What Monthly SEO Includes: 6 Months of Deliverables (UK)

Quick answer

Monthly SEO should include four kinds of work: technical fixes, page and content improvements, local listings, and earning links, plus a report that shows what was done and what changed. Month one is an audit and quick fixes; months two to six build content and authority. Our own monthly SEO is £249 a month.

Many small businesses pay for SEO every month without being sure what they are getting. This guide breaks a typical retainer into the actual tasks, month by month, explains what a useful report looks like, and lists the warning signs that the work is not happening. It is an explainer rather than a price guide; for prices across the market, see our guide to how much SEO costs in the UK.

What “monthly SEO” actually means

Search engine optimisation is the work of making a website easier for Google to understand and more worth showing to searchers. Some of it is one-off: fixing a broken sitemap, rewriting page titles, setting up a Business Profile. Much of it is ongoing: new content, new reviews, new links, and responding to what the data shows.

A monthly SEO service bundles both. Google’s own page on whether you need an SEO describes the useful things a good provider does: reviewing site content and structure, technical advice, content development, managing online business development, keyword research and training. The same page warns that no one can guarantee a number one ranking on Google.

The four workstreams inside a retainer

Not every month includes every workstream equally. A sensible plan front-loads technical work, then shifts towards content and authority. What matters is that each month’s work is visible and written down.

Month by month: the first six months

Here is a realistic shape for a small business site. Your provider’s order may differ, but the logic should be similar.

Months two and three are where many retainers quietly stall, because they depend on information only you have: which jobs are most profitable, which areas you want more work in, what customers ask before they book. A provider who asks those questions early can write pages that bring the right enquiries rather than more of the wrong ones.

From month seven onwards the work becomes a cycle: publish, improve, earn links, measure, adjust. Results usually build gradually rather than arriving in one month.

Month one in detail: the audit

The first month sets everything else up, so it is worth knowing what a proper audit covers:

• Indexing: which pages Google has indexed and which it has skipped, and why.
• Technical: speed on phones, broken links, redirects, duplicate pages, sitemap and robots settings.
• On-page: page titles, headings and descriptions, and whether each service has its own page.
• Keywords: what customers actually search for, and which page should answer each search.
• Local: Business Profile completeness, categories and consistency of your name, address and phone number.
• Competitors: who ranks above you and what they have that you do not.

You should receive the audit as a document you can keep. If you want to see the kind of issues it picks up before committing, our free SEO audit runs a quick version on your site.

What a useful monthly report contains

A good report is short and specific. It should answer three questions: what did you do, what changed, and what happens next.

1. Work completed. A list of tasks with links to the pages changed, articles published and links earned.
2. Search performance. Clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position from Google Search Console. Google’s Performance report help page explains each metric; for example, average position is the average position of your topmost result.
3. Enquiries. Calls, form submissions and bookings from organic search, where tracking allows.
4. Next month’s plan. Three to five specific tasks.

Be wary of reports that are mostly charts of keyword “visibility scores” from third-party tools with no list of work done. They may be accurate, but they do not tell you what you paid for.

What you need to provide each month

SEO works best as a partnership. A provider will usually need from you:

• access to the website, Google Search Console, Google Analytics and the Business Profile;
• photos of recent jobs or products;
• answers to questions about your services, prices and areas;
• quick approval of new pages and articles;
• help asking happy customers for reviews.

Expect to spend an hour or two a month on this, more in the first month while the provider learns the business. Providers who never ask you anything are usually writing generic content.

Warning signs that the work is not happening

• Guaranteed rankings. Google says plainly that nobody can guarantee a number one position.
• No list of work. Reports full of charts but no pages changed or links named.
• Bought or swapped links. Google’s spam policies define link spam as creating links primarily to manipulate rankings. Buying links can harm a site rather than help it.
• Secret methods. A good provider can explain every task in plain English.
• Locked accounts. Search Console, Analytics and the Business Profile should all belong to you, with the provider added as a user.

How to judge results at three and six months

At three months, look for leading signs: more pages indexed, impressions rising, more searches you appear for, and technical issues fixed. Clicks and enquiries often follow later. At six months, compare the same three months year on year where you can, to remove seasonal effects, and look at enquiries from organic search alongside rankings. If impressions and enquiries are flat after six months of documented work, ask for a frank review of the plan. A good provider will welcome that conversation and show you what they would change.

If your site is not appearing on Google at all, that is a different problem, and our guide to a website not showing on Google covers the checks to run first.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. What exactly will you do in months one, two and three?
2. Will I own the Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile accounts?
3. Who writes the content, and will I approve it before it goes live?
4. How do you earn links, and can you show me examples of links you have earned for others?
5. What will the monthly report show, and can I see a sample?
6. What is the minimum term, and what notice do I need to give to stop?
7. If we part company, what do I keep?

Clear answers to all seven are a good sign. Hesitation over account ownership or link methods is a reason to keep looking.

Monthly SEO or a one-off fix?

Not every business needs a retainer. If your site is small, your area is not competitive and the main problems are technical, a one-off audit and fix may be enough, followed by your own monthly routine. A retainer makes sense when competitors are actively investing, when you want steady new content, or when you do not have time to do the ongoing work yourself.

Our monthly SEO

Our SEO service is £249 a month and covers rankings, content, technical health, link building and reports. For local businesses, it pairs well with Google Business Profile Setup & Optimisation at £199. All our prices are on the pricing page, and you can order online or email support@luxbranding.co.uk with questions first.