What to Look for When Hiring an Affordable SEO Service
About 71% of Google users don’t scroll past the first page of search results. In fact, this first-page bias has even reported as high as 92% in recent years. If you aren’t cracking the code and taking up space on page one, the chances of a new client organically landing on your website could be as low as six percent.
But your plate is already full, and tackling the world of SEO just isn’t a task you can pile on right now. You are ready for help but the big companies are charging as much as 5-10K per month!
Where are the affordable SEO services?
If your ready for an SEO strategy that fits your budget, you are in luck! Here is our ultimate guide to what you should look for when hiring an affordable SEO company.
Why Hire?
Whether your website is brand new or you have experienced a recent drop in traffic, there are more pros than cons when it comes to hiring out your SEO needs.
Researching and mastering the art of SEO is not only time consuming, but it’s also incredibly technical and confusing. If you already have a full workload, taking on a project like this can be overwhelming, and trial and error practices will put you further behind on your growth goals.
Tried and true SEO professionals already have the know-how to evaluate your webpage, identify the errors, and set motion to their proven strategies. Not only does this save you the headache, it actually fast-tracks your results.
A good SEO company will be able to provide you with information you might be missing on your own. They can help you understand your potential customers and develop an applicable lead generation strategy that not only increases your revenue but also helps you establish your brand.
When it comes to a truly optimized website, the building and designing behind the scenes is just as important as acing SEO content.
Google uses tiny little bots to gather information from your website and place you on the search results. If the bots can’t navigate your site well enough to pick up on all your great content, they won’t be able to present it to customers that are asking the questions you have answers to.
SEO professionals have the technical know-how to keep your site error-free with smooth navigation and quick loading speeds. This not only increases your ranking ability, but it also provides your potential consumers with a user-friendly website. Who wouldn’t want to host a better webpage experience?
Affordable Not Cheap
It’s important not to be blinded by the attractive price tag of a cheap SEO company.
Hiring a cheap SEO service or looking for some affordable SEO could be equated to purchasing a super cheap article of clothing online from a dodgy site and being surprised when it looks nothing like the ad.
You can’t source a cheap service and expect quality results. Quality costs money.
Now, this doesn’t mean you have to fork out Louis Vuitton prices to see any sort of quality. Finding the line where the price matches the results will provide your business with a worthy return on investment rather than a scammy promo.
How do you identify which sites are a cheap scam and which ones are just affordable solutions? There are several signs you can watch for to help you choose the perfect pairing.
They Promise You The Moon
If a website makes massive claims such as guaranteeing ‘#1 search result ranking’ by purchasing their package, do yourself a favor and steer clear.
This not only applies to sites with a cheap price tag but any SEO service that promises too good to be true results is just that. Not true. Much like everything else on the internet, you can’t believe everything they tell you.
Instead of phony guarantees and big promises, look for companies that outline their service offerings instead and provide specifics on what practices they use to see results with their clientele.
You should be able to discern which areas the company will be able to help you with based on their service descriptions. Opt for companies that address specific goals instead of just a blanket solution offer that will produce magical success.
Examples and Reviews
If you don’t have a solid grasp on what a great SEO campaign would look like it can be intimidating to ask for examples and confirm if they are legit.
One thing to keep in mind here is that a great company should provide you with reports that are broken down for you to read. If you had the ability to pick out excellent SEO content and flip through analytics charts with ease, you wouldn’t be hiring them in the first place.
If the only examples they give you are difficult to understand and give you no idea of how they helped the company they are sharing with you, there’s a good chance that you won’t be able to understand your own reports once you hire this company.
Let’s think about this concept for a minute. If you are producing amazing outcomes with your work and your boss asks you how the project is going, would you:
A) Clearly articulate the results you are seeing with pride
B) Hand over your workbook with no context and hope they pick up on how valuable you are
Obviously, you would want to highlight exactly how well it is going and draw attention to the key payouts so that your boss sees how valuable you are.
Now, if an SEO service isn’t articulating their results to you in a way you can see their value, what does that tell you? They shouldn’t need to hide behind their complex charts or technical terms if they are turning out quality work.
Think you like the look of their work? Never hesitate to check the reviews before signing up. If another business felt ripped off, believes this is a scam, or simply had a bad experience with that service, they are likely to share it. Watch out for companies that only have 5-star reviews with little or no comments as this could be a sign that they are fudging these numbers.
Are They Experienced?
There are no pre-requisites on who can start up a page and offer your business SEO services. This can make it difficult to tell who knows what they are doing and who is good at blowing smoke.
Don’t get stuck paying an under-qualified newbie to learn on the go with your project.
Have a look for success stories from their past clients to verify their experience level. Google the businesses they have worked for. Where did they rank on the results page? Does their website load quickly with easy to navigate pages?
These are all signs of a quality SEO service at work.
Have they had noticeable success with clients in a specific niche? And of course, is their specialty in your niche?
If they aren’t willing to share their client’s success, there’s a good chance they either don’t have any, or they don’t want you to find unhappy past clients.
Are They Using Dodgy Tactics?
Google is no dummy. If a service uses dodgy tactics like duplicate content, keyword stuffing, or suspicious link building strategies, you may see an initial increase, but ultimately browsing services will catch these poor practices and your site will be penalized for them. This may fit in the price range, but could truly effect your overall affordable SEO plan that they offered!
Essentially this means that you will end up paying for techniques that get you kicked off the first page and flagged content that will need to be fixed. These dodgy tricks are referred to as ‘black hat’ and should be avoided at all costs.
Stick to companies that utilize white hat practices and tote providing services such as custom content with relevant links, standards-complaint HTML, and unique and relevant page titles.
You shouldn’t have to worry about getting dinged by Google due to shortcuts and spammy behavior.
Where Are They Located?
While this won’t necessarily make or break your success, depending on what kind of services you are looking for, keeping it local can have some huge benefits.
Of course, working with a company that operates in your time zone will have its own benefits regarding communication and current events. Beyond this, if you are offering a service in a specific area, you may want to focus your efforts on local SEO rather than competing with every provider of that service in the country.
Choosing local SEO marketing will affect factors such as keyword usage and relevant links. These will be much more specific to your area and choosing a company that is already aware of the local market can accelerate your results.
If a service that specializes in local SEO in your area has already proved impact with other local companies, they have the distinct advantage of knowing exactly what has and hasn’t worked in your area.
What Will They Give You?
How is this service going to work with you? Similar to those that offer big promises and blanket solutions, we want to filter out the companies that take on your goals and disappear with them.
Your SEO management should involve insights into what is working in the strategy and what needs adjustments. Will they provide you with an outline of what you can expect at certain stages? How about your specific goals and the steps to getting there? This is so key to finding the right team like Go Florida SEO for your affordable SEO plan!
You should be able to expect insights regarding what kind of content your customer is looking for, how much potential consumers trust your brand, and demographics that you might be missing out on. It’s not out of line to ask a company to outline what reports, evaluations, or progress summaries they will be delivering you each month.
It’s their job to loop you in and meet your needs. You’re the boss.
Cookie Cutter Plans
Your business is unique, and you need a customized package to meet your needs.
Does the provider in question only offer one package? This is a massive flag that a service is not legit.
There are so many factors when it comes to effective SEO, they simply can not be boxed up and delivered to you in a generic hit. Different aspects of an SEO strategy have varying levels of difficulty, time consumption, and of course, price tags. This isn’t a one size fits all marketing approach.
Any company that accepts your project with no context or idea of your specific needs and goals is a scam.
A reputable company will have a few affordable SEO packages to get the ball rolling and should always start with a consultation. In fact, offers such as a free website audit before signing up are a great sign that the company will customize their services to what your specific site needs.
Another great sign of a trustworthy company is a service specifically for consulting. If they offer affordable consulting they will have the ability to communicate with you on your project and help you understand what steps to take next. Even if you aren’t interested in consulting services, they are a solid indication that a company practices customized plans.
Ready to Land Affordable SEO?
We know you are!
Now that you know exactly what to watch for when hiring an affordable SEO service, we are confident that you will be dodging scams, asking the right questions, and discovering the perfect match for your budget and needs.
Looking for answers specific to your business needs? Get in touch today to learn what services are ideal for your unique business and how to get started.
