its averages by assuming that each respondent bills at the top of its price bracket: they are estimates. The picture is still useful, because 94% of the agencies in the SE Ranking survey mainly serve small or local businesses. In other words, clients like you.

What drives the price of an SEO engagement?

The price follows the amount of work, and that work depends on your starting point more than on the size of your business.

• The state of your website. A site that is slow, poorly indexed or full of duplicate pages needs fixing before the first piece of content.
• The number of services and cities. Each service you want people to find, in each territory, needs its own page and its own follow-up.
• Languages. Serving customers in French and English means two sets of keywords and pages to keep up to date.
• Competition. Against competitors who have held your searches for years, it takes more content and more links to earn a place.
• The volume of content and links. The number of pages written each month and the way links are earned weigh heavily on the price.
• The number of locations. Each address has its own Business Profile to maintain. Our guide to local SEO and Google Business Profile covers that work.
• Your industry. A page for a lawyer or a dental clinic follows the rules of its professional order; a manufacturer that exports maintains technical pages in two languages. See what changes for law firms or manufacturers.

Agency size matters too. According to SE Ranking, more than 70% of agencies with 25 or more employees charge a monthly retainer above US$1,000. A large agency is not necessarily better: it has a heavier structure to pay for. Above all, ask who will do the work on your site.

Monthly retainer, project or hourly rate: which should you choose?

According to Ahrefs, 78.2% of SEO providers offer a monthly retainer, 48.9% project pricing and 34.8% an hourly rate. The total exceeds 100% because many combine several models.

Our view: an audit on its own doesn’t move a single page up. It is worth its price if someone applies its recommendations in the weeks that follow. Otherwise, it ends up in a folder, and the problem stays exactly where it was.

Is a free SEO audit worth anything?

It can serve as a first diagnosis, provided it names specific problems with your site: pages Google doesn’t index, an incomplete Business Profile, searches where your competitors come out ahead. A generic list, the same for everyone, is mostly a sales tool. A complete audit takes time, which is why it is usually billed.

What does a one-year SEO engagement include?

At Kasvu, an SEO engagement lasts at least 12 months and is billed monthly. That is not a market rule: one of the agencies we recorded offers shorter contracts. It is our choice, because it takes that long to fix, publish and then see how Google responds. Here is what that first year covers:

1. Understand and scope. Your offer, your customers, your territory and your competitors, then a review of your site, your Business Profile, your Search Console and your link profile.
2. Set up measurement. Search Console and Google Analytics in your name, form tracking and, where possible, call tracking.
3. Fix what’s holding you back. Site technical issues, Business Profile, service pages to rework.
4. Publish. Content that answers your customers’ searches, and a few links chosen one by one.
5. Read and adjust. Every month, the visits and leads that came from Google, then a plan that adapts.

Google offers a good test for judging that start: “An SEO audit should be about giving you realistic estimates of improvement, and an estimate of the work involved.” As for how long before the first results, no one can honestly say without seeing your site. It depends on the age of your domain, the state of the site and its content, the competition on your keywords and your starting point: a page already in 31st position climbs far more easily than a page that isn’t in the top 100 results.

The details of our approach are on our SEO agency page.

What’s left of your SEO if you stop?

The pages you published stay on your site and can keep attracting visits. If your competitors keep publishing, your lead wears down over time. Check in the contract that the content and the accounts are yours. At Kasvu, they are from day one, and you carry on with or without us.

Which offers should make you wary?

• The first-place guarantee. Google puts it bluntly: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” An agency that promises one is selling something it doesn’t control.
• Bulk link packages. Google’s spam policies specifically target buying or selling links for ranking purposes, and using automated programs or services to create links to your site. They state that sites that violate these policies may rank lower in results, or not appear in results at all. The risk falls on your site, not on the agency.
• Accounts in the agency’s name. If Search Console, Google Analytics or your Business Profile belong to the agency, you lose your history the day you leave.
• Reports without leads. Rankings and traffic curves, without the number of calls and forms, don’t tell you whether SEO is paying off.
• A very low price for a large promised volume. When the price doesn’t cover the time the promised work requires, part of the work goes missing. Ask what is actually delivered, and where the links come from.

How do you compare two SEO proposals?

Google publishes a list of questions to ask before hiring an SEO, two of which matter most for a small business: “How do you measure your success?” and “Will you share with me all the changes you make to my site [...]?” Here is our version, built for a small business.

Then compare the total cost, not just the retainer: setup fees, writing billed separately if applicable, and your own time to review and approve the pages.

Can you do your own SEO?

Yes. Google publishes a guide for beginners, its “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide,” and a small business can manage its Business Profile, ask for reviews and write its service pages. What costs a lot is time: technical fixes, regular writing and analysis take hours that few owners have. Nothing stops you from starting on your own, then handing off the heaviest part.

Does SEO cost less than Google Ads?

They aren’t paid for the same way. With Google Ads, you pay per click, and Google sets no minimum spend; as soon as you stop paying, your ads disappear. SEO is paid for by the work done. A well-ranked page keeps attracting visits without each click being billed to you, but it takes longer to pay off, and no one can guarantee the result.

To compare, bring both down to the same number: the cost of a contact request. Our guide How much does Google Ads cost in Canada covers the advertising side, and our Google Ads benchmarks for Quebec give the cost per click industry by industry. At Kasvu, the same team handles both: we will tell you where to start.