The Cost Of SEO (and the Price Of Investing Poorly)

SEO and PPC

Every ecommerce business owner will be familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO): a strategy that seeks to give a website’s pages and products primacy in the Search Results Pages (SERPs). But in an ever-changing landscape of search engine algorithm updates and AI-driven automation, understanding the cost of SEO compared to the value of SEO is no easy task.

How Much Does SEO Cost?

In the UK, SEO services typically fall between £800 to £5000 per month for an agency and £100 to £350 per hour for a consultant. But the cost for ongoing agency work depends on the scope and goals of your project and the resources and team members involved. 

To give an example, a startup focusing on a niche market may only require a monthly budget of £500 for localized keyword targeting, such as ‘affordable dog walkers in Liverpool’. 

By contrast, a large ecommerce site with thousands of products and fierce international competition might need to invest up to £10,000 monthly to ensure they continue to sit atop the search results and don’t get drowned out by the likes of *cough cough* Amazon.

What Do SEO Services Include?

SEO isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy; it’s an amalgamation of tasks that are tailored to boost your online presence:

• Keyword Research: Identifying the search terms your potential customers are using and coming up with a plan to optimize your website to cover these terms.
• On-Page Optimisation: Refining individual web pages to ensure they rank higher by using some of these keywords and focussing on user experience.
• Off-Page Optimisation: Building a network of references or “backlinks” among your own website and from others to improve your pages’ credibility and authority.
• Content Creation & Strategy: Crafting compelling content that captivates and educates your audience.
• Technical SEO: The geeky (often tedious) work which involves fine-tuning your website’s backend to ensure seamless navigation for both search engines and users.

What Determines the Cost of SEO?

Business owners should consider the following factors when calculating the cost of SEO.

Agency Expertise

Seasoned professionals might charge a premium, but their vast experience typically yields better results. 

The hard reality is that many self-proclaimed experts offer substandard services, damaging your business in the long term by neglecting essential tasks that can impact your business’ trajectory.

Before engaging with an SEO agency, you should check out their portfolio so you can see the results they’ve brought their other clients. 

Project Scope

An ecommerce site with an international clientele has different needs from a local restaurant targeting regional patrons. 

The former will require a strategy that targets a diverse, perhaps multilingual audience with particular products or services. Effective digital marketing agencies will also address the audiences’ range of needs and interests and tailor their content accordingly. 

Geographical Location

Because of regional overheads, a London-based agency might have different pricing structures to one in Exeter—which, conveniently, is where we’re based. 😉 

Of course, the beauty of digital agencies is that they can be based anywhere, so don’t pay a premium unless the benefits are clear.  

Duration and Intensity

If you’re aiming for a rapid surge in traffic and conversions, you might need to invest in a more intensive, shorter-term strategy. 

Investing in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies like Paid Advertising or Pay Per Click (PPC) might suit you better, still requiring investment but bringing faster benefits. 

Can your online business grow without SEO?

Consider that around 93% of online experiences in 2022 begin with a search engine query. If your business doesn’t pop up in those initial search results, chances are, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of potential customers.

A company relying solely on social media marketing or sporadic PPC campaigns might gain traffic, depending on its niche. But nothing delivers sustainable, organic growth quite like SEO.

Let’s take an example. 

If a niche local business has a well-structured, basic website, they’re not going to need to invest much in SEO. 

Let’s imagine a shop situated in a village a few miles outside Manchester that sells vegetarian ready-meals. This business doesn’t do deliveries; customers must come to collect the meals themselves. But it does benefit from a local, loyal clientele who go straight on the shop’s website, place their order, and pick up their delicious ready meal the very same day.

There would be very little point in the business investing in SEO. Its clients know the shop’s name and can Google it directly, and as long as its website and/or Google Business Profile lists the opening hours, location and a phone and email address, that should be enough.

But what if our little ready-meal shop wanted to expand its presence by delivering into nearby Manchester (or maybe even beyond)? In this case, it would be worth investing in SEO.

The further the business expands, the greater the competition from other vegetarian ready-meal providers, and the more competing professional websites to pip them to the top of the search results. If our shop wanted to target a wealthy vegetarian with an allergy to cooking in, say, London, SEO would be the most likely way this regular dream client would find them. 

A digital-based company like Create Circus with a load of international competitors would be lost like a needle in a haystack without effective SEO. After all, you wouldn’t have clicked on this article (which, as it is about SEO, is pretty much as competitive as it gets) if it wasn’t for our expertise in the subject on which we’re writing. 😉

Choose Create Circus for Your SEO Solutions

SEO can seem like technical wizardry which transcends the understanding of mere mortals. This is largely because many SEO experts choose to portray it that way for *cough, cough* job security. 

But the essence of SEO is simple: visibility. 

Investing in SEO means employing experts to keep up with an evolving set of best practices to ensure your business is seen by the right people, at the right time. And while at least in terms of the initial investment the cost of SEO might seem steep, the returns you’ll see in traffic, engagement, and conversions, are likely to be well worth it.

Are you ready to make the right investment for your digital business? Our team of experts is here to guide you through every step of your SEO journey. Create Circus has helped many international clients thrive in the digital domain. Schedule a call with us today and we’ll tailor your SEO package that will see your business soar to the top of the rankings.