Agency Comparisons
SIXGUN vs WhiteLinko: What to Compare on SEO Cost
By WhiteLinko Editorial Team · · 6 min read
When businesses compare SEO agencies on cost, they usually compare one number: the monthly fee. It is an understandable shortcut, but it can be misleading. The true cost of SEO includes your own team's time, any development or content work that lands back on your desk, tools and subscriptions, and the opportunity cost of results arriving later than they could have. An agency with a higher fee can be cheaper overall if it takes more of that work off your plate.
This article compares SIXGUN and WhiteLinko on the true cost of SEO. WhiteLinko wrote it. We describe SIXGUN only through its own website and the independent guide where it appears, and we do not speculate about its prices.
The agencies
SIXGUN is a Melbourne digital marketing agency, according to its website, sixgun.com.au. It appears in a 2026 guide to the best SEO agencies in Australia. It does not publish prices on its homepage, so request a written scope and quote.
WhiteLinko is an SEO agency founded by Ahmed Iqbal and Shayan Ahmed, with a remote team in Lahore serving Australia, the UK, the USA, Canada, the UAE and Pakistan. We quote after a free audit, plan ongoing work in three-month blocks and publish an Australian SEO cost guide. Our pricing page explains how we scope work.
Cost one: the agency fee
The visible number. Compare it against what is delivered each month: pages improved, fixes made, content published, links earned, reporting and calls. Ask for a written breakdown. A fee that is mostly reporting and meetings is very different from one that is mostly implementation.
Cost two: your team's time
Some agencies hand over recommendations and expect your team to act on them. Others implement directly. If your marketing manager spends ten hours a month briefing writers, uploading content and chasing developers, that is a real cost, even if it never appears on an invoice. WhiteLinko implements the work ourselves, so most clients spend about an hour on onboarding and then a monthly call plus occasional approvals.
Cost three: development work
Technical SEO fixes often need someone to edit templates, configure redirects or improve page speed. If the agency cannot do this, you will pay a developer separately. We make technical fixes directly on most platforms, including WordPress and Shopify, or provide precise tickets if you prefer to use your own developer. Our in-house web design and development team handles larger changes.
Cost four: content
Is content included in the fee, or charged per article? Is it ready to publish, or will your team need to rewrite it? Poor content that needs heavy editing costs time and delays results. Our content is written and edited by people, reviewed with your experts and published by us.
Cost five: tools and subscriptions
SEO tools, rank trackers and reporting platforms can add up. Some agencies pass these costs on; others include them. Ask. We include the tools we use for your campaign in our quote.
Cost six: the cost of waiting
Every month your site underperforms is a month of enquiries or sales going to competitors. An agency that fixes your biggest problems in the first quarter can be worth considerably more than one that spends three months on reports before anything changes. This is hard to put a number on, but worth thinking about. What would one extra customer a week be worth to you over a year?
Comparison table
| Cost element | SIXGUN | WhiteLinko |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia | Lahore, Pakistan (remote team) |
| Public pricing | Not published on its homepage | Australian cost guide; quote after free audit |
| Implementation | Ask the agency | Included, including technical fixes |
| Content | Ask the agency | Human-written, publish-ready, included in scope |
| Tools | Ask the agency | Included in quote |
| Contract | Ask the agency | Three-month blocks; no lock-in |
Comparing true cost: a worked approach
Take each proposal and estimate the total monthly cost: the fee, plus your team's hours multiplied by their cost, plus any developer or content costs you would pay separately, plus tools. Then compare what each is likely to achieve in the first 90 days, based on the specificity of their plans. This takes an hour or two and often changes the decision.
In-house, freelancer or agency: the cost picture
It is also worth comparing agencies against the alternatives. Hiring an in-house SEO specialist in an Australian capital city means a salary plus superannuation, leave, tools, training and management time. One person rarely covers technical work, content, local listings, link building and AI visibility equally well, so additional writers or developers are often needed. For large organisations with complex sites, that investment can make sense. For most small and mid-sized businesses, it costs more than a capable agency and takes months to recruit.
Freelancers can be excellent value for defined tasks, such as a technical audit or a batch of product descriptions. The hidden cost is coordination: someone on your side must set strategy, brief each freelancer and make sure the pieces fit together.
A senior-led agency combines strategy and delivery in one fee, with a team covering the full range of SEO skills. For many businesses, that is the most cost-effective option, provided the agency genuinely implements rather than just advises.
What our quote includes
When we quote after the audit, the written scope lists the monthly work by category: technical fixes, page improvements, new content, local listing work, outreach for links and mentions, AI visibility work, reporting and calls. Any one-off projects, such as a website migration or new build, are scoped separately with a clear price. Tools used for your campaign are included. Whether GST applies, and how it is shown, is stated clearly. There are no surprise extras. If your needs change, we adjust the scope at the end of a three-month block.
For a sense of how this works in practice, our process page explains each stage, and our sample SEO report shows what you would receive each month. Local businesses may also find our local SEO page useful for understanding what a smaller, focused scope typically covers.
Measuring return on the spend
Cost only makes sense alongside return. Before you sign with any agency, agree how success will be measured. For service businesses, that usually means tracked calls, form enquiries and bookings from organic search. For online shops, it means organic revenue and orders. We set up or check this tracking during onboarding, using your own analytics, so that the return can be compared fairly with the fee. Where sales happen offline, we ask you to share how many enquiries turned into customers, which lets us estimate value more accurately. Online retailers who prefer to tie costs to results can also ask about our Growth Partnership, where part of the payment depends on performance. Seeing how this has worked for others is easy too: our case studies show reported outcomes for clinics, retailers and service businesses.
Our verdict
SIXGUN is a Melbourne digital marketing agency, and businesses wanting a local agency should certainly get a quote from it. On the true cost of SEO, we believe WhiteLinko offers better value for most small and mid-sized Australian businesses. Our remote model keeps overheads lower, implementation and publish-ready content are included, technical fixes are done by us, tools are included and terms run in three-month blocks. That means less of your time, fewer separate costs and results that start sooner. You own everything we create.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a remote agency often better value?
Lower overheads mean more of your fee goes into work on your site rather than offices and layers of account management.
Is cheap SEO a false economy?
Often, if it relies on thin content or risky links, or leaves most of the work to you. Sometimes a modest budget is perfectly adequate for a small local business.
Can I start with a small scope?
Yes. Many clients begin with local SEO or a few key pages and expand once results justify it.
Does a higher fee guarantee better results?
No. No fee can guarantee rankings. Value comes from the right work done well.
Work out your true cost
Start with a free audit, then compare quotes with the full picture in front of you.
- SIXGUN
- WhiteLinko
- Agency Comparison
- SEO Pricing
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