Frequently asked questions

SearchSoda is a full-service digital marketing agency helping UK businesses grow online. We offer web design, SEO, paid advertising, social media management, AI automation and more, all from one team, with transparent pricing.

We're based in London, and we help businesses across the UK and worldwide. Everything is delivered remotely, so geography is never a barrier to working together.

SearchSoda was founded by Nicolas Comben, who brings 10+ years of experience across AAA games (Call of Duty, Warhammer, Sega, Xbox) and entertainment brands. We're a new agency and proud of it. Nicolas leads every account as CEO, backed by a specialist team delivering the work.

Absolutely, small and medium businesses are our core market. Our packages start from £250/mo and we offer flexible options to fit different budgets. We believe every business deserves professional marketing.

No. All our monthly retainers, including Care Plans, are rolling with 30 days notice — there's no minimum term to commit to. We'd rather earn your business every month than lock you in.

Yes, unusually for an agency, all our prices are published on our website. We believe business owners deserve to know what they're paying before picking up the phone. See our full pricing page for all packages.

Yes. When you bundle two or more services together we can usually offer a discount. Our Google + Meta Ads bundle, for example, is priced lower than buying each separately. Book a free consultation to discuss a custom package.

Monthly retainers are invoiced at the start of each month. One-off project fees, such as website builds, are paid in full upfront before work begins. We currently accept bank transfer or PayPal — card payments via Stripe are coming soon, and we don't use direct debit.

Some services include a one-off setup fee (e.g. AI Chatbot setup, WhatsApp Business setup) which covers account configuration, integrations and initial build. These are clearly listed on each service page.

SEO typically shows measurable results within 3–6 months and significant results within 6–12 months, though this depends heavily on your starting point. An established site with some existing authority in Google's eyes usually sees results faster than a brand new website building from zero. It's a long-term investment, but unlike paid ads, the traffic doesn't stop the moment you stop paying.

No reputable agency can guarantee specific rankings, anyone who does is misleading you. Google's algorithm considers hundreds of factors, many outside anyone's control. What we do guarantee is thorough keyword research to target terms your site can realistically rank for, clean technical SEO, and consistent content work that gives you the best possible chance of strong visibility over time. Some keywords will reach page 1, others will take longer, we'll always be straight with you about which is which.

Local SEO focuses on ranking for searches in specific geographic areas, ideal for businesses serving a local market (plumbers, restaurants, dentists). National SEO targets broader UK-wide keywords and is suited to ecommerce, SaaS or service businesses operating nationally.

Both work better together. Paid ads give immediate results; SEO builds long-term, free traffic that reduces your reliance on ad spend over time. Running both at once is generally the strongest approach for most businesses.

Technical SEO covers the under-the-hood factors that affect how well search engines can crawl and index your website, site speed, mobile-friendliness, structured data, internal linking, canonical tags, Core Web Vitals and more. It's often the biggest quick win for established sites.

Our Google Ads management fee starts from £1,000/mo. Your ad spend budget is separate and depends on your industry and goals, we typically recommend a minimum of £500–£1,000/mo in ad spend to gather meaningful data, though some industries require more.

Absolutely. Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram) remains one of the most powerful platforms for reaching target audiences, particularly for B2C brands, ecommerce and local services. Strong creative and clean tracking are what separate accounts that perform well from ones that don't.

ROAS stands for Return on Ad Spend, how much revenue you generate for every £1 spent on advertising. A 4× ROAS means £4 in revenue for every £1 spent. "Good" varies heavily by industry and margins, but 4× is a commonly used benchmark for a healthy, profitable campaign.

Ad spend goes directly to Google or Meta, you pay them directly from your own account. Our fee covers strategy, setup, creative, optimisation and reporting. This means complete transparency, you always know exactly how much is going on ads.

A Starter website (£1,250) typically takes 2–3 weeks. Advanced websites (£2,500) take 3–5 weeks. Growth and Ecommerce sites (£5,000+) typically take 6–10 weeks depending on content and functionality requirements.

For standard websites, we build from scratch using hand-written HTML, CSS and JavaScript. No WordPress, no page builders, no templates. For ecommerce, we build on Shopify. Not because it is the easy option but because it is the right one. Shopify handles payments, PCI compliance, inventory, shipping and tax, which would cost far more to build reliably from scratch. We design and build everything your customer sees. The Shopify platform fee (from £29/mo) is paid directly to Shopify.

It depends on the package. Advanced and Growth websites include a CMS so you can update text, images and blog posts yourself without any coding knowledge, and we include a training session on handover. Starter websites (up to 5 pages) are static and do not include a CMS, though content updates can be requested as part of a care plan.

Yes, our Care Plans include hosting, security monitoring, updates and backups from £250/mo. Alternatively we can build on your existing hosting or recommend a fast, reliable host to use independently.

We offer website audits, redesigns and CRO (conversion rate optimisation) for existing sites. Sometimes a redesign makes sense; other times targeted improvements to speed, copy and design deliver better ROI. We'll give you an honest recommendation.

An AI chatbot answers common questions, qualifies leads and collects contact details 24/7, even outside business hours. For businesses that get repeat enquiries about pricing, availability, services or location, a chatbot can save hours per week and capture leads that would otherwise bounce.

An AI receptionist handles voice calls, it answers the phone, handles common queries and books appointments without a human receptionist. Ideal for businesses that miss calls during busy periods or outside working hours.

When done properly, yes. Google's guidance is that content should be helpful and written for humans, not penalised for using AI tools. Our AI content service produces well-researched, edited, useful articles that rank well. We don't produce generic spam content.

Book a free consultation via our website. We'll have a 30-minute call to understand your business, goals and budget, then put together a focused proposal with no obligation to proceed.

Yes. Every client has a named account manager who knows your business and is your primary point of contact. You're not passed around a support ticket system.

Monthly reports covering all active services, traffic, rankings, ad performance, leads generated and key actions taken. We use live dashboards for paid ads so you can check performance anytime.

Yes. Monthly retainers require 30 days' notice, with no minimum term and no exit penalties. We'd rather work harder to earn your continued business than lock you in.

Yes. We work remotely with businesses across the UK and internationally — London is our home base, not a limitation. Location has no bearing on the quality of work we deliver.