Compare the work behind the fee. Colby Technologies currently lists ongoing organic SEO starting at $299 per month, with final scope based on the site and goals. That starting point is not a universal price for every market, website, or content requirement.
Identify the service you are buying
An audit, a one-time implementation project, and ongoing SEO solve different problems. An audit identifies issues and opportunities. Implementation changes the site. Ongoing work repeats the cycle as search demand, content, and business priorities evolve. A low audit price cannot be compared directly with a plan that includes research, development, writing, and regular measurement.
Ask whether the quote includes making changes or only delivering recommendations. If your current provider must implement the recommendations, clarify their availability and cost. A detailed report has limited practical value when nobody has responsibility for applying it.
Ask what the first month will accomplish
A sensible opening scope should follow the website's condition. A domain migration may need redirects and canonical cleanup before new content. A service business with an accessible site may need better service explanations and a stronger inquiry path. An established content library may need consolidation and internal links rather than another batch of articles.
- Technical work: Which indexing, redirect, sitemap, or performance issues will be investigated and corrected?
- Page improvements: Which service pages need clearer intent, metadata, evidence, or calls to action?
- Content: Who researches, writes, approves, and publishes it?
- Local relevance: What profile or business-information work is appropriate and included?
- Measurement: Which pages, queries, and qualified inquiries will be reviewed?
Ask what is excluded. A major redesign, extensive product entry, paid advertising, photography, or a custom tracking integration may be separate work. A good scope should say so before billing begins.
Why quotes differ
Site size matters, but complexity matters more than a raw page count. A small site with inaccessible templates can take more effort to fix than a larger, well-maintained site. Multiple services and audiences require more research and distinct explanations. Competitive national queries demand a different content and evidence strategy from a focused regional service question.
Access and coordination also affect effort. The person doing the SEO may need your developer, business owner, photographer, or subject specialist to contribute. Ask how those dependencies will be managed. A plan that includes writing still needs accurate business information; a provider should not invent reviews, locations, credentials, or project results to fill a page.
Keep organic SEO and advertising costs clear
When a proposal combines SEO and paid ads, ask for the management fee and advertising budget separately. Clarify who owns the ad account, who pays the platform, how conversions are measured, and what happens when the engagement ends. Paid placement and organic visibility are different channels; buying ads is not a purchase of organic rankings.
The current SEO service page is the source for Colby Technologies' published organic starting price. Combined advertising work should be scoped directly. Do not assume that an organic plan automatically includes ad spend or a specific advertising platform.
Build a side-by-side proposal worksheet
For each proposal, write down the monthly fee, initial setup, minimum term, implementation responsibility, content approval process, account ownership, reporting cadence, and exclusions. Record any promised quantity, but ask why that quantity suits your site. A quota of pages or links is not evidence that the work will answer the right questions.
Compare an actual deliverable
“Improve the existing repair page after reviewing customer questions, then measure relevant impressions and inquiries” is reviewable. “Boost your digital presence” is not specific enough to verify. Ask the provider to show the page changes and explain why they were selected.
Evaluate value without inventing a return
Start with your own numbers: qualified inquiries, close rate, and contribution from a typical project after its direct costs. Use conservative assumptions when considering how many additional customers could justify the expense. Treat that calculation as planning, not a forecast the SEO provider can guarantee. Not every inquiry becomes a sale, and some customers would have found the business anyway.
Read how to evaluate SEO progress over time before setting a deadline. Ask for a review that connects completed work, search data, and customer actions. If the scope remains unclear after the conversation, resolve that before signing up.
Bring the business goal to the first conversation
Share the website, the services you want to grow, the markets you can actually serve, and any recurring customer questions. If you have Search Console data, arrange appropriate access rather than sending passwords. Colby Technologies can then propose a focused SEO scope based on the work needed, with clear priorities and current pricing.
Talk through your next step.
Share the business goal and the problem you want to solve. Colby Technologies can help define a practical scope.