Web site Cost - Search Engines

Web Site Marketing - Getting Listed on Search Engines

If there is one area many companies need to plan before having a website designed and developed, it is Search Engine Marketing (SEO/SEM).

There is so much involved in getting your site listed on search engines, reference books the size of Tolstoy’s, ‘War and Peace,’ have been written on the subject. We will keep this shorter but want to stress: Research, Planning, and Budgeting.

After your website is ‘Live’, it is time to start your search engine marketing campaign. Depending on the competitive nature of your industry and the targeted keyword phrases for your website, SEO costs will vary greatly. SEO companies can dedicate multiple employees up to and over 40hrs a week to your marketing campaign. SEO Campaigns MUST BE ADDRESSED BEFORE YOU START THE DESIGN PROCESS, NOT AFTER!

The single most common issue we see from existing sites that do not rank well on search engines is the technical manner in which the website was coded and developed. Web Designers without fundamental search engine knowledge rarely code a site that can get listed well in search engines.

Below are areas you should address with your Web Site Development / SEO Team.

  • Keyword analysis (prior to copywriting!)
  • Technically sound SEO structure of the website code (on-page SEO)
  • Site Maps for each Search Engine
  • ‘Mobile-Ready’ version of your website
  • Directory Listing Submission (paid & free Directories – Authoritative Directories!)
  • Develop a ‘Back-link’ strategy
  • Develop a Search Engine ‘Local Search’ strategy
  • Develop a Social Networking strategy for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube
  • Create a Blog & update it weekly or don’t do it at all.

If we look at Google, there are 3 areas on your site that can be listed. The Organic, Local, and Google Ads. Each of these areas requires an individual task to be completed by your SEO team. Also your Social Networking standing influences your Google ranking greatly. So you could include Social as a 4th area of your SEO.

Below are general costs associated with Search Engine Optimization. These are monthly averages. A business that is starting with a brand new domain and wishing to rank on the 1st page in a competitive category on Google should realistically expect over a year’s worth of SEO costs, and more than likely it will take 2 years of SEO work to compete in a highly competitive keyword category. Less competitive keyword phrases require much less SEO work.

  • Organic SEO: $1500.-$5000.00/month
  • Local SEO: $800.00-$1500.00/month
  • Social SEO: $600.00- $1200.00/month
  • Google Ads (Pay-per-click) cost depends on the competitive nature of the keywords and phrases you are targeting.

We have seen long-stem keyword phrases as low as a few cents per click while competitive two-word keyword phrases go for as high as $75.00 per click. Ouch!