Should You Hire A Small Business SEO Service?

By adminCategories: Search Engine Marketing, Uncategorized

You’re a small business and struggling to gain traction online. You constantly see your competitors showing up on Google for the services you offer, and want to know how you can start showing up there too. You receive a phone call or email from a company that specialized in local SEO, and you ask yourself, should I hire them?

This is a common scenario that companies find themselves in every day. With smaller budgets, hiring a SEO service isn’t quite as simple as it is for larger companies. Before you hire a small business SEO service, ask yourself these questions.

Are You Doing Other Marketing Efforts?

SEO should not be your only marketing strategy. It should be a piece of your overall plan. You should not rely on any single marketing tactic for your company. Diversifying your website’s traffic and lead generation tactics ensures that you’ll still be able to earn new customers even if one tactic isn’t working out as well.

Don’t look at search engine optimization as an alternative to social media, networking and other marketing channels.

Do You Have The Time To Invest In Managing It Yourself?

One of the main reasons small businesses hire SEO companies is because they don’t have the time or resources to do it themselves. SEO isn’t a one time effort. It requires constant work in order to be successful. Whether it’s adding new content, outreach, fixing technical issues or other important tasks, you need to dedicate a lot of time towards it. Here’s a look at some of the day-to-day work an SEO does.

seo activities small business

If your hands are already full with other parts of your business, adding SEO to the list will be overkill. In that scenario, it’s best to hire a small business SEO service.

Does Your Team Have The Skills To Get Started?

SEO is something that requires a unique skill set. However, you can learn some basic skills online that’ll get you started. Just taking some first steps like learning about meta titles and keyword research will get you off on the right foot, and give you an advantage over your competitors who are still at zero. The question is, do you have someone on your team that can learn these skills?

If the answer is no, then hiring a SEO company makes sense. If the answer is yes, then it might be worth giving it a shot.

The problem with relying on the internet to learn SEO is that there is a lot of bad information floating around. If you start implementing shady SEO practices like using article directories and keyword stuffing, you can cause a lot of damage that you’ll have to pay a company even more money to fix. It’s kind of DIY home repairs. Sure, you can try it on your own. But sometimes it’s best to just let the pros handle it.

Can You Afford It?

One of the most common questions related to SEO is how much does it cost? Unfortunately, there isn’t a single answer for this. The prices for SEO can vary… A LOT. Not only can the amount differ from company to company, but the pricing structure can as well. For instance, some companies might charge a monthly ongoing fee, while others will charge per project or hourly.

how much does seo cost

As for how much you can expect to pay, prices can range from as little as $100/month to tens of thousands. However, it’s strongly advised that you avoid SEO companies offering dirt cheap pricing, because they’re generally ineffective or doing some questionable things to get results.

seo monthly costs

When you’re looking at the cost of SEO, look at the return on investment (ROI), not just the price you’re paying. If an amount seems like a lot, think about the potential ROI you can get if the company is able to deliver.

If paying for the services will be a stretch, don’t push it. Either find a more affordable solution or do other things to market your company for now. Just don’t resort to using low quality SEO services to save a buck. When it comes to SEO, you tend to get what you pay for.

Do You Need Immediate Results?

Do not pay for SEO if you need quick results. SEO is a long term strategy that can take months to see results.

If you’re after quick results, it’s better to invest in more outbound tactics like Google AdWords, Facebook ads or other advertising platforms. This will allow you to see results quicker, while you continue to work on your SEO.

Did You Find The Right Company?

If you’re able to afford SEO, are willing to wait for long term results and meet the other criteria described above, there’s one last thing you need to consider before hiring a SEO service for your small business. Are you choosing the right company?

Because of the fairly low barrier to entry, there are new SEO companies popping up every day. You probably receive dozens of sales calls every week from services offering to handle your SEO. But don’t agree to anything until you’ve found an SEO service that meets your needs and that you feel comfortable with.