Why Do Some SEO Companies Charge More Than Others?

Search engine optimization can be a complicated and heady process. Many small business owners understand that they need it, but they may not necessarily know why. If one thinks SEO is the same regardless of who does it, they may be inclined to believe it is all the same service, no matter what.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization in the simplest terms is the process of making it easy for people to find your business on the internet. If you’ve ever been hungry in a new city, you’ve probably typed “food near me” into Google and been presented with a long list of restaurants. Search engine optimization is what gets a restaurant closer to the top of that list.

The SEO process builds your reputation online and makes search engines recognize you above your competitors for the same products or services. In the age where people cannot leave their house without first conducting five Google searches about what they’re going to do while they’re out, SEO is of critical importance.

What Does SEO Entail?

SEO utilizes keywords, links, on page optimization and content to establish a digital version of your “street cred”. Google wants to give people what they’re looking for. Your keywords need to align with the keywords that searchers use to find things. Having valuable links to your website from credible sources all over the internet demonstrates that people trust you or recognize you as an authority.

Google uses algorithms to determine all of this information. These algorithms seem to change every few months and have since Google’s inception. They’re also mostly secret. SEO experts have to test Google’s limits and reverse engineer what they’ve done to determine the best SEO strategy for everyone.

What most people don’t realize is that this is something SEO pros only have to do once per update. The information will work for every client. There is no separate and lengthy mystical process for everyone who walks through their doors. It’s about finding the formula and sticking to it.

Why Do Some Companies Charge So Much Less?

The reality of the matter is that you will get what you pay for. Some SEO companies charge a lot less, because they know they don’t plan to do any work beyond the initial fixing of technical issues on your site. They’re completely obfuscating you, and throwing tech terms around to make the process as mysterious as possible. You would think they’re moving mountains on your behalf, but the reality is, they are just cashing your check and sending you a report monthly full of technical jargon.

If they are not building new content that constantly adds new keywords, it’s not doing you much good. If they are not adding new backlinks or adding new backlinks that are irrelevant or spammy, you are better off doing nothing.

That $199-$400 a month SEO is a waste of your money. It only seems inexpensive in comparison to pricing by firms that are truly devoted to making a difference. You can spend $199 a month on absolutely nothing, or you can spend a little more for actual results. A cheap company might occasionally answer the phone for that amount. They may even throw in a useless blog post or two for the privilege of eating away at your budget.

What A Full-Service SEO Does

Our Tucson SEO service does a lot more than cleaning up technical issues. We start there, and constantly work to refine anything that may hinder your full potential. We constantly have our ear to the ground to find out what the latest best practices are, as they change constantly. Google can be tricky – let us worry about them. It’s our job to stay in the know.

We add new pages and well researched blog posts that add value and incorporate the keywords you need to rank. Your blog is backup reinforcement, and it provides endless opportunities to strengthen your website’s attachments to those valuable keywords.

We’re constantly strategizing to find you great backlinks. Without high quality relevant backlinks, you can find your site either going nowhere in the rankings or backward quickly. If no one credible is linking to you, Google might get the impression that you’re less credible.

The quality of the backlinks is sometimes more important than the quantity of backlinks. You can pay to have your link posted on a useless website that exists solely for that purpose, and many cheaper SEO companies take that route. Google wised up to that practice, and they know how to recognize it. No bad deed goes unpunished. If you get enough bad quality links, you can find yourself in Google’s penalty phase (where your site will not show up in rankings at all). 

Finding a Reputable SEO Company

Ethics are extremely important. You need to work with an SEO company who is willing to explain the process to you in terms that you understand. No one can guarantee SEO results, no matter how much they huff, puff, and promise. Knowledgeable SEO experts want business owners to be involved in the process, rather than hiding or overcomplicating things so that business owners don’t understand what they’re paying for.

If you’re having a tough time finding an SEO company to provide you with a reasonable quote for services you actually understand, we’re always here for you at Tucson SEO Pros.