SEO cost calculator.What your content should cost.

Choose how many articles a month you need. See what they cost with a freelancer, an agency, an in-house writer, your own time and RankFast, per month, per year and per article.

Your numbers

Most small sites publish 4 to 12; growth-focused sites 15 to 30.

The rates below are typical starting points. Change them to the quotes you have.

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8 articles a month

  • RankFast$59/mo
    Starter plan, up to 15 articles, published for you$7 per article · $708 a year
  • Write it yourself$2,000/mo
    40 hours of your time$250 per article · $24,000 a year
  • Freelance writer$2,000/mo
    Writing only; you research and publish$250 per article · $24,000 a year
  • Content agency$4,800/mo
    Usually includes keyword research$600 per article · $57,600 a year
  • In-house writer$5,500/mo
    1 writer, salary and costs$688 per article · $66,000 a year

RankFast costs $1,941 a month less than the next cheapest option, $23,292 a year.

Not a like-for-like comparison: agencies and in-house teams also handle strategy, links and technical work. RankFast covers keyword research, writing, images, structured data and publishing.

What goes into SEO cost

Content
Researching, writing and publishing articles. Usually the largest line, and the one this calculator compares.
Technical work
Speed, indexing and site structure. Often a one-off project, then small fixes.
Links
Outreach and digital PR to earn links from other sites. Agencies price it separately.
Tools
Keyword research and rank tracking software, from free to a few hundred dollars a month.

How the numbers work

Freelance and agency
Articles per month times the rate per article.
In-house
Writers needed for your volume, times one writer's monthly cost with salary and overheads.
Your own time
Articles times hours per article times what an hour of your time is worth.
RankFast
The plan that covers your volume: Starter, $59 a month for 15 articles, or Growth, $99 a month for 30, per website.

Questions

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For a small business, anything from under $100 a month for software to several thousand for an agency retainer. Content is usually the biggest part, so the number of articles you need sets most of the cost.

Freelance writers commonly charge $100 to $500 for a researched 1,500-word article; agencies more, as they add research and editing. Change the rates in the calculator to the quotes you have.

Google rewards helpful content however it is made. What matters is research, accuracy and real answers. RankFast researches each topic, cites sources and adds images and structured data before publishing.

They are typical market rates for English content and meant as a starting point. Put in your own quotes for a real comparison.

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