Table of Contents
In short: Digital marketing services cover SEO, paid ads, your website, social media, content and analytics. A monthly fee should pay for named work you can check, and SEO's proper results start around month 3.
Key takeaways
- Social posting is one part of six, and often the smallest part of what a quote covers.
- Search work like SEO, content and site fixes reaches people already looking to buy.
- Managed SEO costs from KES 80,000 a month, and nothing goes live until you approve it.
- Ask every agency what you get each month, who checks it and whether there's a lock-in.
- A plain-language monthly report shows your searches, Google visitors and enquiries.
Digital marketing services are the paid work that helps people find your business online, trust it and get in touch. That work covers search, paid ads, your website, social media, content and the numbers that show what’s working.
You’ve likely been told you need it, then got quotes that each list different things at different prices. This article helps you decide which parts are worth your money, so you can read any quote and match each shilling to work done.
Some of that work, SEO in particular, is a long-term strategy that takes about three months to show proper results. The upside is that the enquiries it brings come from people who are already looking for what you sell.
What digital marketing services include
Many of the business owners I speak to think digital marketing means posting on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. It’s an understandable mix-up, because social media is the part you see every day.
Posting is one part of six. When an agency quotes you, the price usually covers several of these parts, and the cost depends on which ones.
The six main parts of digital marketing
- SEO (search engine optimisation): work that helps your website show up when people search Google for what you sell. I explain it fully in what SEO is in Kenya.
- Paid ads: Google or Meta ads you pay for by the click or the view. They bring visitors fast and stop when the budget stops.
- Your website: the place where a visitor decides whether to call, WhatsApp or leave, and where every other part of your marketing sends people.
- Social media: posts that keep you in front of people who already follow you.
- Content: articles and pages that answer the questions your customers ask before they buy, written so Google can match them to those searches.
- Analytics: tracking that shows where visitors come from.
Why social posting is the smallest part
A social post reaches people who are scrolling, and can soon disappear from their feed. A well-written article or page can keep bringing visitors from Google for months.
A quote can cover research, writing, fixing pages and tracking, not only social posts. Social posts can come out of that same work at little extra cost.
Which digital marketing services bring in sales and leads
Say you run a car hire company in Nairobi. One person scrolls Instagram, sees your photo of a Prado and taps like.
Another person types “car hire Nairobi airport” into Google on a Thursday evening because she lands on Saturday. Both count as attention, but only the second one is about to pay someone.
How search work differs from visibility work
Search work means SEO, content and fixing your website. It puts you in front of people searching for what you sell, including those ready to buy.
Visibility work means social media and display ads. It shows you to people who weren’t looking, which helps them remember your name, and it mostly brings likes and visitors rather than enquiries.
Paid search ads sit in between. They catch people who are searching, but the enquiries stop the day you stop paying, while SEO work keeps building.
Is SEO worth it, and can it bring sales?
SEO can bring sales and leads, because the customer comes to you with a need they’ve already typed out, and these enquiries often lead to sales more readily than those from ads. They’ve half decided before they call.
It’s worth it when your customers search for what you sell, as they do for car hire, plumbers, schools or clinics. I go through the small business case in more detail in is SEO worth it for a small business in Kenya.
What you pay for: a line-by-line look at one monthly fee
Our one plan, Managed SEO, costs from KES 80,000 a month. Here’s every line in it, what the work is, and what it does for your business.
| Line in the plan | What the work is | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | A plan built for your business, run through our systems and carried out with you | Work aims at the searches your customers make, such as “car hire Nairobi airport” |
| Up to 30 articles a month | Each one read and edited by a person before you see it | More pages that answer customer questions and can be found on Google |
| 4 existing pages improved every month | Pages you already have, made clearer and stronger, so they do more of the job you first built them for | Pages you’ve paid for can attract visitors |
| Fixes | Broken links, redirects, missing titles and the like | Visitors and Google don’t hit dead ends on your site |
| Links between your own pages, every week | Links between pages | Visitors and Google reach your important pages, such as your booking page, instead of stopping at the first one they land on |
| Social posts made from your articles | Posts drawn from the articles we’ve written | Your social accounts stay active from the same work |
| SEO Brain | Ask it anything, any day of the month | Answers without waiting for the next call |
| Monthly report and call | A plain-language report and a call with me | You see progress and ask questions every month |
How to use these lines to check any quote
Put the quote you’ve received next to this table and look for each line. When a quote says “content” without a number, ask how many pieces a month and who checks them.
Every cost should match work you can name. A quote that shows only a package name and a price leaves you guessing, so ask for the list behind it.
What the plan doesn’t include
Managed SEO doesn’t include social media management. The social posts come from your articles, so your accounts stay active without a separate team running them.
Nothing goes live on your site until you approve it. You see every article and every change first, which means your website never says something you didn’t agree to.
How much digital marketing costs in Kenya
Quotes in Kenya can range widely for work with the same name. The difference is almost always in what’s included and who does it.
Why quotes from different agencies differ
One agency’s “SEO” might mean a few blog posts a month written without a human check. Another’s might include page fixes, editing and a monthly report.
Some quotes include your ad spend inside the fee and some keep it separate.
A menu of bronze, silver and gold packages can also make prices hard to compare. I lay out typical prices in how much SEO costs in Kenya.
Questions to ask before you sign
I tested 15 Kenyan SEO agencies and spoke to their past clients, and these are the questions I’d ask any agency before paying them:
- What do I get each month, and how many of each item?
- Who writes the work, and does a person check it before I see it?
- Who approves what goes live on my site?
- Is ad spend inside this fee or on top of it?
- What will the monthly report show me?
- Is there a lock-in, and what happens if I want to stop?
Where our plan sits
We sell one plan, from KES 80,000 a month, with no package menu and no lock-in contracts. You don’t need to be locked in, and with us you aren’t.
It costs more than many packages you’ll see.
The upside is that a person edits every article and you approve everything, so you pay for work you can check. The full details are on our pricing page.
When that budget isn’t there yet, you can still do SEO yourself. BiasharaPilot is my automated SEO tool, with an assistant that knows your business, and you can sign up for early access now.
When results start and what to expect
You may see some movement in the first weeks, such as a page appearing for a new search. Proper results start from around month 3.
That’s because Google takes time to find new pages, trust them and rank them. I explain the stages in how long SEO takes in Kenya.
The wait has an upside. Once your pages rank, they keep bringing people who are searching for what you sell, without you paying for every click.
Why Kenyan businesses use SEO less
Many Kenyan business owners I speak to think SEO is the same as posting on social media. Without that difference clear, it’s hard to see why you’d pay for it.
Ads and social posts show numbers the same day.
SEO builds more quietly. Businesses that start SEO can build visibility in search over time.
How you’ll see progress each month
The monthly report is how you check that the work is moving. A good report shows which searches you now appear for, how many visitors came from Google, and how many of them got in touch.
Ours comes in plain language, with a call to go through it. You can see what good SEO reporting looks like before you choose any agency.
Your first step before paying anything
Before you ask anyone for a quote, find out where your website stands today. Our free SEO analysis is instant and looks at your site and your city.
The analysis looks at your site and your city, so you see where your website stands today.
No call is needed to get it, and no string of sales emails follows. If you’d like to talk it through afterwards, you can book a call, but that’s your choice.
Knowing where you stand means you’ll read every quote with your own numbers in hand. Get your free SEO analysis and see what your site needs before you spend a shilling.
Additional resources
- Real Time Analytics: Real-time SEO analytics for Kenyan businesses: live rankings, traffic alerts, technical issue detection, and an SEO Brain that explains the numbers.
- How to Do a Content Audit for Your Kenyan Business: A step-by-step guide to auditing your website content, finding what works, and fixing what doesn’t to boost SEO and revenue.
- What is Organic CTR: Organic CTR is the percentage of Google searchers who click your website.
- Monthly SEO Reports – What to Track and Why: The seven SEO metrics that actually drive business growth in Kenya.
- What is Conversion Rate Optimization: Conversion Rate Optimization is the science of turning website visitors into paying customers.
- 3 Best Lead Magnets That Convert Traffic To Clients (And How To Use Them In Kenya): Most lead magnets fail because they chase volume, not quality.
