There’s a common misconception
that search engine traffic (aka SEO traffic) is free. That’s primarily due to
the logical comparison against search engine advertising, which is obviously
not free. With search engine advertising, you’ll pay for every click on your
ad. With organic SEO traffic there is no cost for clicks to your website. Hence
the conclusion that SEO traffic is free.
But is it really free? Is it
possible to invest zero time and money and still generate traffic from SEO?
Of course not. Just because you
built a beautiful website does not mean you’re going to rank high enough in
Google to drive any meaningful traffic. To rank high in Google, you’ll need a
relevant webpage and an authoritative domain.
You may be wondering, how relevant and how authoritative does your
website really need to be? That question leads us to the #1 factor that will
determine how much local SEO will cost.
#1 Factor That
Determines the Cost of SEO
Ever hear the joke about
outrunning a bear? I’m no comedian so I’m sure I’ll butcher this, but it’s an
important lesson so here we go… If you’re in the woods with your friends and an
adult black bear starts chasing you, then how fast do you need to run?
Do you know the answer? If
you’ve never heard this before then you’re probably trying to figure out how
fast an adult black bear can run. Hint: It doesn’t matter how fast the black
bear can run. What matters is how fast your slowest friend can run, and whether
you can outrun him! :)
OK, I know that’s not a great
joke, but it’ll get your brain warmed up and you may have already guessed the
#1 factor that determines the cost of SEO.
The #1 factor is your competition.
If you’re in a more competitive
industry, then unfortunately, you’ll have to invest more in your SEO. You’ll
have to work harder to create a more relevant webpage (e.g. create better
content) and to build up your domain authority (e.g. build more links) than a
business in a less competitive industry.
In other words, to rank high
you just need to outrun your “friends.” The first step is to review the
websites that are ranking high in Google for your target keywords. An easy and
fast tool to complete this analysis is Moz’s Link Explorer. (You’ll
need to create a free account here, so you can get 10
queries per month).
Head over to Link Explorer and simply
copy/paste your competitor domains into the tool. You’ll instantly see their
domain authority score and their total number of backlinks. The higher the
authority score and the more backlinks your competitors have, the more you’ll
have to invest in SEO to outrank them.
Do You Have Multiple
Office Locations?
With local SEO, the number of
office locations will also play a role in determining how much you need to
invest. This is pretty straight forward. Ranking local listings for each
location (Google My Business, Bing Places, Yahoo Local) requires more resources
than ranking just one.
At a minimum, each additional
location will require you to build additional citations. Citations are mentions
of your name, address, and phone number on another website. Think of citations
like reference checks for job candidates. Search engines need to confirm your
business information is accurate and up-to-date and they do this by reviewing
all the citations on different websites. If all your information checks out, then
you have a better shot at ranking on the first page.
Creating citations for one
location can be tedious enough. Each additional location multiplies the
workload.
Do You Have Multiple
Products or Services?
The third consideration is how
many products or services you’re trying to promote via SEO. Again, this is
straight forward. As you try to expand your reach by targeting more and more
product or service keywords, then you’ll need to invest more in your SEO. At a
minimum, you’ll want to build separate webpages for each of the products or
services you’re promoting.
Remember, each additional
product or service comes with a new set of competitors already ranking high in
Google. So make sure you analyze the competition using Link Explorer before
diving in too deep.
No One-Size-Fits-All
Solution
I hope at this point it’s clear
that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for SEO. That’s why if you’ve done
your homework, then you’ve noticed the range in fees is quite wide.
For businesses in less
competitive industries, with one location, targeting just one product or
service, the investment could be $500 or $1,000 per month. For businesses in
more competitive industries, targeting multiple locations and multiple products
and services, the investment could be $2,000 or more per month. It just depends
on your unique situation.
Want
Help with Local SEO? Here at Main Street ROI, we provide custom SEO services specialized for
local businesses. Click here to request a free quote
for SEO services
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