A Guide to Choosing Affordable SEO Services

by Katie Leslove Blogger

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If you’re thinking about obtaining quotes from SEO companies, these two questions will likely be at the forefront of your final decision:

A) If I choose the least-expensive option, will it be enough to noticeably improve my page rankings?

B) What kind of results will I see – and how soon will I see them – with the pricier options?

In other words, the old cliché is true: you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck.

But for SMEs with a limited amount to spend, looking for affordable but still effective options is tricky. Here is a guide to choosing affordable SEO services for your company:

1. Set your budget

Your budget plays a vital role in SEO because it determines what you can and can't get do. Here’s the hard question you and your SEO partner have to ask: is your budget simply too low to get you any noticeable results? The best advice is to be upfront about what you can afford, then ask the SEO company what the best options are for that amount – and an estimation of when the work will start to show a bump up in rankings.

2. Know what you’re getting

Have you ever taken your car in for basic repairs and given an estimate, only to be told later that it needs additional fixes, thereby increasing the cost of repairs? If you’re not already familiar with the general mechanics of a car, then this scenario can cause minor panic. Is the repairman actually trying to help me, or is the mechanic trying to gain an extra buck on an a customer who doesn’t know any better?

This is no different when looking for an SEO plan for your company – and it comes with a simple solution you can do on your free time. Before you start seeking out quotes, familiarize yourself with all the terms and how they work to improve your search rankings. This will help you make an informed decision when it comes to hiring someone as opposed to just hoping you’re not being price-gouged for unnecessary services.

3. Do you feel like you’ve found a true partner?

If it feels like you’re one of hundreds (or thousands) of clients and that you’re nothing more than an open wallet, then it’s not a good match. What if you have questions – will they have the time to explain? How accessible are they? Are they willing to tweak your plan as you go along? If the answer is “no” to any of those questions, then it’s probably not a good match.

Over time, you should see results in your search rankings, even with the most affordable plan. But they have to be willing to meet you half-way. If you feel like you’re being pressured into work that might – or might not – work, then it’s not worth it, no matter how affordable the company is.