This is a topic that I have researched myself for obvious reasons and one that I find very interesting and confusing at the same time. The reason that I find it so interesting is because there’s such a wide variety of prices represented in the SEO field. There are local companies that charge rates that I think are a little high, others that I believe charge far too little and then large, national companies that charge rates that would seem like highway robbery.
Google the term SEO prices and you will likely come up with websites from SEO companies located around the globe and prices that span a wide range. From as low as $50 per month to over $10,000 per month for monthly rates. Many individual SEO professionals however charge by the hour, anywhere from $50 per hour to $1000 per hour and it may be difficult to tell what the difference between the services and service providers is. Clearly something is wrong with this picture!
Let’s compare…
SEO is still a fairly young industry and therefore doesn’t have a long track record. When you go to a local auto repair facility and have your car fixed, you expect to pay between $75 and $100 per hour. It’s the going rate for that type of service. It’s unlikely that you will find a mechanic that charges $10 per hour and unlikely you will find one that charges $1500 per hour.
There are a few industries that have a wide range of prices, like the SEO business. One of them is hairstylists. You can drop by a local hair salon chain and get a haircut for under $20 or you can find an exclusive salon that charges $400. It’s seemingly the same thing that you’re getting at both businesses, so how can one charge 20x more than another?
So why is the SEO price range so wide?
Three words come to mind when I think of SEO prices: Expertise, Value & Exclusivity.
Expertise: How long has the SEO consultant been in the business? It takes a year or two of trying, testing, failing, testing, failing and trying some more to truly understand the ins and outs of SEO. An “expert” in the field may not have formal education, but they will have spent time to build their knowledge. They will spend time everyday reading and keeping up on the trends in SEO and they’re highly adaptable. There are a few different “certifications” for the SEO industry, but not one that stands out like most other industries have, so beware of someone claiming to have a certification. For $89 an SEO can get a book, read it, write a test and get the “certification,” however it’s value is questionable. Real life experience is far better.
Value: This is something that is hard to put a number on, but there’s something to be said for the value that an SEO can bring to a project. For example, imagine an SEO is contacted by a fortune 500 company for SEO services. The value that he/she may bring to helping them with their SEO could easily generate millions of dollars in extra revenue for the company. It’s highly unlikely that this type of work is going to be done for $500!
Exclusivity: Along with value, there are some SEO experts that have built a name for themselves, they have a proven track record of success and therefore are asking a lot of money for their help. It wouldn’t be out of the question to pay $500 or more per hour for their services, but on the other hand, this is money well spent if you can afford it.
A word about price
Just like everything in life, there are low priced items and high priced items and they aren’t the same. Watch out for SEO services that are priced very, very low. It may be tempting to jump on board with a low price, but watch out; You might be doing more harm than good. Often low priced SEO services are also attached to people who are using old methods and they believe there are magic tricks they can do to get your great search engine rankings overnight. Truthfully, they can’t so don’t buy their line. They most likely can’t get your website into the #1 position in a week or two, although it might be possible. Just watch out for a deal that is too good to be true.
A good quality, reputable SEO knows their value and will charge accordingly.
This is somewhat of a rant and I apologize now if I offend you. 🙂
SEO has changed A LOT in the past 10 years and for the most part, it’s changed for the better. Google’s main focus is on quality, not on old spammy SEO tricks that once worked.
There are still a lot of people out there that either don’t keep up on SEO trends or don’t care that their old methods have become obsolete. They’re pounding away at old, out-dated SEO methods that Google sees strictly as web spam. The funny thing is that their frustration with the old methods doesn’t cause them to stop, but seems to cause them to keep doing it (whatever “IT” is) with greater frequency and volume!
I have just two words for you: STOP IT!
Stop buying/selling 5000 .edu backlinks for $20 and expecting big results.
Stop buying low quality articles by the dozens and spamming article directories.
Stop trying to hide keywords on a page with white text, or sentences that make no sense.
Stop selling footer links to random websites for a few bucks.
Stop your subscription to your private blog networks. Most have been de-indexed anyway.
Stop submitting your website to 1000 low quality directories.
Stop scraping content from other websites.
Stop building low quality websites/niche websites.
Why is it that we’re willing to pay for quality products or services in some aspects of our life, but not all?
Sometimes it comes down to budget and we just don’t have the money for what we want, so we look for the least expensive option, but in other areas we don’t mind paying for better quality because we realize that we’re getting a vastly different product or service.
Here’s what I mean:
When you want your car fixed, you have the option to take your brand new Mercedes-Benz to the dealer at a cost of over $100/hr, or you can opt for the less expensive local mechanic that may charge $65 or $75 per hour. Chances are good that even though the first option is more money, you will choose it because you know that the Mercedes dealer will do the job correctly. They know your car and they have the genuine parts that it will need.
Another example of cheaper vs. better is when you set out to buy a new pair of shoes. You can go to Wal-Mart and buy just about any style of shoes you might ever want at less than $50. So why is it that you don’t mind paying $150 for a pair of Clarke’s or Rockports? It’s because there’s a difference in quality which you don’t mind paying for.
Now let’s bring this concept into the world of SEO, websites and online marketing. There are all kinds of people offering a website for prices from $100 to $10,000. There are “SEO experts” that offer their services for $10/hr while others charge $250/hr. If you’re a bargain-hunter, you may be drawn to the $100 option and you decide it’s best solely based on the low price. The trouble with doing this, just like the car dealer or your new shoes is that there’s a good chance you’re not getting the same thing. You’re not comparing apples to apples.
Price can only be one of many considerations when choosing an SEO company or website designer. It shouldn’t be the only criteria or you risk getting something that’s vastly different than what you actually need.
Just like almost any topic, there’s a plethora of conflicting information floating around. SEO is a topic that has been discussed on various blogs and websites for about a decade now, leading to all kinds of information being readily available. A simple Google search for the term “SEO” shows that there are 896 million results for that phrase. Let’s just imagine you decided to read all of it. Spend 3 minutes reading each article and you will have spent more than 400 years reading about SEO and you would be more confused than when you started!
Let me me give you an example of a problem that many beginners run into. They Google “SEO tips” and find an SEO article from 2008, which is fairly up-to-date, right? 4 years isn’t THAT long ago. The bad news is that if you were to follow through on some of the strategies that are suggested in an article from 2009 and you might find your website on Google’s hitlist! The same tactics that worked very well in 2008, will now get your website penalized or even de-indexed.
For the beginner, a simple Google search isn’t as simple as it might seem. Because much of the information is conflicting, who do you believe? Which websites have the best information?
The first step is to find a reliable source of information. Find out who is reputable and who isn’t. Reputable sources of SEO advice include SEOMoz, Search Engine Journal and SEO Book. These are good places to start because they will provide quality information that has been tested and doesn’t include unethical or blackhat strategies.
Once you have a few regular websites that you read, now you have to keep up on the information on an almost daily basis. What you learn about SEO may only apply for 6 months and then you may have to tweak your process.
The building blocks of SEO haven’t changed too much in the past decade or so, but what has happened is that the playing field has been leveled. There are no more magic tricks, silver bullets, page #1 overnight kind of tactics. Google is constantly evolving its algorithm which makes SEO a ever-changing field. Don’t believe those that tell you they know all the tricks to get you to page #1 quickly because they could be doing more harm than good.
There’s currently 3 things that are going to help you more than all of the reading you can do.
1. Provide good, quality content for your readers and keep the content flowing.
2. Get involved in social media in a meaningful way.
3. Make sure your website is structured properly with basic on-site SEO.
Those of us involved in SEO are constantly learning, reading, creating content and applying what we read. The trouble for most small business owners is that they simply don’t have the time to be doing all of this, plus running their business. If you don’t have the time to be doing SEO for yourself, you should seek the services of an SEO consultant who can take care of these details for you.
If you are interested in some good quality SEO tips, here’s a few terms for you to search for. I won’t provide their links because they will be number 1 for their search terms…because they’re in the SEO business. 🙂
