Real local SEO is not $300 a month. The sooner you accept that, the less money you'll waste — and after nine-plus years doing this for HVAC companies, dental practices, med spas, and home services operators across the NJ/NY/PA/CT tri-state, I've watched a lot of owners waste a lot of money learning it the hard way.
Adatek's published monthly plans, with the full deliverables in our NJ local SEO cost guide.
Google Business Profile management, core-directory citation corrections, and 4 blog posts per month.
Everything in Starter, plus up to 4 additional original location pages and 8 blog posts planned quarterly.
Everything in Growth, plus GEO/AEO, monthly AI-answer tracking, and 8 AI-focused blog posts per month.
GEO/AEO, including monthly AI-answer citation tracking, is included with Professional and available as an add-on for Starter and Growth; neither lower-tier base plan includes tracking.
Why cheap SEO is the most expensive kind
When you see a $300 "SEO package," one of three things is happening. The first is software with no human attached — a dashboard that auto-posts directory listings and emails you a report full of green arrows that mean nothing. The second is a content farm spinning junk pages and spammy backlinks. The third is a loss leader — a cheap front-end designed to get you signed before the real costs show up as add-ons you didn't budget for.
The worst part isn't that cheap SEO doesn't work. It's that some of it actively damages you. Keyword-stuffed business names, fake review schemes, and link spam can get your Google Business Profile suspended — and clawing back a suspended profile can take your visibility to zero for weeks. I've cleaned up that exact mess for clients more than once. It is always more expensive than doing it right the first time.
What real local SEO actually costs
Adatek's published plans are Starter $1,097/month, Growth $1,697/month, and Professional $2,497/month, all month-to-month with no long-term contracts. For the full plan comparison, exact deliverables, and illustrative break-even math, see our NJ local SEO cost guide.
The graphic summarizes the plans rather than repeating the full comparison. GEO/AEO, including monthly AI-answer citation tracking, is included with Professional and available as an add-on for Starter and Growth; neither lower-tier base plan includes tracking. Compare the published scope with your locations, content needs, and reporting requirements.
The only ROI math that matters
The number that decides whether local SEO is "expensive" isn't the retainer. It's what a customer is worth to you.
HVAC
Use your own average replacement revenue, gross margin, close rate, and attributable jobs to evaluate the retainer. Do not assume one extra job or a standard industry margin. We break down the planning inputs on our local SEO for NJ home services page.
Dental
A new patient is worth roughly $1,000–$1,500 in the first year and often $3,000+ over their lifetime. Eight new patients a month at a conservative $1,500 first-year value is $12,000 against Growth at $1,697/month. The lifetime math makes it lopsided — see what's involved on our local SEO for NJ dental practices page.
Med spa
Average ticket around $400 a visit, with clients returning for repeat treatments. Ten new clients a month is $4,000 in immediate revenue — and the repeat visits and packages that follow compound from there. Our med spa SEO page covers the reputation-heavy strategy this vertical needs.
Home services
A roofing job can be $8,000–$12,000; a plumbing job ranges from a $300 service call to $1,500+. Even a handful of the bigger jobs a month makes the retainer disappear. Roofers have their own dynamics — storm seasonality, insurance work — covered on our roofer SEO page.
What moves the price up or down
- Market competition. More competitors and denser markets cost more to break into.
- Number of locations. Each location is its own profile, its own citations, its own battle.
- Where you're starting. A neglected profile and thin website take more work to fix before you can grow.
- Your goals. Maintaining a lead is cheaper than taking the top spot from an entrenched competitor.
Hidden costs to watch for
Before you sign anything, ask about setup fees, contract length, and — most important — who owns your accounts and assets. If an agency keeps your profile and website under their control, the real cost is the leverage they hold over you. Month-to-month or short, fair terms protect you; long lock-ins protect them.
The bottom line
Budget realistically. If a quote sounds too cheap to be real, it is — and it may cost you more than it saves. Tie the spend to what a customer is worth, run the math for your own numbers, and the decision usually makes itself.