Click Track Data & Marketing
San Diego harbour and downtown skyline at dusk
Our prices are on this page

How Much Does a Marketing Agency Cost?

What each service costs, the four pricing models and what each one does to your agency’s incentives, and the six questions to ask before you sign anything.

Quick Answer

Most small and midsize businesses pay $2,000 to $5,000 a month for a full-service marketing engagement, with individual services costing less on their own: SEO typically $1,000 to $2,500, paid search management 10 to 20% of ad spend or $1,000 to $5,000 flat, and a website build a separate $2,000 to $8,000. The number itself means little without knowing what is inside it. Ad spend is normally separate from the management fee, and a bundled retainer cannot be compared like-for-like against a standalone one.

Cost by service

Market rates alongside what we charge, in the same table. Most agencies quote on request; there is no good reason for that beyond wanting the number to move to fit you.

Marketing agency costs by service, market rate against Click Track Marketing pricing
ServiceTypical market rateWhat we charge
SEOSEO cost breakdown →$1,000–$2,500/mo typical, $2,500–$5,000 in competitive categoriesSignal $2,000 · Momentum $3,500 · Command $5,000
Paid search managementWhat PPC agencies charge →10–20% of ad spend, or $1,000–$5,000/mo flatFlat fee, never a percentage of spend
Google Maps and localGoogle Maps ranking →Usually bundled into an SEO retainerFrom $997/mo, $2,250 in contested categories
Website buildAffordable web design →$2,000–$8,000 for a quality small business site; agencies $5,000–$30,000+Scoped per project
Visitor identificationPeoplePixel →Rarely offered by generalist agencies$497–$997/mo by traffic volume

Four pricing models, four sets of incentives

The model matters more than the number, because it decides what your agency is rewarded for doing.

Flat monthly retainer

ours

A fixed fee agreed before you spend anything.

Check what happens when scope grows. A flat fee only stays honest if the scope is written down.

Percentage of ad spend

Commonly 10–20% of what you spend each month.

The agency earns more when you spend more. That is a real incentive question, and worth asking directly.

Hourly

Billed against tracked time, often for consulting or fixes.

Fine for defined projects. Poor for ongoing marketing, where the incentive is to take longer.

Performance or per-lead

You pay per lead or per booked job.

Attractive on paper. Check who owns the lead, the site and the ad accounts when the relationship ends.

Six questions before you sign

Ask these of us too. The last one tells you the most.

  1. 01Is this a flat fee or a percentage of my ad spend, and what happens to the fee if I increase spend?
  2. 02Who owns the website, the ad accounts and the lead data if we stop working together?
  3. 03Is ad spend included in this number or separate? This is the single most common misunderstanding in agency quotes.
  4. 04What am I paying for in month one versus month six? Setup-heavy work should not be billed as if it recurs.
  5. 05How will you report cost per booked job, not just cost per lead or clicks?
  6. 06What would you tell me if this is not worth doing yet?

What we charge, in full

Signal $2,000/mo, Momentum $3,500/mo, Command $5,000/mo. Google Maps ranking from $997, or $2,250 in contested categories. PeoplePixel visitor identification $497–$997 by traffic.

Flat fee, never a percentage of ad spend. You own your site, ad accounts and lead data. Budget smaller than this? We will build a scope around $500 to $1,200 a month rather than pretend a full programme fits inside it.

See the full pricing page

Sources

SEO retainers average around $3,200/mo across large samples, while 43.3% of agencies charge under $1,500
Ahrefs (439 providers), Clutch (65,000+ companies), GoodFirms (300+ agencies), 2026
Paid search management commonly runs 10–20% of ad spend or $1,000–$5,000 flat
Our own PPC pricing guide, which sets out the models in detail
A quality small business website runs $2,000–$8,000; agency builds $5,000–$30,000+
2026 web design cost surveys
Click Track Marketing plans: Signal $2,000, Momentum $3,500, Command $5,000 per month
Published on our own pricing page

Market figures are published industry data, not our own research. Our own prices are verifiable against the pricing page linked above.

Not sure what you should be spending?

Tell us your category and what you are paying now. We will tell you whether it is reasonable for your market, including when the answer is that you are already fine.

Marketing agency pricing questions

For a small to midsize business, most full-service engagements land between $2,000 and $5,000 a month, with individual services costing less on their own. SEO alone typically runs $1,000 to $2,500, rising to $2,500 to $5,000 in competitive categories. Paid search management is commonly 10 to 20% of ad spend or a flat $1,000 to $5,000. A website build is usually a separate project cost of $2,000 to $8,000 for a quality small business site. The number that matters is what is included, because a bundled fee and a standalone fee are not comparable.
Usually not, and this is the most common misunderstanding in agency quotes. The management fee pays the agency; ad spend goes to Google or Meta and should always be billed transparently and separately. If a quote does not make the split explicit, ask before signing. A $3,000 monthly number means very different things depending on whether $2,000 of it is media.
A percentage model means your agency earns more when you spend more, which is a genuine incentive question rather than a scandal. It can be reasonable at larger budgets where management effort really does scale with spend. At small budgets it tends to work against you. We charge a flat fee for that reason, but the important thing is that you understand which model you are on and why.
Partly because scope genuinely varies, and partly because quoting on request lets the number move to fit the prospect. We publish ours because the alternative is asking you to take a discovery call before finding out whether we are within your budget at all. Our plans are Signal at $2,000 a month, Momentum at $3,500 and Command at $5,000, with Google Maps ranking from $997.
Six questions cover most of it. Is this a flat fee or a percentage of ad spend? Who owns the website, ad accounts and lead data if we part ways? Is ad spend included or separate? What am I paying for in month one versus month six? How will you report cost per booked job rather than clicks? And what would you tell me if this is not worth doing yet? The last one is the most revealing.
Not necessarily, but the scope has to match the price. Marketing work is labour, so a lower fee means fewer hours, and the honest version of a small retainer is a narrow scope done properly rather than a full programme done thinly. The warning sign is not a low price, it is a low price attached to a broad promise. If someone offers full SEO, ads, content and web work for a few hundred a month, the maths does not support it.
Signal is $2,000 a month, Momentum $3,500 and Command $5,000. Google Maps ranking starts at $997 for lower-competition categories and $2,250 for contested ones such as HVAC, plumbing and legal. PeoplePixel visitor identification runs $497 to $997 depending on traffic. Everything is a flat fee rather than a percentage of ad spend, and you own your site, ad accounts and lead data. If your budget is smaller, we will build a scope around $500 to $1,200 a month instead of pretending a full programme fits.

Ready to Dominate AI Search Results?

Book a free strategy call and we'll show you exactly where your brand appears (and doesn't) in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity.

“They set up automation for every pipeline stage, so nothing falls through the cracks. David and his team are genuinely invested in our success.”

— Christopher Whitney · Google Review