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By Scott Buresh
There is much debate in the general
public and in the search engine optimization community
as to what amount companies should pay for search
engine optimization expertise.* Prices
are all over the board, and can be influenced by an
SEO firm's size, reputation (or lack thereof), resources
invested in customer service, and many other factors.
Moreover, there are a variety of pricing models from
which to choose.
Rather than hire a firm, some companies instead opt
to attempt this specialized discipline in-house in order
to save money. Of course, there is a cost
associated with this option as well - labor. Often, the
cost of effectively performing SEO in-house, when fully
calculated, will be equal to or greater than the costs
of outsourcing (due to a sizable learning curve and
the necessary testing and experimentation required).
In any case, companies often make decisions on whether
to outsource (and if so, which provider to choose) based
solely on price. However, one thing that is rarely factored
into the decision making process is the potential cost
of doing SEO wrong.
The Price Tag
The most obvious cost of doing SEO wrong is the price
that was paid for the actual work, whether paid to a
firm or toward salaries for internal resources. While
this is the most quantifiable cost and the easiest to
recognize, it is generally the least expensive consideration.
This concept is sometimes difficult to understand, since
there is typically a finite sum the company considers
"at risk" when they sign a contract with
an SEO firm or commit internal resources to the task.
Penalization Issues
In many cases, companies hire shady optimization firms
that use underhanded techniques to increase rankings.
Other companies use well-intentioned but over-eager
internal resources that implement dated, and often dangerous,
methodologies. Such strategies may work in the short
term, but it is typically only a matter of time before
the search engines catch on to the gimmick and the site
becomes penalized**. In this scenario, the company actually
winds up in a worse situation than before they hired
the search firm or committed the internal resources,
since now they have lost any search positions with which
they started! Afterwards, getting back into a search
engine index is difficult and sometimes near impossible.
Lost Opportunity Cost
Search is currently one of the hottest marketing channels
in the world, and increasing numbers of companies are
jumping into the mix and realizing outstanding returns
on their investment. However, it can take several months
to attain optimal results with search engine optimization,
and choosing the wrong provider or using ineffective
methodology can delay any returns. It is critical that
the methodologies used at the outset are effective and
timely to minimize the waiting period for results.
Disenchantment Leading to Channel Abandonment
Worse yet, sometimes a company that hired an inexperienced
or unscrupulous firm, or used internal resources to
little effect, will abandon the idea of pursuing SEO.
Frequently, companies will make blanket statements about
how SEO "doesn't work for their businesses",
because they didn't get results from a single
poorly-executed initiative. This mistaken belief is
potentially the most expensive cost of doing SEO wrong,
since the major increases in revenue that SEO can provide
are never realized by such companies (although they
are often realized by that company's competitors).
Conclusion
While price can (and should) certainly be a factor in
the SEO decision making process, it should not be the
primary factor. Unfortunately many companies who think
they are saving money when making SEO decisions find
out later that the actual costs of doing SEO wrong can
make the savings pale in comparison. Worse
yet, firms that focus primarily on price will sometimes
unknowingly embrace methodologies that put their site
at great risk for penalization and at best do not get
the anticipated results. Meanwhile, those who abandon
SEO entirely due to a single bad experience leave the
channel wide open for their competitors, who are usually
happy to take advantage.
© Medium Blue 2007
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