Have you had a client or heard someone say that SEO sucks and is a waste of money? If you own a Digital Marketing Agency, SEO Agency, or SEO Specialist, I’m sure you have. I will dive into a few things that could make clients say this.
Common SEO Complaints
- You want $$$’s a month for what? Will I have big Ads on the search engines that I can see and will get me clients/jobs?
- It’s been a month, and I’m still not seeing my company on the first page for organic searches! Are you sure you know what you are doing?
- I’m on the first page of all the major search engines, but still not getting calls or anyone using my contact form on my website. You just wasted my money.
There are loads of complaints and statements out there about SEO. I’m going to touch on 3 for this blog.
You Want $$$ For What?
Per the Industry, 2023, the average monthly cost is $497/month for small business Local SEO Campaign. Your $$$’s will include from most SEO Companies,
- Google Business Profile Optimization and Management
- Google Analytics Setup and Reports
- Google Search Console Management
- On-Page (website) Optimization (* things you will see)
- Off-Page (website) Optimization (* stuff you won’t see)
- Content Optimization and Creation
- Keyword Research and planning
- Local Listing Management (aka Local Citations)
- Backlink Research, Building, and management
- Competitor Analysis to set up a campaign that will be powerful.
- Social Media Setup Optimization
- Geo-Targeting
You may not think that sitting in front of a computer screen and the above doesn’t take much. The above is hourly intensive. We all know that sometimes setting up accounts can take loads of time, and you must have all information before even starting some. Setting up an account for Google Analytics and Google Search Console cannot even be created until Google Business Profile is developed and verified by Google. When an SEO Specialist starts your on and off-page optimization, this takes knowledge and time, depending on the size of your website. Optimization is not a physical thing you can touch, and a lot of the optimization you won’t even see unless you know what you are looking for. Now is the time when you start rethinking the payment they made.
You See This, But You Don’t See That!
From the above list, here is what you will be able to see:
- Google Accounts Setups
- Social Media Setups
- New Content, website, or Blog/Articles
- Added Keywords to your content
- On-Page Website Optimization
What you are not seeing:
- Off-Page Optimization
- Keyword Research (unless they send you a keyword report/list)
- Backlinks
- Local Links/Citations (You will eventually see these when you search your company name)
- Competitor Analysis (unless they send you a report)
- Geo-Targeting
- Continuous researching.
So over half of the campaign you won’t even see, allowing you to wonder if you have wasted your money. If you have the right SEO Specialist or Agency, they should keep you informed on those out-of-sight techniques. If not, then ask them about it. They keep track of everything that will help you get ranked on the leading search engines, and you deserve 100% transparency.
(*NOTE: The above is the minimum your SEO Specialist should offer. Some agencies provide more, and some offer less; this was only a guideline.)
It’s Been A Month. Where is My Listing?
In this time and age, we all want everything right now, are anxious, and want instant results. SEO is not a sprint but a nice slow, paced technique with great results at the finish line. So many things are involved in ranking you on the top page, with new rules thrown out by Google and Bing daily, monthly, or yearly. If my client already has a Google Business Profile, I will manually test where we start by using a common organic search term for that type of business and see where the website is ranking. The most common starting position I’ve seen is on page 16 on Google. Unless you are the only person selling a product or offering a service no one else does, or you only have a few competitors in your area, you will not make that top page in a month.
PPC
I recommend starting a PPC Google Ad campaign if you want instant results. PPC is like advertising but sometimes worse. Unlike running an ad in your local newspaper, you can usually pick placement (front page, sports section, back page, etc.). With PPC, you are bidding on the best spot to show up against your competitors. Say you own a Landscape business and want to rank for the keyword “Landscaping,” the current cost per click is $4.33, but your biggest Competitor is paying $6.33 to be the first one shown in the “Sponsored” section. Guess what? You will need to get over $6.33 to get above him. Of course, you can celebrate if you land a $5000.00 job with that one click. Unfortunately, you rarely get a job off that first or maybe even the fifteenth click.
Again, PPC is great for starting, but your end goal is to get an SEO Agency to get you ranked on the 1st page and the 3-Pack to take the cost down from your PPC campaigns to gain organic traffic to your website. Depending on different factors, you will see a significant ranking jump and possibly page 1 in 3-5 months.
(* I recommend PPC advertising if the budget is there)
Ranking Page One and No Phone Calls!
No Phone Calls or Contact Forms from the website are the number one thing I hear from clients or business owners. My first thing is to check what traffic is coming to their website and where from. How many Views are they getting, what pages, and for how long? I do this before I say my famous words, “Maybe we need to look at your website.” Was your website developed to showcase a portfolio or to look better than your competitors?
Unless you are an artist showcasing your art, your website needs to turn visits into sales. I could write a 10,000-word blog/article or more on this subject alone. Remember, you hired an SEO Agency to get you ranked on the first page of the search engines. Suppose you get steady traffic from organic searches to your website but no calls or contacts wanting more information, pricing, etc. In that case, you may want to hire a website developer/designer to update your website with a modern look and feel. Sales funnel items to get people to push your Call To Action Button.
Conclusion
Don’t jump too soon to say a technique or person sucks. Most SEO specialists, Designers, Marketing specialists, and Web Developers are happy to let you know what is going on with your project(s). Give them a call, email, or text them. You might be surprised by what you may learn from reaching out.
SEO Sucks! Or Does It? | Blog Article | Written by: Larry O Miller, SEO After Coffee | All Rights Reserved | Greenville SC.