Last Updated on April 17, 2020 by msj484
The purpose of this article is not to disrespect any business owner or individual that is trying to succeed with SEO but is on a limited budget. Instead, I’m just trying to save you some time and money so that you won’t end up “investing” in a digital marketing solution that a cheap SEO company has possibly offered you at the expense of it being a bad experience for you and your business.
That’s not to say that search engine optimization has to be expensive. In fact, in some industries and regions, a website can have a tremendous amount of success in the organic search engine rankings with little to no budget for SEO services. However, most of the time that is not the case and more so than not… we have businesses reaching out to us looking for ways to succeed in outranking much larger search engine competitors with big budgets.
So… why are we saying working with a cheap SEO company is a waste of both time and money?
– Digital Marketing Agencies That Advertise Themselves As Being A “Cheap” Solution Usually Have Little To No Experience
This is a point that shouldn’t be overlooked or ignored because the whole purpose of a business owner deciding to invest in SEO is actually to succeed with it. With that being the case, would it be better to work with an internet marketing vendor that is moderately successful or very successful? Most of us would prefer someone who is very experienced and successful, and for a good reason.
If that is what the logical thing to do is, how much more so would it make no sense what so ever to work with and hire an SEO vendor just because they are cheap and within the preferred price range of the business owner?
It’s also important to keep in mind that the focus shouldn’t just be how successful your digital marketing campaign could potentially be within the confines of your target budget. The next point highlights something that is often overlooked by business owners looking for a cheaper solution…
– Most “Strategies” That Cheap SEO Companies Offer Can Be Risky
What do I mean by that? For those of you that do not know, search engines have a terms of service that “governs” which SEO tactics are acceptable and those that are not. A typical description of these tactics are broken down into 3 categories:
White Hat SEO = Strategies and tactics that are “safe” and do not break any of the “rules” search engines require that SEO professionals abide by.
Black Hat SEO = Strategies and tactics that can produce temporary results but are against the search engine TOS that have yet to be discovered or found out by the search engine being targeted; all of which can result in penalties and issues that prevent the target website from ranking in the organic listings.
Grey Hat SEO = Strategies and tactics that use a combination of both white hat and black hat, hoping that quick and easy results can come in without being noticed by the search engine being targeted.
– It’s Important To Remember That You Get What You Pay For
For most people, they can tell the difference between a meal that costs $1 (drink included) vs one that costs $13 (drink included); why is that? As mentioned above… you get what you pay for.
When it comes to search engine optimization services being offered by an SEO agency, the same proves true. Often the “strategies” they implement involve no actual strategizing for your website, industry, or target audience. Instead, they offer services that have been provided to other clients since it’s a quick way to look busy and get some work done.
Additionally, cheaper solutions from these types of vendors typically involve little to no regular reporting on the on-going SEO campaign, and communication is usually nonexistent or very limited.
Again, the focus here is not to target any SEO company specifically or criticize a business owner that has a limited budget to invest in their online presence in this way. However, we’ve seen and heard far too many reports of companies that have made the mistake of using a cheaper solution, instead of recognizing that this type of service is an investment in the future success (digitally speaking) for the business.
For the business owners out there that cannot afford the industry minimum of $2,000 – $3,000 per month for SEO services for 3, 6, 12+ months… our recommendation would be for you to pay for an SEO audit from an expert and gradually address the most important and urgent recommendations that come from that review. In the long run, you’ll have more success with SEO spending your budget that way than you would simply paying a vendor to do “SEO” to your website just because they fit the current budget you have available.
I hope this article can help all the businesses out there that have yet to be burned by one of these SEO agencies or freelancers that are more interested in taking money from their clients than they are doing ethical and effective SEO. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this topic… let us know. Nomvo!
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