Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been, is now, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a very coveted Internet Marketing lead generation method. SEO is effective and has a relatively low long term cost per lead. SEO’s high business value is undisputed by marketing professionals for SEO campaigns that produce page #1 listings in the major search engines.
If a business manager doesn’t understand many Internet Marketing methods, the one thing most do understand and say they want is to be #1 in Google. After a client’s website is sorted out, the first thing most clients will ask is: how much does Search Engine Optimization (SEO) cost? The answer is… it depends on the value of what you are competing for and how fierce is the competition?
SEO is of course about competing to have one or more of your web pages listed on page #1 in search engines for search results of what are called keywords. For SEO, a keyword is defined as the exact word or phrase used by prospects to search for relevant web pages via search engines. High search listings for keywords relevant to your business are what you are competing for.
The competition for most keywords usually depends upon if they are ‘long tail’ or ‘short tail’ words or phrases. Short Tail Keyword = a short, general, generic, broad market oriented, and very competitive word or phase. Long Tail Keyword = a longer, specific, descriptive, niche market oriented, and relatively low competition phrase. “Website” is an example of short tail and “website marketing company Orlando” is an example of long tail.
If you are trying to achieve Google page #1 listing for most short tail keywords, the task is monumental and the cost to achieve page #1 listings is very high. But page #1 listings for niche long tail keywords can often be achieved relatively easily for a low investment. Most companies are best served by concentrating on several long tail SEO keywords.
Below is a graphic representation of the tool box that a professional will utilize to accomplish Search Marketing including organic and paid advertising methods. The breadth, depth, and frequency of tools used from the toolbox, and thus the cost of SEO, is dictated by keyword competitiveness factors.
So what is the real world investment for professional SEO services? Realistically, setup charges will range from about $1000 up to the low five digits ($XX,XXX) depending on all of the above discussed factors. And SEO requires monitoring and continuous improvement on a monthly basis with fees running from $100 up to four digits ($Y,YYY) per month. On average, professional SEO services for small and medium sized businesses typically costs around $5,000 (give or take) for initial SEO setup and up to about $1,000 per month to maintain.
Compare the cost of SEO to other forms of advertising and lead generation. Research the cost to reach mass markets via TV, Radio, multiple newspaper ads, multiple Yellow Page ads, telemarketing, direct mail, national print publications, or industry publications. Where else can you effectively reach an international, national or geo-targeted mass marketplace for less than SEO? SEO is one of the best, lowest cost methods to promote a business and generate leads.
Completely agree that highly-competitive short-tail keywords are often not worth chasing. As users demand more personalised results from search engines, they will increasing search for long-tail phrases.
What’s more, since people searching for long-tail keywords have often carried out the majority of their research and are generally further along in the buying cycle, conversion rate is often higher (see http://www.alanmitchell.com.au/techniques/benefits-of-long-tail-keywords/ for some recent research I carried out on long-tails), potentially making long-tail keywords extremely profitable for search engine optimisation.
Cheers,
Alan
[...] Answer: (First, review prior posts: Long Tail Keywords and there are many PPC & SEO posts in the September / October / November time frame [...]