"Outsourcing SEO: what an agency does, how much it costs and how to choose one"

Outsourcing SEO is a decision with far-reaching consequences. You’re not just choosing a provider; you’re also choosing who will be working on your visibility for years to come and who will eventually have access to your content, your analytics data and your tool accounts. The market doesn’t make that choice any easier: virtually every marketing agency claims to be good at search engine optimisation, prices range from two hundred to ten thousand euros a month, and now that AI-generated answers appear at the top of search results, it’s also unclear exactly what you should be focusing on. This article first covers what SEO services entail and how much they cost, and then explains how to choose a partner and what to look out for. If you’d like to know what SEO actually involves first, read The Comprehensive SEO Guide. If you’re interested in managing your adverts, then you’ve come to the right place at Outsourcing Google Ads.

What exactly do SEO services involve?

‘SEO services’ is a catch-all term, and that’s precisely the problem. One agency uses it to mean keyword research and blog articles, whilst another starts talking about technical audits, structured data and AI visibility. Broadly speaking, all the work falls under four pillars: technical aspects, content, authority and visibility in AI-generated answers. These four are interlinked. Focusing on one pillar whilst neglecting the rest yields little result, and that’s not just a sales pitch but simply how search engines work. Good technical optimisation without strong content won’t attract visitors; good content without a technical foundation won’t be properly understood; and without external authority, even the best-written page won’t make it into the top three in a competitive market.

Technology is the foundation

Technical SEO ensures that search engines can find, crawl and understand your site. It covers crawlability and indexation, page load speed, Core Web Vitals, internal link structure, schema markup and mobile-first rendering. That may sound like a tick-box list, but there’s a compelling argument behind it: pages in position 1 demonstrably exceed the Core Web Vitals thresholds more often than pages in position 9. In a niche where ten competitors are saying essentially the same thing, speed therefore acts as a tiebreaker.

Structured data deserves special attention. Schema markup is no longer just a ‘nice to have’ – it is the language through which machines understand what your content means. A technically sound site that AI systems cannot interpret misses out on opportunities that a well-marked-up competitor does capitalise on. A separate Markdown layer for AI is not necessary in this context. Google has confirmed in its own documentation on optimising for AI features that Google Search does not use llms.txt, so nobody needs to create that file for you.

In practical terms, here’s what you can expect from an agency in technical terms:

• Checking crawlability and indexing via Google Search Console
• Ensure that LCP, INP and CLS remain consistently below the threshold values
• Schema markup for articles, products, services and frequently asked questions
• An internal linking structure that has been optimised and is logically organised
• Monthly monitoring of HTTP errors such as 404 and 503, to ensure that a broken page does not remain online for a whole quarter

Content matches the search intent

Content is the means by which you address search intent, and the bar is set higher than it was a few years ago. The June 2025 Core Update, which ran from 30 June to 17 July, rewarded sites with demonstrable thematic authority and pushed thin, generic content down the rankings. Sectors such as health, finance and e-commerce saw the biggest shifts.

The common thread is called E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. This isn’t a tick-box list but a mindset. Show that you really know your stuff, that you’ve put it into practice and that you’re trustworthy. Now more than ever, with AI able to churn out a decent piece of text in seconds, authenticity is becoming more valuable: traceable authors, concrete methods and reliable sources. AI tools are perfectly fine to use in the production process, but publishing without human editing and without your own insight produces exactly the kind of content that Google filters out.

Authority is something you build up gradually

Backlinks are still one of the strongest signals, but the 2018 approach no longer works. Google’s broad spam update in August 2025 targeted manipulative link patterns, and cheap links via link networks or PBNs are a risk that nobody needs to take. What remains is slower and more expensive: original research, guest posts on sector-specific sites, digital PR and mentions in the trade press. At SEO Ninja, we therefore use link building as an extension of content that adds value, not as a separate purchasing channel.

AI visibility is the fourth pillar

This is the area that is currently changing the most. AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity and ChatGPT answer questions instantly, meaning that some users will never click on a link again. According to research by Ahrefs, AI Overviews now appear in almost 48 per cent of all searches. This is putting pressure on click-through rates, particularly for informational and comparative searches. Transactional searches with a clear intention to buy are, for the time being, less affected.

The opportunity lies in the citation. Anyone mentioned in an AI response builds brand awareness amongst an audience who may never visit the source page but will remember the brand name. And the clicks that do occur are better qualified: those visitors have already done their research and are further along in the decision-making process. Research by BrightEdge also shows that citations in AI Overviews increase the organic click-through rate of adjacent results by 35 per cent. Optimising for AI answers is known as Generative Engine Optimisation, and the good news is that anyone who does traditional SEO well is already covering a large part of this. Refinement is needed, but not a complete change of strategy. What that refinement looks like is set out in the article on GEO and AI visibility.

Just a quick note on adverts, as that question always comes up. Google displays adverts in AI Overviews and AI Mode in the United States, where the roll-out began in 2025. In the Netherlands, these ad placements are not yet available, and Google expects to roll them out more widely later in 2026. For the time being, this won’t change anything for your SEO strategy.

Local SEO is a discipline in its own right

If you operate within a specific catchment area rather than across the whole of the Netherlands, local SEO is a separate component of the package. It centres on your Google Business profile, consistent listings of your name, address and telephone number, reviews, and content tailored to the local area. For local businesses, this often delivers results more quickly than national SEO, simply because there is less competition in local search results. That also makes it the logical starting point if your budget is limited.

Measuring and making adjustments are all part of the process

SEO without data is like driving blind. A good agency doesn’t just provide a standard report with click figures; it analyses which pages are growing, which are lagging behind, and why. This requires Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4 and a ranking tool, but above all, it requires someone who has the confidence to interpret the figures and draw conclusions from them.

How much does a search engine optimisation agency cost?

This is the question everyone asks, and one to which nobody is keen to give a definitive answer. The costs depend on the size of your website, the level of competition in your market, how much you handle in-house, and whether you include content and link building. Nevertheless, it is certainly possible to provide a range of costs for each type of project.

• Local SEO for a small business facing limited competition: roughly €750 to €1,500 per month.
• National SEO for an SME in a competitive market: €1,500 to €4,000 per month for a comprehensive package covering technical optimisation, content and link building.
• E-commerce or B2B in a highly competitive niche: €4,000 a month and more is the rule rather than the exception there.
• Large-scale or international projects involving multiple languages and countries: €5,000 to €10,000 per month and above, depending on the scale.
• A one-off project such as an audit, a technical optimisation exercise or keyword research: €500 to €6,000, depending on the scope.

Then there’s the pricing model, which is a separate consideration. Most agencies work on a fixed monthly fee. This is no coincidence: SEO is an ongoing process, not a one-off purchase, and as soon as you stop, your ranking will slowly start to decline. If you’re working on a defined task, such as a migration or an audit, a project-based price is more suitable. If you simply want to bring in expertise to supplement an in-house team, you should hire on an hourly basis: in the Netherlands, a freelance specialist charges an average of €75 to €200 per hour. What you don’t want is to pay a fixed monthly fee for work that is effectively a one-off. You should therefore always ask what proportion of the retainer goes towards recurring work and what proportion towards projects.

What you should always be wary of: providers who promise to sort everything out for €299 a month. These are almost always automated, superficial measures that yield no results in the short term and cause damage in the longer term – damage that you’ll end up having to sort out later. On the other hand, a high fee is no guarantee of quality either. What matters is what an agency actually delivers for that amount and how transparently it explains this.

You’ll also need to be patient. SEO is a cumulative process: results build up slowly, but accelerate once the foundations are in place – often only after nine to twelve months. You’ll usually start to see the first shifts in organic traffic after four to eight months. Anyone who doesn’t share these expectations with you upfront isn’t being honest about their own product. If you want to know where you currently stand before embarking on a project, an audit is a cost-effective way to assess this. You can read about what such an audit involves in The guide to SEO scans.

How to choose an SEO agency that’s right for you

The market is saturated and there are significant differences in quality, even amongst suppliers with similar monthly prices. In practice, the following points distinguish the suppliers who actually deliver from those who are simply good at presenting themselves.

You can find them yourself. Type in the search query you used to find them and see how they rank, including in AI-generated results. An agency that can’t get its own visibility right has little to prove.

They provide realistic timelines. It takes four to eight months to see the first significant changes, and longer to achieve sustainable growth in a competitive market. Anyone who promises otherwise is using methods that will ultimately let you down.

They link KPIs to business objectives. Rankings are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. Ask explicitly which KPIs they report on and how they measure success. There is also a pitfall here that has become more pronounced recently: AI Overviews cause impressions to rise whilst the click-through rate falls. As a result, a report may look better than the actual impact on traffic and revenue warrants. You should therefore ask for additional metrics: how often is your domain cited in AI overviews, how is your brand traffic developing, and what value do the visitors who do click through deliver?

They have proven experience in your sector. It’s not a strict requirement, but it saves months of onboarding time and reduces the risk of strategic missteps. Ask for case studies from a similar market or company of a similar size. If an agency cannot share these because clients require confidentiality, that is a legitimate response. If they cannot name any at all – not even in anonymised form – then you know enough.

They are clear about who does the work. The senior staff member is present at the initial meeting, but the work is then sometimes handed over to a junior staff member or an intern. Ask straight away who is managing your account, what their background is, and how many accounts they are handling at the same time. That last figure says more about the attention you’ll receive than any quote ever could.

They are clear about the contract term and the notice period. Long-term contracts with lengthy notice periods are ill-suited to an agency that has confidence in its own approach. Ask about the minimum contract term, the notice period and what happens to your data once the partnership ends.

They are transparent about their methods. Secrecy is a red flag. A good agency explains why it makes certain choices and does not rely on secret techniques, but on practices that will stand the test of time, even after a Google update.

They leave ownership with you. Make sure that the content, access to Google Search Console and any tool accounts are in your name, not the agency’s. This may seem like a minor detail – until the day you switch agencies and lose three years’ worth of historical data.

Talk to at least three agencies and ask them the same questions

Don’t just talk to one party. Speak to at least three, ask the same questions of each, and compare their answers side by side. This will naturally make you more critical, and only then will you realise just how great the differences in the quality of their thinking are.

1. Decide on your goal in advance: more organic traffic, more enquiries, higher revenue from existing traffic, or a combination of these.
2. Ask each agency for a no-obligation analysis of your current situation. What they highlight in that analysis will tell you more than their portfolio ever could.
3. Check references and case studies, preferably from a similar sector or company of a similar size.
4. Ask specific questions about their approach to AI Overviews and GEO. A shrug is an answer.
5. Compare the terms and conditions of the contract: contract term, notice period and what happens to your data and accounts once the contract ends.
6. Don’t be tempted by the lowest price or the most attractive presentation.

What can you expect from your point of contact?

Ultimately, you’re not working with an agency but with a person. This is the sort of person you’re looking for, regardless of whether they’re a permanent employee, a freelancer or part of an agency.

• Analytical skills: working with Google Analytics, Google Search Console and a ranking tool on a daily basis, recognising patterns and translating them into concrete actions.
• Technical background: sufficient knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript to be able to communicate with developers, plus an understanding of website architecture, crawling, indexing and structured data.
• Content strategy: understanding how people search, the intent behind a search query, and how to build a page around that.
• Communication skills: explaining complex matters in an understandable way and managing expectations realistically, even when the news is disappointing.
• Algorithm awareness: keeping up to date with changes and adjusting your approach in good time, without panicking at every fluctuation.
• GEO knowledge: understanding how AI search engines select sources and how to structure your content to be cited.

Red flags that make you walk away straight away

Some signs are so obvious that carrying on talking is a waste of your time.

• A guarantee of the number 1 spot. Google determines the ranking, not the agency, and nobody has access to that button.
• Packages costing less than two hundred euros a month for ‘comprehensive SEO’. High-quality work takes time and expertise, and these come at a fair price.
• Promises of results within two to four weeks without any explanation of the method. Sustainable SEO doesn’t work like that.
• Reports without context: a screenshot showing an improved ranking tells us nothing about enquiries or turnover.
• The approach pays no attention whatsoever to developments in AI.
• Constantly changing points of contact. SEO is a discipline in which context and history matter.
• Black hat techniques such as keyword stuffing or link schemes. If Google picks up on this, it can take months to recover.

Six signs that it’s time to seek help

Not every business needs an external party. However, these situations do send a clear signal:

• Your website is receiving hardly any organic traffic, whilst your competitors are overtaking you.
• You don’t know which keywords your target audience uses, or at what stage of the customer journey.
• There are technical issues that are hindering rankings: slow loading times, crawl errors or a messy internal linking structure.
• You’re publishing content but aren’t seeing any change in your rankings.
• You want to appear in the responses from ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews, but you don’t know where to start.
• A recent Google update has caused your traffic to drop significantly.

Do it in-house, outsource it, or opt for a hybrid model?

Doing SEO yourself is technically entirely possible. There are excellent free resources, the tools are affordable and the basics can be learnt. There are three practical drawbacks. It takes a lot of time, and those are hours that aren’t spent on your core business. The learning curve is steep, because what worked two years ago may be counterproductive today. And it’s easy to cause damage with over-optimised content, a sloppy backlink profile or technical changes that backfire.

In many cases, a hybrid model works best. You produce the domain-specific content in-house, as that knowledge resides within your own staff and cannot be outsourced. You outsource the technical foundation, the strategy and the link building. You then bring in specialist expertise where it is in short supply, whilst retaining content authority in-house. If you’d like to learn the basics yourself before making a decision, then the overview of SEO courses in making that decision.

That’s exactly how we prefer to work here at SEO Ninja. We’re not a large agency with an account manager acting as a middleman, but a small, close-knit team that treats technology, content, analytics and AI visibility as a single integrated system. We always start by analysing your website, your competitors and your market, and only then do we propose a strategy. What we don’t do is promise what we can’t deliver: no agency can guarantee a specific ranking, but we can guarantee the quality of our work and the transparency of our reporting. You can find out exactly what that means on our page about SEO and GEO.