SEO packages: what is actually in them, and what to walk away from

A package is only as good as the list of things it actually does. Here is what belongs in one, what to refuse, and how to compare two quotes that look nothing alike.

The short answer

A good SEO package names its deliverables: technical fixes, a number of pages written, links or mentions earned, and reporting tied to enquiries rather than impressions. It is priced against competition, not against a tier name. A bad package sells optimisation in the abstract and reports on activity. If a provider cannot tell you what they will do in month one, month two and month three, you are not buying a package — you are buying a lottery ticket.

What a good package includes

• A technical pass. Crawlability, indexation, speed, redirects, structured data — the foundation everything else sits on.
• A content commitment, in writing. How many pages or articles a month, aimed at which searches.
• Internal linking. New pages wired into the pages that convert, not published into a void.
• Reporting that names enquiries. Positions and traffic matter; forms and calls matter more.
• A named human. Someone accountable who can explain a decision in a sentence.

What to walk away from

• Packages priced under about £150 a month — the brackets are in what SEO actually costs.
• Guaranteed rankings, or page one in 30 days.
• Directory-submission schemes and bought link lists.
• Contracts with no exit, or results defined as impressions.

Comparing two quotes on the same basis

Ask each provider the same four questions. What exactly will you change on the site in the first month? What will you publish, and where does it link? How do you earn links or mentions? What would make you tell me to stop spending? The answers separate engineering from activity faster than any price comparison.

What ours looks like

We do not publish a rate card, because the state of your site sets the price — the market brackets are in what SEO costs in the UK. The work itself is described on SEO & AEO, the foundations on the technical checklist, and if you want to know what your site actually needs first, start with the guided brief or book a meeting.