What Is Affordable SEO?affordable seo
A MUST-READ GUIDE FOR ANYONE SEARCHING FOR "AFFORDABLE SEO"!
Forbes Magazine called the act of chasing affordable SEO "Digital Marketing Suicide"
While we regularly have companies contact us after they get taken for the illusive "cheap SEO" ride...
We wanted a proof! (not just our own perspective on the matter)
So we scoured the Internet.
We looked for real commentary from business owners about their experience - specifically in regards to cheap/affordable SEO offerings.
The result?
It was a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly.
And Yes... you'll get a chance to read all the reviews and feedback...
But please, as easy as it is to get sucked into these... don't get hung up on reading the "horror stories".
The main reason we decided to write this guide is to help you make an educated decision about your SEO and stop any form of "digital marketing suicide".
Keeping this in mind... here's a little preview of what you're going to learn:
- What is Affordable SEO
- How much should SEO cost
- Effective options if you have a limited budget.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
What Is Affordable SEO?
This is one concept we must discuss first.
If you understand and really get it, not only will you be able to determine the affordability of Search Engine Optimisation but any marketing channel you decide to invest into in future.
What it comes down to is this...
If you understand and really get it, not only will you be able to determine the affordability of Search Engine Optimisation but any marketing channel you decide to invest into in future.
What it comes down to is this...
1) Your expectations from the amount you invest and...
2) Your perception of what affordable means
Sounds pretty simple right?
But probably still a little confusing...
So let's break it down a little further to really nail this concept.
Some of our local SEO packages start at just $595/month.
For certain small business owners and one man operators these prices can still seem expensive.
Fact is... when you're not making much money because you haven't got a way to get leads & customers, even a few hundreds bucks can sound expensive.
However 3-6 months down the road when the phone starts to ring and the $595 brings in new customers or clients every day - it all starts to sound pretty affordable.
On the other spectrum, we have clients who pay more than $595 in just a few Adwords clicks...
let that sink in...
Some of our lawyer, mortgage broker and weight loss clients can easily pay anywhere between $100-$200 per click.
That's not per lead.
That's not per conversion...
That is one click to the website.
So a 10K per month SEO package which drives hundreds of leads each month becomes very affordable to this kind of client.
Therefore...
"affordability of seo, no matter the level of investment, comes down to your situation and the result the seo generates."
- David Krauter -
So... Is Cheap SEO the same as Affordable SEO then?
No.
Not in our opinion.
Cheap SEO, in our over a decade of experience usually ends in one of 3 ways:
1) You become a number in a big agency.
Big companies, usually dinosaurs of their industry
And without naming or shaming you might recognise one of these by the big yellow book they used to publish...
Anyway... let's not get sidetracked.
What we've come to understand from our research and hear from those companies that come to us after having used these "Dinosaur" companies... is that they have no clue about SEO yet a customer base who needs it.
So they sell SEO without ever delivering any tangible outcomes.
Why?
Because they don't even know how SEO works...
It's criminal!
2) You don't get your budget allocated properly.
The big agencies you see advertising everywhere are very well known in our industry to be really good at getting clients.
However when you learn a little bit about their business model it involves spending a lot of money on fancy advertising, attaining clients with cheap too-good-to-be-true package deals.
Spending minimal if any money on the actual clients campaign and calling it a profitable venture if the client doesn't leave after the first few months.
Here's how a whistleblower of one of these companies put it:
3) You destroy your online presence.
This usually happens when outsourcing your SEO to 3rd world companies who either don't speak or are capable of only very broken English.
Naturally, they don't have any understanding of the Australian culture and how things need to be said on a website let alone the representation of your brand.
What happens is that the wrong keywords get targeted, you spend the little money required to pay them on things that are counterproductive to building your online presence.
OK and now what you've been waiting for.
Let's get down to the dirty...
Here are the reviews, complaints and downright horror stories we've found across the Internet.
NOTE: it's not our job to point the finger, nor do we want this guide to become a smear campaign. It's not how we operate and it doesn't align with our company values. Therefore we have blacked out the identities of the companies responsible for these outcomes. (by the end of this guide you will know how to spot a scam and stay well away from these kind of companies.)
SEO HORROR STORIES
What Happens When You Trust Cheap,
Too Good To be True SEO Companies
Fact Is...
Trusting Cheap, Unexperienced & Unethical SEO's Ends Expensive!
Does this mean if you're starting out or operating on a shoestring budget SEO is out of reach?
Yes and No.
Quality SEO costs money so the tasks come down to choosing the best company that's going to provide the most value (you can check our guide on how to do so here) and for those on a shoestring budget to work out how to tap into the traffic sources at Google without breaking the bank.
And that's exactly what the rest of this guide will help you do.
Chapter 2
How Much Should SEO Cost?
Here's the industry standard pricing of SEO as recommended by MOZ (an industry professional body in the SEO space)
Please note the above is just a pricing guide, similar to our SEO pricing guide.
It's important to use common sense as well.
To do any kind of SEO something needs to be done.
Work/Labour costs money.
If you expect a professional charging even just $75/hr to work on your business for a couple of hours a month it will set you back a few hundred dollars.
Keeping that in mind and knowing what to expect the next important step is to ensure you actually get deliverables from your investment.
How To Determine The Value The SEO Provides
When it comes to any profession experience is priceless.
We often get calls from clients asking us for help with something on their website that they've tried to fix for over 2 days without avail.
We pinpoint the problem and in less than 10 minutes our experienced professionals fix the problem.
Moral of the story?
SEO is technical and changes all the time. However, a professional with experience will know very quickly what's stopping your website from ranking, how to fix this problem and put a plan in place that will turn your website into a lead & sales-generating asset.
We actually offer this at no cost when we prepare a quote for our clients. You can learn how to get a free quote here.
So how do you know you're dealing with someone experienced?
The outline you receive for your campaign should be meaningful, insightful and easy to understand.
The proposals we've come across where clients get ripped off are vague, filled with fluff and no clear content & link acquisition strategy is apparent.
For 1, ensure you request a proposal before parting with any money.
And 2, make sure you are happy with the outline of deliverables and know exactly what you're getting for your money each month.
Chapter 3
What To Do When Operating On A Limited Budget
We've been in business for a long time (since 2007). We have clients who have stayed on our $595 for years and others who started out on the "affordable" $595 range and now are spending upwards of 5K a month on SEO.
The point.
They didn't start there...
The point.
They didn't start there...
One of our clients operates a skip bin company.
He invested in our bottom local package $595 per month, we ranked his website in his local area. The website started driving leads and became the dominant player in the local area. Then when he had the budget to scale up we did exactly the same thing on a large scale for him in larger cities around Australia.
The Result: Consistent 90K in sales a week purely from SEO.
Here's how the client put it in his own words.
So if the budget isn't there for a "expensive" SEO campaign - keeping in mind spending 5K a month to make 90K a week in sales is pretty affordable... the best option would be to:
Dip your toes into the pool of SEO opportunities.
In other words, choose a SEO that can see low-cost opportunities and help you tap into them and then scale as you can afford to do so.
The other option is to save money and make a one time high quality investment.
Optimising a website to this day is still the No.1 strategy that gives our clients the biggest & quickest results.
Will you rank on the first page of Google by just optimising your site?
Maybe?
Who knows... but probably not!
However, getting your website properly optimised for the keywords you're wanting to rank for puts you in the game.
It takes the hand break off your site and makes it benefit from any online exposure that you do get.
BONUS TIP: Choosing (not just the cheapest) but the right SEO provider in Australia.
Basic business knowledge will allow you to understand that where a business operates affects their margins.
SEO agencies operating out of Sydney or Melbourne will have much higher overheads in rent as well as staff compared to Brisbane or better yet a more remote regional location like the Sunshine Coast.
Again, basic business understanding will confirm that a lot of your SEO budget will be used up in covering running costs of the business before it gets spent on your campaign.
While our agency has virtual offices in Brisbane & on the Gold Coast our headquarters are located on the Sunshine Coast.
Keeping our running costs to a minimum allows us to allocate maximum dollars to our clients campaigns - which is the main reason we are able to get such outstanding results for our SEO clients time and time again.
Check out our case study page for proof of this: SEO CASE STUDIES
So if you're on the hunt for an affordable SEO agency, while we aren't the cheapest... for all the reasons outlined on this page you'll get maximum value when working with us.