SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is a process of deriving traffic from the organic, free, natural and editorial search results on the search engines. All of the major search engines like Bing, Google, and Yahoo consist of primary search results, wherein web pages along with other content such as local listings and videos are ranked and shown based on what search engine considers as being most relevant to the users.
Payment here is not involved and is paid with paid search ads. In other words, SEO is the practice of increasing the quality and quantity of traffic to the website with the help of organic search engine results.
What goes into SEO?
Let us understand SEO better by breaking the sentence down and carefully looking at the parts:
- Quality of traffic: Attract visitors who have a genuine interest in your product. This is called quality traffic.
- Quantity of traffic: Once the right traffic clicks through from the pages of search engine results, there is an increased quantity of traffic.
- Organic results: Ads make up for a significant part of the SERPs. The organic traffic is traffic that you do not have to pay for.
How does SEO work?
Google comprises a crawler which goes out and then gathers information about the content that is available on the internet. The crawling then brings all those 1s and 0s to search engine and helps build an index. The index then is fed with the help of an algorithm that tries to match all data with any query fed.
The 0 part of an SEO is optimization – where the people write all the content and put it on the sites are gussying the sites and the content so that the search engines are able to understand what they are viewing. The users arriving via search will like all that they see.
Google scores the search results which are largely based on authority and relevancy of pages where it has crawled and been included in the web index, to the query of users for providing the best answer.
ClickSlice an SEO agency based in London states that google uses over 200 signals when scoring and ranking websites. SEO encompasses creative and technical activities to influence and also improve the known signals. It is useful to look at the important goal of Google and provide the best answers to users.
SEO, therefore, revolves around making sure that a website is accessible, makes use of words, is technically sound which are types by people in the search engines. It provides great user experience along with high and useful quality. Expert content further helps answers the query posed by the users.
While Google is a lot sophisticated today, it is still an important signal in ranking. SEO thus includes activity that aids in improving the quality and number of ‘inbound links’ to a particular website from different other websites. This activity is known as link building which is performed by SEO professionals.
How much does SEO cost?
There are 4 usual standard kinds of SEO pricing. Each of them has its pros and cons.
- Project-Based: The cost of an SEO project depends on the project scope. Expect the price range between £1,000-%5,000.
- Performance-Based: Pay-for-performance SEO features affordable and dynamic pricing.
- Monthly Retainers: Monthly SEO retainers are tailored to the client needs. Expect the budget to be between £1,000.
- Hourly Rates: An average agency will charge roughly £75-£150 per hour.
Why is it difficult to estimate the SEO costs?
When you ask the cost, you often tend to hear ‘it depends’. It is usually a frustrating response to hear. However, the truth is that SEO prices tend to vary. For example, when you look to learn about a seo solutions london company, this could cost more than an SEO company based elsewhere in the world. It depends on a number of factors.
What is the price of performance-based SEO?
This pricing model is relatively new. There are not many performance-based SEO options that are available to small business owners. This model was pioneered in the year 2007. It tends to remove the majority of risk for clients; it also places a very heavy burden on an agency for producing measurable results.
-
Pros
If you do not rank, you do not pay
Clients only need to pay when the rankings improve. This helps in minimizing the risk exposure for clients.Up-Front Pricing
Reputable pay provides upfront pricing and outlining rates when the results are proven -
Cons
All the keywords are not accepted
Some keywords tend to be extremely competitive for a performance-based SEO company to invest and accept it.Variable Monthly Spend
Since rankings tend to fluctuate daily, it gets impossible to predict the rankings each month.
Best suited for:
-
Local/small business
This model of SEO is ideally owner is suited for local or smaller businesses which lack the resources or the potential necessary to invest in a retainer.
-
E-commerce websites
The performance SEO has a lot to offer to the e-Commerce store owners as they require much-needed flexibility to target a few products and categories for improved organic visibility.
How much do monthly SEO retainers cost?
This is suitable for companies who need to outsource SEO fully. This is one of the promising ways of building meaningful results with the help of optimization. It is ideal for complete outsourcing where the SEO pricing model is best when you are committed to invest in a long term and wish to outsource each and every aspect of search campaigns.
What is the price of Hourly SEO?
This works on the mechanism of the number of hours you have worked for. Whatever amount of hourly rate was accepted or negotiated prior to work commencing, is what you need to pay. Estimate the hours accurately and estimate the bill. However, it can take longer to finish than expected. Expect to pay an amount of £75 and £150 per hour when you are planning to get done quality work.
Conclusion
Thus, the prices of Search Engine Optimization vary as per the types. It is important to understand your needs and then opt for the kind of SEO services.
Photos courtesy of us.fotolia.com