SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a process that aims to improve a website’s visibility in search engines. The key thing to remember is that the process’s goal is to increase the rank of the page/website in the search engine’s organic searches. Many search engines also offer the option to pay to get your site more visible.
How much does SEO cost?
SEO services can range in price from $30-40 per hour to anything in excess of $300 per hour. The thing to keep in mind is that this type of service is not like something you buy and you immediately see the results. Imagine SEO as a plane. In order to determine how far it can fly, you need to know how much fuel it has. In order to determine how much SEO costs, you need to determine how much you want to achieve with it.
Why is SEO expensive?
Well, Search Engine Optimization is not easy, fast to do or simple. It is not something you switch on, or plug in and somehow your site magically increases its rank and becomes #1 in the search engine results. Just imagine that Google for example has way over 150 criteria for ranking websites, and an algorithm that is being updated constantly to provide very accurate search results.
The simple fact that Google is very dynamic in terms of its ranking algorithms, plus the huge number of factors that can influence it, makes SEO a very complex job. Furthermore actually seeing the results takes time and measuring them is just as complex as creating them. With the incredible boom of websites that appeared in the last few years, the need to stay in front has increased, therefore the need for services that can get you in front has increased. It is basic economy. When a particular product/service is demanded more and more, its price will increase.
Affordable SEO services
The question of affordable SEO services is a relative one and is totally dependent on what you hope to achieve using it. For example, affordable to a medium sized company, who wants to be ranked 1 in Google for several key words, is a totally different concept than affordable to a medium sized company that only wants to slightly improve its Google rank. In the SEO world, there are a huge number of freelancers willing to optimize your website for you. Their cost is usually lower, but don’t have any big expectations from them. They are useful for small companies, or private use, but their services rarely provide any real results.
The key thing to keep in mind when talking about affordability is the result/price ratio. In order to find the most affordable option you need to have a clear picture of what you want to achieve with it. Then simply see which company offers you the results you want, at the cheapest rate.