Last updated: February 2026
Denver SEO services include local keyword research, Google Business Profile optimization, on-page SEO, technical audits, content creation, and link building. Most Denver agencies charge $1,500 to $5,000 per month. Results typically appear in 3 to 6 months.
Success depends less on tactics and more on choosing an agency that shows you the exact work completed each month and how it ties to leads.
Denver SEO services are easy to buy and hard to evaluate. If you’ve paid for SEO before and have nothing to show for it, you’re not alone. Most Denver business owners we talk to have that story. They hired an agency, got monthly reports full of jargon, and watched nothing change.
That’s not an SEO problem. That’s a hiring problem.
This guide breaks down what SEO services in Denver actually include, what they cost, how to tell if they’re working, and how to spot the agencies worth your money. It’s written by David Drewitz, who has worked directly on SEO strategy for Denver businesses since founding Creative Options Marketing in 2009. No sales pitch. Just the information you need to make a good decision.
What Denver SEO Services Actually Include
Most agencies bundle SEO into packages, but the work behind those packages breaks down into seven core areas.
Local keyword research. Identifying the high-intent search terms your customers actually use. A law firm in Capitol Hill needs different keywords than a restaurant in the DTC area. Good keyword research starts with your business, your location, and the specific services you offer.
Google Business Profile optimization. Your GBP listing is often the first thing a potential customer sees. Optimizing it means accurate business info, consistent posting (we recommend at least weekly), review management with responses within 24 hours, proper category selection, and ongoing category testing to see what drives the best visibility.
Denver-area restaurant: We started managing GBP for a Denver-area restaurant in late 2025. In the first 30 days, their profile views hit 14,777, they received 221 phone calls, and direction requests topped 799. They went from zero active management to 72% of their local keywords ranking in the top 3.
Results vary by category and competition, but the pattern is consistent: active GBP management changes visibility fast.
On-page SEO. The work that happens on your actual website. Title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, internal linking, and content optimization. The goal is to make every page on your site clear to both search engines and visitors about what it covers and who it’s for.
Technical SEO. Site speed, mobile usability, crawl errors, broken links, schema markup, and indexing issues. These are the backend problems that can tank your rankings even if your content is strong. Most business owners don’t know they have technical issues until someone runs an audit.
Content creation. Blog posts, service pages, and landing pages built around the keywords your customers search for. Good SEO content answers real questions. It’s not keyword-stuffed filler. It’s useful information that positions your business as the authority in your market.
Link earning. Getting other reputable websites to link back to yours through PR mentions, local partnerships, and industry citations. This builds trust signals Google uses to rank your site. Quality matters more than quantity. One link from a respected Colorado business publication is worth more than 50 links from random directories.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). This is newer. Traditional SEO gets you ranked on Google. GEO gets your business cited by AI search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. If you’ve noticed AI-generated answers appearing at the top of your search results, that’s where GEO comes in. Not every agency offers this yet, but it’s becoming a factor in how Denver businesses get found.
Why Denver Businesses Need Local SEO
Denver isn’t one market. It’s dozens of micro-markets. A search for “best Italian restaurant” returns completely different results depending on whether the searcher is in Cherry Creek, Wash Park, or Highlands Ranch. Google uses the searcher’s location to personalize results, which means your SEO strategy needs to account for where your customers are, not just what they’re searching for.
For Denver businesses that depend on local customers, the Google Local 3-Pack is the most valuable real estate in search. Those are the three business listings that appear with a map above the regular search results. Getting into the 3-Pack requires a well-optimized Google Business Profile, consistent business information across directories (NAP consistency), strong reviews, and local content signals.
Multi-location Colorado business: Within 90 days of starting local SEO, their profile views tripled. “Near me” searches started surfacing all four of their locations. Their average review rating improved from 3.8 to 4.4.
We run NAP audits across 40+ directories and data sources. We fix the inconsistencies that quietly hurt local rankings. Many businesses don’t know they have listing errors until someone checks.
Denver’s small-business density means dozens of companies compete for the same local searches in every category. A boutique on South Broadway faces different competition than a B2B firm on 17th Street, but both need the same foundation: a website Google can read, a GBP listing Google trusts, and content that matches what their customers are searching for.
The businesses that invest in local SEO consistently show up. The ones that don’t are invisible to the people searching right now.
How to Choose a Denver SEO Company
This is where most businesses get it wrong. They pick based on price, a convincing sales call, or a “guaranteed rankings” promise. Here’s what to actually look for.
Red Flags vs. Green Flags
| Red Flag | Green Flag |
|---|---|
| Guarantees page 1 rankings | Explains that results depend on competition, content, and time |
| Won’t explain what they’re doing each month | Provides clear monthly reports with specific actions taken |
| Locks you into a 12-month contract before showing results | Earns your business monthly with transparent reporting |
| Junior account manager handles your account | Senior strategists do the actual work |
| Same strategy for every client regardless of industry | Custom strategy based on your market, competitors, and goals |
| Focuses only on rankings as a metric | Connects SEO to leads, calls, and revenue |
| No local presence or Denver market knowledge | Understands Denver’s neighborhoods, competition, and search behavior |
If an agency can’t show you real data, even anonymized, from a client in a similar industry, they may be hiding a lack of results behind a static PDF report. Ask to see the data, not a summary of it.
Have you been burned before?
If any of these sound familiar, you’re not starting from zero. You’re starting from experience.
- Did you receive monthly reports you couldn’t understand or act on?
- Were rankings reported without any connection to leads or revenue?
- Did the strategy seem to stop changing after the first month?
If you said yes to any of those, you hired the wrong agency. The SEO itself wasn’t the problem.
Ask your agency who’s doing the work. If the person on the sales call isn’t the person managing your account, find out who is. At smaller agencies, you typically work directly with senior people. At larger shops, your account may get handed to someone with six months of experience.
Ask for specific examples. Not just “we helped a client increase traffic.” What client? What industry? What did traffic look like before and after? How long did it take? An agency that can’t answer these questions clearly probably doesn’t have the results to back up their pitch.
Boulder law firm: We helped a Boulder law firm go from page 3 to page 1 for their primary keyword in 87 days. They now rank for 23 practice-area terms they weren’t visible for previously. That’s the kind of specificity you should expect when evaluating a Denver SEO company.
What SEO Costs in Denver
Most agencies don’t publish pricing, which makes it hard to know if you’re getting a fair deal. Here’s what the Denver market looks like based on our experience.
| Tier | Monthly Cost | What’s Typically Included | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | $500 – $1,000 | Basic on-page fixes, minimal content, limited reporting | Very small businesses testing SEO for the first time |
| Mid-Range | $1,500 – $3,000 | Keyword research, on-page SEO, GBP optimization, monthly content, regular reporting | Small to mid-size local businesses ready to invest in growth |
| Premium | $3,000 – $7,000+ | Full strategy (technical + content + link building + GBP + GEO), dedicated strategist, detailed analytics | Competitive markets, multi-location businesses, serious growth targets |
| Hidden Risk | What to Watch For |
|---|---|
| Low-cost SEO ($500 – $1,000) | Automated content, outsourced links, no real strategy behind the work |
| Mid-range SEO ($1,500 – $3,000) | Ask who’s doing the work. Is it a senior strategist or a junior hire? |
| Premium SEO ($3,000 – $7,000+) | Confirm they’re tracking ROI, not just delivering tasks and reports |
I’ll be honest: if you’re a solo practitioner just starting out, you might not need a $3,000/month retainer yet. You might need a solid foundation and a Google Business Profile setup. We tell prospects that all the time. There’s no point paying for a full SEO program before your website and GBP listing are ready for one.
Cheap SEO is expensive in the long run. Agencies charging $500/month are cutting corners somewhere, usually on content quality or link building. You won’t see meaningful results at that level for competitive Denver keywords.
SEO is a monthly investment, not a one-time project. The businesses that see results commit for at least 6 months. The ones that quit after 2 months because “nothing happened” never gave it enough time to work.
Ask what’s included. “SEO services” can mean wildly different things depending on the agency. One agency’s $2,000/month package might include 4 blog posts and a technical audit. Another’s might include nothing but a monthly report. Get the specifics in writing.
How to Tell If Your SEO Is Working
Rankings are one metric, but they’re not the whole picture. Here’s what to track.
Organic traffic. Is the number of visitors coming from search engines going up month over month? Check Google Analytics. If organic sessions are flat or declining after 6 months of SEO work, something is wrong.
Keyword positions. Are you moving up for your target keywords? Track this in a tool like SE Ranking or Semrush. Look for steady improvement over time, not overnight jumps.
Leads and calls. This is what matters most. Is SEO generating phone calls, form submissions, or direction requests? If traffic is up but leads are flat, the strategy might be targeting the wrong keywords or the website has a conversion problem. Use call tracking and form tracking so you can attribute leads directly to organic search.
Google Business Profile insights. Profile views, search queries, direction requests, and phone calls. These are direct indicators of local SEO performance.
Indexed pages. Is Google finding and indexing your content? Use Google Search Console to verify.
A good agency ties all of this back to revenue. Not just “you ranked #4 for this keyword,” but “that keyword generated 12 phone calls this month.” If your current agency can’t connect SEO activity to business outcomes, it might be time to ask harder questions.
FAQs About Denver SEO Services
Most Denver agencies charge between $1,500 and $5,000 per month for ongoing SEO. Budget options exist at $500 to $1,000, but they typically don’t include enough work to move the needle in competitive markets. Premium packages for multi-location or highly competitive industries can run $5,000 to $7,000+.
Most businesses see measurable improvement within 3 to 6 months. Competitive keywords in saturated markets can take longer. If an agency promises page 1 rankings in 30 days, that’s a red flag. SEO compounds over time. Early months build the foundation that later months capitalize on.
Local SEO targets customers in a specific geographic area. It focuses on Google Business Profile, local keywords, citations, and map pack rankings. National SEO targets broader keywords without a location component and relies more heavily on content, domain authority, and link building. Most Denver businesses need local SEO first.
Ask for monthly reports that show specific actions taken, not just dashboards full of numbers. You should see what keywords they’re targeting, what content they created or optimized, what technical issues they fixed, and how those actions connect to traffic and leads. If the reports are vague, that’s a problem.
You can handle basic SEO yourself: claiming your Google Business Profile, writing blog content, and fixing obvious technical issues. But competitive keyword targeting, technical audits, link building, and ongoing strategy require experience and tools most business owners don’t have. If SEO is important to your business growth, an experienced agency will get results faster and avoid costly mistakes.
Yes. Reviews are a ranking factor for the Local 3-Pack. Google considers review quantity, quality, recency, and how often you respond. Businesses that actively manage their reviews tend to rank higher in local results. Responding to every review, positive and negative, signals to Google that the business is active and engaged.
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It’s the practice of optimizing your content to be cited by AI search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. As more people use AI to find local businesses, GEO is becoming a factor in how you get found. Not every business needs a dedicated GEO strategy today, but your SEO content should be structured in a way that AI tools can easily reference it.
Ready to Talk?
If you’ve read this far, you’re serious about getting SEO right. Schedule a 15-minute call with David. We’ll review your situation, answer your questions, and tell you if we’re the right fit.
Schedule a 15-Minute CallNo obligation. No sales pitch. Just a straight conversation.
