Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is possibly the greatest buzzword on the internet at the moment. Everyone who has a website or wants a website is concerned with how well their site performs in Google (sorry Yahoo and the rest, but you just aren’t brought up in conversation).

Over the last year or two it is a regular occurrence that a client, who we are designing a website for, will come to us saying that they’ve been contacted by a Search Engine Optimisation company who is promising big things. This frequently occurring situation is the instigator for the writing of this article. Hopefully this article will save us (Spike WebDesign) time in phone calls explaining what the SEO companies are really offering, and be informative to the general punter who doesn’t have the expertise or understanding.

Firstly, let me start by saying that there are a number of really great SEO companies around who achieve really solid results. However, I have yet to encounter a SEO company which tells ‘the whole story’. I would like to relay two recent encounters to you.

Not long ago I was asked by a friend, who is the GM of an international company, to sit in on a meeting with a SEO company claiming to be the ‘Nations leading SEO Company”. They were not informed that I was from an outside website design company so I got to see the beast at its best.

The SEO company had definitely achieved some great results for previous clients and that was not in question, however, during their extremely hard sell sales pitch they told many half truths and quoted statistics which they ‘heard’ we true. As the meeting went along there were various ideas put forward as well as ominous warnings of ‘if you don’t use us then you are doomed’ and ‘you can’t afford not to use us’. However there were two questions that had not been answered and I was dying to ask.

The first question was: “How much do you cost?”

The Answer…

“Our fees start at $10,000 per year”.

Wowzers! They start at that? This isn’t building a new website folks. It also isn’t rebranding or any kind of logo work, and that was their starter amount. After I picked myself off the floor and did a quick calculation that I could have created my friend’s entire website for a once off fee, including search engine optimisation, for less than their annual starter rate, I asked my second question.

“So if we were to use your services but after three or four years for some reason could no longer afford to pay you, would there be any lasting effect or infrastructure built that will stand our website in good stead? Or will we just fall off the Google map?” (Smiling sweetly the whole time).

The Answer…

“Well.. you would, uh… you would fall off the map!”

And there it is ladies and gentlemen. The cornerstone of most SEO companies and the major area where SpikeWebDesign differs from them. They make your website totally dependent on their service and just like any drug, when you stop forking out the cash, the high is no longer there and you plummet.

We don’t like to create ‘SEO junkies’ who rely on us, thus we create infrastructure that is lasting and we also teach you how to increase your website’s search engine optimisation yourself.

The second story I’d like to relate occurred when a new client was considering moving to a SEO company because they apparently had lower fees. However, hidden behind unclear wording was the truth. Again my client would have been trapped into a never ending loop of recurring fees, in this case hundreds of dollars in monthly fees. They also believed that they were being offered a deal on domain names, when the truth of the matter was that they were actually being charged nearly three times the going rate.

Our client wasn’t to know any better. SEO companies often use confusing lingo that only those in the website industry can see through. On some occasions these companies even tell blatant untruths such as convincing clients that you can own (read ‘purchase’) specific search terms which will get you listed number one in Google.

The pitch that allows SEO companies to exist and to continue to makes truckloads of money is that they promise to make your money back and then some. Their favourite term is ROI, Return On Investment. What’s wrong with this? Nothing. However, every single business investment you make should be making or saving you money so promoting this fact isn’t an excuse to charge exorbitant rates.

How much should SEO cost? That’s a good question and the answer depends on your website as well as your competition. However, you should not be paying thousands of dollars monthly or annually to companies who are not building you a solid base. You should not enter into an agreement with a company which means you are totally reliant on them and at the mercy of their pricing decisions or company direction.

Find a company like Spike WebDesign who have no on-going fees and who can optimise your website and online profile and then give you the tools to continue the process yourself. Spike WebDesign’s content management system, ‘The Admin Site’, allows you to have complete control over all on-site optimisation on your website, plus has the inbuilt functionality to further your off-site optimisation needs such as link partnering.

My final point before I sign off is an important one. Do not believe anyone who guarantees you that they can get you listed number one in Google. So many companies make those statements but to them I ask:

• Does that guarantee go for any keyword and phrase I choose?
• Does that mean on Google.com as well as Google.com.au
• Are we talking number 1 in Google’s organic results (the ones on the left)?
• Will your SEO process compromise the integrity of the content on my website? (This is an important one, always design your website for your users, not search engines).

There is no magic method of attaining top rankings in Google or other search engines. It primarily comes down to the level of competition within your industry/keywords. For example, if your company made towels and was called ‘Micro Soft Towels’. You would never rank well in Google due to the power and size of Microsoft’s website.

There are far too many smoke and mirrors salesmen in the SEO world who rely on their customers’ lack of knowledge. Do your research, don’t believe everything you are told and get more than one quote.

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Tags: Decision Making, Search Engine Optimisation, Website Help