SEO Prices – Realities and Myths

- By: Christopher Carter, 2008-06-30

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the service, and SEO, what you actually get, unfortunately are all too often mutually exclusive to each other. The primary reason for this is confusion in the marketplace of what you are actually paying for. We all understand numbers. But the buyer, the website owner, does not understand what to expect:

• What is included in the service and what is not? In other words, what is the detailed description of the service associated with the SEO Price?
• Does the description include all of what may or may not be necessary to achieve the desired result?
• Are you being guaranteed or promised a measureable result? If so, buyers please beware!
• What are your responsibilities to the Search Engine Marketing Company?
• How long will it take to achieve the desired results?
• How are results tracked and reported to monitor performance?
• Is the SEO pricing a flat fee or is it tied to actual performance i.e. rankings and conversion?

If you don’t know the answers to the above questions, you haven’t yet scratched the surface towards understanding what it is you are buying and the SEO price you receive in a simple number is flat out meaningless.
Plain Talk about SEO and SEO Pricing

1. SEO is not inexpensive. REAL SEO, GOOD SEO will range from $18,000 – $35,000 or more. Anyone offering you a “link farming program” or a “press release program” or a “content management program” or “submissions program” is not providing you SEO; they are selling you packages which by themselves are just SEO tactics and not true SEO. These packages should be ignored because they do not individually achieve SEO performance. These packages often run between $5,000 and $20,000 depending on the package and are not results-based … rather they are service-based meaning the SEO Price is established by calculating the time it takes to do the work. What this means ultimately is that you pay the full fee regardless of the result.

2. SEO takes time. Anyone telling you or even promising a Google page 1 ranking for a competitive keyword in a matter of a few months either doesn’t understand SEO or is inexperienced in SEO or is just deluding you or themselves or both. Competitive keywords and phrases can take as much as 6-12 months before positive, visible and measurable results are achieved. It can occur more quickly however many factors need to be in place at the outset. This is rarely the case. Those already on Google Page 1 are not there due to some accident or good fortune. They are there based on the fact that Google has ranked them as the most relevant for that keyword. As such, they are there because they have successfully implemented a good many of the services and skills that are required for optimum SEO.

3. SEO requires research. Search Engine Optimization involves intense and sophisticated Keyword Research to determine the universal scope of keywords that are relevant to the website. Keyword Research is at the core of any credible SEO service or process. It’s not just about taking the client’s top 25 or 100 keywords. They must all be researched in depth to determine all of the keywords that directly relate to these keywords (derivatives, variations, patterns, etc) and to determine the popularity of those keywords. For instance, what good is a keyword if it isn’t being searched? SEO Pricing is prohibitively expensive without knowing this information. Moreover, the universe of keywords needs to be researched to identify the competition; those already ranking high. We need to know how high the bar is and what needs to be done to compete effectively with the best in the business for that / those keywords.

4. SEO is not PPC. All too often folks that contact us are confused about SEO to the point that they don’t understand the difference between SEO and PPC. SEO refers to the organic listings on a search page. Generally there are 10 listings with a white background. PPC is simply advertising that appears just above and to the right of the organic SEO listings. Google’s PPC is called Google Adwords. While PPC can be very useful as part of an overall Internet Marketing Strategy, it is not SEO nor should it be considered a long term singular approach to Online Marketing.

5. Content. This is probably the most under-emphasized component of SEO and must be considered in any evaluation of SEO and SEO Pricing. Any SEO Company not emphasizing this at the outset and making this requirement as clear as day is doing you and their company a great disservice. Search Engine Optimization simply cannot succeed without a complete commitment by all parties to a steady stream of fresh, unique and relevant content. Whether you are capable providing the content or you hire the SEO Company or a copywriter to provide this content, it is an absolute must. The Reason: Content is what Google is looking for. Relevance, as rated by the Google Spiders, is measured largely by active and relevant content implemented on the site and reflected in the site map, and, even more importantly, published through any of the thousands of online publishing portals available to interested readers. It is content, textual content that create backlinks … the point getters of Internet Marketing.

What to look for in hiring an SEO Firm or SEO Professional
1. SEO Pricing that is results-based.
2. Performance-Based Fees
3. Emphasis in Organic SEO.
4. Plain Speak about Search Engine Marketing and Internet Marketing.
5. Strong Research Process
6. Strong Requirement for Content
7. The Sub-Specialties included in the SEO Price
a. SEO Copywriting Services
b. Search Engine Consulting
c. Ecommerce SEO
d. Directory Indexing
e. Sitemap Indexing
f. Blogging
g. Conversion Strategies
h. Multimedia content strategies (Podcasting, Video casting, etc)
i. Local Search Strategies

What to avoid when hiring an SEO Firm or SEO Professional
1. SEO Pricing that is service based or paid for by the hour with no performance component.
2. Individually Package-priced services like link farming, submissions programs, and press release programs.
3. Companies that emphasize just the “techie things” like Meta tags, title tags, site maps, etc.
4. Companies that are not upfront about price and reasonable expectations.
5. Companies who cannot give you competitive keywords of their clients that are ranking the way you would want to be ranked for your keywords.

In brief, SEO pricing is poorly understood. It is expensive. However, it is most expensive when you buy what you don’t understand and you end up with poor results. It is called wasting money and that is the most expensive thing you can do.

Optimum7.com is a search engine advertising company with primary focus on Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Optimum7.com offers a rich consultative approach that our clients find refreshing. We actually listen to our clients to learn exactly what their problems and objectives are. SEO Prices – Realities and Myths.