Does SEO Cost Money?

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Louis O'Neill

Co Founder & Head of Content

You might be wondering if SEO (Search Engine Optimization) costs money, and the simple answer is no, it doesn't. However, doing it well requires a different approach. SEO itself is free, as it involves optimizing your website to match Google's search algorithm, which assesses the relevance of your pages and determines where to rank them in search results. The process is highly complex, influenced by hundreds and thousands of signals. Some of these factors include:

  • Age of a website: Refers to how long the domain (e.g., example.com) has been live or registered. Older domains may have an advantage in search engine rankings.
  • Keywords & content quality: Refers to the specific words or phrases used in website content that match what users search for. Effective keyword usage helps search engines understand the relevance of your content.
  • Domain authority: A metric that assesses the overall credibility and trustworthiness of a website based on various factors like backlinks, content quality, and user engagement.
  • Backlinks: The number of hyperlinks from other websites that point back to your website. Quality backlinks from reputable sources can positively impact SEO.
  • Website usability: Refers to how user-friendly and easy-to-navigate a website is. Metrics like average time on page and bounce rate reflect user engagement and satisfaction.
  • Website speed: The time it takes for web pages to load. Faster-loading websites tend to rank higher in search results and provide better user experiences.
  • Mobile optimization: Ensuring that the website displays well and functions properly on different mobile devices. Mobile-friendly websites are increasingly important for SEO due to the growing use of mobile devices for internet access.

By considering and optimizing these factors, website owners can improve their search engine rankings, attract more organic traffic, and provide better user experiences for their visitors.

Aside from these there are thousands of more signals that affect SEO.

So to sum it up no SEO doesn't cost money, but in reality it really does to do it correctly and see real results. It requires a lot of time and work, just to give you the reality of some of work involved here are some estimates:

Work - carried out work Description - work involved Cost involved ($30-40/Hr) - your average hourly rate
Writing quality content Depending on the niche and type of content creating content can take anywhere from 2-5 hrs. 5 x $30 = $150
Enriching pages with KWs Also known as on-page SEO, writing well written pages that are SEO friendly takes 1-2 hrs per page. 2 x $30 ($60)
Backlink outreach Reaching out to websites to link back to yours is a numbers game sending 1000’s of emails for a link can take 10 hrs. 15x$30 ($300)

To top it off with so much misinformation on the internet combined with the thousands of different ranking factors the next question is what do you priotise first and where do you even start. And if you're not an experienced SEO veteran you're essentially working blind.

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