Especially nowadays, knowing how much to invest in SEO can be tricky. However, it’s an incredibly important digital marketing channel, so you need to be putting the right amount in. Spending too little means you may not see results, but by spending too much you could eat into profits, rendering it almost pointless.
When it comes to setting a budget for your SEO investments there are many considerations to be made, many of which we’ll go through in this article. And it’s not just about how much budget you allocate either – you also need to decide whether to use a freelancer, an agency, or train internal teams to manage your SEO activity in house.
With all that in mind, let’s take a look at how much you should be putting into SEO in 2026 and where to put that budget so you can make the most out of your investment.
Main Considerations
There are plenty of things to consider when setting an SEO budget, but here are two of the most important ones.
1. Company Size
The size of your company can impact both your SEO requirements and how much you can actually invest in SEO. Almost every business regardless of the size will need to consider and invest in their organic visibility in some form or another. More often than not it’s not necessarily a cheap investment as it doesn’t immediately provide an ROI like other channels but is something you will come to rely on in the long term. Ultimately if you have capital to invest in marketing, SEO should be considered within that budget, and the bigger the company, the more budget and opportunities become available.
2. Industry and Level of Competition
The way people search, compare, and make decisions can vary between industries, meaning SEO strategies require unique approaches depending on the sector.
The level of competition in each industry can differ too. If your sector is crowded and full of well-established brands with strong SEO, you may need a bigger budget to make a noticeable dent in the market. On the flip side, if your corner of the internet is fairly small and competition is minimal, it may not take much to see worthwhile results.
Freelancers vs Agencies
Once you have a budget (let’s be generous and say you dedicate 50% of your marketing budget to SEO) it’s time to decide whether to hand it over to someone else, or take care of everything yourself.
Freelancers
For many businesses, around £900 – £1,000 of freelancer time (roughly two days) is enough resource for meaningful, ongoing SEO, rather than just occasional technical fixes or expert recommendations.
If your budget is below this level, you may be better off developing SEO skills internally and using occasional consultancy to support your efforts.
Agencies
The day rate of a typical SEO agency in Leeds usually sits between £600 and £700, although it can be much higher so shop around for quotes. If your budget is around the £1,800 to £2,100 mark, an agency may be a more viable option. There is enough spend here to cover a range of activities including content creation, link building, and digital PR, meaning this level of investment can provide a more comprehensive campaign.
Can You Over-Invest in SEO?
In some instances, if your growth targets are especially ambitious, budgets can scale towards £5,000 per month. However, this is where you should start thinking about diminishing returns. Increasing your spend doesn’t automatically mean you’ll see bigger and better results.
The Role of AI in the Future of SEO Investment
One last thing to keep in mind is how AI is impacting the future of SEO and investments into it.
The rise of AI in search has caused a shift in the way people behave online. As a result, SEO strategies have begun to evolve slightly. The basics of SEO remain the same, but as search engines are becoming better at understanding intent and AI-powered search engines are changing how people discover information and products, quality, authority, and genuine expertise are more important than ever before.
SEO investments now need to focus on creating useful resources, strengthening brand authority and credibility, earning high-quality, relevant links, and ensuring your website provides a good experience for its users. Be wary of anyone selling GEO (generative engine optimisation) or AI Optimisation as its own service or separate from your SEO retainer as whilst there are nuances these are effectively one in the same. In the words of Brendon Kraham, Google’s Vice President of Search “Good GEO is Good SEO”.
SEO Investments Are Individual Decisions
No one can make the choice for you and many factors can influence the decision. But by considering things like the size of your company, the industry you’re in, and how much competition you’re facing, you can come to a more informed conclusion as to how much you should invest in SEO as a northern business in 2026.