Costs
Comparing website packages: what SEO should list
Two packages can both say "SEO included" and mean completely different things. Here is a checklist for putting them side by side, using Google's own guidance on what is and is not possible.
Price lists for websites in India and elsewhere are full of packs and plans with a line such as “SEO included”, often with little else to compare. The price of a pack tells you almost nothing until you know what is inside it, and “SEO” is the line that varies most. This note is a checklist for comparing.
Three things “SEO included” can mean
- Basic soundness. The pages are built so search engines can read them: real text, sensible headings, a title and description for each page. Google’s starter guide treats these as the foundations. Any competent build should have them.
- A one-off set-up. Someone plans keywords, writes titles and descriptions, adds a sitemap and structured data, and connects measurement tools.
- Ongoing work. A monthly service that reviews, improves and reports, for a fee, for as long as you agree.
A package should say which of the three it contains. If it says only “SEO”, ask.
What a package should list
| Item | Ask |
|---|---|
| Keyword and search-intent planning | Done by whom, for how many pages, and shown to me? |
| Titles, descriptions and headings | Written for every page, or only the main ones? |
| Internal links | Planned across the site, or left to chance? |
| Sitemap, canonical addresses, structured data | Which types, and on which pages? |
| Search Console and analytics | Set up in my account, with me as the owner? |
| Enquiry tracking | Which actions are counted, and is any personal data collected? |
| First month or ongoing work | What exactly is done in it, and what does month two cost? |
| Reports | What do I receive, how often? |
| Content writing | Included, or do I supply every word? |
If a package lists none of these but still says “SEO”, you do not yet know what you are buying.
Who owns the accounts
Google’s analytics and search tools belong to whoever creates them. Search Console has permission levels, and only an owner can add or remove other users; a “full user” cannot. So the account should be created in your name, with you as owner, and anyone helping you given a lower level of access. If the developer owns the account and the relationship ends, the history of how your site was found can go with them. Ask this before work starts.
Claims to read twice
- A promised ranking or a promised number of visits. Google states that no one can guarantee a number one ranking. A package that promises one is promising something outside its control.
- A “special relationship” with Google, or a “priority” submission. Google lists these among the red flags.
- “Unlimited” anything, including pages, revisions or SEO. Unlimited work has a limit; it is usually found in an argument.
- Secrecy about what will be changed. Google says a good provider explains what they change and why.
- Very low prices with no scope. Directory listings often show a single price for a “pack” without saying what it covers. The price may be honest; the missing list is the problem.
An example of a clear statement
Website Craft Room states its scope in the package lists. Essential is frontend only and includes no SEO services, GA4 setup, Search Console setup or enquiry-tracking implementation. Growth includes agreed SEO implementation and the first month of SEO work, and SEO after that is optional at ₹5,000 per month, with nothing renewing automatically. Complete covers a broader site and a comprehensive SEO scope, and does not include unlimited or permanent monthly SEO. None of the three promises rankings. The pricing page has the exact lists. This is an example of what a clear statement looks like; it is not a benchmark for other providers’ prices.
Ask for it in writing
Whichever you choose, ask for the list above in the proposal, with dates and with who does each item. A proposal that names the work can be compared and held to. One that names only a feeling cannot.