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What is the general view on an appropriate cost per month to outsource SEO for a small business?
We are a small web business and need to get SEO support. We've had a couple of quotes but they seem ridiculously expensive. We are now just considering hiring someone just to do SEO as it would be cheaper, but I think that SEO providers are being unrealistic. Thanks for all the responses so far. They are very helpful. To give you a better understanding of what we do, we are an online information and product (service products) for the older market demographic. content is not the problem as it's our core output. We have people who do nothing but write editorial and blogs. We do lack in video and social media integration. That is my next goal. to get a better understanding of us visit www.50connect.co.uk.
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9 Answers
Good SEO help can be expensive, mostly because the opportunity cost is substantial to a talented SEO who could build their own sites. Our average engagements are in the six figures per year. So, while it's a big number to digest, the top SEO firms have a long line waiting for people to pay that rate and it's entirely realistic given the amount they can contribute to the bottom line.
That's the bad news. The good news is that, for most small businesses, you don't really need to hire anyone if you have somebody with a mix of marketing and technical skills. Have them spend a month reading the top sites like SEOMoz.org, SEOBook.com, and SearchEngineLand.com and they'll get the gist of the basic compliance-level SEO. Throw a $99/mo SEOMoz subscription their way and that toolset is not much different than the technical toolset most mid-priced SEO's use (actually, most of them use it).
That'll get you to a point where your site is fundamentally sound. That's maybe 40% of the work for a small business in a relatively uncompetitive market. The other 60% of work would be link development. This is generally what moves the needle and where having some outside help would be handy. Good linkbuilders, who can operate in any market or industry, are worth their weight in gold and you should acknowledge that up front. The pricing here is largely variable based on how much you need to "win".
If you can share more details about what industry you're in and what you're looking to rank for, we could get a lot more specific on cost estimate.
Hope that was helpful.
I work for a larger US online marketing company, so I can say with certainty that SEO isn't always considered 'cheap' but is often an indispensable component of an online marketing plan.
Once you realize that you 'need' good SEO (as you have), it really comes down to Return On Investment.
You've obviously committed considerable resources to build your site, traffic *should* be a natural outcome of great content, but we know Google (and SEO) isn't that easy :-)
If you're not getting traffic 'naturally' a good SEO strategy, either in-house or out-sourced should be based on opportunity and conversion metrics. *That* should define how much to spend on SEO (and whether to insource or outsource)
Example: If I'm a niche player with a product that may have a limited appeal, and low cost, I may find getting to number 1 on Google brings me 10 visits, 5 sales and $100 of revenue. DIY SEO is probably the best case scenario.
Your business model, marketplace opportunity / competition, and target demographics will help define the best channels to address in your marketing plan.
Taking a quick look at your site, there's opportunity there's lots to optimize, even to the basics of page titles and more complex site structure and internal linking.
I'd suggest installing Google Webmaster Tools www.google.com/webmaster for some insight on how Google's seeing your site, they make 'suggestions' in that console that I'd correct first.
So finally.. to answer your question :-)
SEO cost should be based on SEO / ROI opportunity.
For your site (even given the great content), on what looks like a pure CPM play (with possibly email marketing / offers as additional revenue stream) I wouldn't expect a 'true' SEO company to charge less than $10,000 per month (including linking / promotions budget) or a smaller 'true' SEO company to charge less than $5,000 - the difference between the two being; ability to scale, confidence in outcomes, availability to connect, process, tools and expertise.
Hope that helps. Best of luck with your business endeavors.
Grant Simmons
Group Account Director
The Search Agency
www.thesearchagency.com
This really varies by a number of factors. I've charged anywhere from $500 per month to $4,500. Both were valid numbers, acceptable to the client, and produced the desired results.
Considerations for pricing include:
Geographic area - Local SEO is much cheaper than national.
Competition's Expertise - If you are in an area or product offering that has a limited number of companies that know SEO, you can win quickly and a much cheaper monthly rate.
Industry - Certain industries are more competitive than others and thus require a much more time spent by the SEO company. Lawyers are extremely cut-throat for example. They use a lot of black hat practices and pay high amounts for PPC. To compete in a white hat SEO environment, you'll need a lot of hours and content.
Your Website - Is it new, undeveloped, and lacking content? Was it designed by a web designer who was clueless about SEO? Or are you a content machine, that is well established, with a solid SEO foundation, and you just need some off-page optimization? Do you have any existing inbound links or online reputation?
Experience - The other consideration is the SEO consultant themselves. Unskilled ones will charge low retainers, but also deliver poor results. Like anything in life, you will get what you pay for.
Capacity - If the SEO is at full capacity, the rate will be higher. It just a plain fact. If we are lacking for clients, discounts may flourish. Be cautious if discounts are offered. There is enough business out there for the good SEOs to be busy and we are busy and fairly booked.
If you're not happy with what you've been quoted, keep looking. And make sure you ask what they will be doing specifically. Ask for a plan. Not X amount of inbound links, but the process to obtain inbound links.
Marce -- It really depends on what you're looking for. Small businesses who call me with SEO questions have an idea that they need "keywords" in their tags, but that isn't what SEO is all about.
Yes, you have to optimize a site's Title / meta tags, but SEO is much more involved these days and includes content. Are you willing to create new content? Are you willing to add a blog -- and keep it updated or outsource it? Are you willing to create e-books, reports, video, etc.? Are you willing to do social media? All of that is part of SEO.
SEO is ongoing and can't be done once and then forgotten about. It's also an investment and as such, should be generating leads for you. If the SEO firms you're getting quotes from don't mention lead generation (I'm assuming this is B2B), I wouldn't do business with them.
Given all that, for small business SEO, I've quoted $1800 to $3500 per month plans (dependent on what needs to be done) -- with six month minimums.
Hi Marce,
Beautiful site! May I ask if it is wordpress?
Everyone here has made some very valid statements such as the consideration for a substantial investment in a backlink campaign. In my experience using a multi-pronged approach to internet marketing has always delivered the best results both long term and short term.
At some point early on, dollars should be put into not only backlinking but also Ad Words. Right out of the gate, yes, it tends to take a chunk out of the budget, however, spreading your investment out over several strategies also lowers your risk.
After an initial investment in an SEO installation, maintaining it is much less work intensive so a lower monthly would allow you to have more money to put into the other related strategies. As such I make every effort to keep the monthly as low as possible for my clients. Since my main objective is to produce results, I am more interested in strategies that make this happen regardless of whether it's an outsourced service that I manage or one that I provide. Most smart SEO's understand this.
One good point that Dianna made that I would like to reiterate is the commitment. SEO is competitive and getting more so by the second. There is no telling how long it will take to produce the results you want and many will give up before that time declaring "it didn't work" or the SEO didn't perform as desired. The length of time it takes is heavily reliant on how competitive the industry is that your marketing in -or if there is in fact even a market!
Hope this helps!
Jennifer Wing
The cost per month for a small business for SEO should be ZERO. Search Engine Optimization is about optimizing your website to make it attractive to search engines. Once this is none, unless you continually make changes to it, there is no need to pay anything on a monthly basis.
Many people confuse SEO and SEM, which has to do with paid advertising and marketing your site. An AdWords campaign can run for one month, several months or forever, and it takes someone experienced to run such a campaign well. But, this is not SEO work, it's SEM.
Beware of the snake-oil salespeople who will gladly sell you monthly contracts to submit your site regularly to directories and search engines you have never heard of. Likewise, beware of the "link farms", "content farms", and other paid link approaches which, if Google detects you are using them, will get your site banned by Google.
One more thing. I wanted to add. You are ahead of the game in terms of your design and link structure. Your site is built well, easy to navigate, intriguing and has plenty of allure! I was just captivated by it, for over an hour. It seems to me whomever built it did a fine job paying special attention to link structure. This is about all I can tell from the front end but from a navigational and appeal standpoint- The site is fantastic! Kudos to your team!
Search engine marketing is worth when you get yourself visible on Google/Yahoo.
Presence on social networks Is key factor however going for SEO, SEM or PPC are also good options.
One of the preferred methods is Search Engine Optimization but must be molded with "Pay For Performance Model".
For e.g. Resultfirst.com is one of the leading Unique "Pay for Performance SEO" Provider for it, wherein you pay only when the keywords desired rank which can be stated as "Rank First, Pay Later".
Please provide us with some more examples if you have for this business Platform.
A common thread I hear running through these comments is the need for ongoing SEO. Marce, you yourself understand that or you wouldn't have asked your question. So I'd just like to reiterate the point here that you cannot optimize a site once and expect it to continue to perform well for any sustained period of time. Why? If for no other reason, you should expect that none of your competitors are standing still. Search engine ranking algorithms are continuously being tested, updated and changed. There are new entrants to the competitive market daily. There are new opportunities being introduced almost daily. If nothing else you need someone assigned responsibility for monitoring your site's ongoing performance and new opportunities and threats in the market place.
When asking for quotes, ask for the experience levels of the team or individual being assigned to you. Ask for an inventory of their responsibilities and assigned tasks. Ask what and how they will communicate to you and at what frequency. Ask for a written statement of the service levels you should expect from the team. And ask for any disclaimers. At least then you will be getting closer to being able to do an apples-to-apples comparison, and find out which option might represent the best value for money.
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