May 17, 2017
Google Darwinism
How Google's constant algorithm evolution mirrors natural selection, and what it means for your search rankings.
Read ArticlePersonal attention is necessary, and you get what you pay for.
For 17 years I have worked as an SEO professional. I simply must call out what has recently been called "PRICEAGEDON" in the SEO community. It is hurting small businesses and it is hurting the industry.
Working tirelessly to not only produce the best overall product while remaining price sensitive in a field where even a decade later, we still regularly have to educate clients on the ins and outs of SEO as part steward and part provider. However, it is my goal to strip away the notion that any business owner can hope to find effective and cheap SEO.
NYC SEO: How Cheap is Cheap SEO?
Recently, Higher Visibility performed a much-needed study. They surveyed 500 people who help small businesses with their marketing efforts. This study was very revealing.
75%
of respondents believe SEO should cost under $500/month
38%
believe SEO should cost under $100/month
First you have to understand the goal. To be on page one means you are in the 1% of 1% of top publishers on Google, and sometimes a bottom-of-page-one ranking can produce single-digit click-through rates. To say the competition is fierce is an understatement, even on most local or regional terms.
"Cheap SEO is not a bargain. It is a liability."
SEO Deliverables Matter
Aside from the fact that there are a million SEO service providers trying to take advantage of unsuspecting and inexperienced business owners, the most notable of which is GoDaddy, which offers Search Engine "Visibility" for just $7/month, the old saying "You get what you pay for" definitely applies here.
It is frustrating when our team meets with established business owners who are now being asked to spend exponentially more, and their first, second, and third experience has gotten progressively more expensive with the same terrible or uneventful results. It is no wonder there is so much pushback from new potential clients when a proper SEO budget is on the table.
But here is the first problem I see all the time when delving into past client experiences. There is a deliberate and willful deception taking place. In my estimation, better than 80% of so-called "SEO providers" are not providing at all, and there are such easy ways to spot them it is amazing these companies are still thriving. Here is what you should know about modern SEO practices in a way that is easy to remember and understand.
NYC SEO Framework
The NYC SEO Rule of 3
Three pillars every legitimate SEO campaign must address. If your provider ignores any one of these, you are not getting real SEO.
01
Rule #1: Code
Making sure your site goes way beyond its original design phase and has eloquent, well-thought-out, organized structure that follows all the documented criteria for Google. This is the most basic concept of SEO and also the least important overall, in as much as anyone can get their code correct, and once complete there is nothing more to do except monitor and maintain it.
Overall campaign value:~10%
Anyone who tells you different is either deficient or bordering on willfully ignorant, or both.
02
Rule #2: Content is King
Let’s say you finish your work in Rule #1 along with dozens of other websites that have beaten you to market and happen to have your same goal of Page 1 ranking status. Now you have a 100% Google-code-ready "billboard" that has perhaps 10 to 20 pages for a small business. How is Google supposed to tell which site is more relevant than the next? Draw straws?
One huge factor is fresh and relevant content, and for most sites that means blogging, with relevant being the key word. Even if you have the time to blog (95% of the owners I talk to do not), you have to be sure it meets very specific parameters on the subject, or you may very well be confusing Google and spinning your wheels. Use your keywords too much or too little and you do not get the desired effect.
Of the hundreds of potential clients I speak to, how many do you think were even offered fresh blog content by a competent North American writer?
ZERO.
If content is King to the point where it is a catch phrase, where is the full-time content staff to handle this need? If the answer is "no blogging included," this should be a non-starter. Full stop.
Fundamentals of Content Pricing
How much does it cost for a well-researched article at the journalistic writing level, edited so that you always make your weekly contribution on time with minimal revisions?
- On the high side: several hundred dollars per article
- On the low end: $50 to $100 per article
- Minimum one blog post per week to catch up with top competitors
- Budget at minimum $300/month for a solidly written blog program
And if you are not blogging and Google releases a major update like Panda in 2018, your "billboard" that managed to get near page one on link building alone is going to the back of the line, which all but ruins 12 months of SEO investment.
Overall campaign value:~25%A critical long-term error if missing
03
Rule #3: Backlinks - The Ultimate Decider
Link building is the single most important component of any SEO campaign. We have already established that your code is perfect, your writing staff is amazing, and you own a content-rich billboard expanding to Congressional Library status. Is that enough?
Is that enough?
Not even close.
Link building is the art of getting other high-quality sites to give you a vote by linking a piece of content on their site to your own. Think of it as a digital vote, and preferably one from a site that is much older and has better authority than yours.
Questions your SEO provider should be answering:
Q
Of all previous clients, how many had their SEO vendor provide a current list of links that their competition has in relation to their own number of links?
Q
If a competitor has a ten-year head start, is it possible to catch up, and how many links do you need to build to be in the same weight class?
Q
Wouldn’t that measurement be crucial in knowing what an SEO team is up against in order to deliver on expectations and cover their labor cost?
Are you starting to see why so many people are burned out on SEO? You can literally calculate exactly how long it will take once you measure how many links your competitor has by the number of links you are getting, assuming what you are getting is outpacing their own efforts.
The Bottom Line
My advice is to get someone aggressive, who knows their value and takes pride in your investment in their brand, because those individuals will take care of you the way you take care of them. Every time.
