SEO Cost: The Value of Paying It Forward

The answer, the cost of SEO often correlates to the degree of the logistics involved in execution and the scope of the barrier to entry on a keyword by keyword basis. To simplify, it is a matter of cost based analysis, value and return on investment.

The Value of Organic  Search

While there are a number of ways to arrive at the value of organic search engine optimization, this metric corresponds to (a) who is ranking ahead of you and (b) how dedicated or aggressive your efforts need to be to achieve the desired keyword / ranking objective. Here is one method for assessing the competitive landscape using the ratio of links to competing pages.

There are a number of ways to arrive at the same conclusion; however, with SEO, six things are required prior to achieving a top ranking:

• Research (surveying keywords, competition, profitability and ROI).
• Logistics (creating structure and laying a blueprint/foundation for deliverables).
• Tracking (double checking deliverables, analysis and reporting to gauge success and conversions).
• Content (the basis of relevance for any campaign).
• Links (both internal links from contextual sources and inbound links from other sites).
• Time (the breeding ground for page and domain authority).

Let’s observe the above metrics in a hypothetical reference, for example, if your website has 3 pages and your competitor’s website has 3,000 pages, which website do you think Google or any other search engine will award with a top 10 ranking?

In a PPC (pay per click) environment, this message would be clear-cut within 24 hours if you tried to take on a corporate giant with a virtually limitless budget for a competitive keyword.

On the SEM (search engine marketing) frontier, if the price per click is $25 and you bid $27 per click, what is to stop your gargantuan competitor from bidding $30 per click until they exhaust your budget and resume where they left off (in the top 3 results).

Organically, it is not always that easy to see who will come out on top (as algorithms are constantly in a state of flux), hence the need to utilize a wide array of optimization tactics and strategies asynchronously is required in order to provide a favorable selection of on page and off page metrics required to create buoyancy in the search results.

For example, if you have a new website with a few links (and zero citation or trust) and you are targeting a competitive keyword against a seasoned (aged) competitor (who has dominated the keyword as long as you can remember), a different and more aggressive type of optimization is required in order to bypass those along the way to the top.

Keep in mind, the more content, links, management, key performance indicator / tracking or on page optimization required comes with a price tag for your business.

Can You Afford Not to Use SEO?

Time equals money and for those who have paid their SEO forward and had the vision to enter a market or niche when it was ripe as a result of foresight or vs. going against the grain and attempting to rank for the top tier phrases in that market without first cutting their teeth on a less competitive keyword is a futile path.

Ranking by affinity through using semantically aligned topical content, articles, white papers, blog posts, unique product / RSS feeds, landing pages or user generated content covers the on page requirements, but the need for proper off page optimization is a requirement to settle the democratic election of which websites rise to the top.

While cost is not the only factor, the more money or resources (time, content, citation from social media, and traffic sources) you can pay for scaling these resources is often the definitive factor in who ranks first.

While many of the SEO ranking wars can be won through strategic content development, domain trust (from accruing layers of posts or pages on a topic) and superior site architecture, the need for off page optimization (links) is still an integral part of the process (which also comes at a price).

The Real Question…What is Your Budget?

Over time, any keyword is attainable organically, however, the reality is, how much is it worth to you to rank favorably for that position and what are you willing to pay for it? through cultivating the proper metrics over time.

Assessing the online landscape, so many SEO companies sell themselves short and look for short-term gain (by selling their offering on the cheap) and all the while, those who hire them expect to see phenomenal results on a piece meal budget (and an complete assembly line / process is really required).

By assessing the SERPs (search engine result pages) it shocks me to see how many thousands of websites that have started their epic rise to the top only to fizzle out from lack of funds, the wrong approach or underestimating the greed of others and what THEY will pay to remain or rise to the top.

There is no one and done with SEO, you have to embody the characteristics of always moving forward, persistence, unshakable resolve, and patience to see significant changes through their various stages.

On one level, it depends on what you expect and which keywords you are content with, but, the old saying that you get what you pay for is true to form in this industry.

Effectively, if you will require an all inclusive campaign that spans the gamut of services necessary to put adversaries in their place (behind your website), then you should understand the costs at least the ballpark figure of what it will take to make a contender.

In most instances the ballpark starts at 3-$4,000 per month for a competent SEO company to properly embrace the necessary and pivotal on page and off page metrics that have the most impact.

The Takeaway…

Hire the right firm for SEO Services, pay for quality, put in the time to gain trust, peer review and rankings and look beyond keywords alone and swallow markets whole with the same effort along the way. If you are interested in a limited-time FREE keyword inspection and competitor analysis, then follow the link proved and complete the form provided.

-Jeffrey

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The Value of SEO Packages

Each website has unique needs – meaning its own semantic and topical signature, its own content and indexing cycles, its own rhythm for rankings  (the keyword  ebb and flow) and exists at varying stages of development.

Before delving too deep into this vein of thought of custom services vs. packages, two things matter (1) the extent of the SEO service or (2) the SEO package.

Precision or Volume?

SEO involves multiple stages and there are fundamental activities in each stage that can expedite long-term authority if the website is nurtured appropriately. Sometimes a website needs volume (volume of links, citation or content) and other times it requires precision (to unlock or optimize a variable that is creating friction).

We have identified these stages into 3 categories for the sake of definition- (1) a new site (2) an existing site (that has stalled out) or lacks proper SEO and (3) a large or aged e-commerce or content based site that lacks proper SEO.

In other words, there is no reason to pull out the bazooka and kill a fly with a new website, nor are brute force SEO tactics required for a larger website that may simply need finesse and a slight navigation overhaul to cross the tipping point.

Moderation and balance must be tempered to facilitate the most effective results within monetary, time or ROI constraints when considering ranking objectives.

Which Phase/Cycle is Your Website In?

A website can transcend its present cycle / holding pattern by providing it with the antidote to inertia “what it needs, when it needs it”, to cultivate a strong online presence over time as a result of producing domain authority (which is the  real purpose of SEO).

The amount of time required depends on (1) the market (2) the range of keywords (3) the competition (4) the on page elements and (5) how much off page optimization is required to cross the tipping point of relevance.

Getting pages to rank for specific keywords only occurs once you have (a) appeased the necessary on page or on site requirements and (b) crossed the relevance thresholds necessary to surpass other websites who also share similar characteristics of relevance who are currently ranking for those target keywords.

This requires (1) proper planning and resource allocation (2) consistency and (3) tracking and analysis to augment real time execution.

A properly managed time-released campaign is difficult to stop from “rising the to top” since the causation can either ebb from within the site (as a result of proper cultivation of links, content or trust) or from other websites providing links to your web pages.

The imperative factor here is “authority” (both at the domain and page level) is what is responsible for catapulting pages into the top 10 search results; which is why the first objective of an SEO campaign is to set this process in motion.

The Three Stages of Websites and SEO

There are 3 stages of websites and SEO, (1) new site with no history (2) existing site with some SEO or SEO objectives or (3) a large site that needs to harness the power of its authority.

Each can succeed under the proper conditions, it is merely a matter of each website or rather phase needing something to offset its inherent inadequacies of handicap.

Stage 1: The Brand New Website

A brand new website has different needs than a website that has aged or been online for a year or longer. While a website can be optimized at any stage, it is better to do things right the first time and set the stage for search engine success sooner rather than later.

What are the needs for a new website?

• Proper site architecture and taxonomy.
• Defined landing pages.
• Internal link continuity.
• Fresh structured content based on a topical theme.
• Link citation (links from authoritative sources).

We have an ideal solution for new websites named SEO Local from our SEO Packages page.

Stage 2: Existing Websites Lacking Optimal Structure or Links

Websites that have been online yet lack optimal elements require a very unique type of optimization to (a) gain traction through revamping pages, navigation, content and links prior to those collective pages working in unison toward a series of asynchronous keyword / ranking goals.

Sites of this category require:

• An assessment of the site or pages present authority and rankings
• Revisions to the site architecture, navigation, page templates, content or internal links
• Deep links from a variety of sources to gain (a) citation and (b) acquire rankings

Reviving websites in the category require a consistent approach backed by gradual on page and off page adjustments.

• Time released content
• Concentrated inbound links to pages other than the homepage
• Promotion of the website across multiple mediums

In addition to adding a content management system to administer fresh content, you need to simultaneously gain traction through citation from various sources (such as one way links, article marketing, social media and RSS feeds).

Considerations such as link velocity (the rate in which a website gains or loses links), link loss (excessive outbound links on multiple pages), duplicate content (having a high percentage of pages that lack focus or distinction), link diversity (links from multiple websites rather than just a few) and market focus (if a clear keyword target of cluster of keywords are selected).

The ultimate objective of SEO is to develop authority (meaning your website is a resource for quality education content on a topic or top notch commercial appeal as a result of other websites linking to yours).

Both methods spawn rankings as a result, hence cultivating web page or domain authority is the prime directive of the collective SEO efforts. In other words, an effective SEO package should work holistically and on multiple nodes of relevance simultaneously.

We have an ideal solutions for this category of site called “SEO Market Master” available from our SEO Packages page.

Stage 3: Large Site Lacking Focus or SEO Tactics

This is common for commercial websites such as shopping carts or websites that house thousands of pages across multiple topics. Keep in mind that search engines rank PAGES not websites, so, it’s important that each page serve a purpose (1) to rank for a keyword or (2) to provide ranking factor to another preferred landing page.

Sites such as these require:

• Sitemaps (xml, ror and html) to aid indexation (getting pages in search engines and ranking).
• The addition of sub folders, subdomains, navigation blocks (to funnel link-flow from other strong pages) and a stable inbound link program.
• Canonicalization (minimizing duplication across categories, tags, content).
• Removal of parameters from URL string (from tracking code, dynamic elements) using 301 redirects, Asapi rewrites – to create “pretty URL’s” that search engines can digest and index.
• Removal of 404 errors (broken links)
• Enhanced load time, a slow site is a low site (as site speed has an impact on rankings) and users.
• Volumes of content (time-released) and based on a topical theme to increase the sites (on page) relevance score and footprint.

The larger the website, the more structure is required in providing a tiered navigation schema that keeps critical pages designed to push link-flow and traffic further into the website. The stronger each page is, the more prominent and capable of ranking it becomes.

If you have a site that lacks a champion page or category, then search engines can essentially ignore all of the pages (unless you implement some type of hierarchy through links, content and citation).

While there is no typical package available for a site of this nature (this definitely is in the custom category of services), you can still set the foundation and target a narrow array of keywords and put legacy pages to work to aid ranking objectives.

When SEO Packages are Not Enough

Robust websites of this caliber require custom SEO solutions or SEO consulting to lay out a series of action-items for an in-house team to execute over time.

The take away is – there is no cookie cutter approach to SEO, but there are fundamental stages that you can cultivate a website with to get it to the next stage of optimization or domain authority.

Ingredients include a healthy mix of:

• RSS Aggregators and RSS Syndication (to rebroadcast content to a larger audience).
• Social Media Exposure.
• One Way Links from Themed Websites.
• Revisions to On Page Structure.
• Keyword Research and Content to Provide Topical Continuity.
• Links, Links and More Links

Getting to the top of search engines requires strategy, structure, persistence and hard work. Regardless of which type of SEO package or program you implement, the hardest part is getting started.

The next obstacle in an SEO campaign is “sticking with it” and being patient for all of the layers of optimization to settle and transform the website into an authoritative domain. Authority equates to a website capable of ranking for keywords of any magnitude over time with the right approach, budget, relevance and popularity.

-Jeffrey

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Shopping for SEO Companies

As SEO campaigns are often costly, don’t be rushed with your final choice; get all your questions answered in full and choose wisely. Remember, selecting the right SEO firm goes far beyond just comparing prices. The wrong SEO provider can lead you to a dead end with no refunds while the right SEO companies could possibly charge more, but offer more quality services and rankings that last for the long haul.

Consider the hierarchy of SEO companies to be like the hierarchy of cars – you can choose from a Honda, Lexus or Bentley. Just like cars, you can expect better quality and a smoother ride from a higher-end SEO. For example, less ‘black-hat’ SEO tactics and more quality links and content. Don’t be fooled by a company that promises you the world in 30 days. Good SEO that lasts takes time and a lot of patience.

You may already have the appropriate IT and writing team to get the job done and all you need is some SEO consulting. Think of this as if you were bringing in your car for a quarterly tune-up: make sure everything is working ok, find out what needs improvement and maybe have your tires rotated while you’re stopping by.

In SEO terms, make sure your overall site architecture and targeted keywords are correct; find out if you need to change anything through on-page optimization; and focus on building quality back links from relevant sources.

When you are comparison shopping for SEO companies, here are some great factors to consider/ask about:

What services do you offer?

• Some companies only offer consulting while others only offer SEO services. Then there are companies that offer the whole kit and caboodle – everything from ignition to driving and steering. This is the first thing to ask a company so you don’t waste your time interviewing one that doesn’t even offer what you are looking for.

What is the average price of an all-inclusive SEO campaign?

Since every campaign is different, it is not fair to ask the cost of an average SEO campaign. Some clients may just need their windows washed while others may require their entire car to be totally detailed, waxed and buffed. That is why it is a good idea to ask for the average price (on a monthly basis) of an all-services-included SEO campaign.

What kind of checks and balances are in place?

• If you are ordering an all-inclusive SEO campaign, you are essentially saying, “Here is my site. Here is my money. Let me know when I’m ranking.” But, do you really want to hand over the keys to your car in such a cavalier manner?  Certainly not. Ask the company what services are in place that allow you to check on the progress of your campaign? Perhaps a weekly telephone call, cyber meeting or documented report? Whatever it is, you want to be sure that your SEO company has plans to keep you in the loop on the progress of your campaign.

Where do your links come from?

• If you order link building services, you want to be sure that those links are quality and not just quantity. Your incoming links should be from relevant Web sites with good Page Rank that were obtained in a legal manner.
• You should also ask the company, “What happens to those links after my services are expired?” The company shouldn’t be touching those links once they are yours but, unfortunately, some companies find it profitable to pull those links down once a campaign package has ended.

Where does the content come from?

• If content is part of the SEO strategy, then you will want to know where they are getting the content from? Unfortunately, some SEO companies find it best practice to outsource content needs to foreign countries. Although this is a cheap solution,  quality control can be difficult to enforce.

• Search engines assign a grade to the sophistication level of the content that is crawled and, generally, articles stuffed with keywords and redundant cliches pass little gas, so to speak. You may not want your Web site associated with such tactics, and you certainly don’t want any of your visitors to accidentally stumble over such poor quality writing.

Do you have any references?

• Many SEO providers are cautious to give out any references because, generally, engaging in SEO services is not something that clients want to publicly flaunt. Think of it as if you had bought a really nice car from a friend, but you want to tell everyone that you got it straight from the dealer. Although SEO strategies and services are perfectly legal, and, in fact, encouraged by search engines, SEO companies are extremely competitive. Providing references to the wrong person may jeopardize security.

• Another reason is that many clients will not give permission to be cited as a reference because they would rather keep their services confidential. However, a company seriously worth considering for hire will have at least a couple of well-established clients in their repertoire whose rankings will not be threatened if their names were shared with a prospective client. So never take “NO” as an answer.

How/when are you accessible?

• I’m sure you would hate to buy a car from a dealership and have to bring it in the next day only to find that no one is there! When you are interviewing an SEO company, be sure to get all the necessary information down upfront: Who are they? Where are they located? What’s their phone number, fax, email, pager, Facebook profile, etc? How do they prefer to be contacted when you have questions? How often are they in the office?

• After you get all the information, it is always a great idea to check the Better Business Bureau’s Web site to see if they are registered and, if so, what other people are saying about them. Some people feel ‘safer’ by hiring companies that are local, but you may be limiting yourself. I would say that any well-established company that is ranking well for their own targeted keywords, like “SEO”, is a safe bet.

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Avoid Clueless SEO Companies

There are no gray areas such as -”a sort of kind of but not really metric”… There are only ten spots that matter and of those 10 spots, the top 5 are where it’s at for an array of relevant and lucrative keywords.

One thing that burns me up is the alarming amount of SEO companies that cannot rank themselves for any pertinent keywords who are attempting to offer “SEO Services” to “help others with SEO”. You have to temper your awareness and avoid SEO let-downs by doing your homework before settling into a partnership with any SEO firm.

I know there is a saying about that, about tending your own garden and all. Personally, you can use compete.com to check their stats, see the total number of unique per month they get, or even you can use their Alexa ranking (the lower the better) or they should at least have an Alexa ranking under 50K (which shows that their site and or keywords have proven search volume) before considering passing along their services.

You can also use one of my favorite tools from the SEO Quake Team called SEM Rush which will show you what range of keyword clusters any website ranks for. This is a great way to see who walks the walk and talks the talk or is posturing with a 1 hit keyword wonder.

Sure, to retort why an SEO company is not holding their own in search engines, they might blame it on the keywords (although I wouldn’t suggest it). Although not all keywords produce traffic and sometimes you make the mistake of optimizing keywords you assume have significant search volume, only to find out that the only people clicking them were your competitors “to see if they could one-up you” and get in the top 3 results.

It has been said on many occasions, keyword research is the fulcrum or conversion. Flub that and you are back in SEO basics trying to figure out what went wrong. Keep in mind, just because cool jargon or industry specific geek speak is your thing, most people use keywords and search queries with a vocabulary equivalent to  4^th grader when conducting searches, so, you have to look for lucrative or obvious keyword variations to augment your business model and value proposition.

This is where keyword modifiers and GEO context comes into play, since many people search like they speak. Instead of searching for “Holiday Rentals” (which is popular in the UK), people in the US might search “find travel deals”, or use other modifiers aside from the typical “best, find, cheap“, etc. So, creating keyword variations is integral for any degree of success to attract more relevant visitors through a broader array of keywords.

The SEO industry is a great work in progress, with search engine algorithms and their metrics getting more evolved every day as they raise the bar on the variables that matter; there is no room for yesterday’s techniques or dated bottom-up approaches (starting with links first without addressing site architecture, site templates, content needs for on page  relevance, internal linking or indexation).

The dichotomy here is, before you can provide value as a provider of SEO services, you have to tend to your own garden first. Granted, this industry is one of the most competitive verticals online, but there are other industries such as finance, real estate, entertainment or electronics and the various micro niches they all represent, that all can be a challenge to gain traction and produce results.

If an SEO company is not providing value by offering content creation, on page optimization, understands which type of site architecture is suitable for your business model, or is reluctant to share the SEO tips, tactics or techniques they provide (including a timeline of changes with their anticipated performance indicators), then your should probably find a professional search engine optimization firm that does.

The words “cheap and SEO” are not synonymous. It takes time, skill and a firm understanding of what competitors are doing (aside from your own optimization tactics) to make adjustments and implement corrections to create a successful campaign. If price is a problem, and you think by getting the “best deal” will get you to the top, think again and remember, you only get what you pay for.

You either need to (a) educate yourself enough to know what to ask, what to look for and what to expect or (b) roll up your sleeves and dawn a wrench or two to refine your websites performance.

There are no gray areas, it either works or it does not, the takeaway is, focus on quality content, have enough content based on the theme of your topic, internally link with relevant anchor text (links) and provide each page with enough links from other “relevant or trusted” websites, to give it a jump-start so it can start to climb the search engine result pages on its own merit.

There are no secrets, only layer upon layer of processes proven to create a positive result. Anything else, it just lip service (which should be evident by where they rank as a service provider).

Here is a related post on How to Evaluate an SEO company for Services and a post on Which is Better? SEO, PPC, Branding, Lead Generation or Advertising.

-Jeffrey

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4. SEO Services
5. SEO Consultant or SEO Services?

There is no substitute for doing things right the first time.

Obviously, the more competitive the vertical, the more expertise, content, links or collaboration are required in order to provide the robust presence required to offset previous competitors in their quest for rankings.

The value of SEO is immense and the price you pay matters. Most assume that SEO pricing is something companies pull out of a hat, but in all honestly you have to start with a game plan or implement tactics based upon where in the SEO cycle a website is.

Since each website needs something unique, you have to think from the perspective of simplicity, yet create a stable synergy to send the proper holistic signal to search engines and users alike.

Are you dealing with?

1) Site architecture, meta data, on page revisions and internal links – known as on page SEO.

2) Link building, social media engagement, RSS feed and press release syndication – known as off page SEO and link building.

3) Relevance and traction – the more relevant content your website has on a topic, the more rankings and authority it can create. You need content for traction and content creation is critical for improving search engine optimization positioning. This is also known as SEO copywriting.

Depending on where a websites deficiencies are and what the ultimate ranking objective is, determines the extent of optimization and / or the volume or effort required in each of the respective fields above.

Deliverables should be meticulously structured and although there may be delays in how search engines respond to each layer of the SEO onion you employ on your way to sculpting relevance and popularity; SEO creates an aggregate effect over time and it is this momentum that will push on your behalf as a campaign progresses.

Each campaign should have an objective and unless you have unlimited funds at your disposal then you should try to segment a niche and target a specific type of user.

Known personality types are 1. logical, 2. caring, 3. impulsive or 4. aggressive and you should have something for each of them to sink their teeth into for each campaign to facilitate key performance indicators such as the keywords optimized, hits to conversions, engagement rates and bounces to find out what works and what need refinement.

Getting traffic is the hard part, but once you have it organically, then it is a matter of testing your offer, appealing to one of the personas pain points, emotion or logic and then proposing a solution or system to appease their aliment of sorts.

Since time is a crutch for most of us, automation and or implementation, bundled products or services and ways to measure ROI are always top sellers in our present economic online commerce driven initiative.

However, depending on your market, niche, product or service offered will drastically change the requirements and respective thresholds needed to overcome adversity and the authority of the competitors who got a head start before you.

Now for the takeaway:

1 ) Evaluate accessibility – this starts with having a solid CMS architecture. Your content management system should be flexible enough to allow you to modify everything from meta tags, footers, sidebars, links and images on any page at any time without creating inherent duplicity or duplicate content and allow each page to be accessed and crawled (or blocked) from a search engine if needed.

2 ) Have Solid Site architecture – Architecture, like plumbing and electrical in a house, should not be an afterthought. The more competitive keywords you are targeting should be built-in to the primary navigation and supported by sufficient internal links, sitemaps and contextual links to offset link attrition as a site grows.

3 ) Add Relevant content – having relevant content aging over time can be your best source to augment rankings. Each time a keyword appears in any document within your website, it carries a specific type of weight that reinforces the topic and degree of authority your website has for that keyword (regardless of the page). The key is to tie these vast segments together or structure them in a way (from the CMS) so that they naturally lend themselves to the equation.

4 ) Promote your content –  Using RSS feed syndication is ideal to give your pages an initial boost. Social media can also provide ripples of inbound one way links if the communities you engage find your content favorable. This is also why it is important to have a niche or specific audience to facilitate conversion. The more specific and targeted, the more “irrational passion” your content can create to add fuel to your message.

5) Stay focused – Manage each keyword like its own website. By tactfully keeping an eye on which keywords are driving the most ambient or mid tail traffic, which long tail keywords are popping up with more frequency and whether or not your main keyword targets are rising or receding allows you to determine which tactic to employ to counteract or improve which metric has more emphasis.

This once again goes back to budget, since missed opportunity happens daily since someone failed to capitalize on a buzz, missed a page that made a comeback or could have been redirected or retooled for present-time conversions, etc.

The fact is, the more skilled the team you are dealing with. The more expertise, in depth analysis and skill they will have to find, correct and ensure each campaign is working within the anticipated timeline.

The tendency for clients is to want to pull up the roots of organic SEO before the content, keywords and links can sprout tangible results.

SEO requires patience, but the rewards are immense and it’s not always the money you invest up front, it’s the money you save in the long run from the stream of ROI it creates from not having to pay per click for all the keywords you acquire.

Finding the right SEO company is critical, but more importantly using the right SEO services for the job is what determines if you are spinning your wheels or moving towards the top 10 with conversions increasing along the way.

SEO Design Solutions does offer a free live website analysis and consultation for this purpose to identify critical road blocks standing between you are your ranking objectives. Do yourself a favor and let your competitors make the mistakes while you use a team known for proven methods, results and getting the job done. Each of the metrics above are only a handful of the areas we cover in detail in a comprehensive campaign.

Most websites are not optimal, and competition is not static (they are dynamic and competitive), so, finding the right SEO company or building your own in-house team is more important than ever.

-Jeffrey

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Avoiding SEO Errors

Just remember Murphy’s law when implementing modifications and take precautions, such as backing things up and logging changes “just in case”. SEO involves a holistic understanding of how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and making frivolous changes all have an impact which could inadvertently rank or tank a website.

Implementing SEO tactics on a level that transcends obviousness requires an understanding of a vast array of intricacies which all culminate across multiple metrics. For example, one unclosed tag or error in code could unravel a website and send rankings plummeting unless corrected; and the longer it is before you catch the mistake, the longer it will take to get re-indexed by search engines…

To fathom the administrative mindset, consider that each layer of optimization has a unique skill set and degree of mastery required to perfect its application to produce the right effect at the right time. This type of administrative intelligence is not always second nature, it is based on testing, trial and error, analysis of the results and the experience to “KNOW” what to do, when to do it and why.

However the reality is, it is more a point about competence, experience and observation…

You have to know what to look for before you can fix it, which takes analysis, but analysis without experience means you may not be able to identify what you are looking at which goes back to competence.

SEO techniques may be obvious, but the reason behind when to use them or why one tactic or technique is more appropriate than another. For example, say you are using a shopping cart for eccommerce. The website is already going to be challenged by components of duplicity and duplicate content across multiple pages due to the inherent nature of the shopping cart to simply “swap out” the descriptions and titles but leave everything else intact.

If you knew better, you would consolidate link flow to one category page which would then feed your child / subordinate pages such as make, model, color or manufacturer. This would be obvious to a developer or SEO who had experimented with various formats or settings and made enough mistakes to learn from to optimize the entire site properly.

What if that same shopping cart performed revisions to your site architecture, but there were settings within the CMS system and other manual settings from other areas of your website. Simple quandaries such as broken links, a robots.txt file being overwritten or a .htaccess file conflicting with other settings could put a major crimp in sales.

Under the same premise, a less experienced individual could potentially deindex a site, undermine the sites trust from creating mass 404 errors without even being aware it occurred in the first place.

The point is, specialists exist for a reason, they are familiar with the various nuances that could potentially arise and have a number of workarounds they can implement to produce the same end-result. The example of modifying critical files that affect server settings may have been a but excessive, but the point still rings true.

What about changing a title on a page or removing a link? What possible impact could that have on rankings. The answer, it depends on (a) which page (b) how long it was indexed and passing link flow to other pages (c) if it was integral to the vital link ecosystem of the site (such as supporting a landing page or other top level page) and (d) what that page is intended to rank for.

The gist of the post is, for every change you make, there are repercussions; and just to change things without structure, rhyme or reason could leave you in a quandary when something breaks and those ever so important details that may have been overlooked are now the root cause in a daisy-chain of unfortunate events.

For example, When you are dealing with keywords it pretty straight forward. Its either a keyword that (1) you haven’t identified or optimized yet (2) a keyword in process meaning on its way up the ladder on the way to the top 10 or (3) a keyword that has already passed the tipping point and is in the top 10 and you have zeroed in on another variant or related key phrase.

Depending on which one it is, there are different ways to cultivate the results such as (a) creating and cultivating more content in the instance of #1 to provide structured layers of topical content (b) adding sufficient internal or external links to increase rankings for #2 or (c) testing conversion on segmented landing pages to get the highest ROI in the case of #3 to get the most out of optimization efforts.

The ball pen hammer approach to “make it work” vs. using the right tool for the job “like a screwdriver instead” are all experiences gained at the expense of experimentation and / or  deliberate programming.

So, before you go in and make changes to settings, revise content or dabble with a sites settings that have already been optimized. Take it from someone with experience, experiment on new pages, test the results and then apply what works on a larger scale if it works without creating other consequences.

We spend enough time fixing other peoples mistakes, who may have had the best intentions while they made them, but just like trying to change your own oil with the wrong tools. One missed step like forgetting a bolt during reassembly could cost you a motor if the oil leaks out.

SEO is a process that takes time to reach full potential. Understand that it involves layering processes for days, weeks, months or years, depending on the keywords.

So, to pull up the roots just to see if the plant is growing means you have to plant it again and let new roots dig in. Much in the same way, you have to cultivate a website holistically bridging relevance across multiple nodes (site architecture, content, server settings, link building and social media engagement, conversion optimization and analytics, usability testing) the list goes on and on.

The term itself may imply the objective of achieving higher rankings for specific keywords and / or key phrases, but in reality SEO is about developing an authoritative domain capable of supplanting a competitors less optimized website.

To do that, it goes back to the details and each one matters, so, if you are paying a specialist for SEO services, then respect their methodologies, time lines and techniques. What may not be obvious now, will become a reality later, which you can measure to gauge the effectiveness of a campaign.

-Jeffrey

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Do You Hire an SEO Company or In-House SEO?

On one hand, there is nothing wrong with being “value-conscious” and taking a more vertical and equitable approach to your business, “wanting to acquire talent for optimizing your website”; but on the other hand, quality and experience are typically commensurate to compensation.

This does not imply that in every instance that a higher price is indicative of better SEO. Due diligence is required regardless, but the propensity to find more supportive evidence (real rankings and conversion) is often more likely from a firm that services multiple markets to validate their prowess.

Similarly, if SEO is not a core competency it is not regulated or there are no standardized methods, so finding the right solutions relies on having a firm grasp of multiple disciplines.

The disciplines involved range from the most frequently employed platforms for web development and programming, a firm understanding of marketing and conversion tactics as well as elements of usability or user interface / design are a plus.

The bottom line with SEO is all about results and return on investment. So, when presented with the option to cut corners and make a splash vs. hiring a team with (1) a proven track record / history of results (2) a broader array of collective resources and (3) a firm that has SEO as its core competency versus a one man or woman show playing catch up in an attempt to compete, the odds are in favor of collective expertise.

Not to take away anything from In-House SEO or a few in house SEO acting on behalf of the company, but, if you are up against a serious competitor who understands the value of specialists, who has a coherent team with a larger optimization/internet marketing budget, any time you miss a beat, your likelihood of pushing them aside on the quest for keyword web estate diminishes exponentially.

When you do the math it boils down to 3 fundamentals (1) how competitive is your market? (2) how skilled are the players that dominate that market? and (3) what is your anticipated ROI?

If you are selling thumb tacks in bulk, then you may wish to consider a different tact (no puns intended). Products, systems or services with higher inherent margins can provide a more fertile ground for leveraging exposure using a pull-based marketing medium such as search engine optimization to build a brand, increase relevant traffic or test conversion mediums using a variety of keywords, landing pages or angles.

So, before you scoff at SEO services starting at 2K a month for targeting a competitive industry or competitive ranking, just think about how much it would cost you to hire an in-house SEO consultant.

Most consultants who are performing client work that are worth it, would  consider a salary starting at 50-75K per year. Otherwise, they would just work on their own projects or use SEO for affiliate programs and remain self-sufficient creating their own websites and conversion funnels.

However, if you divide that cost by 12, minus, taxes, benefits, distractions and other costs, your options are simple;  (1) what your anticipated ROI is and create a budget (2) learn SEO yourself (which is always changing) or (3) hire an SEO firm with the most experience that specializes in the services you need.

-Jeffrey

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Budgeting and SEO Fees: The Cost to Compete Online

Often the ability to make an impact online is only limited by your imagination, but more often than naught it is the costs or the amount allocated in your SEO or SEM budget that determines your ability to generate a buzz or dominate a niche or online market.How can someone place an order from your website, if they don’t know it exists? Sounds simple enough, yet this perplexing little detail is what distinguishes businesses who understand the value of search engine positioning and those who do not.

Market Saturation vs. Keyword Positioning:

The movie industry is a clear example of how leveraging exposure to achieve saturation translates to a measurable ROI when the opening date debuts in the box office. Their ability to saturate the collective awareness with actionable demand with the “watch this movie” itch as a result of posters, co-branding and cross-market promotion (like working with McDonalds’, Burger King and various restaurants) provide a win/win/win for the venue (in this case film) as a result.

The ability to reinforce or product campaign and create a buzz is a science as much as it is an art form, but the takeaway here is visibility is a tangible asset that carries weight as a node of relevance.

Keyword positioning is one objective, but ultimately the real purpose of SEO is to create an authoritative domain capable of ranking itself (or anything it links to) with competitive keywords to aid the process of building more authority.

Exposure equates to Opportunity:

With competition lurking on every corner (or in this case around every keyword online) who appears first, second and third typically take the lion share of the click through traffic from those keywords.

There is a psychological reason we associate someone ranking higher with a better website or match for our needs. It is a premise of peer review and organic websites are sorted by a search engine algorithm that emulates this as a result of popularity, trust and age as well as what elements are predominant within the website itself.

Looking from the outside in, higher search engine ranking are typically viewed as more trusted, more relevant or are generally more revered than lower rankings (such as page 2 or page 3).

As far as an initial litmus test, higher rankings are perceived as less likely to be positioned there unless they are approved by the collective. Hence they are a comfortable choice for most individuals as their initial barrier to purchase is offset by proximity and the propensity to click the top result as if by impulse.

So, knowing that you have to appear above the fold (above the top 5 results) for relevant “broad match” or “exact match” keywords, then it really boils down to three things (1) do you use your own website as a landing pad to promote? (2) Do you use other websites with innate authority in their niche or (3) both?

How Much Can You Afford to Spend?

Knowing what the bottom line is, the amount of time anticipated to make the degree of impact needed to get a solid ROI as well as what are the thresholds for that industry (specifically, what is your competition paying for their visibility) matter.

If your competitors are spending 20K per month for SEO and SEM and you want to compete with a $500 budget, then you either need to rethink your price point, business model or promotional method.

You have to be realistic about branding, lead generation, selling direct, using affiliates or what types of promotion you employ and what your threshold for being a contender actually is.

Speaking from personal experience, since we know what goes into creating top search engine rankings, the amount of time, energy and know-how goes into overcoming granular inconsistencies and obstacles to reach a top ranking position is not something to be taken lightly.

Most search results for popular keywords take months or up to a year to topple. If you understand that trust in addition to popularity must be developed (in addition to on page optimization) before you can see or measure results.

If you lack the patience during the process, then you are only going to recede and allow a more determined SEO or website take your spot, persistence and perseverance is the key.

Many businesses wonder why the good SEO’s cost so much; the fact is you’re paying for their tried and true tested techniques for them to address the areas that need improvement/optimization and for them to implement a series of layers that to the untrained eye may seem redundant or non-obvious.

The end result of a successful SEO campaign is (1) the domain gains an authoritative position (2) the desired rankings mature and stabilize and (3) the site is now a trusted authority on all things related to the topic.

An unsuccessful SEO campaign can (1) get your site penalized, banned or blacklisted in search engines (2) fizzle out and never reach the ranking or objective or (3) never result in any tangible advantage. This is where SEO prices and fees come into play.

If you are using a cheap SEO firm who is using run of the mill sites to build links from (such as bad neighborhoods), who doesn’t understand the value or implementation of on page optimization or simply does not have the experience to produce the results, then the only person to blame “for expecting too much” is yourself.

Just like you wouldn’t take your Ferrari to a quick e lube for service, don’t sell out your website to an inferior SEO company whose main selling point is being cheaper than the competition.

There are dozens of variables utilized in a  website review to determine which types of services are ideal for your business. You may or may not need all of them and a cookie cutter approach to SEO will not provide you with what YOUR site really requires to overcome competitors and reach the top of the search engine rankings.

You need to employ due diligence as well as common sense when selecting a reputable and ethical SEO company; obviously results are the true measure, but aside from that metric, price is not one area to be frugal with once you find them.

In closing, here is another post called SEO Costs and Paying it Forward that discusses the topic of SEO costs and the clear benefits and caveats that accompany them.

Also, another resource worth reading is amply named Which is Best? SEO, PPC, Branding, Lead Generation or Advertising can provide insight from the perspective of an SEO and last but not least, a link to a previous post about the age old argument of SEO vs. PPC and which is better…

-Jeffrey

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5. What You Can Learn from Your Competition!

Someone who is only working on off page factors such as link building may be using a systematic connect the dots / SEO by the numbers cookie cutter approach where regardless of the website, it goes through a three step process which does not vary.

The problem with that is, not all websites have the same needs and what works for one industry does not always work with another (when considering off page). That same website may have a stronger need for site architecture and content so building links out of turn would only produce marginal results.

The age of the links as well as the authority of the websites topical orientation may have more to do with it than just link volume. So, identifying the tipping point for each website is crucial which leads to the next point (research and assessment).

What you are paying for with an SEO firm is simple, you are paying for their expertise in the field and their ability to produce tangible results that you can measure. Don’t get me wrong when I state that one keyword optimized for the right page and the right site can be a complete game changer when it comes to the quality and volume of traffic that a website can garner.

All traffic is not created equal any more than optimizing the wrong types of keyword for your business model. This expertise translates into the simple calculation of ROI and (a) is this paying for itself and (b) is it increasing exposure and the bottom line…

The thing about SEO in many ways is, you have to pay it forward. There is a gestation period to produce the proper signals to search engines that identify your website as a contender for a series of keywords and their respective top ranking positions.

Since there is chronology to consider, those who started long before your latest keyword conquest was even an inkling of a thought may have invested hundreds or thousands of hours aligning their resources to point to their domain to win their spot.

Each must be dealt with on your way to the top and the more seasoned the website, the more difficult it may be to surpass them for their select keywords. This is the part where pricing is the true test of ones mettle. If you know that the amount of work requires a large investment of time (over time) with a series of layers in order to truly accomplish a competitive keyword, what do you think you are going to get from an SEO company who’s prices are more reminiscent of the Wal-Mart mentality where paying less is a viable solution.

Budget, resource and the authority your website has is the definitive deciding factor in the ranking wars being waged daily. In order to build relevance you either need (a) fresh content (b) aged content added over time (c) strong internal links (d) strong external links from other websites and (e) someone to manage the process (prune the weeds so to speak) or fine-tune progress to reach optimal efficiency.

If one company has a team of specialists at their disposal with the ability to work concurrently on an array of keywords, build content, make tweaks and adjustments to all critical metrics considered and another company does not and just hires an SEO by the numbers firm, what do you think is going to happen? One may get results but the other will literally level any competitor on the map.

You get what you pay for and with SEO it is no different. As a rule of thumb, SEO costs are dependent on a multitude of performance benchmarks that exist due to competition. The SEO firm who has the most robust array of services available at realistic prices $2,500-$5,000 per month would be a better fit for most than spending 10-20,000 a month on pay per click.

It really does depend on your business model and what the real margin is. If you do not have a budget, then it is time to think about your vertical and how many others have already beat you to the punch. If you know you are the last one up and you have more to lose from not doing SEO, then it is merely systematic. Playing catch up means you will probably spend 3-6 months just to gain traction, from there you can look at becoming a contender for specific keywords that garner traffic.

On the flip side, when selecting clients, SEO’s must consider, how many units of product will it take for someone to afford their top of the line services? Some have SEO packages that have an array or predetermined basic tactics, which can be effective if managed properly, but this may not cut it when it comes to competitive two word key phrases with millions of competing pages. For that a different tactic and price point is required (based on the barrier to entry).

Are the prospective clients selling paint supplies or private jet charters? One sale for one could mean tens of thousands of dollars while the other has a profit margin of under $10. So, matching the right services suitable for the right business model is crucial for the success of any campaign.

With so many variables for consideration its not just about the things you can do yourself, it really boils down to understanding the layers, having an array of tools you can use to identify and optimize any inconsistencies that may arise as well as the ability to measure the impact of each campaign.

Any keyword can be acquired organically, it is just a matter of time, strategy and resources. However, if you are not using analytics, do not understand your break even point or have an understanding of the types of search behavior that consumers in your market may use to find a website similar to your own, then no amount of SEO will matter (unless you pick the right target).

The takeaway here is, you are paying for performance and ranking for keywords that people rarely use does not facilitate a successful campaign. SEO is an investment and you are essentially paying it forward until the benefit of the labor kicks in. However, its core metric is dependant on the expertise of the team or specialist quarterbacking the game plan (which is not always easy to quantify).

Pricing is one way for SEO companies to distinguish their level of service. What is considered fair to a client is unique to each and what they are willing to pay for long term seo services. If it doesn’t produce results (which is to put money inject money into your business from sales) its not SEO. Price is relative, but results are results (regardless of how competitive a keyword may be).

Essentially when optimizing a cluster of keywords, not all of them with align instantaneously. Some may rise to the top quickly, others may take their time for months or up to a year to reach a favorable position.

Understanding this aspect of organic optimization alone is why you need to have a definitive SEO budget so that you (a) apply pressure as needed to sculpt the relevance for your website and (b) always stay mobile and engaged to reach a series of ranking objectives.

For every keyword that you target, if your SEO knows what they are doing you will get several keywords from ambient rankings produced by the techniques utilized and exceed your objective of just chicken-pecking keywords for short-term benchmarks.

Just think, if you hired an in house SEO, what would you pay them $35,000, $50,000, $75,000 per year? If you break that down, you are in a much better position to acquire the services of a more competent SEO firm who has an array of resources and is not just a one man show.

Let’s face it, not all websites need the same level of SEO, some just need slight correction, others are better off starting from scratch, but you still need a trained expert to determine the best strategy.

In conclusion, the reality is, the businesses that are ranking in the top results for industry specific dream keywords are the same people spending massive amounts of time, money or resources to gain the authority and relevance to do so. That time has a price and that is what you are spending money on when you hire an SEO company.

The level of service, commitment and enthusiasm is typically tied to a specific monetary amount. Fail to provide that and you can expect marginal service, automation or lack of a personal touch. Pay someone what they are worth and you can expect to see a viable return on investment. It is merely a matter of due diligence to find the right fit and the right firm.

-Jeffrey

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If you are interested in seeing these tactics in action, our firm offers a free SEO review outlining many of the same metrics discussed below in addition to a complementary keyword research report prior to engaging formal SEO services.

Content is scalable, but direction, planning and purpose are priceless commodities for online marketing. Each keyword has a collective tipping point and acts as a piece of the puzzle in relation to the main semantic root phrase it is stemmed from. What this means is, the more overlapping keywords one uses on each page (that truly define that page) the higher relevance score your page and website develop for that and related phrases.

For example, by me using the keywords web site analysis, site analysis, or keyword research analysis on multiple pages, the overlapping keyword (analysis) gains the ability to stem and rank more prominently in search engines any time a search is conducted for a related term.

Herein lies the secret of SEO. This tipping point (for each keyword) is a moving target and websites are holistically inclined to breathe (which means their values are constantly in a state of flux). Every day a new factor from within your realm of influence and outside of it is influencing and making adjustments to your website’s relevance score.

Variables such as:

1. A website that linked to you 4 months ago, just got a major boost of authority from a .edu or .gov website linking to them or a series of links from others just evolved with trust (as a result of aging over time) and your website gets a new jolt of link weight.

2. Your own content finally reached a threshold where the internal links you built 90 days ago just got indexed from a deep link (from your website or other sites) and started passing value to every page linked from that page.

3. An algorithm was changed to look for a new metric to assess relevance and authority and through some combination of factors your website was promoted, or another site linking to you demoted…

The point is, volatility is to be expected and anticipated, and the way to immunize the impact is through monitoring your pages over time using a thorough web site analysis. Awareness allows you to see what has shifted and which pages have the most strength for funneling those ranking factors to less fortunate pages to lend a hand.

The data you collect from your research and analysis acts as a blueprint which allows you to fine-tune and tweak each page in your website (until topical relevance has elected a champion page) and a clear landing page proclaims itself as the most relevant result.

For most, this is their home page, but this is typically the worst place for sales conversion. Correcting how pages rank in the SERPs (search engine result pages) is not rocket science.

If your ideal landing page is at the bottom of the list, then shifting the way a page ranks involves carefully mapping out internal links and either nofollowing irrelevant links, using the noindex, follow tag in the header area of the page and correcting the link flow to the pages. These types of on page changes can be accomplished quickly and depending on how frequently your pages are crawled the results of the fine-tuning become imminent.

In order to rank competitively:

A. You need to understand the competitive landscape of a keyword, the root phrase and the modifiers used frequently with the highest search volume.
B. You need to look for opportunities (to capture less competitive keywords, which make it easier to tackle the root phrase).
C. You need to constantly refine the less perfect areas of your website (leave no page behind) as your sites overall strength is determined by its weakest link or page. There is always room for improvement.

and

D. Once you gain relevance and / or the targeted rankings, keep digging in (with related phrases) to capture additional market share to insulate your position with SEO defense.

To recap…

1) The starting point after identifying keywords with keyword research is conducting a thorough web site analysis to determine the amount of effort required to bridge the gap (from where your website is, to where it needs to be to rank for the selected keywords).

2) Each page and keyword has a threshold, find out what that is using search operators to skim the competitive landscape.

3) Think of your website as a work in progress. Wikipedia started with just a few topics, now, it ranks for virtually every keyword imaginable (if it is one one of their indexed authority pages). So, you can have more than one topical focus to capture market share.

We all start from zero, but over time as more content is added, as you adjust the on page factors and build page strength and reputation, something miraculously occurs. Search engines take notice and prominent rankings are dialed in and each page starts to rank for specific keywords and related key phrases over time.

Depending on (a) your domain authority (b) the age of your site (c) the trust of the links linking to your site (d) your on page SEO and (e) your ability to assess trends, use keywords and content sculpt the percentage of market share you can acquire.

It all starts with research (keyword and web site analysis) and what happens in between is intentional optimization otherwise known as SEO (search engine optimization).

-Jeffrey

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