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Cheap SEO packages, what could go wrong? More organic traffic, minimal financial outlay. On paper, it looks like a winning combination. 

 

We’ve all been there – resisting the urge to save some money on a cheap service or package can be tough! After all, it’s just a marketing technique – what’s the harm in trying cheap SEO?

 

We’re here to tell you that when executed incorrectly, SEO can be very destructive to your business. Successful SEO takes patience, time, and most importantly, finances. This article will discuss the 5 reasons why businesses should avoid budget SEO providers pedalling cheap SEO packages.

 

The Value of SEO

 

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. SEO is the single most effective marketing strategy for scaling traffic online. There is clear evidence to show the value of SEO – websites investing in good quality SEO are securing consistently high rankings and a competitive edge over their contenders.

 

No one can argue with the value of rankings well in Google. SEO plays a pivotal role in the way businesses and their websites engage with both search engines and their customers online. SEO provides a business with the opportunity to position their websites to perform well in search, which helps new customers to find the business online.

 

Search engines are always changing and integrating new practices into their algorithms. It’s the job of the search engine marketers to adapt to each adjustment accordingly to secure online visibility for websites. Getting a website to rank on page one is no easy feat – good rankings cannot be achieved overnight. Executing a well-strategized SEO campaign is the key to capitalising on current search trends, and this takes expertise, time, and money.

SEO Statistic about marketing budget allocated to SEO strategies

There are few marketing strategies and practices that cause as much debate in the industry as SEO does. While there isn’t necessarily a divide between those who are for SEO and those who are against, there is major controversy around the execution of SEO.

 

The quality, value, and pricing of SEO can vary enormously between agencies and marketers because of the sheer number of people claiming to be the best in the business. The lack of knowledge into SEO by the general public presents a problem as unfortunately, not all SEO agencies are created equal.

 

There is an abundance of SEO companies that lack the skill, expertise, patience and finances to execute good SEO. Nevertheless, these companies entice other businesses into using their services with attractive cheap price packages.

 

 

What Are Cheap SEO Packages?

 

The appeal of an ‘all in one cheap SEO monthly package’ can be understandably tempting for business owners and marketing managers. Wouldn’t be great if you could have all of your marketing needs met by one firm, for a third of the price of a normal agency?

Cheap SEO Packages Examples online

Cheap companies make outrageous claims and promises with the added element of a small price point to get customers to buy into their services. The sad truth is, these companies are not trustworthy.

 

Cheap SEO packages or bundles are designed by marketers to entice businesses with the attractive promise of an affordable option for SEO. Companies can afford to offer SEO for such low prices by compromising on key elements of the service. Essentially, paying for cheap SEO will provide your website with bad SEO.

 

A common misconception for businesses owners is that they think the only thing they have to lose with cheap SEO is the money that they hand over initially. However, cheap SEO services can end up costing businesses thousands of dollars in the long run. Before signing up for tempting cheap SEO monthly packages, we recommend you get an understanding of the potential pitfalls involved.

 

Why You Should Avoid Cheap SEO Packages

 

1. Cheap SEO Will Not Deliver Basic SEO

 

The two principal factors involved in the success of SEO are content creation and link building. As you would probably expect, these two factors are the most time and labour intensive; they account for most of the effort going into an SEO campaign.

 

Website content for SEO needs a well-structured, user-centric and high-quality copywriting. Google wants to serve users with the best possible information; content creation requires a great deal of time, effort and expertise for it to be noticed by Google. 

 

Without the skill and resources to create good content, cheap SEO packages will use software to scrape existing articles online and spin them into new posts. The result is almost always low-quality writing littered with structural and grammatical errors.

 

Cheap SEO content practices can be extremely damaging to the website. Not only is it illegal to duplicate and use content from other sites, but poorly written content also demonstrates to search engines and users the low value of your website.

 

The same can be said for the other key driver for basic SEO; link building. A healthy backlink profile takes time, effort, and patience – three things cheap SEO packages do not allow for. If you want to build a healthy backlink profile that will have positive impacts on search traffic, you need to focus your efforts on the quality of backlinks. Cheap SEO packages work on an old-school method that cultivates quantities of cheap and poor-quality links that offer minimal value.

 

Information about the value of quality backlinks over quantity of backlinks for SEO

A few years ago, this method of link building would have worked. Before the Penguin update, Google’s algorithm favoured websites that had set their sights on large quantities of backlinks. However, the nature of link building has evolved consistently in line with Google’s updates. If you engage with cheap SEO packages that provide low-quality spammy links, your website will be in danger of a Google penalty, which could see your site removed from organic search results entirely.

 

2. Cookie-Cutter SEO Campaigns

 

Cheap SEO packages work on a one-size-fits-all template. They use the same cookie-cutter campaigns for every client; regardless of the nature of the business and industry.

 

Here’s the thing: good SEO will not work off a template, package, or bundle. A legitimate company will not have fixed options and pricing across the board. If you come across an SEO website that sets out SEO pricing “deals” and “cheap monthly SEO packages”, this is a huge red flag.

 

A good marketer knows that no two businesses are the same and successful campaigns need to be tailored to suit the requirements, goals, and circumstances of each client. Several variables will determine the nature of an SEO campaign depending on which strategy is right for the business. Variables include budget, the market, the current SEO state and what the client hopes to achieve with SEO. A reputable SEO expert will need to apply these variables to determine the best direction for search traffic success.

 

By way of comparison, cheap SEO agencies have little or no regard for the objectives of each business. These companies purely focus their efforts on securing a high volume of clients with their cheap SEO packages.

 

3. Cheap SEO Services Have No Regard for Your Business

 

Cheap SEO companies work off a business model that is designed to prioritise the onboarding of clients, without focusing any real attention on each campaign. These companies aren’t worried about losing clients. They usually have a long list of business owners who are looking for cheap services without really understanding the magnitude of cutting such corners.

 

The businesses engaging with cheap SEO packages are going to want value for money – that’s exactly why they were so tempted by the deal in the first place. However, value is the opposite of what they will receive. Cheap SEO companies will not deliver on any of their grand promises, and they have no desire to build a long-term relationship with any of their clients.

 

In most cases, by the time you’ve had enough with their poor-quality services, they have already likely secured new clients and will be happy to not have to deal with you anymore.

 

Cheap SEO companies have little or no regard for accountability. Their main priorities are to entice business owners in with their low-price points, obtain the first payments, and continue to run their business with little regard for success of any of the campaigns.

 

4. Short-Term Strategies for Short-Lived Results

 

Talk to any experienced marketer about SEO, and they will tell you the same thing: Good SEO takes time.

 

Good SEO strategies are designed to build long-term and sustainable results for a website. Therefore, it can often take months to experience benefits or see any updates from an SEO campaign – this is entirely normal. For especially competitive industries or in the case of sites that have been penalised by Google in the past, a significant amount of time will need to be invested before seeing any type of payoff.

 

Cheap SEO packages use techniques that provide fast, short-term strategies for websites. If you do receive traffic with a cheap SEO company, you can expect it to go plummeting back down within a few days. Cheap SEO techniques make use of black hat SEO, and any results are spammy, low-quality, and almost always short-lived.

 

Warning Signs for cheap SEO packages

5. Experience Is Not Cheap

 

Anyone putting any value on their work will not provide a service for a ridiculously low price. If you’re paying for a cheap SEO package, you can expect the quality of work to be compromised. Cheap SEO companies are either outsourcing the work for the campaigns or are leaving it up to people with little or no experience in SEO.

 

An experienced SEO expert will never sell their services in a package. A legitimate marketer will understand the ebbs and flows of an SEO campaign and will not limit their work to a cheap SEO monthly package.

 

An SEO Sydney company with reputable experience will be able to appropriately evaluate your website, your intentions, your competitors and design a comprehensive plan to suit your business. Their experience in the industry will allow them to work with proven strategies and tactics that are aligned with Google’s guidelines and will target the right audience. Putting your website in the hands of an expert who knows what they are doing will provide sustainable and scalable results for your business – something cheap SEO will never be able to achieve.

 

How Much Are You Willing to Invest in SEO?

 

Businesses tempted by cheap SEO packages need to take a minute and consider how much their business is worth to them. While it’s easy to understand the temptation of saving money, SEO is an industry where value needs to be prioritized over cost.

 

The simple truth is, good SEO will never be cheap; as key factors of an effective SEO campaign take a significant amount of time and cost money. If you’re willing to compromise on price, you can expect a compromise on quality.

 

The amount of money invested in SEO will accurately reflect the end results; if you’re prioritising saving money on SEO, you can anticipate short-term and low-quality results. If you’re willing to invest in SEO, you can expect long-term and sustainable results that with time, will eventually overtake initial investment.