Tip of the Week #6: Don't Buy into the SEO Myth

When doing your research for website development, you’ll find that everyone is now an SEO pro.  SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  It’s a service that web developers offer wherein they make your website easily found by search engines whenever someone is doing a search for your type of website.  When you start inquiring about these services, you’ll find out that it’s not as cheap as you’d prefer. 

The SEO Myth is this:
“It takes a lot of hard, confusing work that you can’t possibly understand unless you are an SEO guru to get your website seen by search engines, and therefore thousands of dollars in SEO service fees is justified.” 

That’s not true by any means!  SEO does take some work, but not thousands of dollars’ worth (typically).  Though there are some forms of performance-based SEO that can be expensive (such as pay-per-click), there are also several things you can do for free if you have the time and know-how.  If you don’t have the time and/or know-how, then pay someone to do it for you, but make sure they’re charging what’s fair. 

Most SEO companies are trained to use verbiage and explanations that intentionally confuse the average lay-person (that’s right – they are trained to confuse you!).  They do this for two reasons:
I. To make it seem like no one can do it except for them
II. To justify their outrageous cost

Ask questions to see exactly what the company is going to do for you to get your website seen by search engines; and also be aware that NO ONE can guaranty that you’ll get the first spot.

For Last Week's Tip, click HERE