Choosing an SEO provider that matches your business goals and marketing budget is essential. However, price should not be your only consideration.
A quality SEO campaign will provide an excellent ROI. However, it is a time-consuming process that requires ongoing support to achieve the best results. This is why most businesses choose a monthly retainer.
1. Keyword Research
Keyword research is a fundamental aspect of search engine optimization (SEO), which is the process of optimising websites and content to rank higher in organic searches on Google. It helps businesses identify the phrases people enter into search engines when looking for their products or services, and allows them to craft relevant, informative, and valuable content that can attract more traffic and leads.
Search engine optimisation is an ongoing process that takes time to optimise, but once it’s done correctly, businesses can expect to see long-term results in terms of increased visibility and traffic. Ultimately, this can lead to more sales or enquiries and higher ROI.
The first step in the SEO process is conducting keyword research. This involves identifying the search terms your target audience uses to find the products or services you offer, as well as understanding what type of content will appeal to them and which competitors are already ranking for those keywords. Keywords are grouped into categories depending on their intent and competition, with higher search volume and a lower keyword difficulty indicating a greater chance of ranking well for the term.
As a result, it’s important to ensure your content aligns with the intent behind each keyword, rather than simply focusing on the most popular ones. For example, “affordable solar garden lights” has high search volume and low keyword difficulty, but would likely not be as effective as “solar path lights reviews”, which has a lower search volume but also a higher conversion rate. Identifying these gaps in the market and creating content that addresses them can give your business a competitive edge over competitors who aren’t catering to these search queries.
2. On-Page Optimization
Getting web traffic to your website is one of the primary objectives of SEO, and proper on-page optimization is the key to help attract more organic traffic.
On-page optimization is the practice of optimizing a web page or piece of content to match a specific keyword, and it includes many different aspects of site design and content strategy. For example, if your company sells boating equipment, on-page optimization might include incorporating LSI (latent semantic indexing) keywords like “boat,” “water,” and “sailboat” in the content to improve relevance to search engine bots. It also involves optimizing the images on a website to match those keywords, and it involves creating internal links that distribute ranking power throughout the site.
As you can see, the list goes on and on, and this is why it’s important to choose an agency that offers a comprehensive suite of services that will be optimized for your industry and target customers. That will help maximize the ROI of your SEO investment.
In addition, on-page optimization is an ongoing process, and it can take some time before you see measurable results. This is why it’s so important to choose a firm that you trust and that has a track record of success with other clients.
Lastly, location is another factor that can impact SEO pricing. For example, SEO for businesses in more densely populated metropolitan areas will be more expensive than for smaller towns and rural areas. That’s because more competition means that it will take more work and effort to achieve high-ranking positions. It also requires a higher level of expertise to know which tactics will be effective in the specific geographic market and which ones will not be.
3. Link Building
The quality of the links that you are able to secure for your site is an extremely important factor when it comes to SEO. While it is true that there are a number of other factors that are taken into consideration when it comes to ranking your website, backlinks have been one of the most dominant for many years.
This is why it’s vital that you hire an experienced SEO company who can help you achieve the results that you desire for your business. If you are able to find an agency that offers quality link building services, it’s likely that they will be able to provide you with a return on investment (ROI) that is significantly higher than what you would have seen if you had chosen to do SEO yourself.
One of the best ways to assess the quality of an SEO company is to look at their current client list. By doing this, you can see the types of sites that they have been able to rank for and the type of content that they have produced. It’s also important to consider how long it has been since they started working on the campaign and whether or not they have been able to produce positive results for their clients.
It’s also a good idea to do some competitor research and see what types of topics they have been writing about online. This can give you an idea of what types of topics you may want to explore in your own SEO campaign and can serve as a great starting point for your own unique approach. For example, if a competing tech company writes about a new industry development but doesn’t explain how it works, this could be the perfect opportunity to create an in-depth piece that explains the process in detail and helps your own audience understand it better.
4. Content Marketing
In order to see real ROI from SEO, your company needs to have a long-term commitment to content. Search engine optimization is all about making your website content relevant and keyword optimized for your target audience’s search intent. That means your marketing department should be producing high-quality blog posts, guides, and other informational content on a regular basis that is designed to rank in organic search results.
That’s a lot to ask of a small business, and it’s why some companies are so hesitant to invest in SEO. Unfortunately, SEO is a complicated process that requires expertise and experience to do well. That’s why it is important to work with a reputable digital marketing agency instead of trying to cut costs by hiring an inexperienced freelancer or doing it yourself.
The good news is that leveraging SEO can be one of the most profitable investments your company makes in its online marketing strategy. According to Hubspot’s 2023 Marketing and Strategy Trends Report, SEO ranks highly in terms of ROI and effectiveness, with 88% of businesses planning to increase or maintain their investment in this area.
It’s also worth noting that if someone is offering you an unrealistically low ROI on their services, it may be a red flag. SEO is a complex process that takes time and effort to do well, and hiring a cheap SEO service provider could end up costing your company more in the long run by damaging your search rankings, organic traffic, and conversions.
So, while it’s understandable why SEO can seem like an expensive industry, it is still a valuable marketing strategy that every business should invest in. By taking the time to research agencies, pricing models, and packages, you can make sure that your company is getting the most out of its SEO budget.
5. Analytics
Whether you’re working on a retainer basis with an existing client or offering SEO as a premium service to your clients, it’s important to keep track of how much you’re spending and the ROI that you’re getting. After all, SEO is a complex and time-consuming process that requires experience to execute effectively. As Backlinko reports, clients that spend more on their SEO strategy are 53% more likely to be extremely satisfied with their results than those who choose the cheapest option.
In addition to this, the size of your website can have an impact on how much you’re paying for your SEO services. For example, if you have a large eCommerce site, it may take longer to optimize for SEO because of the number of pages and products that need to be optimized. This is a good reason why it’s often worth the extra investment to work with an agency that has experience optimizing websites for ecommerce.
Finally, the competition you’re facing can also have an impact on how much you’re spending for your SEO services. If you’re competing against well-known brands, it may be more expensive to compete with them in organic search results. Fortunately, a little bit of competition can be healthy for your SEO efforts, as it drives you to improve your content and performance to beat out the competitors in the long run.
As you can see, the cost of SEO can vary widely depending on a variety of factors. However, by understanding these variables, you can be more prepared to discuss your SEO needs with an agency and get the most value for your money. Be sure to check out our SEO Pricing Calculator for more help determining how much you should be spending on your SEO services.
