An SEO consultant costs between 105 and 180 USD an hour in Denmark. That's the short answer. The long one is about why an hourly rate is rarely the right way to buy SEO.
The prices
- SEO consultant, hourly rate: 105 to 180 USD
- One-off review of an existing site: 1,200 to 4,500 USD
- Ongoing agreement with an agency: 750 to 3,750 USD a month
My own: 75 USD a month for ongoing SEO, fixed price. No hourly billing, and basic SEO is included in the price if the website is built with me.
The problem with hourly rates
You don't know what you're buying.
A consultant at 135 USD an hour can spend four hours reading up on your industry before a single thing is fixed. That's 540 USD for research you can't see. And you only find out on the invoice.
Worse: hourly rates reward slowness. The longer a job takes, the more the person doing it earns. It isn't bad intent, it's just a bad structure.
Ask for a fixed price on a defined job. "Review of the ten most important pages, a report with the errors costing you the most, and fixing the five biggest" is something you can put a number on. "SEO advice" isn't.
What you should get for the money
Whatever the pricing, you should get four things:
A starting point. What does the site score now? If they can't measure it before, they can't show you an improvement afterwards either. I measure on a scale from 0 to 100 and write the number down before I touch anything.
A prioritised list. Not 80 points from a tool, but the five things actually costing you customers, in order.
The work done, not just described. Many deliver a report and leave you to find a developer. Then you've paid for a list.
Access to your own data. Search Console, analytics, everything. It's yours. If you don't get it, you're tied to them forever.
When a consultant is the wrong choice
If you have fewer than ten pages and sell locally, a one-off clean-up is enough. The foundation in place, a proper Google Business Profile and five pages written properly. That beats an ongoing agreement you can't see the result of.
If the site needs rebuilding anyway, don't buy SEO on top afterwards. Get it built in from the start. It's cheaper, and it works better, because structure can't be bolted onto a template that wasn't made for it.
What I saw on 57 Danish websites
I did redesigns of 57 websites in 34 days and measured each of them before and after. The pattern was the same almost every time:
The language attribute said English on a Danish site. The meta description was missing, so Google wrote the headline in the search result itself. No structured data anywhere, so neither Google nor ChatGPT could read services, prices or opening hours.
Typical score before: 20 to 40. After: above 90.
None of those errors take 20 consultant hours to find. They take someone opening the source code instead of looking at the design.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an SEO consultant cost per hour?
105 to 180 USD in Denmark. Some charge more for specialised technical work.
Is a fixed price cheaper than an hourly rate?
Usually yes, and you always know what it ends up costing. Ask for a fixed price on a defined job rather than an open hourly agreement.
How many hours does SEO take a month?
For a smaller business, typically two to five hours once the foundation is in place. If the foundation isn't in place, that's what has to be done first, and it's a one-off job.
Can I hire a consultant just to check my site?
Yes, and it's often the smartest first step. Ask for a number for where the site stands today and a list of the five most important errors.
What's the difference between an SEO consultant and an SEO agency?
A consultant advises and often doesn't do the work. An agency has a team, but you rarely talk to the person doing the work. For smaller businesses, one person who both advises and builds is usually the right choice.
Finally
I don't do brand awareness. I do revenue, rankings and websites that sell. Ask for a number on where your site stands today before you buy a single hour. If you don't get one, don't buy.