High-quality SEO has become crucial for most online companies in today’s world. If you are a business owner who is looking to drive more traffic and sales to your site, the chances are at some point you’ve thought about implementing SEO. This article will discuss what quality SEO looks like and if it’s worth the price.

A search engine optimization campaign is crucial for the majority of online companies today. The simple fact is that if you’re company is not able to be found online, there is a good chance that it won’t survive in the long term. But having a well optimized SEO website helps increase brand awareness, improves overall user experience, and helps generate more traffic and sales.

Did you know that 75% of people don’t look past the first page on Google when searching?

This means that it’s vital that you are ranking for a variety of relevant keywords on page 1 Google. If this is not happening, it’s extremely likely that your website is not getting found by users. What exactly does this mean……it means that it’s ultimately reducing your overall website traffic, sales, and conversions. This is not good for you or your business, but the good news is that it can be fixed.

Why It’s Important To Hire Quality

When it comes to SEO, cheaper is usually not better. In other words, not every SEO agency is created equal. One of the main complaints you hear nowadays when it comes to SEO is about people who hired and SEO company and didn’t see any results. Now this could be for many different reasons and not necessarily the fault of the person performing SEO. The truth is, SEO is a long term process that takes a lot of time and effort. There are a lot of people out there who expect to rank on page 1 Google in a competitive industry in just a few months. Unfortunately this is just not how SEO works and has never worked. That’s just not a realistic time frame. At a minimum, you should expect to work on your SEO for somewhere between 6 -12 months. If you don’t commit the minimum amount of time to your SEO, it’s very likely that you won’t see any tangible results. And this is likely why you hear so many complaints about people that are unhappy with their SEO company. Sometimes you will hear of people who didn’t achieve any SEO results, but come to find out they only committed to 1 -2 months of SEO. Now it may be true that particular SEO person did not know what they were doing, but if you don’t commit to at least 6 months there is really no way of knowing. In the end, if you hire someone unqualified, it can cost you more money rather than if you just hired quality in the beginning. This is why it’s so important to hire quality from the very beginning. Not only will it save you money in the long run by not having to re-do any work, but you can also rest assured that the person you hired knows what they are doing.

Why You Shouldn’t Opt for the Cheapest Services

Let’s face it; everyone out there loves a good deal. But there are certain things in life where cheaper isn’t better and SEO usually falls in that category. There is a reason why quality SEO people can charge the rates they charge. It’s usually because those services are in such high demand plus the fact that it is vital for the majority of online companies. One of the main downsides to SEO is that anyone nowadays can claim to be an “SEO Expert”. There are no specific qualifications or licenses that one must obtain. This means that there are a lot of SEO freelancers or agencies out there that are not qualified. This is how the majority of people usually get burned. It’s unfortunate because it gives the whole industry a bad reputation.

How Do I Know If the Agency or Freelancer Is Good?

Then that begs the question, with so many unqualified SEO people out there, how do I know if the person I hire is qualified and knows what they are doing? And the truth is it’s actually much easier than you think. The first step is to ask any basic questions you have regarding your SEO. They should be able to answer any questions you have without hesitancy. The next step is to look at their reviews from past and current clients. It doesn’t matter if you are looking to hire a freelancer or agency. The fact is there is a very good chance that at some point in their career, they worked as a freelancer and received reviews on their work. Now sure it’s possible for someone to fake reviews and it does happen. But what I would recommend is to look at their reviews on their UpWork profile if they have one. There is a very good chance that they have an UpWork profile. And here you will be able to see very honest reviews of their work. It’s also a good idea to ask them to see their case studies if they have them. Basically anything that shows they helped a client improve their overall SEO.

How Much Should You Pay for SEO?

One of the very first questions everyone has is:  “how much is this going to cost?” I definitely get it and understand it’s one of the first things people want to know. But the simple fact is there is no one set cost for every single client. Every website is different, every client has different needs, and a lot of times they are at different stages in their SEO process. If you are a small mom and pop shop, you are probably going to have a different budget compared to a large company. But just because a company doesn’t have a monthly budget like a large company, doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t optimize their site as much as they can.

Here is a breakdown of what you can typically expect to pay for high quality SEO services.

1. Fixed Fee / Monthly Retainer ($2,000 – $10,000+ Per Month)

This is a popular SEO pricing option where you pay for SEO services on a fixed-fee per service or monthly retainer. Depending on what you need, SEO can involve a lot of different pieces including:  Site Audits, Keyword Research, Content Writing, and Link Building. This is great for clients that want to know exactly how much they are spending per month or if they have a specific budget to stay within. The $2,000 – $10,000 is quite a price range, but it all depends on the budget, complexity, and requirements for the job. Keep in mind that linkbuilding will be your biggest cost when it comes to SEO.

2. Hourly ($50 – $500+ Per Hour)

The majority of companies that choose to pay an SEO consultant on an hourly rate do so when they need a higher level of flexibility. This can be a great option when you want high level support, but just not on an on-going basis. The downside of hiring a contractor on an hourly basis is that it is usually more expensive in the long term. You can expect to pay anywhere from $75 – $500+ per hour for a qualified SEO person. 

Is Paying For High Quality SEO Worth It?

Whether or not a company should hire a professional SEO is completely dependent on the specific situation. But if you have a company that you’ve invested a lot of time, energy, and believe in…..then yes paying for high quality SEO definitely makes sense. It’s never a good idea to hire a cheap professional that you don’t feel confident about. If you are a new company that strictly operates online, being found in the top of the search engines could make or break your company. There are certain factors that come into play when you receive a higher proposal from a reputable SEO company.

Here are some reasons why an SEO company may charge higher prices.

• They have the education, experience, and qualifications and are in high demand.
• They have a proven track record of success and getting results.
• They are full versed in all areas of SEO and not just one.
• They take the time to learn about your company, goals, and objectives. They truly care about the success of your SEO campaign.
• They consistently use the best software tools available.
• They strictly adhere to white-hat SEO strategies.
• They have a team of content writers to maximize content visibility.
• They have more resources to help scale up your business.

What Is the Cost of Bad or Cheap SEO?

The potential risks of bad SEO include getting your site penalized by Google and/or having it completely removed from the search engines. This is why it’s extremely important to work with a quality SEO consultant who knows what they are doing. This will greatly enhance your chances of long term SEO success. Lower priced SEO packages and consultants are very tempting. But you really need to examine them as well as what’s included in their services.

One other thing to keep in mind when paying less is that the customer service is usually lacking. If you are someone who truly values good customer service, keep this in mind when looking for services. It also helps when you work with a freelancer or company who is in the same time zone that you are in. Communication can become difficult when working with someone who is in a completely different time zone than you are in.

And one other thing to note, if you ever talk to someone who “guarantees” results, this is a red flag. The truth is that it’s just not possible for anyone to guarantee results. Because you have algorithms that change, site architecture updates, and new sites that are constantly competing for rankings.

How Long Will It Take To See Results?

After pricing, this is the next most asked question when it comes to SEO. There are a number of different factors that will determine this that include:  what is the Domain Authority of the site, how competitive are the keywords you are trying to rank for, and are you building links consistently. But generally speaking, you can expect it to take 6-12 months to achieve page 1 Google rankings. It’s possible to see some ranking improvements after 3 or 4 months, but usually not page 1 rankings. Also if anyone tells you that they can achieve page 1 Google results in less than 6 months, this is also a red flag. Here is a brief timeline of how long it takes just for indexing:

• New Website Indexed – It can take up to as little as 4 days to 6 months for a site to be crawled by Google and attribute authority to the domain.
• New Content to Get Indexed – According to Google’s John Mueller, it can take several hours to several weeks for Google to index new content or updated content. Sometimes it can take longer due to either technical issues with your website or because GoogleBot is busy indexing more important sites.
• Backlinks Indexed – According to Moz, it can take up to 10 weeks for a link to get indexed and for it to fully kick in.

Indexing doesn’t mean ranking. You can be indexed and at the same time your indexed pages won’t necessarily rank. Google issued a disclaimer saying forcing something to be indexed does not mean that page will be shown prominently in Google Search.

No guarantee to be indexed. There is also no guarantee that Google will index your content or all the content on the web. In fact, Google does not index a lot of content on the Internet, no search engine does. Google tries not to index duplicate content, mirror images of the same content, and it avoids indexing content that is not useful.

Quality is important. The most important thing here is to make sure your site is high quality so Google prioritizes indexing and hopefully ranking your content above lower quality websites.

So you can see that a lot of the “waiting” is for content and links to get indexed. This is just one of the reasons why short-term results are not possible when it comes to SEO.

Final Thoughts On SEO Costs

Whether or not you choose to hire an SEO consultant is up to you and your business needs. Just understand that is a long-term investment that takes time and money. But if you can commit the time it takes, you will usually see a ROI on your investment.

If you are looking for high quality SEO, then look no further than Searched & Found. We have over 10+ years of SEO experience and help clients achieve page 1 rankings every month.

We offer a variety of SEO services to help you optimize your site. If you have any questions regarding your SEO or would like to get started, Contact Us Today To Get Started.