What is SEO or search engine optimization really worth? The answer to that question
depends upon the results the seo consultant can create for the customer and
what that return on investment produces for their business.
For example if a top of the range seo consultant developed a search marketing
strategy that uncovered the most profitable keywords, identified the top competitors,
and revealed a content building & in-bound link building plan that took
the company to the top of the search results and kept them there, then perhaps
it would be worth the money.
It depends upon the market, how competitive it is. This in turn depends upon
the value of the final product that is up for sale. Products that have a higher
overall market value through total achievable sales allow higher promotional
budgets.
Let’s take a look at a high value niche such as the health market, to demonstrate
what I mean.
Basically people need to be healthy to survive on this planet, so the reasons
are obvious for the huge amount of appeal health as a niche attracts.
Lets say that to be on the first page of Google for “best weight loss diet”
was worth $350,000 in gross sales for the company that occupied one of the
top spots, either 1, 2 or 3. I know this niche and these are fairly accurate
figures for an information product of this nature.
If a new comer to the market wanted to take on that first company and was
delivered a search marketing plan that enabled them to do just that over the
next 12 months, then the investment of $4,000 for the seo consultants one hour
would be well worth it.
Naturally there are more elements to the equation for guaranteeing success,
such as the quality of the website that is selling the product and of course
the product itself. If either of these is out of step with what the market
truly wants then the best seo efforts in the world are not going to change
that fact.
Let's ask another question in regards to the worth of an seo consultant. If
all seo consultants are all doing the same things how can one charge $4,000
per hour when someone else only charges $20 per hour? The answer to that lies
in how well the consultant is selling his value proposition.
There is nothing stopping an seo consultant from selling his or her services
at the top level if the customer understands the value that is being delivered.
It seems that there is a lot of misinformation in the market place when it
comes to seo and this causes great confusion about what seo is and how to do
it successfully. This leads business managers to believe different things and
form different opinions on what has to be paid to acquire the best. I guess
it really comes down to perception.
The same goes in other areas of the business world. For example what makes
one CEO of a company worth $5 million dollars per year and another only worth
$500,000? The same thing that drives higher prices in all sorts of markets.
Value perception, or what the buyer believes they are getting in exchange for
the money they are paying.
Fact is the half a million dollar CEO could probably do the same if not better
job of the CEO on ten times the salary, but he simply is not recognized for
it by his employer, and so goes home with the smaller pay packet.
Is he only one tenth of the $5 million dollar CEO? No way because he can
still call the shots and lead the company to the higher profits but he is not
being recognized for it.
The last thing we need to consider is if seo can be done by anyone, should
we choose just anyone to do this work? Well the truth is anyone with reasonable
intelligence; a desire to learn and about 1,000 hours to spare can negotiate
the seo waters and become an seo consultant. The reason it takes so long to
work out what to do is because of the misinformation by the inner circle protectors.
One guy will tell you this and another will tell you that. Who do you believe?
Who is telling the truth and are there things they are not letting on? These
questions can take a very long time to figure the answers for and it is only
by doing trial and error that you can learn the ins and outs.
This is my estimate of what it has taken me to learn what there is to know
about getting web pages listed in the top 10 results in the top search engines.
There are many pitfalls and a lot of dead ends when it comes to what to do
and what not to do, to rank well.
I guess it is like any piece of specialist knowledge, pay peanuts and
get monkey’s as they say. The folks charging $20 per hour believe that they
are worth that and no more and so their beliefs are limiting the value they
are able to sell to their customers. On the other hand,
the guys and gals who believe their thousands of hours invested and tremendous
results put them at the top of the food chain and so charge accordingly, and
take home the higher pack checks.
The true value in a high paid seo is really their ability to be creative in
approaching a target audience to engage them and draw them into the sales funnel,
which is at the heart of all clever marketing. And I might add is something
that is way beyond just building back links. The best seo consultants go beyond
the herd mentality because of their belief in themselves and the creative sales
approach and this is what sets them apart. Great seo consultants tend to have
backgrounds in advertising and marketing, which gives them the jump-start on
their contemporaries.
So to answer the question ultimately, we need only look at
the results to see if the $4,000 per hour was worth it or not.
The author of this article, Greg Gillespie has achieved some incredible seo results for his small range of private clients. One of his best results was achieving a top 3 position in a highly competitive niche beating 20,200,000 other web pages to the top. To find out about Greg who is a seo consultant northern beaches of Sydney, please visit the website http://www.heliumseo.com
