As a business owner or marketer, have you heard of SEO?
If you’re a company in this modern era, it is inevitable that you should have a digital marketing plan. A big part of that plan should involve SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Before we look at SEO price Malaysia, let’s look at what SEO actually is.
Search Engine Optimization is the practice of optimizing your business website or social media content in order to appear high on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
These optimization efforts include increasing loading time, content, enhancing security, mobile-friendliness, amount of links, and many more.
Here, we will look at what the average cost of SEO marketing is in Malaysia and what SEO services usually entail.
Further reading: Beginner’s Guide to SEO
Why Do You Need Professional SEO Services?
1. Difficulties in Keyword Planning
Various keyword research tools are necessary in order to plan for the right keywords. In addition to that, you also need to plan for the number of keywords to insert.
Too many or too few industry relevant keywords, among several other factors, will affect the ability of your content to effectively rank on search engines.
2. Required Experience and Quality
One reason why SEO consulting fees are charged is that SEO agencies are staffed by employees who have many years of practical experience, as well as equipped with SEO expert skills.
When applying SEO in Search Engine Marketing, it is important not just to have theoretical but also practical knowledge as well. This is because in real-world applications, SEO’s effectiveness involves a lot of factors.
3. Knowing the Scope of SEO
To some, SEO can be a very technical undertaking. There are many factors that contribute to making your website SEO optimized. Among these include website load time, link building, quality of domain details, user experience, social signals, content quality, and more.
It’s not an easy task knowing which of these factors to prioritize. This is why having adequate knowledge and experience from SEO professionals is important.
4. Get Customized SEO Services
Every company’s SEO requirements are different from one another. There’s no one size fits all approach.
Therefore, professional SEO consultants can help you decide the type of SEO strategies that will bring your brand to the forefront of attention, especially on search engines.
So, How Much Does SEO Cost in Malaysia?
Before we dive into the details of SEO services pricing Malaysia, we have to understand that there are many factors influencing the pricing.
One of the key factors affecting SEO costing is how large and established the consultants or agencies you approach are.
Generally, SEO services in Malaysia cost anywhere from RM 800 to RM 12,000.
Therefore, before you embark on any SEO project, it is important to determine exactly what you need and what you can afford.
The Types of SEO Pricing in Malaysia
As with many service industries, SEO services Malaysia can be priced using different formats. The types of SEO service cost format you decide on will depend largely on what your brand needs and how many projects you are pursuing.
There are three main types of SEO service providers in Malaysia, namely agencies, consultants , and freelancers.
By Hourly Rate
The per-hour SEO pricing in Malaysia concept is fairly straightforward. You will be charged by the number of hours it takes to audit your site and to come up with SEO keywords for the various pages on your site or the different content.
Be sure to request an estimate of the hours involved before agreeing to the SEO agency, freelancer or SEO consultant’s hourly rate.
Large agencies charge around RM 440 – RM 540 per hour, professional consultants largely charge RM330 – RM440 per hour SEO pricing whilst freelancers charge RM180 – RM 220 per hour.
Any simple standalone project with the most basic SEO task will typically require at least 2-3 hours of work, and sometimes more.
Monthly Retainer Rates
Retainer fees are paid to SEO service providers like a monthly salary. This will translate into SEO monthly costs for your company.
Just like a full-time employee, you’ll be paying the providers a set amount no matter the amount of work that needs to be done.
This type of SEO pricing system works if you have a lot of continuous work that needs to be done. It will save you a lot in the long term as the average SEO cost per month will work out to be more affordable than, say, project-based costing.
Typically, monthly retainer fees for SEO services in Malaysia range from RM 3000 to RM 10,000 per month, with some freelancers charging as low as RM 2000, especially if they’re new in the industry.
Quotations by Project
Should the previous two SEO management pricing systems not satisfy you, there’s another way services providers charge, which is on a project basis.
The process involves you communicating your needs to the SEO experts, who then provides you a quote for the price of their SEO services. You can then both negotiate the pricing and reach an agreement before the work commences.
This pricing concept is pretty popular because it avoids misunderstandings and lays out the amount of work and its corresponding costs very clearly before the project starts. However, it’s not suitable if you have continuous SEO work coming in and require their long-term SEO services.
SEO project prices typically range from RM 800 by freelancers to RM 2500 if you’re hiring an agency.
By Packages
These days, to make it easier for their clients, many Search Engine Optimization agencies, consultants, and freelancers offer SEO package deals. These packages are set by the service provider and can be purchased as is or customized according to the client’s needs.
An SEO package deal is perfect if you’re new to the world of SEO and would like to try the services of SEO experts for starters. These packages are very simple and straightforward.
For example, an SEO pricing package may include an SEO audit, optimized targeted keywords for one website, and keywords for an additional 10 pages for RM 500- RM 1000 by a freelancer.
Packages like these typically run up to RM 2500 if you approach a consultant, and can run up to RM 5000 if you’re contracting an agency.
What Really Affects the Cost of SEO in Malaysia?
If you’re unfamiliar with how much does SEO optimization costs in Malaysia, a good place to start would be to understand what affects the price of search engine optimization for your business.
Level of Expertise
The more experienced and the longer your search engine optimization service provider has been in the industry, the higher their rates.
Although there is no definitive SEO price guide in the industry, we can safely estimate that a fresh graduate providing SEO services Malaysia will charge a lot less than an established agency that has been around for more than 5 years.
Their Location
You can expect that seeking SEO services in larger cities like Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown, Ipoh, and Johor Bahru will definitely fetch a higher price than a provider stationed in a smaller town or suburb.
How much is SEO in these different areas boils down to operating costs. Agencies usually have higher running costs in larger cities where rental is higher.
Your Website’s Condition
SEO price Malaysia is also very heavily affected by how much work needs to be done on your website. If it is a simple case of updating a previously existing template that is complete and just needs a facelift, the costs might be lower.
However, if you need more backend work with various parts that need optimization and re-programming from the ground up, this will take more time and cost more too.
The Amount of Work
Costs will also be determined by the size of your website of websites that need to be optimized. This means that each page has to be customized to fit Google SEO Malaysia and appear high on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Additionally, you should also determine if you want to optimize your site for general SEO, local SEO, technical SEO, mobile SEO, or even Youtube SEO.
Who Your Target Audience Are
If your website needs to be targeted more specifically, this will require more time and more SEO efforts. Therefore, it usually costs more if you have a very specific demographic you need to target.
The SEO optimization team will also have to provide SEO content writing that is of higher quality and in the tone or language proficiency your target audience feels comfortable with.
Verdict: SEO Agency or Freelancers?
Whether you go with an agency or a freelancer depends very much on your marketing budget. Both types of service providers have their own advantages and disadvantages, as we shall see:
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The types of SEO and online marketing strategy differ according to the type of your business. For example:
New Business with A New Website
Promote your business via Google ads and Facebook ads first as these are a more effective way to achieve higher website traffic and conversion to sales rates. New websites from new businesses should receive very simple SEO keyword planning and research which you can incorporate into your content.
Old Business with A New Website
When your business is already established, you don’t have to create much of a splash on social media. Focus on your local SEO, and elements like creating backlinks, keyword research, content creation, building website domain authority, and social media setups.
SEO Price in Malaysia vs Overseas
The prices you find on overseas SEO providers can vary quite widely. For example, SEO company SEMrush has basic SEO package deals ranging from USD 99 to USD 399 per month.
On the other hand, WebFx has packages ranging from USD 1,375 to USD 3,275 per month. If you’re asking how much is SEO per month in Malaysia, it would come to about one quarter to half of that amount when converted to Ringgit Malaysia (RM).
How Can You Compare SEO Prices?
One of the first things you should do is to research or get quotes from the various SEO agencies or freelancers you’re interested in. Then, compare their prices with your budget.
You should also be prepared to negotiate with the agency or freelancer that fits the closest to your needs. Here are some tips when choosing an SEO partner:
- Cheaper doesn’t always mean better. You get your money’s worth so if you invest more, you’ll probably see more fruits than that in cheap SEO services.
- Avoid providers who promise too much in a short time. SEO takes time to work and is not guaranteed 100% in terms of immediate results.
- Make sure your SEO provider uses ethical methods and avoids blackhat SEO which can earn you penalties from Google.
Is SEO a Worthwhile Investment?
“Does SEO cost money?” might have been the first question you were asking when this article started.
However, we’ve established that effective SEO takes effort, experience, and knowledge.
Therefore, outsourcing your SEO in marketing is a wise decision as it ensures that your website and therefore your business gets the best treatment.
Contact us for a free SEO consultation if you’d like to begin optimizing the SEO of your website or upgrade it so that you’ll appear more prominently when searched.
We’ll be able to customize the SEO services you need and fit your budget too, apart from providing digital marketing services.
We provide you with a FREE SEO audit to analyze how well your web presence relates to the best industry practices for achieving better rankings, more organic website traffic, and higher ROI!
