What SEO costs in Charleston, SC
Most SEO agencies don't publish prices. A few do, and their numbers give a fair picture of the market. We're Pluff, a Charleston local SEO company, so we have a stake in this. Every figure below comes from the agency's own page, listed at the bottom.
Prices checked on each agency's own page on November 7, 2026.
- Local SEO plans
- From $750 to $1,200 a month, where published
- Bigger plans
- $1,500 to $4,500 a month
- Commitment
- Month to month, often after about 90 days
- Rankings
- No one can guarantee #1, Google says
Published prices
| Agency | Prices as published | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Charleston SEO (charlestonseo.org), Broad Street, Charleston | Local Foundation $750 to $1,200 a month; Growth $1,500 to $2,500; Market Leader from $3,000; one-time audit $750, credited toward the first month | 90 days, then month to month |
| Shellback SEO, headquartered in Colorado, with a Charleston phone line | Local $1,000 a month; Growth $2,500; Multi-Market $4,500 | Month to month; asks for at least three months |
| Holy Webs, Charleston | SEO by quote; custom websites typically $3,000 to $8,000+; a required maintenance plan of $50 or $150 | Not stated |
Prices as shown on each agency's site on November 7, 2026. Agencies change them, so check the pages linked below before you compare.
What the money usually covers
- Entry plans center on the Google Business Profile. Shellback's Local plan, for example, lists profile work with weekly posts, citations, one new page a month, a review request system, rank tracking and a monthly report.
- Middle plans add technical fixes, more pages each month, and work aimed at AI search and structured data.
- Top plans add more locations and paid ads, which have their own ad spend on top of the fee.
- Websites are often priced separately, sometimes with a required monthly maintenance plan.
What pushes the price up
- How many services you want to rank for, and how many towns. Mount Pleasant and Summerville are separate fights.
- How crowded your category is. Roofers, lawyers and dentists compete harder than most.
- Whether your site needs new pages written, or only fixes.
- Whether ads management is bundled in.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What's the minimum commitment, and what happens if I stop? Get it in writing.
- Who owns my Google profile, website and domain? You should. An agency should be added as a manager on your Google profile, not hold the login.
- How will I see results? Ask for rankings across the areas you serve, plus calls and direction requests, not only website traffic.
- Do you guarantee a #1 ranking? If yes, walk away. Google's own advice says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking.
- Will you add keywords to my business name on Google? Google's guidelines say the name should be your real-world name, and adding unnecessary information can get a profile suspended.
- Will you buy reviews or links? Paying for a better local ranking isn't possible, Google says, and fake reviews break its rules.
Common questions
How much does SEO cost per month in Charleston, SC?
Where Charleston-area agencies publish prices, local SEO plans start around $750 to $1,200 a month, and broader plans run from about $1,500 to $4,500 a month.
Do Charleston SEO agencies require long contracts?
The ones that publish terms are month to month, though several ask for about three months first.
Can an SEO company guarantee a #1 ranking on Google?
No. Google says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and that if someone guarantees first place you should find someone else.