Being in the business of marketing search engine optimization services, I am often asked by those with do-it-yourself ambitions; “How much time and energy should be required for a good SEO campaign?” They are sometimes very surprised at my answer. Sometimes I find myself overwhelmed with the sheer number of hours necessary to fully market a site online. Actually, I can’t even say there is such a thing as “fully” marketing a site online as there are truly an endless number of marketing options just within SEO tactics. There are so many things that need to be done while adhering to the client’s budget. These things require time –a limited commodity, even for the do-it-yourself approach.
Ninety percent of online SEO marketing services are based on time and most of these services are estimated and billed on an hourly basis going into each project: writing, analyzing, tweaking, optimizing, communicating, reporting, etc. Largely, I think it’s hard for any client to fully understand all of this, especially those “bargain hunters” starting out with a very restrictive budget.
But still, 10 hours, or even 20 hours per month spent on an optimization campaign isn’t a whole lot once you break down everything that goes into it. Here is a simple breakdown of what I would consider an adequate, high-quality SEO campaign:
Keyword Research: Can take up to 10 hours initially, or more for extensive research, and perhaps another 30 minutes each month for additional research.
- Page Optimization: 3-6 hours (per page) for text and code development/optimization.
- Usability/Conversion Analysis & Reporting: 2-12 hours/month depending on depth of testing and reporting analysis.
- Link Building/Research: 10-40 hours per month depending on the size of the site.
- Miscellaneous Campaign Management: 2-10 hours per month depending on size of site.
Depending on the SEO service provider’s method of billing, the bulk of this can be an upfront payment for a predetermined number of pages with little ongoing maintenance- sometimes after paying a pro to set this up, maintenance can be carried on by the site owner. Or, payment can be spread out monthly and include ongoing research, optimization and link development. I grouped a lot of little things together above for brevity, but spending 20 hours per month (averaged over 12-months) isn’t all that hard to achieve and will usually harvest abundant results.
For the SEO pro, sometimes the hard part is convincing clients to invest in our time a.k.a. package costs. In reality, they are investing capital in their business by purchasing our time, that we in turn invest in their website. It’s not how much money the client is paying for SEO, it’s how much time their money will allow the SEO to invest in their website.
The Internet has attracted many new business owners who thought (some rightfully and some not) that they could simply build a website and start making money in their spare time. Many people have become successful and probably a great deal more have not.
Any business –on-line or off, requires investment of resources; both time and money:
- If you have neither time nor money, there will be no success.
- If you have time and not money, success is possible, but you may run out of time before it happens!
- If you have money but not time, success will depend on proper preparation and planning. It will be fleeting should you choose the wrong SEO pro.
- If you have both time and money, you will most likely enjoy success, but as with any business, a properly managed business plan is required.
Obviously, with a wad of money in one hand and a lot of time in the other – you are in the best position. If you want to optimize your site for search engines you need both, and you must be prepared to spend both as well. Look at your options, but don’t consider pricing only. Price (high or low) is NOT an indicator of what will be a more successful campaign. Remember the old adage “When you pay peanuts you get monkeys” SEO professionals can be found all over the world, so there is quite a pool of human resources available. A Dollar or Euro goes further in some places than others, and true talent and skill easily crosses many borders.
Costly marketing will still fail, if the business plan is not solid and well thought out. Cheap marketing will usually only produce cheap results.
Time consuming efforts without the proper expertise can also set up the aspiring Internet entrepreneur for the fall.
Instead of thinking only in terms of cost, consider the ROI (return on investment) expected for your money. Look at the long-term goals. If you really want to succeed with optimization be prepared to invest, and as with any good investment - allow it to fully mature. Only then will your search engine optimization marketing campaign prove successful.
