The Question Everyone Asks

If you own a small business in Ontario, at some point someone's told you that you need digital marketing. And your first question is probably the same one everyone asks: "How much is this going to cost?"

That's a fair question. Digital marketing can range from free (if you do it yourself) to thousands of dollars a month (if you hire an agency in Toronto). The real answer depends on what you're trying to do, how much help you need, and how much time you have.

But let me give you some real numbers so you know what to expect when you're shopping around.

The Cost Breakdown

There are basically four things small businesses in Ontario invest in when they do digital marketing:

1. Google Business Profile Optimization ($100-$500 one-time)

This is the cheapest way to start. Setting up your profile, getting it verified, adding photos, writing descriptions — if you do it yourself, it's free. If you hire someone to do it, you're looking at $150 to $500 as a one-time setup fee.

Some agencies charge monthly for "GBP management" ($50-$200/month) if they're monitoring your profile, responding to reviews, posting updates, and tracking your rankings.

2. Website ($200-$3,000+ one-time + $30-$100/month hosting)

Do you need a website? Not always. But most businesses do. You can build a simple website yourself for free using tools like Wix or Squarespace, or you can hire someone like me to build you a hand-coded site on your own hosting account.

A basic, professional website in Ontario costs anywhere from $500 to $3,000 depending on how many pages you need and whether you want custom design. Hosting runs about $30-$100 per month.

Some agencies bundle website + hosting as part of their monthly retainer, which can actually be a better deal if you're planning to stay with them long-term.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ($300-$1,500+/month)

This is where most of the cost comes in. SEO is the work of getting your website to rank on Google — writing content, building backlinks, optimizing your site structure, improving page speed, all of it.

In Ontario, you can find SEO agencies that charge anywhere from $300/month (small local shops) to $3,000+/month (bigger agencies in Toronto). The expensive ones aren't always better. A lot depends on what market you're in and how competitive your keywords are.

If you're a plumber in London, Ontario, you're going to pay more for SEO than if you're a plumber in Thamesford. Bigger markets = more competition = higher costs.

4. Paid Ads (Google Ads, Facebook) ($500-$5,000+/month)

If you want to show up immediately (instead of waiting 3-6 months for organic SEO), you run paid ads. Google Ads, Facebook ads, Instagram ads — they all work differently but the basic model is the same: you pay per click or per impression.

Most businesses spend $500-$2,000 per month on paid ads, though some spend way more. The key thing to know is that paid ads stop working the moment you stop paying. It's like renting traffic instead of owning it.

The New Option: AI Automation ($35-$150/month)

This is new. And it changes the math completely.

Instead of hiring someone to do all the manual work, you can now set up AI systems that do it for you. These aren't fancy enough to replace a real person yet, but they're good enough to handle the repetitive stuff — capturing missed calls, sending follow-up texts, answering basic questions, booking appointments.

We're talking about voice AI agents, chatbots, and automated email sequences. Each one costs $30-$100/month depending on the tool, but they work 24/7 and never get tired.

For a service business like a plumber or electrician, this can be huge. You're no longer losing calls to voicemail. You're not forgetting to follow up. The system does it automatically.

What I Do, and What It Costs

I work with small businesses across Southwestern Ontario. London, Woodstock, Stratford, St. Thomas — all the towns you'd expect.

I don't do huge SEO campaigns that cost $3,000 a month. I focus on the stuff that actually works for small towns: optimizing your Google Business Profile, building you a website that ranks, setting up Google and Facebook ads if you need them, and automating the rest with AI.

No long-term contracts. You can leave whenever you want. That's the deal.

The Real Cost: Doing Nothing

Here's what people don't talk about: the cost of NOT doing digital marketing.

If you're a service business and you're not showing up on Google, someone else is taking your calls. Right now. Today. Not next month. Today.

Let's say you're a plumber making $150 per job on average. If you miss just one job a week because someone found a different plumber on Google, that's $150 × 52 weeks = $7,800 in lost revenue per year.

If you're spending $40/month on digital marketing ($480/year) and it gets you just one extra job every two weeks, you've already paid for itself 10 times over.

That math works for any service business — electricians, HVAC, landscaping, roofing. It all works the same way.

So What Should You Actually Spend?

The honest answer: start small.

If you don't have a website yet, get one. It doesn't have to be fancy. $200-$500 one-time, $40/month hosting.

If you have a website but it's not on Google, work on your GBP and basic SEO. That's your quickest win and it costs between $150-$500/month depending on who you hire and how much work your site needs.

If you're already showing up on Google but not getting enough calls, try running some paid ads or setting up AI automation. That's your next step.

And whatever you do, don't spend money on something you don't understand. Ask your digital marketing person to explain it in plain terms. If they can't, find someone else.

Ready to Get Started?

The best first step is a free audit. I'll look at your Google Business Profile, your website (if you have one), where you're showing up on Google, and where the opportunities are. No pitch, no pressure — just an honest look at what's working and what isn't.

Book a Free Digital Marketing Audit →