How much does SEO cost in Switzerland? Prices for SMEs

How much does SEO, or search engine optimisation, cost? The answer starts with another question: who are you up against on Google? A trades business with a local catchment area needs far less effort than an online shop competing with large retailers across Switzerland.

Below you'll find our guide prices in Swiss francs, the usual pricing models, three worked examples and the red flags that Google itself lists for SEO offers.

How much does SEO cost in Switzerland?

What search engine optimisation costs for an SME is shown by the guide prices on our service pages:

On-page work means revising page titles, headings, copy and internal links so they match the search terms your customers use.

Competition in your industry is the main price factor. Other factors are the number of pages, the technical state of the website and whether new content needs to be written.

For international comparison: in an Ahrefs survey of 439 SEO providers, a monthly retainer of USD 501 to 1,000 was the most common (20.4 percent of respondents), and 68.8 percent charged no more than USD 2,000 a month (Ahrefs, updated August 2024). These aren't Swiss prices, but they show the order of magnitude of monthly retainers internationally.

How much does SEO cost per month? Three worked examples

From around CHF 500 with ongoing support. If on-page work is added in the first year, the average is CHF 625 to 833 a month. The following examples aren't client cases but calculations using the guide prices above.

Trades business with a local catchment area. An audit shows what's missing, and the business does the implementation itself with free Google tools. Cost: a one-off fee from a few hundred francs, then only the business's own time.

SME with several services. The company website gets on-page work, followed by ongoing support at the entry price of CHF 500 a month. Without an audit, the first year comes to 1,500 + 12 × 500 = CHF 7,500 up to 4,000 + 12 × 500 = CHF 10,000, so an average of CHF 625 to 833 a month. An audit costs an extra few hundred francs or more.

Online shop competing across Switzerland. Hundreds of product pages and strong competitors make SEO an ongoing task. Ongoing support alone costs from 12 × 500 = CHF 6,000 in the first year. The audit and the work on product pages come on top, and only the audit shows how much that will be.

With every quote, ask whether prices include or exclude VAT. With monthly retainers, that makes a noticeable difference over a year.

How do SEO providers charge?

There are four common models.

Monthly retainer. A fixed monthly amount for ongoing optimisation, monitoring and reporting. According to Ahrefs, 78.2 percent of the providers surveyed charge this way. What matters is what is actually delivered each month.

Per project. A fixed price for a clearly defined job, such as an audit or the optimisation of an existing website. Of the providers surveyed, 48.9 percent offer this.

Hourly rate. Useful for consulting, training or individual fixes if you do the rest yourself. Of the providers surveyed, 34.8 percent also work this way. Ask for a cost cap.

Performance-based. You pay per enquiry or per ranking achieved. It gets tricky when a position is promised in return: according to Google, no one can guarantee a number one ranking on Google (Google Search Central). Anyone charging for guaranteed positions is promising something outside their control.

What do you get for your money?

With an audit, an analysis and a priority list; with ongoing support, continuous optimisation and monthly reporting. Exactly what is included should always be put in writing.

An audit from us includes a technical analysis of the website, a keyword and competitor check, an assessment of page titles and headings, a priority list with quick wins and a written report.

Ongoing support includes continuous optimisation of your pages, technical maintenance and monitoring, Google Business Profile management, monthly reporting and a dedicated contact person.

Google lists typical services of SEO professionals, including reviews of content and structure, technical advice, keyword research, training and also optimisation for generative AI search features. What that involves is explained in our article on optimising for AI answers.

When things start to move: technical improvements often show first effects after four to eight weeks. For content and links it usually takes three to six months before rankings shift noticeably.

Can I do SEO myself?

To a large extent, yes. Google itself writes that a small local business can probably do much of the work on its own.

Two Google tools are free for this: Google Search Console, which shows how your website appears in search, and your Google Business Profile, which lets you appear in Google Maps and local search. Which steps come first is described in How does Google find a website?

A possible middle way: buy an audit and work through the priority list yourself. You pay for the expertise once and put in your own time to implement it. Where support with implementation makes sense is shown on our on-page SEO page.

How do you spot dubious SEO offers?

Google itself names clear red flags (Google Search Central):

• Guaranteed rankings or claims of a "special relationship" with Google. Google never accepts money for rankings, and advertising with Google doesn't change the organic search results.
• Unsolicited emails from SEO providers.
• A mandatory link to the provider's website. According to Google, you shouldn't agree to that.
• Paid links. Buying links to influence rankings violates Google's spam policies. The result can be lower rankings or disappearing from the results altogether (Google Search Central).
• More access than needed. For an audit, Google says read access to Search Console is enough.

According to Google, you are ultimately responsible for what a company you hire does. So ask for examples of previous work, the expected timeframe and how success will be measured.

What to look for in quotes in general is covered in What does a website cost in Switzerland?

How to find your SEO budget

1. Set up Search Console. It's free and after a few days shows which terms you already appear for.
2. Get an audit. It shows where the biggest levers are and how much work lies behind them.
3. Decide. Do it yourself, commission a project or get ongoing support.
4. Review after three to six months. Only then can you judge whether the investment is paying off.

How we work is described on our SEO agency page.