How much does SEO cost? How can you get more for your money?

1. How much does SEO cost? How can you get more for your money?

If you want to succeed with your website, you have to decide how much you will spend on search engine optimization. As SEO is crucial to survive the fierce online competition, the question is not if you should invest in SEO but how much you invest. SEO can be very expensive. How can you get more for your money? How much do SEO companies charge? If you decide to hire an SEO agency, there are several pricing models: 1. Hourly consulting: the average SEO agency (or individual) charges between $100 and $300 per hour (all amounts in US$). 2. Fixed prices: businesses that are new to SEO often buy services at fixed prices. This can be a website content audit (usually $500-$7,500), link profile audits ($500-$7,500) or SEO copywriting ($0.10-$0.50 per word). 3. Monthly retainer: the most popular pricing model is a monthly payment. On average, SEO agencies and individuals charge $750-5,000 per month. Depending on how much you pay, you can expect different services: regular analytics reports, on-site optimization, link building, keyword research, etc. Some offshore companies offer 'SEO' services for much lower prices ($100-$500/month). In general, you can be sure that these services use spam techniques to 'promote' your website and that these services will backfire on you. If an SEO service is too cheap, it's likely that they use risky methods. That's a lesson that many businesses had to learn in the past. How to get more for your money Many things that SEO agencies do for you can be automated with the right tools. For example, our web-based SEO tool SEOprofiler can do the following for you: Regular website audits: the website audit tool in SEOprofiler automatically checks the content of your web pages and it shows you all the errors that should be corrected. Regular link profiler audits: the link profiler tool in SEOprofiler shows you the backlink structure of your website. It also shows the backlinks that could have a negative influence on the rankings of your web pages. Regular analytics reports: use the scheduler in SEOprofiler to automatically get website analytics reports by email. You can also view your reports online and you get access to all important key metrics. On-site optimization: the Top 10 Optimizer tool in SEOprofiler analyzes the content of your web pages. Regular position checks: the ranking monitor in SEOprofiler checks the position of your web pages on Google, Bing and Yahoo. You can specify the exact city from which the rankings should be checked. The ranking monitor informs you about dramatic ranking changes, it shows easy ranking opportunities, and much more. Instead of the $2,500 that the average client pays his SEO agency for these services, you can get all of this for a much lower price with SEOprofiler, which is a do-it-yourself SEO tool. Even if you only use the fully-automated reporting tools in SEOprofiler, you will save a lot of money. If you use all tools in SEOprofiler, you will save even more. Should you hire an SEO agency or should use use a do-it-yourself tool? This depends on your needs. If you have the money, hiring an SEO agency or an SEO professional can be a good solution. To get results, you should invest at least $2500 per month. If you pay less, you'll only get automated reports. If you can invest some time in your website, a do-it-yourself SEO tool can help you to save a lot of money. For example, SEOprofiler creates the same reports that you will get from a professional SEO agency - for a fraction of the costs. You can even use SEOprofiler to offer your own SEO services. Search engine optimization takes time. SEO is a long-term investment. You will get the best results if you regularly work on your web pages. The tools in SEOprofiler can help you to do that as efficiently as possible. If you haven't done it yet, try SEOprofiler now. Try SEOprofiler now risk-free! Source: IBP Newsletter

How much does SEO cost? How can you get more for your money?

Three popular cheap SEO services

There are many ways to get search engine optimization services for a low price. Here are the most popular:

1. The hosting company and the CMS vendor

Some hosting companies and content management system vendors include 'SEO' services in their packages.

These offers usually include automated tools that insert keywords and other code on your web pages and then they submit your site to Google and other search engines.

2. The son/cousin/nephew of someone who is great with computers

Maybe you know someone who knows someone who is really great with computers. They can 'fix the SEO' on your website and you will save a lot of money because they do not charge much.

3. The offshore company that will do everything for a low price

These companies often send unsolicited emails with great offers. They promise to build backlinks, optimize your web pages and a lot more for a low monthly fee. You just have to sit back while they do the work.

These offers don't look too bad and it might be tempting to use them.

Why you shouldn't use these cheap services

When it comes to search engine optimization, it does not make sense to cut costs at the expense of lost sales and revenue. All of the services above have in common that it can be risky to use them. For example:

• The fully automated solutions offered by many hosting companies and CMS vendors are usually outdated methods that did work in the early 2000's. Nowadays, these methods don't work anymore. Some automated methods are considered spam and your website might get penalized if you use them. SEO isn't point-and-click anymore.
• Your nephew might know how to code an HTML web page but that doesn't mean the he has any SEO knowledge. If your nephew is good with numbers, it still doesn't make sense to let him do your accounting (if you don't want to get in trouble with the tax office).
• Many of the offshore companies use automated spam tools to 'promote' your website. Hiring these companies is often a sure way to get your website banned from Google in the long run. Some of these services even tweak the meta keywords tag of your web pages, which is a sure sign that they do not know what they're doing.

Search engine optimization is more than point-and-click

SEO is more than building a few links, adding a few keywords to your web pages. There's nothing that you can 'install' on your website and that's it.

The right visitors from search engines are crucial to the success of any website. It's important to understand that search engine optimiation is not a one-off project. If you focus on short-lived optimization tactics, you will get short-lived results.

It's much better to develop a long-term search engine optimization strategy. Tools and services that look expensive can save you money in the long run because you will get much better results.

If you use the right tools, you can get things done as efficiently as possible. You still have to do some work but tools like SEOprofiler will guide you through the process and they will help you save time by automating things like regular SEO audits:

Source: IBP Newsletter

SES Chicago in November! Content is King!

In mid-November I attended a 3 day SES Conference in Chicago. It was held at the Hyatt Regency downtown on the Chicago River. My brother and nephew traveled with for some R&R while I attended the conference. (Dinner at Morton's Steak House and the Chicago Symphony will be memories forever! No, not Lawry's this time ;-( )

The big "take away" for me was the services that I am already providing my clients were reinforced.  Index-able sites, good content, links from other sites and customer reviews are all very important. I will reference Google in the following examples because if it works for Google it will work for Bing/Yahoo and the other search engines.

Index-able Content:
Seems very simple right? Google has to be able to see your site and read your HTML to be able to add your site to its index.  Google then will be able to display your page when people search by relevant keywords. Many things can cause Google to be unable to index your site:

1. Improperly used meta tags: noindex, nofollow 
2. Image Navigation rather than CSS
3. Overuse of FLASH to build site
4. SEO black hat techniques employed causing search engine to ban your site
5. Improperly built site that Search engine cannot "see"

Good Content:
You have to have content on your site that is well written and relevant to your topic. The content has to be relevant for up to 3 keywords per page.  Create separate pages for each product or service and write targeted content for each. Trying to have one page to target 15 keywords dilutes the value of all the keywords.

Links From Other Sites:
This is one of the most important points.  This is a popularity contest like high school.  The most popular kids got the most attention.  The most popular sites (based on who links to your site) will get the most attention and will rank higher in the search engine results for appropriate keywords. If a lot of sites link to your site, you must have content worth reading.

Customer Reviews:
Google is looking at reviews from your customers as another key indicator that you have good products or services. Ask your customers to review you on Google+.  Give them a card with your Google+ Business page URL and instructions on how provide a review.  Google is placing more emphasis on reviews, especially for local businesses.

I have been providing SEO service for 3 year with documented results.  I have conveyed expectations to the client, utilized on page best practices, documented increased visitors, documented increased external links through proper link building and provided monthly progress reports with recommendations.

Results? Every customer has renewed for this service each year.

www.maderweb.com
Gregory on Google+

SES Chicago in November! Content is King!

Mason Wells buys Whitehall Specialties

Milwaukee private equity firm Mason Wells said it closed on the acquisition of Whitehall Specialties Inc., a Whitehall producer and marketer of custom cheese products.

“Whitehall has a tremendous reputation in the market due to its dedicated employees, and a culture devoted to serving its customers with the highest quality products,” said Greg Myers, senior managing director of Mason Wells.

Complete story: Mason Wells buys Whitehall Specialties - Milwaukee - The Business Journal http://bit.ly/V0IpEu

www.whitehallspecialties.com

Mason Wells buys Whitehall Specialties

RAGBRAI. It's kind of a big deal. Iowa.

Source: ragbrai.com via Brent on Pinterest

RAGBRAI. It's kind of a big deal. Iowa.

What do I do with Facebook and Twitter?

Facebook and Twitter.  Yeah you’ve seen these logos a million times.  They are on TV. You see them in the Mall.

I am too busy and people don’t care what I am doing anyway.  Wait.  Your business has lot to share. Your business has a lot to offer

If you are not on Facebook you are missing a great opportunity to be where over 1 billion people are almost daily.  Some people are there multiple times a day. People visit Facebook and Twitter on their mobile device everywhere, any time.


Internet users in the U.S. spend nearly a quarter of their time online using social media (or about 13 and  half minutes per every hour spent online). Nearly 4 out of 5 web users visit a social networking site on a monthly basis. 73% of US companies use social media tools for marketing purposes

What can you Facebook about?

1. Offer a discount for “liking” you on Facebook
2. Tell people about your latest unusual project
3. Feature a product or service
4. Feature an employee

Top 5 things to do with your business facebook account.

1. Make sure to set up a Business Facebook page not a personal page used as a business page. People make this mistake often and lose followers when Facebook turns the page off for violation of their policies.
2. Place a little link to your Web site on the left hand side of the page
3. Create a welcome page for new visitors to help them “like” you.
4. Add 10 to 20 photos
5. Offer an incentive for people to “like” your page

What next:

• Create a video on YouTube. Easy to do with inexpensive video equipment or phone.
• Blog about the video. (you do have a blog, don’t you?).  Embed the video in your blog.
• Facebook about the Blog Post (drives traffic to the blog and hopefully your Website)
• Tweet about the Blog Post with a short link (these funny looking things: http://bit.ly/RRSt2k) to the Blog
• Google Plus your blog post.

www.maderweb.com

What do I do with Facebook and Twitter?

New Mobile Friendly site for Cass Street Pharmacy

[click to enlarge]

Cass Street Pharmacy has a new Mobile friendly site. When you visit www.cassstpharmacy.com on your mobile device you will see a Mobile friendly version of our site. You will see various links to contact us, refill prescriptions, view various service offerings or learn about our company and people. You will also have the ability to view the full site. You will be able to press on your touch screen to call them directly or view a map to their location.

We have discovered, as most other sites, that more and more people are coming to the site from a mobile device.  Since January 1st, over 10% of their visitors are using mobile phones or tablets to view theirsite.  We expect this to only increase as mobile devices become more prevalent.

Thia mobile friendly interface was created by the fine folks from Mader Web Design and  Venue Valet in Austin,Texas (www.venue-valet.com).  In addition to Mobile friendly sites they also feature mobile apps for iPhone and Android and other offerings that turn customer loyalty into results. They offer a mobile centric loyalty platform for markets that depend on the loyalty of their customer base for continued growth and success.

www.cassstpharmacy.com

New Mobile Friendly site for Cass Street Pharmacy