What should I be paying for SEO optimization?
SEO services and products vary in price, prices will often be based on the vertical your site falls into and what the SEO company have agreed to do.
Some companies will charges you from one payment of 200$ to 900$, while some others will go above it depending on your needs, other companies will opt for a month to month cost.
Search engine submission services are worthless unless you’re targeting smaller, niche engines.
You won’t see SEO results overnight (and if you do, it’s not SEO)… it could take a couple of months to start seeing drastic changes/improvements - but that really depends on your optimizer, the keyword market they’re going after & how competent they are.
Maybe you should get some quotes from a few different SEO providers to see what the average rates are for what you’re getting. Rates will vary drastically even for the same services from different providers - but if you have a competent SEO, it’s generally worth the price tag even if you can get the same services elsewhere.