No one doubts the value of SEO to gain rankings, traffic and customers. In today’s world, online marketing is central to the prosperity of most businesses. However search engine optimisation can be a major expense. Here’s how to ensure you’re getting value for your money.
Setting Your SEO Budget
The amount you allocate for regular SEO work depends on factors such as the size of your operation and your objectives. This makes it hard to generalise.
However, you shouldn’t think of it as a matter of how much you spend rather as the return you get from your online marketing endeavours. In many cases, tightening the purse strings can cost you far more in lost business than you might save by economising so make sure you’re looking at the big picture.
Remember that your SEO agency understands the methodology and the SEO environment better than you do. Consider, for example, the matter of keywords. You probably want to rank well for the big keywords in your industry but this probably isn’t the smartest way to success.
The more competitive the keywords you’re trying to rank for, the higher the return. However, the expense and time needed to rank will be far higher.
Long tailed keywords result in less traffic but visitors tend to be more targeted and thus convert better. Traffic is something we all want but we also want it to be the right kind. Getting visitors but no conversions is next to useless.
Monitoring your Results
Unlike pay per click ad campaigns, it can be difficult to monitor your SEO ROI. Very often the actions your SEO team carry out may not have a directly measurable result, at least not in the short term.
SEO can take time and success is often no linear. Often weeks or even months can pass without any major result then your site can suddenly take off or start a steady move up the rankings. You may have to wait for a Google algorithm change such as the monthly Panda refresh.
When done well, a virtuous circle emerges whereby increased traffic leads to better rankings and that in turn to more visitors. This kind of SEO is very desirable as it can continue to improve online marketing long into the future.
Choose Professionalism
Ultimately, getting value from your SEO investment starts with choosing the right firm. Hire an SEO agency with a proven track record and be sure to check they have clients in businesses similar to your own.
Remember that hiring SEO experts is an investment in your website and ultimately the future of your business. Be sure to do it as well as you can within the limits of your budget.
For quality Sydney SEO services, contact your local experts SmartSEO for a full range of online marketing solutions.
