A Brief SEO History
The cost for SEO is not as much as one thinks but first a short recap of how it all began.SEO or Search Engine Optimization came along way. Remember how it all started with Google Maps. It was all about being ranked on the first page on the Google search engine and there were 2 types of listings, Organic & Non-Organic. The Non-Organic listings was Maps and the Organic was the regular search listings. Hence SEO was born. In the beginning it was simple. You just had to make sure that you completed the Maps application correctly with the proper categories and Bam! You are on page one. Now let’s fast forward to 2019. It’s no longer just about completing the Maps application correctly but now more then ever it’s more about the website. Is the website optimized for SEO ? A major factor when it comes to the competition. If your website interacts better with Google than the competition, then your site will out rank them.
SEO Budget
Now, that we got the background out of the way. We can focus on the cost for SEO and your budget. The major factor determining this is the amount of work needed to be done to get the business ranked on page one for as many keywords (search terms) as possible. This is done through an SEO Audit. The SEO Audit measures the following Aspects of the website. We take this data and determine a strategy of what exactly needs to be done. Part of the data we analyze is the competition in your area locally and if necessary, nationally. Usually the areas that need to be worked are the website meta tags, content and back linking. There are other areas but for the sake of this article we will use these. The cost of SEO will be determined by how much work will be devoted to each of these areas on an ongoing basis. I can give a range of the total cost per month which would cover these areas. We are talking anywhere from:
Beware of Scammers
How many phone calls or E mails did you receive from various SEO companies offering guaranteed results for first page ranking on Google for only $75 a month or even $200 per month. These companies will show you a laundry lists of the services they provide. It looks impressive but, they may only do about 10% of the items listed. So, don’t waste hard earned money on them, better spent by taking your other half out to dinner than spending it on a fraud.
SEO Agency
One must understand that when taking on an SEO agency your expectations must be realistic. Don’t think that the business will get a first page ranking in a month. In matter of fact figure more on 6 months. Google works on a 3-month cycle. So, whatever is done now, you won’t see any fruits till 3 months later. All SEO work will constantly build on work that was done previously. That is, you will always need to be consistent with SEO. It must be done all the time. This is how you get ranked to the first page. Remember SEO is an investment in any business, and it needs be something you are prepared to do.
We therefore need to ask
key questions which will allow us to home in on a range of pricing for an SEO
campaign, from which you should be able to make a more educated decision.