How Much Does SEO Cost?
This is a common question and the answer is that it is priced based on a quote.
An SEO (search engine optimisation) company would need to do a few things before they can put a quote together for you
- Look at the industry you are targeting
- Look at the Keywords you are targeting
- Look at the site (for on-site SEO)
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Look at the existing off-site SEO
They would then put a campaign together based on the amount of work involved.
Most SEO companies would charge a monthly retainer for their services (which can range from around £200 up to £1000) depending on the amount of work that is needed, and also the size of the SEO firm. Generally the larger the agency, the larger their overheads and costs, the larger their prices. However there is the trade off that the larger firms are better established and have a track record.
SEO companies do vary, a small agency could do a much better job than a larger agency for a fraction of the cost. It is always good to get quotes and get a feel for which agency is best placed for taking for from where you are to the top in the shortest time for the lowest amount.
How Long Does SEO Take
SEO is an on-going process. Both on-line and off-line SEO would require continual work and effort. Even if you are at the top of the search results for all of the phrases you are wanting to appear for, your competitors (sites below you) are trying to overtake you. So therefore you will continually need to keep you site updated with fresh relevant content, and continued off-line activities.
Most SEO companies advise it takes between 3-6 months to get a site to a stage whereby it is producing results from the SEO work. However depending on the competitiveness of your chosen keywords, the number of competitors you have, this may take longer going into years.
Why Does SEO Take So Long?
Search engines like to see slow and steady growth. They do not like big changes (sensitive beasts) and may penalise a website for too much change too soon.
SEO is about link building, so day by day, week by week you are continually developing your website, building your on-line visibility and inbound links. Over the course of time you will see you site hopping up the search results. As long as you are not jumping page by page at a time, search engines are happy.
Closing Thoughts
SEO is a difficult process to put into simple tearms as search engines do change the way they read websites and code quite frequently.
If you need any further advice, help or would like to talk so some SEO experts use the free form opposite.