In addition to understanding what services are standard when hiring an SEO consultant, small businesses should have a general idea of how much they should pay for SEO. If an SEO is offering to �optimize� your website for $200 or $300, take off running in the other direction because that sounds too good to be true. SEO isn’t cheap and the mantra that dominates here is that you get what you pay for. If you can’t afford good SEO services, you are going to have to make use of all the information available online via inexpensive e-books or for free on SEO websites and blogs. With this information you can teach yourself SEO and optimize your own website. SEO will either be an investment of your time or money.
The Price Small Businesses Pay for SEO
The business model that an SEO company or consultant uses will determine what price you pay for their services. Sometimes consultants charge by the hour and give you specific recommendations for changes they think you ought to implement. In this case, they don’t actually re-work your website. These consultants charge an amount that’s based on the time they spend, their experience, and their expertise. Some SEO companies/consultants not only recommend changes but actually serve as webmasters and go in and make those changes. There are also SEO companies/consultants that go by performance-based contracts, receiving a portion of the revenues generated after the SEO work is done.
Geography is also a factor that affects the price small businesses pay for SEO. Optimizing a small business website in Washington D.C. will generally cost more than optimizing a small business website in a small town in Virginia. While this isn’t universally true, it is generally the case since services of all kinds demand a higher cost in larger cities, whether they are for accounting, law, web design, or SEO.
As mentioned previously, you get what you pay for in SEO so be wary of SEO companies/consultants that say they can optimize your website for $200-$300 a month. A consultant that charges so little probably has a limited knowledge of SEO and does not understand the true value of his time. Of course if you can’t afford anything more than that, it doesn’t mean you have to give up on optimizing your website. There is plenty of free SEO information readily available out there, allowing you to learn SEO on your own.
Focus on the Return on Investment
Rather than worrying too much about how much you are paying, you should focus on the quality of the services being offered and the return on investment (ROI). Even if you have to pay $20,000 for a six-month SEO contract, it’s well worth the investment if you generate $150,000 more in revenue because of your search engine visibility.
The goal for small businesses interested in hiring an SEO company/consultant should be to spend their money as wisely as possible. Although no SEO company/consultant can guarantee results, you are sure to get more traffic and increase revenues from natural search if you hire quality SEO services that can provide you with a significant ROI. In the end, you have to make the decision between investing your time or money in SEO because unless you make a serious investment in one or the other, you won’t achieve SEO success.
