What Should an SEO Retainer Include?
A monthly fee is easy to quote plus hard to judge unless you know what it buys. A good SEO retainer spells out the work, the reporting plus the support you get each month. Here is what a complete retainer should include plus how to read one before you sign.
A good SEO retainer should clearly include the agreed monthly work, usually strategy, technical SEO, on-page plus content work and link building, alongside regular reporting plus account management. The deliverables or scope should be spelled out, so you know exactly what your fee buys rather than paying for a vague promise of some SEO each month. If a line is not listed, treat that as a question to ask before you sign.
A retainer
at a glance
A retainer is a monthly fee for ongoing work. These three numbers frame what a clear one should cover.
Core inclusions
Strategy, technical, on-page, content, links plus reporting, the spine of most retainers.
Typical entry point
Where a focused local retainer often starts, scaling up with scope.
Clarity expected
A good retainer leaves no doubt about what the monthly fee covers.
What a complete retainer covers
A retainer is simply a monthly fee for ongoing SEO. The trouble is that some are clearly itemised while others are little more than a number with the words SEO services beside it. Knowing what a complete retainer should contain lets you compare quotes fairly plus tell a real offer from a vague one.
Strategy plus planning
A retainer should include the thinking, not just the doing. That means deciding what to target each month, in what order plus why, then adjusting as results come in. Without this you are paying for activity with no direction. The strategy is what makes the rest of the work add up to something rather than a list of disconnected tasks.
Technical, on-page plus content work
This is the bulk of the hands-on work. Technical SEO keeps the site healthy plus crawlable, on-page work optimises individual pages plus content adds the pages plus depth that earn rankings. A good retainer covers all three, flexing the balance month to month. You should be able to see roughly what proportion of the fee goes to each rather than guessing.
Links plus authority
Most retainers include some work on authority, whether that is earning links, digital PR or building citations for local businesses. The amount varies plus quality matters far more than volume. What you want is honesty about the approach, since cheap bulk links can do more harm than good. A retainer that quietly skips this should explain how it plans to build authority instead.
Reporting plus communication
The fee should buy visibility, not just labour. A clear retainer states how often you will be updated plus in what form. At Lillian Purge that means an update every three weeks plus a fresh audit every three months. Reporting is not an optional extra, since it is how you hold the agency accountable plus see whether the money is working.
Account management plus support
Someone should own the relationship. A retainer usually includes a point of contact, regular reviews plus a sensible response time when you have a question. This is easy to overlook until you need it. The difference between a retainer that includes real support plus one that does not becomes obvious the first time something needs sorting quickly.
What sits outside the retainer
Finally, know what is not included. Big one-off jobs such as a full website rebuild, a large migration or paid advertising management often sit outside the monthly fee plus are billed separately. That is fine when it is stated up front. What you want to avoid is a retainer that looks complete then sprouts extras later. The panel below lays out a typical set of inclusions so you can see what good looks like.
What a retainer
really pays for
Strategy plus delivery
Planning, technical fixes, on-page optimisation, content plus links. The hands-on activity that actually improves the site each month.
Reporting plus reviews
Regular updates plus reviews that show what was done plus what it achieved. This is how you see the fee working rather than take it on trust.
Management plus support
A clear point of contact, sensible response times plus someone who owns your account. Easy to overlook until the day you need it.
Inside a complete
SEO retainer
The six things a clear retainer should name, laid out as a simple inclusions list.
Four questions to ask
about a retainer
A retainer is the moment to pin down exactly what you are buying. Put these four questions to any agency before you commit.
A clear retainer
vs a vague one
Two retainers can carry the same price plus mean very different things. Here is how to tell them apart.
Itemised and honest
- Names the work the fee covers
- Shows the rough balance across areas
- States the reporting rhythm
- Flags anything billed separately
- Can flex as priorities change
A number and a promise
- Just says SEO services with no detail
- Cannot say where the time goes
- Says little about reporting
- Hides extras until the invoice arrives
- Never reviewed once signed
A retainer that
spells it out.
You will know exactly what your fee covers each month, see it reported every three weeks plus own everything we produce. No mystery line items, no surprise extras. Free quote today, from £350 per month.