In an economy that is ever changing it is easy to see why businesses want to find ways to cut back. Some will be sensible and understand the value of their website and therefore their SEO, so they will see the long-term goal over the short term money saver. Others will assume that because they have a good ranking, now they can actually say goodbye to their SEO for a while or even forever.
This is by far one of the biggest mistakes businesses make when it comes to their online presence and has seen many a website end up further and further down the results because of it.
The problem here is lack of understanding but also the belief that all the hard work is done and therefore paying for more SEO just isn’t worth it!
So why pay for more SEO?
From London to Scotland and beyond, rankings on the major search engines are important and it’s a very competitive environment. Therefore, specialist SEO can help you not only gain a ranking but on-going, it means you can also stay there.
The SEO landscape is an ever changing one and new updates through major search engines like Google happen regularly (more than 300 updates in 2011), so by assuming that your current ranking will be a ‘forever’ you are actually risking all the hard work that has happened in the first place.
SEO takes time, understanding and a lot of problem solving, which cannot be put in to a nice neat package for less than a tenner.
It never ceases to amaze me when companies assume that either SEO is really easy because they’ve read an article somewhere or worst still, that they assume if once they’ve got to the front page no effort is required to stay there.
So what’s the best approach with your SEO?
If you are thinking about SEO services consider the saying “if it’s too good to be true it probably is”. This extends not only to budget priced services that promise you the earth but delivery nothing right through to the promise of getting you to page one in less than a week.
While it’s very tempting to chase this carrot, you have to be totally realistic as to what’s achievable.
If you offer a service of any kind, you’ll know that some jobs can be done in five minutes, but others take a lot more time and skill. They may not even be visible on the surface but you will know that you can’t simply offer your skill for free.
Well with SEO it’s exactly the same and you should most definitely not expect to get it for free, for less than a few pounds and more importantly, not in a one off flat fee for a couple of week’s work.
If you are serious about your SEO then you need to be serious about your expectations as well. If you’re serious about your business, then you need to be serious about making it work.
No half measures will equal a better business and of course rankings in the long-term and let’s face it, if you are running a business you want it to grow and continue growing while you’re running it.
If you are based in London or beyond and require SEO services or some feedback, feel free to contact me anytime as I’m always happy to offer advice.
Paul
