If you want to succeed with your website, you have to decide how
much you will spend on search engine optimization. As SEO is crucial to survive
the fierce online competition, the question is not if you should invest in SEO
but how much you invest. SEO can be very expensive. How can you get more for
your money?
How much do SEO
companies charge?
1. Hourly consulting:
the average SEO agency (or individual) charges between $100 and
$300 per hour (all amounts in US$).
2. Fixed prices:
businesses that are new to SEO
often buy services at
fixed prices. This can be a website content audit (usually $500-$7,500), link
profile audits ($500-$7,500) or SEO copywriting ($0.10-$0.50 per word).
3.
Monthly retainer:
the most popular pricing model
is a monthly payment. On average, SEO agencies and individuals charge
$750-5,000 per month. Depending on how much you pay, you can expect different
services: regular analytics reports, on-site optimization, link building,
keyword research, etc.
Some
offshore companies offer 'SEO' services for much lower prices
($100-$500/month). In general, you can be sure that these services use spam
techniques to 'promote' your website and that these services will backfire on
you.
If an SEO service is too cheap, it's likely that they use risky
methods. That's a lesson that many businesses had to learn in the past.
How to get more for
your money
Many things that SEO
agencies do for you can be automated with the right tools. For example, our
web-based SEO tool SEOprofiler can do the following for you:
· Regular website audits: the website audit tool in SEOprofiler
automatically checks the content of your web pages and it shows you all the
errors that should be corrected.
· Regular link profiler audits: the link profiler tool in SEOprofiler shows
you the backlink structure of your website. It also shows the backlinks that
could have a negative influence on the rankings of your web pages.
· Regular analytics reports: use the scheduler in SEOprofiler to
automatically get website analytics reports by email. You can also view your
reports online and you get access to all important key metrics.
· On-site optimization: the Top 10 Optimizer tool in SEOprofiler
analyzes the content of your web pages.
· Regular position checks: the ranking monitor in SEOprofiler checks the
position of your web pages on Google, Bing and Yahoo. You can specify the exact
city from which the rankings should be checked. The ranking monitor informs you
about dramatic ranking changes, it shows easy ranking opportunities, and much
more.
Search engine optimization takes time. SEO is a long-term investment. You will get the best results if you regularly work on your web pages. If you haven't done it yet, try SEOprofiler now: