Can cheap SEO be any good? And is good SEO ever cheap? If you’re thinking about hiring cheap SEO services for your Gold Coast business, take a minute to find out the important distinction between affordable and cheap SEO on the Gold Coast.
‘Cheap’ and ‘Affordable’ aren’t so different as adjectives; they both are used to describe low costs and a potential to save money.
However, when it comes to marketing, specifically an SEO package or company; the two words give entirely different implications when used to describe products and services.
Cheap SEO refers to a service in which the quality is low in return for a low price. Frequently referred to as “churn and burn SEO”, these SEO companies depend on hundreds of clients that pay a very small monthly retainer, in return for little or no work. They’re not worried about losing clients, they’re too busy onboarding as many as possible. Cheap SEO companies manage to stay in business as there is no shortage of business owners looking for the “cheapest and best” SEO that they can take advantage of.
Affordable SEO Gold Coast refers higher standard of quality SEO, at a reasonable price. Affordable Gold Coast SEO can offer high-quality SEO services that will help a business achieve its long-term goals, for a competitive price. Affordable SEO is provided by SEO companies that are legitimate, experienced, and know what they are doing. They work exclusively with white hat SEO and will not put a website in any danger.
Cheap SEO and Affordable SEO are not the same thing. Cheap SEO goes beyond the price of the service. Cheap SEO extends to the quality of the SEO work and the strategies used to achieve SEO results.
What’s the deal with “Cheap” Gold Coast SEO?
To get an idea of how these differences may impact a business, let’s start by breaking down what it means for Gold Coast SEO to be “cheap”.
Cheap SEO is when an agency or consultant offers SEO services for a stupidly low price. To give a number for “cheap”, anything under $500 a month is bad news.
$500 might seem a bit steep if you have no understanding of regular SEO prices, however, SEO is something that takes time, hard work, and resources. Remember, your alternative to SEO is PPC advertising which can cost anywhere from a few dollars to hundreds depending on your niche. Experts need to be appropriately reimbursed for the work put into optimising a website. Most reputable SEO companies will charge a minimum monthly retainer for an SEO campaign, or, in some cases, do project work that costs $100-150 per-hour.
When you look for SEO services at a much lower price, you’re opening the door to welcome spammy and untrustworthy SEO companies. There is an abundance of cheap SEO agencies that use sneaky tactics that can ultimately cause harm to your business, your reputation, search engine visibility and your overall online presence.
Yes, SEO prices on the Gold Coast can be hugely inconsistent. However, when you go below the average price bracket you are looking for trouble. Companies offering you “quality” services at a discounted rate are usually operating on a high-client volume, high-turnover basis with little regard for delivering tangible results.
As a small business, you’ve probably had your fair share of SEO companies approach you. Have you ever searched for “Cheapest SEO Gold Coast”? The amount of businesses looking to make their next scam is terrifying.
For a company to accept such a low price point means that they have to be cheating the system.
Think about it – how can a company make enough money to sustain a business by offering services for prices less than half of their competition?
By compromising on the quantity and quality of work being put out. Cheap SEO services are synonymous with low-quality SEO services. The trademarks of cheap SEO include:
1. Poor Quality
There is no room for high-quality work with cheap SEO services. Consultants who place no value on their work offer their services at low prices. Generally speaking, they might create some spammy backlinks, low-quality jargon content, or simply do no work at all. The lack of time, money, and effort being put into a campaign will result in a very poor quality service.
If a company can afford to sell their services for so little, they can’t afford to put the necessary time and effort into providing high-quality services, or they have little or no experience in the industry. Cheap SEO services are very rarely high-quality SEO services.
2. Black Hat SEO
Most people that engage with cheap SEO companies do so without really understanding the consequences of their corner-cutting, black hat SEO techniques. Black hat SEO is the use of strategies that are deliberately deceitful, manipulative and go directly against Google’s guidelines.
Legitimate SEO success takes months of strategic work to acquire. Black hat SEO goes directly against Google’s rules in order to achieve quicker and sneaky results. Truthfully, cheap SEO is almost always reliant on Black hat SEO tactics that will almost certainly get you into trouble.
3. Google Penalties
Cheap SEO can afford to be supplied at such a low price by cutting corners and cheating the system with black hat techniques. Once Google catches wind of your website is directly linked with these methods, they can award your website with a nasty penalty.
The repercussions of a Google penalty are decreased rankings and poor search engine visibility. Getting your website and company reputation back after a Google penalty can sometimes take months and will often be very costly. The best way to avoid a penalty is to steer clear of cheap SEO Gold Coast companies using black hat practices.
4. One-Size-Fits-All SEO Campaign
Every business on the Gold Coast is different, and therefore, every SEO campaign needs to be entirely unique. Cheap SEO services use cookie-cutter techniques that do not allow for disparities in companies. For an SEO campaign to have a positive impact, the strategies should be based around the website’s strengths and weaknesses.
Cheap SEO will not allow for a personalised and tailored SEO campaign. Low-quality services have no regard for the business, it’s goals, and what it may individually require in order to see results.
5. Broken Promises
Most cheap SEO companies lure customers in by promoting guaranteed ranking positions and insane traffic increases. These grand promises are difficult to keep even with the highest quality SEO services. The reality is, these results cannot be obtained with such a small budget and amount of time.
A reputable Gold Coast SEO company will not guarantee you a number 1 ranking position or a 400% increase in traffic – that would just be unreasonable. If you come across an SEO deal that seems too good to be true, that’s exactly what it is.
6. Short Term Results
The use black hat tactics may result in an increase in traffic and visibility; however, it will be short-lived. Cheap SEO does not allow for long-term results and solutions. The methods used by Cheap SEO companies are used to create a false pretence of what the company is providing. Within a matter of days, the results will likely come crashing down.
Here’s the deal, SEO requires a large amount of time, planning, attention, and resources to do correctly. Cheap SEO services do not allow for these elements. It’s one thing to save money, it’s another to put your website at risk.
In order for SEO to make a positive impact, an expert needs time create a customised SEO strategy that targets lucrative, revenue-driving traffic for your business.
In saying all of this, it is entirely possible to find a reasonably priced SEO campaign that will have positive impacts on your website.
What is “Affordable” Gold Coast SEO?
Affordable Gold Coast SEO is a service that is provided at a competitive price, with a measure of quality retained. Reputable and legitimate companies may offer affordable services to help small businesses working within a limited budget.
These SEO services will cost more than cheap SEO Gold Coast services, but still be reasonably priced. It is entirely possible to find good quality SEO that will not break the bank.
The benefits of working with an affordable Gold Coast SEO company include:
1. High Standard of Quality
Affordable SEO does not mean a compromise on quality. Paying a little bit more than cheap SEO will allow for a service that will focus on providing high-quality results.
Working with a trustworthy company will allow for increased visibility, high quality content creation, meaningful backlinks, improved organic traffic and more conversions. All of this can be achieved by choosing affordable SEO providers on the Gold Coast.
2. White Hat Methods
Affordable Gold Coast SEO will allow for appropriate and clean-cut SEO methods. Where cheap SEO may reflect a company going against Google’s guidelines, affordable SEO means working with a company that will be entirely compliant with Google’s rules to get your business noticed.
White hat SEO refers to the strict following of Google’s guidelines to achieve SEO success. Non-compliance with the guidelines set by Google is great cause for a penalty. When it comes to good SEO, compliance is important.
3. Customised Campaign
An affordable SEO company will work with your business to appropriately tailor and personalise a campaign around its requirements. For SEO strategies to be most effective, they should be aligned with the business goals and the industry market. Paying a little bit more than cheap SEO will allow for more time spent nurturing a campaign to meet the needs and requirements of each business model.
4. Realistic Goals
Affordable SEO will not mean ridiculous promises and guaranteed Google rankings that are bound to be broken. Affordable SEO will allow for a consultant to be honest with you and effectively communicate what is realistic and what is unreasonable with your budget.
Trustworthy SEO companies will set sensible goals for your business that they can achieve with strategic optimisation.
5. Long-Term Results
Good SEO may take months of strategic SEO practice, but the payoff will be high. Affordable SEO will allow for long-term strategies that will continue to help the business grow, long after the campaign finishes.
The difference between cheap and affordable SEO will be the sustainability of the results. While cheap SEO can provide quick and fast traffic, it is short-term. Affordable SEO means relying on high quality SEO solutions that are long-term driven and will continue to improve rankings, increase traffic, and convert customers, with time.
6. Measurable Results
An affordable SEO company will allow your business access to resources to track the progress of your campaign. They will be able to communicate the data with you, share your website’s analytics, and give you an idea of what is working for your website and what isn’t. These are services that are not provided with cheap SEO packages.
7. High Return on Investment (ROI)
The main difference between cheap SEO and affordable SEO will be the return on investment. Cheap SEO offers little or no return on investment, as the quality of work is always low, short-term, and makes use of risky tactics.
Affordable SEO opens up the door to good Gold Coast SEO at a competitive price. This allows for a standard of work to be sustained, without compromising quality. The sustainable SEO framework will see that overtime; ROI will overtake initial investment.
Cheap SEO Gold Coast: Final Thoughts
To wrap it, it is entirely possible for a small business to be able to afford SEO in the Gold Coast.
All it takes is an increased awareness into the difference between cheap SEO services and affordable SEO services.
There is no shortage of Cheap Gold Coast SEO companies looking to make your business its next victim. When it comes to your business, choose wisely and put your website first by investing just a little bit more into affordable SEO.
Forget large promises and low prices, consider the importance of your website and who’s hands you want it in. If you wouldn’t compromise quality on any of your other marketing services, why compromise on SEO? Get in touch today!
