What does each choice cost a California agency each month?

This isn't legal or tax advice.

At this workload, report software is the lowest monthly total, and it makes reports only. The figure for each report is the monthly total spread over 10 reports. Nobody charges it as a price.

We don't give a market rate. We show two firms' own prices.

What do these totals assume?

Our estimate uses one workload for every choice: an agency with 10 SEO clients sends each client one branded report a month. That's 10 reports a month.

• By hand, one report takes 2 hours of staff time: pulling the numbers, writing the notes and adding the brand. That's 20 hours a month.
• With report software, one report takes half an hour of staff time, to check the numbers and add notes. That's 5 hours a month.
• Reading and sending one report that someone else built takes a quarter hour, or 2.5 hours a month. That holds only when the firm or the team builds the report.
• Setup by hand takes 8 hours, one time, to build the report layout. Setup with report software takes 10 hours, one time: 1 hour a client to connect its accounts.
• An hour of staff time costs $51.98 in California and $43.03 across the United States. That's 2025 average pay for the job "Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists", from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's the closest job we found, and it isn't pay for an SEO specialist as such.
• Each price is the seller's own, as of October 2026: Reporting Ninja's Starter plan at $25 a month billed monthly, 51 Blocks' execution only offer at $199 a client with a 10 client minimum, The HOTH's managed SEO Starter plan at $1,000 a month, and our own Entrepreneur plan at $1,497 a month, with 1 task running at a time.
• At 51 Blocks we count 5 hours of your own time a month, the same as with software. The firm's second brand calls its report platform "a DIY reporting platform", and its page doesn't say who builds each client's report. That the agency builds its own is our estimate.
• At The HOTH we count one plan for each client: 10 plans for 10 clients. That's our guess. The page doesn't say whether one plan covers one client.
• Our own total uses our lowest plan, and how many reports fit on it in a month isn't published. So that total is a floor.
• Left out of every total: the SEO data tools a report draws on (varies), setup for choices 3 and 4 (varies), and payroll taxes. Benefits aren't counted here.
• Setup is a one-time cost. It's shown apart from the monthly totals and isn't spread over months.
• Pay is for 2025 and prices are from October 2026, so each total mixes two years.
• Every hour above is our estimate. We found no sourced figure for how long one report takes.

What does it cost to build the reports in house, by hand?

Building 10 client reports a month by hand costs $1,040 in staff time at 2025 California pay, by our estimate.

• Time: 10 reports x 2 hours = 20 hours a month.
• At California pay: 20 hours x $51.98 = $1,039.60.
• At US pay: 20 hours x $43.03 = $860.60.
• The total is the time alone. There's no fee to add.
• For each report: $1,039.60 divided by 10 = $103.96.
• Setup, one time: 8 hours x $51.98 = $415.84 at California pay, or 8 hours x $43.03 = $344.24 at US pay.
• What it buys: the reports only. Your staff still do the SEO work behind them.
• Left out: data tools (varies), payroll taxes and benefits.

The person who builds the reports can be an employee, which is what these totals show, or a solo contractor. A contractor's rate varies, and California's worker test applies. See the test in the law's own words.

What does report software cost to run?

For 10 client reports a month, report software costs $285 to run at 2025 California pay, by our estimate. That's Reporting Ninja's Starter plan at $25 a month billed monthly, plus 5 hours of staff time.

• Fee: Reporting Ninja's Starter plan, $25 a month billed monthly, as of October 2026. The plan holds 10 reports and 10 accounts of each type. Reporting Ninja's pricing page, read October 9, 2026.
• Other ways to pay: $22 a month billed quarterly, or $20 a month billed annually. We use monthly billing.
• The maker says every plan includes all its integrations and features. It gives a 15-day free trial and has no contracts or cancellation fees.
• The maker counts a report this way: "A report is a collection of widgets that can be scheduled, and downloaded / emailed as PDF as many times as needed. It can contain info from multiple data sources and from multiple client accounts at the same time." So one saved report layout for each client, sent each month, is one report on its plan. That's our reading of the maker's words.
• Time: 10 reports x 0.5 hours = 5 hours a month.
• At California pay: 5 hours x $51.98 = $259.90. At US pay: 5 hours x $43.03 = $215.15.
• Total: $25 + $259.90 = $284.90 at California pay. $25 + $215.15 = $240.15 at US pay.
• For each report: $284.90 divided by 10 = $28.49.
• Setup, one time: 10 hours x $51.98 = $519.80 at California pay, or 10 hours x $43.03 = $430.30 at US pay.
• What it buys: the reports only. Your staff still do the SEO work behind them.
• Left out: data tools (varies), payroll taxes and benefits.

Reporting Ninja is the one tool we priced. Other tools' prices differ.

What does a white label SEO firm cost?

For 10 clients, the two firms we priced come to $2,250 and $10,130 a month at 2025 California pay, by our estimate. The second figure rests on our guess that each client needs its own plan. The two firms sell different kinds of service, so we name each one. One of the top pages we read lists The HOTH as a white label partner, and its own page doesn't call this plan white label.

First example: 51 Blocks' execution only offer

• Fee: "$199/client (10 client minimum)", as of October 2026. 51 Blocks' services page, read October 9, 2026. The page pitches it at large agencies and sells it under a second brand, Whitelabelseo.io.
• For 10 clients: 10 x $199 = $1,990 a month.
• The second brand's own page says: "Done for you white label SEO fulfillment, with a DIY reporting platform to support your clients." DIY means do it yourself. The same page lists "Custom Monthly Reporting", and doesn't say who builds each client's report. That the agency builds its own is our estimate. Whitelabelseo.io, read October 9, 2026.
• Your own time: 5 hours a month, the same as with software. That's $259.90 at California pay or $215.15 at US pay.
• Total: $1,990 + $259.90 = $2,249.90 at California pay. $1,990 + $215.15 = $2,205.15 at US pay.
• For each report: $2,249.90 divided by 10 = $224.99.
• What it buys: SEO tasks carried out, and report software. You set the plan.
• Left out: data tools (varies), setup (varies), payroll taxes and benefits.

Second example: The HOTH's managed SEO, Starter plan

• Fee: $1,000 a month for Starter, the lowest plan the page shows, as of October 2026. Its other plans are $2,500, $5,000 and $10,000 a month. The HOTH's managed SEO page, read October 9, 2026.
• The page doesn't say whether one plan covers one client. One plan for each client is our guess: 10 plans x $1,000 = $10,000 a month.
• Your own time: 2.5 hours a month to read and send, which is $129.95 at California pay or $107.58 at US pay. That holds only if the firm builds the report, and its page doesn't say it does.
• Total: $10,000 + $129.95 = $10,129.95 at California pay. $10,000 + $107.58 = $10,107.58 at US pay.
• For each report: $10,129.95 divided by 10 = $1,013.00.
• What it buys: the firm's page says "HOTH X is a fully managed SEO service". It names a dedicated campaign manager, link building, content and technical SEO. Our own plan covers on-page SEO and leaves link building and outreach out.
• Starter is the lowest plan the page shows, so this figure isn't a ceiling.
• Left out: data tools (varies), setup (varies), payroll taxes and benefits.

What does Office-Based Insourcing with DeskTeam360 cost?

For 10 client reports a month, our lowest plan comes to at least $1,627 at 2025 California pay, by our estimate. That's the Entrepreneur plan, 1 task at a time for $1,497 a month, plus 2.5 hours of your own time.

• Fee: the Entrepreneur plan runs 1 task at a time for $1,497 a month. Marketer runs 2 for $2,994 a month, and Agency runs 3 for $4,491 a month. These are DeskTeam360's published prices as of October 2026.
• What's included: 2 developers, 2 designers and 2 technical Virtual Assistants, with a team leader, a North American account manager and 2 weekly group calls with the founder. Tasks are unlimited, with 1 running at a time on this plan. Revisions are unlimited on every plan, and white label is on all plans.
• What's covered and what isn't: we cover on-page SEO, but link building and outreach sit outside the plan. Strategy, the words and ad management are left out too.
• Reports: Jeremy Kenerson, DeskTeam360's founder, says the team builds and sends monthly SEO reports for agency clients.
• Your own time: 2.5 hours a month to read and send, which is $129.95 at California pay or $107.58 at US pay. That holds only if the team builds the report.
• Total: $1,497 + $129.95 = $1,626.95 at California pay. $1,497 + $107.58 = $1,604.58 at US pay.
• For each report: $1,626.95 divided by 10 = $162.70.
• It's a floor. This is the lowest plan, and how many reports fit on it in a month isn't published. A bigger plan runs 2 or 3 tasks at a time.
• 12 months of the plan: 12 x $1,497 = $17,964. The plan is month to month, with no contract.
• Left out: data tools (varies), setup (varies), payroll taxes and benefits.

How does California pay compare with US pay for this job?

California pay for this job averages $8.95 an hour more than US pay, by Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for 2025.

So each hour of staff time on reports costs more in California. It's the closest job we found, and it isn't pay for an SEO specialist as such.

What do payroll taxes add to staff time?

Payroll taxes add to what an employer pays for staff time, and none of them is in our totals.

• A new employer in California is given an unemployment insurance rate of 3.4 percent for two to three years, on the first $7,000 of each employee's pay a year. A firm that isn't new has its own rate. The state's page gives the 2026 schedule.
• California's Employment Training Tax is 0.1 percent for 2026, on the first $7,000 of each employee's pay a year.
• An employer pays 6.2 percent Social Security tax on pay up to $184,500 for 2026, and 1.45 percent Medicare tax on all pay.
• The federal unemployment tax is 6.0 percent on the first $7,000 of each employee's pay a year. With the full credit for state unemployment tax, it's 0.6 percent.
• For 2025, California employers paid the 0.6 percent federal rate plus a 1.2 percent credit reduction, by the Labor Department's table. That tax applies to the first $7,000 of each employee's pay.
• For 2026 the federal rate may be higher for California employers. The Labor Department sets the final list on November 10, 2026.

The two California taxes and the federal unemployment tax apply only to the first $7,000 of a person's pay each year. They can't be split onto a monthly task without knowing the rest of that person's pay, so we leave them out. Benefits aren't counted here.

How does the plan compare with a small agency's payroll?

On average, a small California ad or marketing agency paid its staff $94,545 in 2023, which is 5.3 times what 12 months of our Entrepreneur plan cost at October 2026 prices.

• California had 9,770 small advertising and marketing agencies in 2023, by the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns for 2023. Small means a shop with a payroll and fewer than 5 employees. A one-person shop with no employee isn't in the count.
• The $94,545 is all staff pay for the shop. It isn't one person's pay.
• Across the United States, 54,268 shops of the same kind paid their staff $91,128 on average in 2023. That's 5.1 times 12 months of the plan.
• 12 months of the plan is $17,964. The plan is month to month, so that's 12 payments and never a yearly contract.

It's a sense of scale. It doesn't mean any agency can pay for the plan.