This is a question I get asked a lot. “Aimee, I want to pay you to do SEO on my website. How much will it cost?” While this sounds like a straightforward question with a straightforward answer, it’s actually much more complicated than that. Let me explain:
What is SEO?
SEO, short for search engine optimization, is the practice of gaming the “secret” algorithms used to rank sites on search engines. The idea is that if you do these particular things, you will rank higher than your competitor that is not doing those things when someone searches for a keyword that brings up your site. SEO is a very broad term for a lot of different aspects that can help (or hinder!) your location on the SERP (search engine results page). Here’s a few things, for example, that are all SEO elements:
- OpenGraph data
- Meta titles and descriptions
- Keyword density and optimization
- Wordcount optimization
- Image title and alt text
- Page structure including heading levels and paragraphs
- Appropriate interlinking markup on a website
- Internal links
- Backlinks
- Robots.txt/Crawlability
- Sitemaps
- Page speed on desktop and mobile
- Mobile responsiveness
- Rich data and schema
- Page cannibalism
- Redirections and 404s
- Duration of domain
- Page “authority”
There’s even more than this, but these are some items that are looked at as part of a holistic SEO approach. This list is obviously quite extensive, and to “do SEO” on a website both takes time and money. SEO can also change from year to year so something that is working on the latest search engine algorithm can be done better or more effectively after a core algorithm update. Your SEO (search engine optimizer) should be up-to-date with what’s happening in the world of SEO, and how the latest updates and technology may impact, harm, or benefit you.
So then… what does it cost?
Because everything in that list benefits SEO, it’s part of an SEO program. To do all of it, one time, on an extensive site can cost thousands of dollars, and even then it’s not guaranteed to pay off. An SEO program requires committing to a length so your SEO can make changes across a period of time, test them in the search engine, and see how those changes perform versus where you started. An SEO knows what to look for and will suggest and make changes based on your individual needs. Many SEOs are happy to provide you with a review of your site and suggest areas you can improve, then suggest to you a 1 year minimum SEO contract. This is normal and necessary for an optimal SEO program.
If you’d like an SEO to come in and make changes to help your site rank once, you need to know what elements you want them to tackle. Making sure your site is free of deadlinks is a very different task than writing meta titles and descriptions for all of the products on your website. It’s better if you approach an SEO with some idea of what you’d like to spend on improving your presence on the SERP and ask them what they think they can realistically do with your budget. $300 is not a lot for an SEO budget, but a good SEO can say “I’ll do most of the things on your 5 top landing pages” to help you get there.
What if I’m not interested in search engine ranking? Does SEO still benefit me?
If you’re not interested in moving up on the SERP or getting your shop listings on Google Marketplace, for example, then you can hone in your SEO selections even further. Usually, what’s good for SEO is also good for screen readers, as much of the tech is similar or the same. You can do your part to make the web a friendlier place by including things that doubly benefit you for SEO as well as accessibility. These action items can be:
- Image title and alt text
- Page structure including heading levels and paragraphs
- Appropriate interlinking markup on a website
- Page speed on desktop and mobile
- Mobile responsiveness
These items will help everyone, but aren’t as expansive as the full list of things an SEO might do. You can then hone in your question to ask: “How much will it cost you to write alt text for all 100 products on my shop?” This is a more mathematically approachable question and can actually garner a loose estimate! Plus since page structure, alt/title text, and the other items never change, it’s not something that really needs to be “tweaked” in the future. One and done!
Where do I get started on SEO?
If you’re shopping around for a good person or agency to do SEO, take a look at my post: what to look for in a social media marketing company. Many of these ideas also carry over into vetting your SEO person. You want to make sure that they’re not promising you anything grandiose up front (“I can get you #1 on Google!” Okay but… #1 for what? And at what end? Tanking your site with black-hat SEO tactics?) and they set expectations accordingly.
If you’re looking to start DIYing your SEO, start small. Tackling tried-and-true technical SEO aspects like alt/title text, meta titles and descriptions, and page structure. From there, you can move out towards understanding what search engines like Google and Bing may be looking for, and decide whether you want to try to game them yourself.
If you need guidance, feel free to reach out. I’m happy to point you in the right direction.