Local SEO pricing calculator

This local SEO pricing calculator builds a service-price scenario from the costs and margin you enter. It starts with monthly delivery hours multiplied by internal hourly cost, adds a share of software, direct research expense and other allocated cost, then calculates a price at the selected margin. Setup is calculated separately using setup hours and one-time expenses. The result is a transparent planning model rather than a recommendation about the correct market price. It does not inspect a prospect's website, assess competition or estimate the business value of your service. Use it to understand the economics of a scope you have already defined, and keep the assumptions available when the scope changes.

Describe what the monthly engagement includes in practical terms: the locations covered, recurring research, implementation work, review time and client communication. A single-location profile review and a multi-location content program need different estimates even if both are sold as local SEO. Identify which work repeats and which is part of initial setup. Also state the boundary for revisions, meetings and requests outside the plan. This makes the hours field a summary of a delivery plan instead of a number chosen to produce a preferred price. If the scope is still uncertain, create separate scenarios for the plausible versions and resolve the difference before issuing a firm quote.

Monthly labor in this model equals delivery hours per client multiplied by delivery cost per hour. Enter your internal cost assumption rather than a client-facing hourly price, because the margin calculation happens afterward. Include the relevant people and work when estimating hours: research, implementation, quality review and account communication can all consume delivery time. If several roles have different costs, prepare a reasonable blended assumption outside the calculator and retain its basis. The tool has one hourly-cost input, so it does not build a staffing model for you. Revisit the assumption when the service requires a different mix of senior review, specialist work or routine execution.

The software input is a total monthly amount divided by the number of clients sharing that cost. With the illustrative defaults, 150 divided by ten allocates 15 to each client. Choose the client population deliberately. Counting prospects who do not yet buy the service can make the allocation appear lower than the current workload supports. Keep direct scan, audit or data expenses in the separate research field only when they are not already included in the software total. The goal is one coherent cost model, not a perfectly detailed accounting allocation. Record which subscriptions and usage allowances are included so another colleague can understand what the number represents.

Research and data costs may vary with the number of locations, keywords, scan points, audit depth or review cadence in the agreed service. Use the actual workload and published tool costs available to you rather than treating the example research allowance as a standard rate. Other allocated cost is a separate place for costs not already entered, such as an internal administration allowance. The calculator does not decide which expenses belong in either field. Explain your classification and check for omissions or duplication. When a cost changes, update the assumption and compare the effect before deciding whether the service scope or proposed price also needs revision.

The formula is modeled cost divided by one minus the margin expressed as a decimal. A forty-percent target margin means modeled costs should represent sixty percent of the selling price. It does not mean adding forty percent to cost. Using the illustrative monthly cost of 320, the calculation is 320 divided by 0.60, which produces approximately 533.33. The modeled surplus is approximately 213.33 before costs not included in the inputs. If you instead multiply 320 by 1.40, the price is 448 and the surplus is 128, which is about 28.57 percent of that price. The distinction matters when comparing a markup habit with a margin target.

The default scenario uses six monthly hours at an internal cost of 40 per hour, giving 240 in labor. Shared software of 150 across ten clients adds 15 per client. Research contributes 25 and other allocated cost contributes 40. Together those assumptions produce a monthly modeled cost of 320 and, at forty-percent margin, a monthly price of approximately 533.33. Setup uses four hours at the same hourly cost plus 20 of other setup expense: a modeled setup cost of 180 and a setup price of 300. First month including setup is approximately 833.33. These are illustrative inputs and arithmetic, not Agency Pilot subscription charges, observed agency performance or market rates.

Initial discovery, access verification, baseline measurement and onboarding can require work that does not repeat every month. Enter that effort in setup hours and place other one-time expenses in setup cost. The model applies the same hourly-cost assumption and margin to setup as to monthly work. If your setup team has a different cost structure, adjust your planning method explicitly rather than assuming the tool models that difference. Separating setup makes the first-month total easier to explain, but it does not tell you whether to collect setup upfront, spread it across payments or include it commercially in another fee. Those decisions belong in the client agreement and billing arrangement.

Start with the scope you expect to deliver, then examine a realistic variation. For example, change the monthly hours to reflect an additional review cycle while keeping the other inputs constant. You can see the price effect of that workload change without confusing it with a simultaneous change in margin. Next consider a different client count or research allowance if those assumptions also matter. Download each scenario with a descriptive file name and record why its inputs differ. The calculator does not store a history or compare scenarios side by side for you. A small set of well-explained alternatives is more useful than many unlabeled exports with slightly different prices.

The portfolio figure multiplies the modeled monthly price by the client count entered for software allocation. It assumes every one of those clients purchases the same service at that price. That is a deliberately narrow scenario, not a forecast of acquisition, retention, utilization, collections or profit. A real agency may have different service packages, discounts, unpaid invoices and varying delivery requirements. It may also use one shared subscription across clients who do not all buy this local SEO service. Keep that distinction visible when presenting the result internally. If the client count serves several different purposes in your business, make separate scenarios rather than treating the displayed total as a projection.

Use the modeled price as an input to a proposal with a clear service boundary, delivery cadence, assumptions and approval process. Explain what the client receives and which changes require a new scope decision. Round or adjust a proposed fee deliberately and check the effect on the modeled margin; a neat price is not mathematically identical to the unrounded result. Confirm the actual software plan and research usage before relying on the cost estimate. Keep the exported scenario as an internal explanation of the calculation, while the client-facing proposal describes the service and commercial terms. The tool does not generate a binding offer, an invoice or a payment schedule from the inputs.