Why does SEO cost so much?

While SEO may not be the solution to all your website woes, the proper pursuit of search engine optimisation efforts can help you rank higher on SERPs and are often a necessary part of marketing your site. But why does SEO cost so much?

For one thing, it takes time investment and knowledge to execute these sorts of marketing strategies well. In addition, the sheer number of people who need to participate in these initiatives means that professional services (such as ours) will cost more than DIY methods.

Another way of looking at this is the cost of not doing SEO. Simply when you change your mindset and understand the return on investment in SEO then you will understand that you will be saving a lot of costs that would be associated with a vast quantity of missed sales.

Therefore the benefit of SEO is invaluable and there are millions who have been able to realise the benefits of SEO and quickly see the increase in their business profits by investing into SEO services.

Is paying for SEO worth it?

Circling back to the cost of not doing SEO. Of course, SEO is worth it if you understand the return involved. If you don’t do any SEO, then you will either miss some potential sales or you will have to just continually pay for that traffic through specific channels.

It’s difficult to know what Google’s exact algorithm is until it changes, and there are a ton of ways that can be done wrong. By focusing on doing correct SEO practices, you can avoid significant losses from Google’s updates/

An easy way of looking at the opportunity cost is by using a keyword research tool that will tell you how many people are searching for your products or services. For example, if you run a service business around wedding event hire. You need to understand the potential traffic you can get to your site with potential customers needing your service. Use that as your baseline for making your decision and working out if spending X dollars will provide you with Y revenue. It’s as simple as that really.

Can I save on costs of doing SEO by doing it myself?

Absolutely you can do SEO yourself BUT what you should know is that it does take A LOT of time to do the analysis, optimisations and content creation. 

So you need to understand if your time is best spent on doing SEO for your business, which professionals could do at a much faster rate. Or if you should pay an SEO agency to conduct the SEO. So you can concentrate on turning potential customers into paying customers.

If you are managing a business, and have the time to do proper SEO then it’s a great skill to master and will help you understand how your business can be improved. For example if you have an eCommerce website. You need to know how to rank higher than your competitors. Doing SEO is one great way of doing this.

However, if you have limited time to do SEO then it’s worth just paying the professionals to get the job done and concentrate on improving your business.

Mindset is everything and treat SEO as an investment in your business not a cost

SEO is investing in your business no different to any other marketing costs which have a return attached to it. Even if you treat it no different to tools and equipment you purchase for your business.

You’re already gone down the wrong path if you’re thinking that SEO is expensive. Compared to other marketing activities it is the only one that will continue giving unlike say paid social or search ads. Using the analogy of paid media is like an instant loan while SEO is like your superannuation. An investment into the long term future of your business.

The mindset of investment rather than cost will help you shift your mind to being focused on investing to grow your business rather than NOT doing it and falling behind your competitors. Investing in SEO is something we would recommend to all businesses which are looking to improve their visibility in the SERPs.

What happens if you don’t invest in SEO for your business

The truth and reality of today’s business world is that 93% of all purchases start with an online search. This shows the importance of why you should be investing in your SEO and making sure your website is optimised.

If you don’t do SEO correctly then you are going to miss out on these opportunities to gain new customers and grow your business. Therefore it’s essential that you get a professional service or SEO agency who can help you with this. This will not only increase your profits but also help guarantee that you will continue getting new customers via search engine optimisation.

If you don’t invest in SEO for your business then you are really running a massive risk of not being able to keep up with your competitors, as search engine optimisation always keeps changing.

How do I find professionals to do SEO for my business

It can be daunting finding someone to do your SEO for your business, especially if you do not understand SEO.

You can use freelancers and find them on platforms such as Upwork or Freelancer. It’s very important to check the freelancer’s portfolios or ask for recommendations from friends who have businesses. You can also check out SEO Agencies like ours.

If this is something you're interested in, Honest Fox's SEO consultants have a great knowledge of the search engine marketing space and are always happy to help. Reach out and we will see what your potential growth is.

What are the questions I should asks when choosing an SEO professional

Just like when choosing any professional to do work, there are a whole bunch of questions you should ask. These include?

• What type of traffic am I looking to target? How much volume of traffic is out there?

• Is my website setup correct to convert these opportunities when they land on my website?

• How long would it take your SEO service to get my business on the top of the search engines?

• How will you track and report back to me search ranking improvement and how this is converting into a commercial result like a lead or a sale?

• What tools and software do you use to manage your SEO campaign?

• How much experience do you have doing SEO for businesses like mine?

• Do you have any reviews on Google Reviews or Facebook?

• Do you have any past clients I could chat to about your services?

Be wary of people who make grand promises about results. Unfortunately, the REALITY is that nobody knows how Google is going to react to your SEO. But when done correctly you have a better chance of getting the results that will help your business grow.

7 reasons why you should take SEO seriously

• SEO is the name of the game: Today, most industries are facing the challenge of competing for their place on search engines. With Google’s dominance in search engine results page (SERPs), you can’t get away without participating in this game.

• SEO puts your business front and centre: It starts with the ads in Google: All websites display advertising, which helps generate traffic to your site and grow your business. In Google Ads, you can target the ads to specific keywords and phrases that people might search for.

• SEO is a serious business: SEO professionals have years of experience in handling complicated algorithms to optimise your content for search engines, and they know how to rank your website on search engines.

• You can’t manage SEO: While you own content, you cannot control what happens with it once it is published on your website. Even the best content can get lost in the chaos because of poor SEO.

• SEO helps with search engine rankings: Poor search engine optimization can result in a low ranking on SERPs, which means fewer online customers, whose potential is going to waste. The trick is to consistently improve your search engine ranking without ever getting penalized by Google for violating their guidelines.

• SEO is a skillset: While there are many new trends in the SEO field, if you have a good foundation in content creation, writing and linking, you can leverage this knowledge to become an ace at SEO.

• SEO is all about long-term visibility: If you own your business’ name or brand name, then it is imperative that it is visible on search engines. The only way to do this today is through SEO techniques. Granted, it is not easy to compete for visibility with all the other businesses out there, but once you get there, it will be more important than ever.

Some statistics on SEO and organic search that you should know

• In Australia Google represents 88% of all searches.

• 93% of all purchases begin with an online search.

• 40% of all internet users use search engines every single day for information.

• That equates to over 10 million Australians each week.

• The average number of times someone will search for a product is over 10.

• In 2013, Australia had 49.3 million visitors over the internet according to the Internet Industry Association (IIA).

• The vast majority of Australian websites, 93%, are hosted in Australia.

• On average, a site that is not optimized for search engines can lose as much as 5% of the searches it receives.

• Approximately 1 in 10 visitors to a website leave without converting or taking any action.

Final thoughts on the cost of doing SEO

SEO can be a confusing topic and many people get it wrong. But one thing is clear, if you’re not doing any SEO once Google’s algorithm updates again, you will lose out on sales and eventually your business as well.

SEO is not expensive and in fact, if you focus on the right things, it will actually help grow your business. So stop comparing SEO to paid media and see it as an investment into growing your website and business.

Investing in SEO is an essential component to growing your business so get a professional SEO agency to work with you if you don’t have time or budget allocated for doing it yourself. This will not only improve your ranking but also, save you the hassle of trying to learn how to do SEO yourself.