I find a lot of clients who at one time or another has signed up for a monthly SEO (search engine optimization) package. Now, there are some services out there that call themselves “Affordable SEO Packages” and some are worth it, there are also a lot that are not. Let me help point out some of the pros and cons and maybe some questions you should ask when looking for affordable SEO packages.
Questions About Affordable SEO Packages
1. Is your site already optimized?
Is SEO Affordable or Not?
An affordable SEO package should only be for those sites that are ALREADY optimized. These packages are designed to maintain and keep a healthy / optimized site running that way. The bulk of the work (and time) goes into optimization of a site at the beginning. Maintaining is easy.
Make sure that they are going to optimize your ENTIRE site first and then maintain it. If that is not part of the conversation, find someone else. There is no point in keeping an unoptimized site optimized.
2. How can it be so expensive?
Optimization is expensive because it is a science for those who know how to do it correctly. And when you know how to do it correctly, you truly can change a business online. It does take time to do it correctly and it does take a certain know how.
It also does take a person a lot of education to keep up with the current rules. Just because someone learned how to optimize a site 3 years ago, does not mean that they know how to do it today. In fact, there are things that used to work that can now get you penalized.
3. I can’t afford it, I’m just a small business.
I hear this one all the time and I completely understand it. I do understand the importance of having a site well optimized. I also understand the importance of maintenance. However, I can’t expect a small business to spend more on a monthly optimization package than on their rent.
In fact, some of those monthly packages are downright evil because they are so expensive. I recently had an attorney call me and tell me that his package was $3100/month. He was spending $37,200 a year on keeping his site optimized and guess what, optimization was never done in the first place. And it was 100% NOT his fault. How was he supposed to know? He was unfortunately taken advantage of and how can they even call that an affordable SEO package?
I tell them to get their website optimized up front and then have an audit done twice a year. Once a site is optimized correctly, then all it will need is someone to make sure it stays that way. It is inevitable that if you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing and adding content and keeping up with your site that you will break some things. An audit will help you find out what those things are and then you can get them fixed at that point. Fixing these problems a couple of times a year is better than not at all.
4. How much is really done every month?
Should an Affordable SEO Package Cost You As Much as this Car?
This depends on a couple of things. First, how big is your site? If you have a large eCommerce website, then there is probably quite a bit that will need to be adjusted/fixed every month. If you have a small local service business, then the changes are minimal.
Second, it depends on if they are actually doing any changing at all. There are a lot of companies out there that will sign you up for the service and the only thing they do each month is process your payment.
I have clients that hire us for various other monthly packages (not SEO) and typically I will throw the SEO in with the package at no additional cost. They might only have a ten page website that they ARE NOT updating it (they are paying me to do it). Therefore, nothing is being broken on the site because my team is the only ones changing the site. So, we may only have to make a couple of changes each month and the changes may take 15 minutes at the most.
These people are always asking me why the packages cost so much with other companies and I tell them… because people will pay it. There are plenty of companies out there that will gladly take your money and it will not bother them at all (even if they are NOT doing anything for it).
Watch Out for the Wrong SEO Package
There are a LOT of companies out there that will say they will make changes every month to keep your site FULLY optimized. They then charge you $400 to do so and sign you to a year (or two) contract.
How do you know what they are doing each month? Do you get a report? Do they let you know what they have changed? If not, don’t sign up. If you’re paying them that much money each month, you better get a report about what they have done to your site each month.
Do a Google search online before you sign up. Typically I will type their business name and then follow it with the word SCAM. If a bunch of complaints pop up, then you know that it’s something you should watch out for.
If you have ANY questions about affordable SEO packages or are interested in speaking with someone about them, please call Mancini Digital today at: (952) 204-7189.