SEO?!

[AT700]

Hello

I'm working on a Business plan for my new start up and looking to put together a budget for Marketing.

I'm hoping to generate the majority of sales online so therefore need to invest in SEO. Having no understanding of SEO, I was hoping the users of UKBF could help in advising a cost range?

I'd need my Website on the first page of Google ideally ranking No1. What should I expect to pay for this Service?

Thanks in advance..

 

[ITsoldUK]

Hello

I'm working on a Business plan for my new start up and looking to put together a budget for Marketing.

I'm hoping to generate the majority of sales online so therefore need to invest in SEO. Having no understanding of SEO, I was hoping the users of UKBF could help in advising a cost range?

I'd need my Website on the first page of Google ideally ranking No1. What should I expect to pay for this Service?

Thanks in advance..

More specifics needed I am afraid...

What sector are you in is a good place to start...

Getting your company name to Number 1 could be easy, getting MacBook Air to Number 1 will cost a shed load of cash and even then could take forever to get anywhere near Page 1 never mind about Number 1...

 

[AT700]

Thanks ITsoldUK for your response..

Apologies for coming across a little vague, as mentioned in my original post when it comes to SEO it absolutely baffles me! :|

Answer to your question is the Construction sector. A very niche area within the Industry being internal Glass and Glazing products such as partitioning.

Many Thanks.

 

[terryuk]

SEO prices are mostly dependent on the niche or market you operate and your location which can help show competitive that field is.

I would ask around a few local and further field companies and see what they come up with. A lot of companies charge different rates for the same or different services.

You should be looking at; maps, ppc, organic search if you have a business plan to succeed

 

[AT700]

Thanks TerryUk.

Have done that tonight! Costs do vary massively..

Thanks again.

 

[Successukdotcom]

Thanks TerryUk.

Have done that tonight! Costs do vary massively..

Thanks again.

You could use a website designer with SEO as part of the package.....
just go to google and type in website designer and your town eg Spalding to locate a seo website designer who knows their stuff!

 

[Bright-Future]

Getting to first page of Google can take a very long time, and that's if it's done right. As other respondents have said, ensure you get a web designer who knows their stuff when it comes to SEO and then decide what are your best options when it comes to a continued SEO campaign. Also, a new Google update is soon to be released so make sure that any person/agency dealing with your SEO is up to speed with that!

 

[Metalfrogboss]

Simply, in our world time equals money. Do your maths for cost, turnover and profit of your business. When we design and develop a site we do it knowing these facts, plus analyse your competition online, and look at an online marketing strategy with specific aims in mind. One clients needs are different from another but , normally, all want a return on investment and I have online shops ranking for valuable search terms while having a formal holding page prior to site going live. This is real online marketing with purpose. Likewise page 1 is fantastic to tell your friends but conversion provides sanity with sales and a thriving business.
Hope that helps
Cheers
Chris

 

[AlexJeffers]

Be careful when picking your SEO company, a lot of them will promise so much but deliver so little, make sure when you pick one that they will give you regular updates about how well your site is ranking, ask them where they are going to be pasting backlinks for your site and exactly what they will be doing while 'optimising' your site.

The best thing you can do from your end is create as much relevant, unique content as possible and have it in the right sections of your site

 

[justinmarch]

You could use a website designer with SEO as part of the package.....
just go to google and type in website designer and your town eg Spalding to locate a seo website designer who knows their stuff!

Or pick an SEO that does web design...

Doesn't every web designer do SEO?

 

[fisicx]

Doesn't every web designer do SEO?

No.

The skills need to create an engaging and converting website are different to those need to do SEO or copywriting or graphic design or programming or whatever).

In exactly the same way an architect isn't the person to call if you want your house decorated. They can probably do both but it doesn't mean they will be good at doing both.

 

[businessfunding]

Personally my first stop would be to talk to a marketing person whose knowledge encompasses SEO before you contact an SEO 'expert'

Without a coherent marketing strategy SEO will achieve nothing..

 

[markrobin]

Getting to first page of Google can take a very long time, and that's if it's done right. As other respondents have said, ensure you get a web designer who knows their stuff when it comes to SEO and then decide what are your best options when it comes to a continued SEO campaign. Also, a new Google update is soon to be released so make sure that any person/agency dealing with your SEO is up to speed with that!

I agree with this answer that get one position is time consuming and its take very long time.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Or download the Google SEO Guide and do a large proportion of the work yourself and see how it goes

If you are one of only 5 chimney sweeps in say Norwich then regardless of what you do as long as you highlight Norwich and Chimney sweep well enough in your home page and describe what you do etc and your area then you are guaranteed to be on page one

If you are trying to get Chimney Sweep uk wide then it's a much bigger problem you need to undertake

First design your site to sell your product / Service along with using SEO to assist

Google is good for telling you what you need to do to rank and doing it yourself is good knowledge you can use later

 

[DPearce]

I would always suggest to try and learn basic SEO yourself, it's a good skill to learn and isn't all too difficult, yet it will save you a fair bit of money; of course if you have the money for a professional go for it.
It can vary but expect to spend a few hundred, real ball-park figure here.
Construction companies can also benefit greatly from other forms
- Leaflets
- Local advertisements online (Gumtree, Craiglist, FridaysAds etc)
- Shop window ads
- Van with contact details
- Word of mouth

Once you get your name out there and build an inital customer base things will pick-up.

 

[Oakley7]

Without a coherent marketing strategy SEO will achieve nothing..

+1

Tread carefully.

It's great having aspirations to be number 1 in Google but sometimes it's simply an unrealistic ask, and no sensible amount of money will achieve it. In many instances it depends what you're "up against".

However, being near the "front" is obviously crucial to the success of your business so I would advise undertaking an analytical audit of other sites that curently achieve this status. What makes them so different that they are already there ? Once you've acquired this data then you might want to feed it into your marketing strategy and plan accordingly.

 

[NextPoint]

If you are only just starting your business and are only looking for a website as a way to sell online, the question is do you really need to start with a website? SEO is costly and takes time, pay per click can be costly. There are better options to start with that will make you sales faster without the upfront costs. I wrote an article on whether startup busnesses need a website - feel free to check it out.

 

[transcom]

Hi,
over the years (20 of them) we tried all advertising and SEO mediums, some costing a fortune, most with false promises.

The best thing we ever did was to wordpress all the companies divisions, and install an SEO plugin, currently, we use YOAST, and its pretty good all round.

As for number 1 in google... a dream we would all like, but not really a reality, aim for first page at the most, but this is very dependent on your key words or even search phrase.

Goto google and type in the phrase or word you would like to bring your site up, then look at the structure and content placement of site on the first page, its a good way to start.

Bill

 

[Danmon]

You will fist need to get your marketing strategy in place. According work out how much you will have to spend on SEO.
If you are going to create a new website, getting it on page 1 will definitely take some time. In the mean while try getting traffic from other sources. Like classified sites(gumtree etc), google maps and try ppc.
Google adwords works wonders if you do it correctly.

Doesn't every web designer do SEO?

Absolutely not.
Not everyone who owns a DSLR is a photographer.

 

[lazypbx]

Most of what you read about SEO, especially from SEO evangelists is rubbish.
How much can you spend on SEO ? You might as well be asking how long is a piece of string.

Here's the truth about SEO, the search engines want to index your site correctly. If you site is providing the most relevant information to what the searcher is looking for then traffic will come to you. It might take a little time, but it will come. If you want information about search optimisation go to youtube and check out googles videos (yes they want to help you).

 

[sonammaal]

Everyone wants their business link on No.1 in google but its not guaranteed by any SEO Company. If any company does then they might give you that result for your company name only not for your products or services you offers, Even google tell to keep yourself away from such paid company. SEO will help for better visibilty in search results though keep your services best and customers happy that way it will lead you up.. there are no shortcuts..

 

[Londonish09]

I'm hoping to generate the majority of sales online so therefore need to invest in SEO.

Since you're doing to get orders online, you have the following options:
1) PPC (PPL/PPA) ads like Google AdWords, Bing Ads, banners etc. You'll have to pay for every click/lead/action a visitor makes to get to your website. This is a very effective way to start with since it affords getting first visitors really fast, and doesn't take too much effort compared to SEO results (but may cost a fortune in some niches)

2) SEO. This lets you show up in organic search engines' results for free, but requires some efforts to get to the first page of SERPs. What is more, SEO requires time since you'll hardly get results fast (Google and other SEs even have some filters that give more trust to old websites). Thus you'll have to invest before getting SEO-results.

Having no understanding of SEO, I was hoping the users of UKBF could help in advising a cost range?

Costs may vary from from £100/month (like webgeek offers here) up to tens of thousands for 2-hour consulting when working for a big company with a big SEO agency (yes, I've seen a contract for 80,000 for just 2 hours of consulting). So it really depends on what exactly you need and what's you niche is.

 

[adsengine]

Tell us a little more about your business we may be able to give you a few ideas.

Please be careful if your concentrating on the get me to the top of google option. You can be sure that there are a scores of other website owners all trying the same thing, all taking risks spamming blogs, using keyword in domain sites etc.. all looking for a quick win.

You won't build a stable business, a business which is still trading in 5 years if you take the same risks that most of the other numpties.

The days of a quick SEO win are almost over, to do things right you need to build trust and thats not something "most" seoers will provide.

Build a brand, build trust, don't use an SEO company who promises to get you first page results quickly.

Atb


Dave

 

[SimonAntonySEO]

Hi AT700!

Like other forms of advertising the amount you spend really depends on what the objectives are (sorry to be vague) - the more you spend the better the results, it's just finding the most profitable level for you. I sometimes find it helpful to describe keywords like markets: just as some markets are easier to get into than others, so certain search phrases are easier to rank for. For this reason it might be worth thinking about the specific objectives and overall strategy first before setting a budget.

However, off the top of my head; the niche you are in should not be overly competitive so you could start on a lower budget (but I wouldn't recommend anything less than around £50 per month simply because you won't get a lot for this). But a good SEO expert should be pragmatic and be able to offer suggestions and ways to achieve the best results within a particular budget constraint.

It's worth also looking at this broadly and considering social media, featured adverts and other online tactics as part of the SEO - many good SEO companies will offer this too and these tactics might actually help get your message to the right people more effectively. It might be worth having a think about your target customers and asking:

• What do your potential customers want (think of the different products you want to be found for)
• What are these people likely to search for? (get a list of keywords that you want your site to be visible for)
• What other websites are they likely to visit (can you get links or featured advert in them?)

It might even be worth finding a company you feel you can talk to (prospectively) about what can be done before signing up. If they are good they should offer decent advice, if they are bad they will try and push the pen into your hand to sign before you've had a chance to discuss what your requirements are!

 

[FixingInternet]

Most of what you read about SEO, especially from SEO evangelists is rubbish.
How much can you spend on SEO ? You might as well be asking how long is a piece of string.

Here's the truth about SEO, the search engines want to index your site correctly. If you site is providing the most relevant information to what the searcher is looking for then traffic will come to you. It might take a little time, but it will come. If you want information about search optimisation go to youtube and check out googles videos (yes they want to help you).

I have to echo every single word.

 

[astutiumRob]

I'd need my Website on the first page of Google ideally ranking No1

If being #1 on page 1 is a requirement for the Business Plan, then what you need is either
* bottomless pockets
* a new business-plan

 

[HBB new business team]

If you want to be number one on google for a certain topic it's going to be tough. If being on the first page is key to your business plan it may to a while to come to fruition as it requires a lot of hard work.

The joke goes "Where's the best place to hide a body? on the second page of google" because rarely to people get there.

 

[LikeToHelp]

SEO doesn't have to cost the earth. I have performed very successful SEO at very affordable prices for many of my clients, many happily ranked on Google Page 1 at Position 1. It's a matter of careful planning and execution, detailed knowledge of web development as well as online marketing techniques to achieve the results that businesses after. Feel free to PM me for more information.

 

[Mainland]

I think the biggest thing to remember with SEO is not to get caught up trying to figure out tricks to get your website to number 1. Write good relevant content and make your site engaging and you'll get there. Websites that have to use 'techniques' to get visitors probably aren't worth looking at.

 

[Backrubber]

I think the biggest thing to remember with SEO is not to get caught up trying to figure out tricks to get your website to number 1. Write good relevant content and make your site engaging and you'll get there. Websites that have to use 'techniques' to get visitors probably aren't worth looking at.

I agree with this comment completely. It has become so easy to get it wrong with SEO these days that in some ways it's better to not spend too much time worrying about it.

If you create good quality content, other sites will, over time, link to it - that is why page rank was invented in the first place. Backlinks have to at least appear to be 'natural' and that's not easy to do if you are 'unnaturally' building them.

 

[10032012]

Understanding SEO is a good skill to have. I spent my days on sites such as SEOChat etc. to pick up tips of the trade.

What many do not understand is Google works in very clever ways: Google returns result differently on your location, whether you are signed in, previous search terms and what previous sites you visited through the search engine (to name a few).

One thing I would recommend is learning about microdata to insert into your pages - its like the new meta (if you get my drift). It allows you to specify breadcrumbs on your page (hierarchy navigation of what page you are on) and allows people to click on the sections directly from the search result page.

Then there is Google Plus integration, thumbnails photos, star ratings, lists etc. Appearance wise alone this can do wonders... after all it doesn't matter if you are in the top 5 if people don't click your link! With these nice features displayed within your SERP listing more people are likely to click (i.e. conversion) than a plain jane listing.

 

[daihlo]

Hi, I work in building websites, have a fairly decent understanding of SEO having worked on a number of sites, and worked with a number of 'specialist' SEO companies. Feel free to pm me your site URL, I'd be happy to take a quick look over it and give you some feedback on the site itself.
Not looking for a job from this dont worry! just offering to give it a look over for you.

from experience, SEO companies will differ vastly in what they claim needs doing to a site, and also what they can do... better to go in armed with a little knowledge of what actually needs to be done before they convince you to contract them on a minimum spend per month basis... Could tell you some horror stories about some sites I've fixed and what they had been advised by SEO companies!

By the way, looks like my first post but since the forum update, I cant log in! pword reminder also not being sent to my email so started a new account

Feel free to pm.

 

[threenine]

I would add that you can't think of SEO in terms of marketing. SEO is search engine optimization, it has nothing to do with marketing per se, it may be an element in a marketing campaign, but in it self it is not marketing. Personally SEO, is something that naturally occurs with a site. Yes there are a few things that you can do to a website, to help it get indexed better, but all that is for nothing when a user comes to your site, and is put off by the design, features, product placement, Price, navigation and general product.

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/t...-seo-companys-work.315488/page-2#post-2351852

Take that thread as an example, He has paid £500 a month for SEO and literally got nothing back in return. I would has it a guess the optimisation that were experienced were probably the result of time rather than anything the so called SEO consultant implemented.

There is nothing about SEO, that cannot be understood and implemented over a weekend. By either watching the Videos mentioned above, or buying a "For Dummies" book.

If online sales is going to be the lifeblood of your business, then it is vital that you understand everything about the online world. So an understanding of SEO is great place to start.

Your business plan, should rather go into more detail about your entire marketing budget. ( 4 P's) rather than mentioning things like "We're going to pay £500 per month for SEO, and we'll dominate the world"

 

[threenine]

Personally my first stop would be to talk to a marketing person whose knowledge encompasses SEO before you contact an SEO 'expert'

Without a coherent marketing strategy SEO will achieve nothing..

+1

 

[sirearl]

Personally my first stop would be to talk to a marketing person whose knowledge encompasses SEO before you contact an SEO 'expert'

We is marketing guru's these days,the days of just doing SEO are long gone.

Best not to ask the pupil who the best master is.

 

[Alan]

I'd like to be number 1 for Web Design in UK Google organic SERPS, some fool called Wikipedia is occupying that slot, it can't be too hard to take over as they don't even build website! If I paid an SEO firm £99/month will I get there next month?

 

[commodityconsultant]

I'd like to be number 1 for Web Design in UK Google organic SERPS, some fool called Wikipedia is occupying that slot, it can't be too hard to take over as they don't even build website! If I paid an SEO firm £99/month will I get there next month?

#1 spot is temporarily position(not fixed or permanent position) and anyone can get it but it depend upon optimization of website and quality links.Good amount of budget can give better ranking than others.

For more information you can PM me.

 

[ssh]

Don't fall to SEO traps. Most of companies doing SEO will say they can put your website to the first page of search engine. Usually they claim this to everyone, so if they have 50 clients in same industry selling same type of product how can all of them be among 1-10 scores in searh engine? Just do a basic research of it and try to optimise it yourself.

 

[hunny]

Go on recommendations... Too many false promises out there. No one can guarantee anything!

 

[LikeToHelp]

There are no guarantees because ultimately search engines are in control but with a well research and planned SEO foundation (keyphrases, meta data, links, h1 tags, web page copy, sitemaps) you can apply more advanced SEO techniques and be well ranked against your competitors. Competitor analysis is a useful exercise and this can be easily achieved using the correct techniques and software. It is possible to get onto page 1 for your key business terms but only is SEO is executed properly.