There is a world of difference between ‘cheap seo’ and ‘affordable SEO’ and never has the phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ rung so true.
Being cheap generally infers that cost over quality is the primary deciding factor but when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation, just like other forms of marketing, your return on investment should be positive, thereby supporting the case to continue your campaign.
In this commercial scenario affordable SEO is one such campaign that should pay for itself and then some, with quality assured, not forsaken.
If your SEO marketing is not affordable in the sense that it is not paying for itself then you need to re-evaluate your campaign, re-evaluate your goals and/or expectations, or re-evaluate your supplier as you are wasting precious time and budget whilst your competitors continue to steal the lead.
When Cheap SEO isn’t Cheerful
Search Engine Optimisation is not a dark art. It is not an exact science either and just to make the stakes even more challenging for the uninitiated, the goal posts are continually moving.
What worked to improve search and website rankings ten years ago, five years ago or even several months ago may not be the case today as Google and other search engines continually tweak and change their algorithms and ranking factors for quality purposes and to prevent gaming of the system.
An affordable search engine optimisation service is one with first hand and up to the minute experience of what works and what doesn’t so that your website is not the one being learned upon. Whilst SEO isnt an exact science, the more SEO experience you have the better equipped you are to know what works and what doesn’t.
If your search marketing supplier lacks experience then your website might just be their testing ground where mistakes will be disastrous for your business.
If your ‘cheap seo’ company screws up its your website and resultant business thats damaged.
Most people who have a basic knowledge or awareness of Google and SEO will likely be familiar with terms such as Google Panda and Google Penguin.
Many small business owners however are acutely aware of these Google Panda and Google Penguin because they have found out the hard way. Etched into memory when their search marketing supplier has been found out, in their attempts to game the system and in turn their clients website have seen a significant drop in web rankings.
Cheap SEO like anything ‘cheap’ is often at odds with quality and can be anything but cheerful, especially when corners are cut and the lines between good and bad search engine optimisation practices are crossed.
On this note Edible have never had a client exposed to any form of Google ranking penalty in our 10 years of operation. We have rescued businesses from penalties and harm caused by others but our professional indemnity insurers have never had cause to speak to us.
Quality versus Quantity
Just as in most of life’s scenarios, more often than not quality is preferential to quantity and when it comes to the ranking factors that determine your Google search position, the quality of your efforts is of greater significance and importance than quantity alone.
By way of explanation, a backlink from a news website such as the BBC and a dozen other news websites is deemed by Google to be a better reflection of a link structure that is more reflective of ‘quality’ and ‘relevance’ than a thousand links from crappy blogs, free directories and link schemes. Spending time securing links from low authority blogs and free directories is all but worthless so why waste the time and effort on quantity that gets you nowhere, when you can spend your valuable resources on quality that does move you forward.
Yet despite this, my inbox gets littered day in day out (as yours may to do) with dozens of spam emails promising links from hundreds of websites and content writing and article placing.
All the emails are also from random Gmail addresses to hide the true business behind the spam. What other corners are they cutting?
The SEO Spam Email Irony
Thankfully most people who are in business are switched on enough to realise that spam from a random Gmail account is not going to be from a reputable, responsible or reliable company.
The simple fact remains that if these SEO spammers were actually any good at search marketing they would’t need to send out thousands of spam emails a day as they would be able to get customers based on their own search engine positions and referrals from happy clients.
Sadly, the irony of this is lost on some people who continue to engage in rogue (largely overseas) operators that send spam and cut other corners.
Perhaps the smell of a bargain is too much of a lure.
However, engaging in ‘cheap seo’, as opposed to paying for ‘affordable seo’ were the return on investment pays for the campaign, those are the risks you undertake.
As I started the post with, you get what you pay for.
When Quantity Does Count
When it comes to competing for the coveted 1st page of Google you need to do more than and better than the competition. This should come as no surprise.
All things being equal, if your competitor has 100 pages of high quality content then it stands to reason you wont beat them with half as much content of the same quality and you certainly don’t have a chance in Hell with half as much content but of a lower quality and relevance.
With quality assured you still need to do more than your competition to compete with them and stay a step ahead.
Best Practice for Affordable SEO
The way we work at Edible is to evaluate the present. We look at your website, your target customers, how they interact with the internet, what keywords and phrases they use and what your competition is doing and how successful they are.
We then evaluate what potential you have for success. What technical elements and website errors are holding you back and how good your content is in both attaining better search rankings, but also in converting your current and (increased levels of) future visitors.
We then give you some budget and likely performance scenarios to balance the short, medium and long term goals and needs of your business so that you see immediate benefits.
Best practice for search engine optimisation takes on a holistic approach so that your search marketing is complementary to your other marketing, supports the business, makes a case for its own continuance and involves optimisation activities that only offer proven positive outcomes that have been learned first hand by our own research and experience.
Free SEO Consultation
If you want an open and honest conversation about your business website get in touch and we will gladly perform a Free Review.
There is no obligation and you wont be added to any marketing lists and you will only ever speak to a Search Marketing Consultant who lives and breathes for SEO, not a sales person focused on targets.
