What does SEO really cost?
I’m writing this article for 3 main reasons.
It is important to clarify some points about SEO so that companies that are interested in investing in Search optimization can make informed decisions about the companies they work with.
An SEO campaign is an investment that requires a commitment over time. Signing with the wrong agency can lead to a large loss in budget with minimal returns.
Investing in SEO is like investing in a financial advisor. It is not possible to ethically guarantee results. However, with a well executed strategy you should experience growth that justifies the cost and provides long term results.
Why does SEO have so many price points?
Search Engine Optimization (AKA: SEO) is an umbrella term for a number of different strategies that can be broken into two primary segments. Those segments are referred to as “OnPage SEO” & “OffPage SEO”
Let’s take a look at what is involved in these segments.
What is OnPage SEO?
The elements of on-page SEO are the various factors and components that are within the control of a website owner or developer and can be optimized to positively impact search engine rankings. These elements include (but are not limited to):
Content: The quality and relevance of the content on a website is crucial to SEO success.
Keywords: The use of relevant keywords throughout the website can help search engines understand the site's content and relevance to specific searches.
Proper code syntax: Ensuring that you are following W3C compliance standards when building your website. This might involve:
Meta title and description: These elements provide a brief description of the page's content and can appear in the search engine results. While Google will tell you that they don’t look at meta content, it can be viewed by any individual searching the web and, if done right, can increase Click Through Rate (CTR) for your website. CTR IS monitored by Google and so it is fair to say that Meta still indirectly impacts search.
Header tags (H1, H2, H3): These tags help organize and structure the content on a page.
Image optimization: Properly labeling and compressing images can improve page load times and accessibility.
ADA Compliance: ADA compliance is short for the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design ADA compliance has to do with a number of items including font size, color contrast, alternate text in images, ease of navigation, and much more.
URL structure: Clear and descriptive URLs can improve the user experience and help search engines understand the content on a page.
Internal linking: Linking to other pages within the same website can improve navigation and help distribute link equity.
Mobile optimization: More than 60% of traffic online is through a mobile device. A mobile-friendly website that loads quickly on all devices is no longer an option when it comes to search engine rankings.
What is OffPage SEO?
Off-page SEO refers to all the activities performed outside of your own website to improve the ranking of your website on search engine result pages (SERPs). It focuses on building relationships and increasing the visibility and credibility of your website in the eyes of search engines and users.
Link building strategies and guest posting: Acquiring links from outside websites is one of the best ranking tools for SEO. When quality websites (preferably websites that hold a high domain authority), link to you, it sends signals to search engines that your website is credible and trustworthy, and helps to establish yourself as an authority in your field. One way people offer these types of services is through guest posting on blogs or content sharing
Social Signals: Social media remains the top way to create personable connection to your audience. This is a great way to expand your reach and create brand loyalty.
Local listings: Creating growth in your local search market is much easier to do and tends to offers a higher level of conversion than other options
Online Reputation: Actively engaging and managing your online reputation through listing management services and online reviews is extremely important for businesses of any size.
Off-page SEO is important because it helps to increase the authority and credibility of your website, which can positively impact your search engine rankings. However, it's important to note that off-page SEO should be performed in a manner that is consistent with search engine guidelines, as techniques such as link buying or spammy link building can result in penalties from search engines.
While the above outlined lists are NOT comprehensive, it does share some of the more common tasks involved in each segment. Suddenly it becomes a little easier to see why a few hundred dollars doesn’t sound like it would be enough to accomplish all of the above tasks.
Is cheap SEO still SEO?
The short answer is no.
If you went to a mechanic for a tune-up and they only changed your oil before handing your vehicle back, you would be right to be upset. Changing the oil is probably a step in the tune-up process, but it should not qualify as anything more than an oil change.
In this same way, SEO covers a variety of skills and services. It would simply be impossible to perform all the required tasks that are part of a properly run SEO campaign for a couple hundred dollars a month. Jumping into a an SEO contract with the lowest price option is the equivelant of gambling in a high risk poker match with your brand.
The real reason to avoid “CHEAP” SEO solutions.
Even a cheap SEO offering is likely going to require a commitment of several months. By the time you realize that they simply can not meet the performance that they promissed…you will still have invested potentially thousands of dollars and may be required to continue to pay them based on your contract. That being said - losing 6 to 12 months of budget on a poorly run campaign is NOT the worst that thing that can happen. You could also have your listing blacklisted for violating search engine guidelines.
Some of the top 5 reasons to avoid “cheap” SEO solutions:
Risk of penalties: Cheap SEO often involves tactics that violate search engine guidelines. These tactics are often called Blackhat tactics and can involve things like keyword stuffing or link buying. If your website is found guilty of blackhat SEO, you can incur penalties from search engines, which can severely damage your website's search engine rankings and visibility.
Lack of expertise: Many times people offer discounted services because they lack the expertise and experience to effectively optimize your website. As a result, your website may not receive the attention and care it deserves, and your SEO efforts may be ineffective.
Lack of transparency: Some agencies may use unethical or hidden methods in order to boost your page rank. These methods can be difficult to track or identify. This would also make it difficult to measure the results of your SEO efforts and/or ensure that your website is in compliance with search engine guidelines.
No long-term results: When paying a small amount of money, the return will also be small and short lived. Any lift is likely to fade out just as quickly as it showed up which can require you to invest more and more money just to maintain minimal growth.
Missed opportunities: A proper SEO campaign should involve a strategy with clearly defined goals. Without this type of strategy in play you could be missing opportunities. The discount SEO providers simply won’t be able to afford to take advantage of all the best practices and strategies that are designed to help improve your website's ranking and visibility.
How long does SEO take?
In addition to all the aforementioned items that go into Search Engine optimization, the time it takes to rank well for any selected keyword is also going vary depending on several factors. The competitiveness of your industry, the current state of your website, and the strength of your SEO strategy are just a few of the defining factors that will impact the amount of time required to see results.
For example: ranking well for the keyword “Real Estate Agent” will be a lot more difficult and time consuming in Los Angeles than it might be in somewhere like Sackets Harbor, NY.
It's important to have realistic expectations and to understand that SEO is a slow and steady process that requires patience and persistence. However, when done well, your results can be well worth the wait. A well run campaign can help to establish your website as a credible and authoritative source within your industry. This can drive a steady stream of high-quality organic traffic to your website.
The Answer to the question - “What does SEO really cost?”
We talked a lot about why to avoid cheap SEO solutions but we didn’t really dive into the question of what SEO really costs. To answer this question I am going to share a short story.
I was at an SEO business conference with some of the largest SEO companies in the market. During the conference, a business owner asked what they should expect to pay each month to a quality SEO agency. One of the speakers thought for a moment and said, there are too many factors involved to appropriately answer your question. However, it feels like what you really want to know is what is the LEAST you could get away with paying while still seeing results. I personally would consider any company offering SEO for under $2000 a month to be a red flag.
The last piece…the cost of the trade
The practice of providing SEO as a service to clients requires a lot of research…especially in the beginning. Starting an SEO campaign is like pushing a large boulder. Getting the boulder to start rolling in the first place takes a large investment in overall effort. however, once the boulder begins to pick up momentum, the level of effort reduces to that of maintaining momentum.
This is why agencies require you to sign contract that include specified time commitments. The lion share of the effort to get a campaign started is in the front end of the campaign. Canceling prior to the time specified in the contract would likely cause the agency to lose large amounts of money. Generally speaking, most companies probably don’t see profit until a couple of months into a campaign.
Working in SEO means a life dedicated to research.
Search optimizing websites requires providers to dedicate a large amount of their time to maintaining the skill. This constant pursuit of learning is generally funded through the success of their organization. The ability to read through large amounts of data, understand it’s implication on conversion rates and how they relate to customer, is a skill set that does not come overnight.
The tools have a price…
The last nod to why SEO price tags can be pricey has to do with the price associated to the software that allows search optimization providers to do their jobs. A small busy SEO company can have monthly subscription costs that run in the hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on how many clients they manage. The cost of the software has to be offset through the prices charged to the end user.
Hopefully this has been a helpful explanation of the realistic cost of an investment in an SEO campaign, what to look for from an agency offering the services, and how to see through some of the bad actors in the industry.
If you would like to learn more, schedule a consultation