If you're researching SEO audit costs before picking up the phone, that's exactly the right approach. Here are the actual numbers — and an honest explanation of what you get for them.
When people search "how much does an SEO audit cost," the answers they find are all over the map. Some sources quote $500. Others say $15,000. A few agencies will tell you it depends entirely on your situation — which is technically true but not very useful when you're trying to budget.
I'm going to be direct about what I charge, because I think that's what you're actually looking for. Island Rank Canada has two packages, one add-on, and nothing else. No monthly retainers. No hidden project fees. Just flat one-time prices. If you're still deciding whether you need one, this article will help.
The two packages
Local Spotlight — $850 CAD
This is the right package if you operate from a single location — see the full Local Spotlight page for everything it covers or serve one primary community — a restaurant in Nanaimo, a physiotherapy clinic in Langford, a plumber based in Duncan. The audit covers:
- Website SEO review — title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, internal linking, mobile usability, page speed signals, and crawlability
- Local SEO analysis — how your website signals your location and service area to Google, including schema markup, geo meta, and NAP consistency
- Google Business Profile review — category accuracy, service area settings, photos, posts, Q&A, and the signals Google uses to rank you in the local map pack
- Citation consistency check — how consistently your name, address, and phone number appear across the key directories Google cross-references
- Prioritised action plan — a ranked document in plain English explaining what to fix, in what order, and why it matters
- 30 days of email support — so you can ask questions as you or your developer work through the recommendations
The $850 price is one-time. You pay once, you get the audit, you keep the report. There's no subscription and no obligation to hire me again.
Multi-Location Review — $1,400 CAD
This is the right package if you have two to five physical locations, or if you're a service-area business operating across multiple communities — a landscaping company covering the Comox Valley, a healthcare provider with clinics in Victoria and Duncan, a tourism operator running experiences in Tofino and Ucluelet.
The Multi-Location Review includes everything in the Local Spotlight, plus:
- Up to five GBP listing reviews — each location's profile reviewed for category accuracy, completeness, and consistency with the website
- Location page audit — individual city or community pages reviewed for duplicate content, thin content, and the local signals that help each location rank in its own market
- Citation audit across all locations — NAP consistency checked for each location independently, since conflicting information across locations is one of the most common reasons multi-location businesses underperform in local search
- Internal linking review — how your location pages link to each other and to the rest of the site, which affects how Google crawls and values each location's page
- Two structured follow-up calls — to work through the report together, prioritise what matters most for your specific situation, and answer questions that are easier to discuss than to answer in writing
The $550 difference between the two packages reflects the additional scope: more GBP profiles to review, more location pages to assess, and more complexity in the citation layer when each location has its own listing history across different directories.
The optional add-on: Citation Cleanup — $450 CAD
Both packages include a citation audit — I tell you where your listings are inconsistent and what needs to change. The Citation Cleanup is the one service where I do the implementation work directly: I manually correct and submit your business information to the directories that matter most for local search on Vancouver Island.
Most of what I deliver is a report and a plan — you take that to your developer or web team. Citation cleanup is the exception. It's a bounded, specific task where doing it yourself is genuinely tedious, and where accuracy matters enough that it's worth having someone do it carefully. You can add it to either package; just mention it when you get in touch.
What you're actually paying for
These prices reflect hands-on, individual work. I do every audit myself. I'm not outsourcing the review to a junior analyst or running your URL through a tool and printing the output. I look at your website, your GBP, your citations, and your competitive context on Vancouver Island — and I write a report that's specific to your business, not a template with your name dropped in.
I'm also based here. I know the difference between the market dynamics in Courtenay versus Victoria. I know which directories matter for tourism businesses on the west coast versus trades businesses in the Cowichan Valley. That's not something you get from a mainland agency that covers every market in Canada.
The 30-day support window after delivery matters too. When you're working through the report and you run into something you don't understand — or your developer has a question about a schema recommendation — you can email me and get a straight answer, not a ticket that routes to someone who's never heard of your business.
How this compares to agency alternatives
Most Vancouver Island businesses that look at agency SEO are quoted monthly retainers. The typical range I hear from clients is $1,200–$2,500 per month, with a setup fee on top. That model makes sense if you want ongoing content production, link building, and monthly reporting — but it's a significant commitment, and for a lot of small businesses, it's not the right starting point.
An audit first makes sense if you don't actually know what's wrong. Before you pay for someone to "do SEO" month after month, it's worth understanding which specific signals are hurting your visibility, so any subsequent investment goes toward fixing real problems rather than running a general programme that may or may not address what's actually holding you back.
If you're curious which package fits your situation, the contact page has a short form, or you can reach me directly at hello@islandrank.ca. I respond to every message personally.
Written by Michael Perks — Island Rank Canada, Duncan, BC
Questions about which package fits your situation? Get in touch.