SEO Services

There are a variety of SEO services which offer solutions for ranking issues, and deficiencies. Depending on your goals, and needs one, or a combination, of the below services may be right for your website.

Types of SEO Services

An SEO campaign can consist of a variety of components, and be as simple as a one-time SEO audit, or as involved as an ongoing campaign that includes technical audits, content writing and development, link acquisition, and consulting services. Below are explanations of the services you can expect to encounter when selecting and SEO company.

Website SEO Audit

An SEO audit can come in varying levels of detail and complexity. A simple website audit can be as short as a few pages long. On the other hand, a comprehensive website SEO audit will be comprised of dozens of pages, picking appart even the most minute deficiency. The SEO audit would include recommendations about how to address each potential problem.

At the most basic level, an SEO service audit should address the basics covered in our Basic SEO Tutorial. With a basic audit, a website owner should expect to, at a minimum, receive a guide for how to fix major ranking issues. More comprehensive audits would also include ways to improve content, and backlinks.

Having a search engine friendly website is very important. But, it is not a guarantee for improved rankings. SEO takes time, and needs ongoing maintenance to produce reliable and stable rankings.

An SEO Audit Includes

• Technical Audit

  The technical audit reveals issues such as missing SSL certificates, slow site speed, and incorrect use of canonical tags. Each of these elements can contribute to rankings or ranking potential of a website or web page.

• Content Audit

  The SEO content audit evaluates the quality of the content in relation to the keywords for which rankings are desired. The audit would provide improvement opportunities, and ideas for future content expansion.

• Sitemap Audit

  For larger websites, well-designed HTML sitemap can be important. Every website has a crawl 'budget' with Google. A streamlined sitemap can help get the most important pages crawled and up-to-date in the index. Sitemaps are especially important for large ecommerce or directory sites.

• Structural HTML Audit

  This portion of the SEO service determines the deficiencies of the on-site HTML elements which have a direct impact on SEO. Thy include the title tag, headings, and internal links--there are others, but these are the most important. The audit will identify issues and also make recommendations & improvements.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is the process of implementing the improvements outlined by an SEO audit. These changes can be implemented by the website owner (if they have the capability) or an SEO company. On-page SEO should be part of all SEO packages. It is the foundation up on which a successful SEO campaign must be built. On-page SEO deals with page titles, headings, content, and internal link structure. To find a basic list of the areas that on-page optimization should cover, refer to the WiSEO SEO Tutorial.

Like a website audit, there are basic as well as comprehensive services when it comes to on-page SEO. On-page SEO can be a one-time project which applies the fixes recommended through an SEO audit. These types of audits would target the home page, and a few other important pages on a website. More comprehensive campaigns would use initial findings to fix existing problems, and check for new issues that may occur.

Often, on-page SEO work does not need updating (e.g. when a site has evergreen content). But even in these cases, a periodic audit can help uncover, and prevent potential problems from accumulating.

On-Page SEO Services Include

• Content Tweaks & Optimization

  After completion of keyword research, the process of content optimization can begin. Existing content will go through optimization utilizing the selected keywords. And, new content will be created around keywords which are not yet optimized.

• Internal Link Optimization

  The internal link structure of a website plays a major role in highlighting the importance of keywords. The optimization occurs through relevant contextual and navigational link development. The links guide the search engine spiders along the most desirable paths.

• Tag Optimization

  There are a variety of HTML tags which, when properly used, can contribute to the optimization. The most important of such tags include titles, headings, and images. Other tags play a role, but in a more limited capacity.

• Navigation Optimization

  The navigation structure of a website is important for usability, and efficient crawling. A well-designed website navigation will help search engine spiders navigate a website efficiently. Part of internal link optimization occurs through the internal navigational links.

SEO content refers to website content which positively impacts search engine rankings. Textual content types include articles, white papers, essays, research documents, tutorials, and glossaries. Visual content includes infographics, stock photos, and icons. There are also other types of content such as PDFs, searchable databases, and web tools. These are some common examples of web content. It is important to note that depending on the niche of your website, the type of useful content will vary.

'SEO content' should be more accurately described as 'high quality content'. High quality and useful content will also attract inbound natural links. These links are invaluable for improved rankings.

When researching content topics, it is best to aim for quality instead of quantity. Seeking out 'SEO content' can lead to low quality articles which act as a place to include keywords.

SEO content writing services can contribute to improved rankings. This is only true if shortcuts are not taken, and content is not expected to perform magic. Content development and optimization is a slow, and time-consuming process. Well written, interesting, and useful content will get attention on its own merits. But, it also helps lay the foundation for successful link development campaigns.

SEO Content Development Services Include

• Textual Content

  The most common form of content is basic text. This is the type of text that search engines can easily 'read' and interpret. The content development process uses the findings of a content audit to fill in areas in which a website lacks strong content.

• Images & Infographics

  In some instances it is appropriate to use images and graphics to develop visual content for a website. One of the most engaging types of visual content are infographics, distilling large amounts of information into an entertaining package.

• Optimized Product Copy

  Product copy should not only be able to sell, but to also take care to describe the products in a manner which is understandable to machines (e.g. search engine spiders & algorithms).

• Optimized Blog Posts

  Not all content can reside as part of the main site--that's where blogs come in. Optimized blog posts can play a great role in targeting long-tail keywords that cannot be properly incorporated into the the website.

Link Development

Link development is a divisive topic in SEO circles. It is the topic most talked and written about in search engine optimization blogs. SEO backlinks are arguably the most vital component of any SEO campaign. They can be time consuming, and expensive to get. So, there are many services which offer inexpensive options. Unfortunately, the lower cost also translates into low quality. The low quality of incoming links can in fact be detrimental. So, it is important to stay away from such offerings. If you come across a monthly SEO campaign offering which is only $500 and includes link work, it may mean that the links will be of low quality. This is not to say that you can't get link-work for $500 per month. But, it won't be for a large volume of links.

Good quality link development work focuses on quality rather than quantity. A well-researched and relevant, good quality link is worth many times more than hundreds of free directory submissions.

The fundamentals of link building are based on good quality and valuable content. If there is no good content on your site to which people can link, it will be very difficult to convince them to do so.

Link Development Services Include

• Earned Mentions

  Interesting, good, or even controversial content gets mentions. Any mention or link that is not solicited or actively sought is an earned mention. This is the ideal link to have, as it (in most cases) proves that the website has done its job of delivering good and useful information.

• Outbound Solicitations

  Sometimes it is necessary to give the earned mentions a jumpstart. New sites, or ones that have recently been overhauled, may need outbound link solicitation. This outreach would aim to point out the improved quality of the content which has been developed.

• Competitive Parity Outreach

  Competitive link analysis and outreach is another important part of link development. It is not possible to be at perfect link parity with a competitor but working to get some overlap in link profiles is certainly worthwhile SEO exercise.

• Presence Mentions

  Another important way of earning links is participation in panel discussions, and interviews. Writing articles for online publications (which offer a linked byline) can also be helpful. This type of activity can produce high quality links, and develop positive brand recognition.

Code Optimization

Code optimization is part of technical SEO. At the most basic level, it is the streamlining of the HTML code of a website. The optimization of your HTML can impact search engine rankings in two ways. First, it can help alleviate code-clutter. This helps present your content in an easy-to-understand (for search engines) format. Second, it can help reduce the load-time of your website pages. This helps improve user experience which is something that plays a large role in how search engine algorithms evaluate web pages.

Depending on the complexity of your website, there may be few or many opportunities for code optimization.

SEO Consulting Services

SEO consulting is meant to provide professional SEO guidance to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a comprehensive SEO campaign. It can also be suitable for those who would like to have an SEO advisor at their disposal.

Legitimate SEO consultants would provide white hat (in compliance with Google guidelines) techniques. And, provide clients with guidance that will help their website move closer to being search engine friendly in increments.

Keep in mind that SEO is not a magic solution to your ranking problems. Some issues can have an easy solution. But, often there is the need for sustained and ongoing SEO services, either as consultation or active SEO.

SEO Pricing - How Much Does SEO Cost?

The price of SEO services depends on a variety of factors. The quality of work, and the country in which the SEO work is performed plays a huge role in the cost of an SEO campaign. The experience of the search engine optimizer, and the breadth of services provided will also impact pricing. It is also important to keep the level of competition in your industry in mind. The more competitive, the more costly your campaign will be.

To evaluate an SEO proposal, shoppers should weigh the cost, to the potential gain from the work. SEO is not able to produce a positive ROI in every given scenario. The below price ranges are a general guideline, and is not meant to provide specifics for your particular campaign.

High cost is not necessarily indicative of a high quality campaign proposal. But, if the price too good to be true, it probably is.

Please note that these are general guidelines when it comes to pricing. Each SEO agency has their own version of pricing, and service packages. If you are wondering whether the pricing you have received is fair (and makes sense) feel free to contact us for an assessment.

Types of SEO Campaign Pricing

Avoid getting caught up in the hype of low SEO pricing. You get what you pay for.SEO services come in a variety of types. This establishes a helpful way of discussing pricing as it is not possible to translate the pricing from one type of service to another. We will also discuss elements of the campaign which should have no bearing on the price.

One-Time SEO

Price Range: $1,000.00 - $100,000+

One-time SEO, as the name suggests, is a one-off service which is comprised of an on-site optimization, and is generally accompanied by several hours of follow-up consulting to explain the work, and provide guidance for the client moving forward. The pricing for such a service is highly dependent on the size and complexity of the site. The competitiveness of the market for a business does not come into play, as the work is meant to address any deficiencies in regards to technical, organizational, and contextual nature.

Note: the difference between a one-time SEO service and an SEO audit is that the one-time SEO offering includes hands on work on the website; whereas an SEO site audit is basically a document which details the finding of the SEO professional, with directions about how implement changes and undertake fixes.

SEO Site audits

Price Range: $500 - $100,000+

An SEO audit is similar to one-time SEO; however, it does not include hands-on work on the client's website; instead, the audit document details the deficiencies of a website, identifies opportunities, and provides a roadmap of how to implement changes and exploit the uncovered opportunities.

Local SEO (Monthly)

Price Range: $250 - $5,000 per month

Local SEO services are for low competition small businesses which serve a limited geographic area with high population density, or a large area with low population density. The types of businesses which are best suited for local SEO include small print shops, car washes, or professional services. There are of course, high competition categories such as legal and medical services, which will have costs on the higher end of the price range.

National SEO (Monthly)

Price Range: $750 - $10,000+ per month

This robust SEO offering, as the name suggests is suitable for businesses which target a national audience, and would like high rankings without geographical limitations within a given country. Many of these businesses are ecommerce site which introduces another level of complication to the search engine optimization process. Like local SEO, the level of competition has a very wide scale, which is reflected in the price.

SEO by the Hour

Price Range: $50 - $700 per hour

SEO services which are billed hourly can either be monthly or on an as-needed basis. The charges are based on the number of hours spent during a given time-period (usually one month). The hourly price depends mostly on the experience level and technical sophistication of the search engine optimizer. The below price-range does not take into consideration overseas (outside of the United States) service providers.

SEO Elements Which Should Not Impact the Price

Above, we discussed the variety of situations and factors which impact SEO pricing; however, there are several elements which are often used to justify cost. The below list is comprised of the most common of those factors which should not impact pricing.

• Number of keywords to be worked on as part of the SEO campaign
• The volume of link acquisitions (a proper SEO campaign does not aim to generate a high volume of links)
• Number of pages to be optimized (an ongoing campaign would optimize a growing number of pages if and when the health and search engine friendliness of the site calls for it)