How much should I expect to pay for a reasonable SEO plan?

[Baz Watkins]

Hi all,

In the next few months I’m looking to buy some professional SEO services, and I was wondering what would be the cost to target a standard long tail keyword for each of my primary services, and what reasonable position could I expect, and how long would it take – weeks, months etc? Also how much would additional seo services like steady, natural link building cost?

Unfortunately I know this is a big ask, and I suspect it will be a piece of string answer, but a basic idea would help me plan my finances. I offer website design, PPC, Copywriting, the usual one man band stuff. I currently offer basic seo myself, but I’m only a newbie at it, and I have nowhere near the expertise that the guy's and gals on here do. I’ll be dropping it soon anyway and spreading the tasks involved into my other services, so please don’t have a go at me for that.

To help, I know that getting anywhere with ‘web design’ would be tough and expensive, but how much would it be to get the top for long tail variants such as ‘web design Aberystwyth’, ‘web design Wales’, or ‘Joomla web design’?

Basically I need to make sure that I know what it should cost to get the desired results, as I can’t afford to spend money long term, so I would be looking at an occasional seo hit as the money allowed.

Thanks, B.

 

[MarcusMiller]

Well, website design can be a tough one as so many companies drop a footer link into all sites they build but the more long term you go, then the easier it gets.

Web design is such a broad term and I would imagine you don't offer everything under the website design umbrella so try to be more focussed in your efforts.

A quick google for this term returns no relevant results:
Joomla web design aberystwyth

In fact, this very post comes 5th with some directories and a few facebook pages above it so simply creating that content on your site and getting a couple of low grade anchor text links (think articles etc) should do it.

If I was you I would start with a close look at what you want to sell and some simple keyword research. Then build the service pages targeting your long tail phrases and ideally for areas that have little to no competition like the above.

As a one man band, you don't need 100 enquiries a day, and maybe a couple of good enquiries a week could keep you going.

Then, over time, as you get more busy and possibly want to expand, go after some of the more competitive terms.

Hope it helps, give me a shout if I can help - it's friday and I am avoiding starting anything new
Marcus

 

[Moderator]

IMPORTANT:
If anyone contacts you via Pm to try and offer you services, please report the PM and we will deal with it.

sending unsolicited private messages is against the rules and will result in an infraction.

 

[maccke]

To get a decent SEO service, I would expect £350-700 a month for 5-10 keywords similar to the one you mention (ie:
'web design Aberystwyth', 'web design Wales', or 'Joomla web design'?)

 

[RadiusBPO]

For fairly low competition keywords I'd say about £50 per keyword. Get an exact match domain, get variety of links from someone and you will rank pretty well without much effort.

 

[theaffiliate]

In the next few months I’m looking to buy some professional SEO services, and I was wondering what would be the cost to target a standard long tail keyword for each of my primary services, and what reasonable position could I expect, and how long would it take – weeks, months etc?

You don't optimise for long tail searches, they come naturally.

Also how much would additional seo services like steady, natural link building cost?

Naturally link building is exactly that, natural. It won't cost you anything. Any type of link building which isn't natural will be what costs you.

Maccke - Would love to hear how you are a "#1 SEO Company"? Please do explain as at the moment I'm tempted to head over to the ASA website and report a bunch of unscrupulous SEO companies...

 

[maccke]

Maccke - Would love to hear how you are a "#1 SEO Company"? Please do explain as at the moment I'm tempted to head over to the ASA website and report a bunch of unscrupulous SEO companies...

I just launched my own company mate; sorry to offend you with my signature I will change it..

However, I aim to become one of the leading UK SEO company within one year, in terms of results for clients and my own companies highly set keyword targets. SEO is an ongoing process and top ranking don’t happen overnight for the competitive keywords. So let’s see how well it goes in a year from now.

 

[theaffiliate]

No problem, your website looks very nice indeed, I just hate seeing SEO companies use phrases like that which aren't backed up.

 

[RadiusBPO]

And nice domain

Could never get the keyword "SEO Specialist" to convert though, are you managing to??

 

Hi all,

In the next few months I’m looking to buy some professional SEO services, and I was wondering what would be the cost to target a standard long tail keyword for each of my primary services, and what reasonable position could I expect, and how long would it take – weeks, months etc? Also how much would additional seo services like steady, natural link building cost?

Unfortunately I know this is a big ask, and I suspect it will be a piece of string answer, but a basic idea would help me plan my finances. I offer website design, PPC, Copywriting, the usual one man band stuff. I currently offer basic seo myself, but I’m only a newbie at it, and I have nowhere near the expertise that the guy's and gals on here do. I’ll be dropping it soon anyway and spreading the tasks involved into my other services, so please don’t have a go at me for that.

To help, I know that getting anywhere with ‘web design’ would be tough and expensive, but how much would it be to get the top for long tail variants such as ‘web design Aberystwyth’, ‘web design Wales’, or ‘Joomla web design’?

Basically I need to make sure that I know what it should cost to get the desired results, as I can’t afford to spend money long term, so I would be looking at an occasional seo hit as the money allowed.

Thanks, B.

The cost will depend on what keywords you target and the cachement area .

big difference between "web designer" and web designer wales"

an SEO should be looking to target 100's of phrases if not thousands.

Earl

 

[RBS]

Markus,

SEO school is great - thank you!

 

[MASSEY]

For fairly low competition keywords I'd say about £50 per keyword. Get an exact match domain, get variety of links from someone and you will rank pretty well without much effort.

50 pound a keyword for things like "web designer Birmingham" for instance. Im suprised so low... these web design companies usually have backlink profiles of very good quality and lots of it.

 

[theaffiliate]

50 pound a keyword for things like "web designer Birmingham" for instance. Im suprised so low... these web design companies usually have backlink profiles of very good quality and lots of it.

He said for fairly low competition terms... if there were strong backlink profiles for terms like "web designer Birmingham" then it wouldn't be low competition would it?

 

[MASSEY]

He said for fairly low competition terms... if there were strong backlink profiles for terms like "web designer Birmingham" then it wouldn't be low competition would it?

Well the op is a designer, so his terms aren't going to be 'low' competition, they will be relatively time consuming

 

[RadiusBPO]

50 pound a keyword for things like "web designer Birmingham" for instance. Im suprised so low... these web design companies usually have backlink profiles of very good quality and lots of it.

But for something like "joomla web designer birmingham" or "web designers torquay" it would be fine. Sure low search volume, but 1 job from that will pay for itself.

 

[theaffiliate]

Well the op is a designer, so his terms aren't going to be 'low' competition, they will be relatively time consuming

Just because he's a designer doesn't mean all terms are going to be high. There will be plenty of little golden nuggets which others haven't thought to target as they're all blinded by the high search volumes of popular keywords... especially true for other designers who won't know SEO and just stick "web design ____" in their clients' footers.

 

[trebor8]

an idea ot keep costs down, maybe to outlay the higher competitive keywords to the pro's and try do the other less competitive ones yourself, - picking up any tips and tricks you may find from the pro's as you go along

 

[RobinJames]

Sorry to barge in, but I'm looking around at the moment for a new SEO company for Planet, because I'm concerned our current SEO is: a) too much money b) our rankings have recently slumped... Anyway, just reading through this and looked at your site - if you want to be taken seriously can I recommend you advertise a landline or freephone number - advertising just a mobile number can make you look very 'one-man band', yet your site doesn't portray that, so just the contact number is letting down your 'look'.

I run Planet Numbers and am happy to offer a discount on our services, if of interest.

 

[essex_wiganer]

I'm glad somebody brought up the #1 issue I find it incredible that people claim to #1 or more annoying an 'expert' with 3 months experience! I wrote a dissertation at University on SEO and have 2 years working experience yet I would not be able to consider myself an expert if I went for a job.

Rant over and this was not a personal attack I like your style although 12 months to be the best is ambitious ;-).

Going back to the question I would safetly say you could get SEO services from a freelance company for £300-£500 although a full review of your keywords would be needed. Believe it or not in my experience a lot of leads for web design work is not created via Google search maybe look in to what your ROI would be for spending X amount per month on SEO.

 

[123Simples]

There are several times of Search Engine Optimization available and with them, several types of costs. Most reputable web design companies should have created your website to be search engine friendly in the first place, but on site optimization to get just normal results (organic results) should not have to cost you an arm and a leg. As to the question how long will it take, then how long is a piece of string? It depends on Google and how often a site is checked by bots, as to when the cached results will change. SEO is an art, but it does not have to cost you the price of an artists painting either.

 

[shanegabriel]

to mackee and RadiusBPO. Indeed, having someone to work with your website could be expensive. But, tell me how many days would you get me into top 1 in the list for just one keyword?

 

[shanegabriel]

I think my site is already optimized "I think". I like to have five keywords each keywords has two words. How much does it cost?

 

[RBS]

Depends what your keywords are. Cost will wary depending on competition.

 

[tom55]

Depends what your keywords are. Cost will wary depending on competition.

I'll say from 300 per month and up

 

[shanegabriel]

Oh... I see... I'll try search my keywords I love to be optimized then try some calculation by myself. But, may I ask... How those it cost in average? :|

 

[gingerdad]

we used someone last year and for our key terms we are coming up 1 or 2 on goolge, cost about 350 per month for 6 months, we left it for 6 months and just reveiwing it, with an eye on doing another 6 months worth. our website visits are up 184% so no complaints, money well spent.

 

[shanegabriel]

So, do you mean that if I want my site to be in top pages... It would take 6months or more?...:|

 

[gingerdad]

on ours they spent 6 months on it and its now top, we've given it a rest for 6 months and may start again to keep it there.

 

[We Do PPI Claims]

gigerdad would you mind PM'ing me the details of the company you use?

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Believe it or not in my experience a lot of leads for web design work is not created via Google search maybe look in to what your ROI would be for spending X amount per month on SEO.

Tend to agree. Small fish in very big pond...

 

[shanegabriel]

on ours they spent 6 months on it and its now top, we've given it a rest for 6 months and may start again to keep it there.

So do you mean you hired someone else to do in you website... Hmmmm :|

 

[milian]

So, do you mean that if I want my site to be in top pages... It would take 6months or more?...:|

Could be longer, could be shorter, could be never! Far to many things to consider that we dont know to give any kind of answer.

Also you have to remember that in whatever sector you are in, every one else is doing SEO and fighting for the top spot.

 

[shanegabriel]

I heard that there's a faster way to SEO the site... Is that, accepted or what?:|

 

[milian]

yes, PPC.

 

[gytisdesign]

I need SEO for my website customwordpresstheme.co.uk
keywords wordpress theme designer and wordpress desiner
how mutch ?

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I need SEO for my website customwordpresstheme.co.uk
keywords wordpress theme designer and wordpress desiner
how mutch ?

You really should start your own thread in tenders, otherwise it will get lost in this one and is in fact really hijacking someone elses' thread

 

[JohnnyCash]

Plus paying someone to do seo on a domain you might lose anyway might not be the smartest idea.

http://wordpress.org/about/domains/

For various reasons related to our WordPress trademark, we ask if you're going to start a site about WordPress or related to it that you not use "WordPress" in the domain name. Try using "wp" instead, or another variation. We're not lawyers, but very good ones tell us we have to do this to preserve our trademark. Also many users have told us they find it confusing.

 

[gytisdesign]

thanks for information!!!