Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) really worth the price?

[Rob F]

Optimization can be worth it, however it really depends on the keyword market & who you decide to hire to work with your website.

First off, though, there are no guarantees with search optimization; ever. You could fork over that money & be no better off than you are today, but an ethical optimization firm would let you know if you're heading into a keyword market with hardened competition. Of course there are tactics that have consistently proven to improve a websites rankings in certain search engines for certain terms. . . but at the end of the day, unless a SEO has direct access to a search engine's database; they can't guarantee placement anymore than they can guarantee that they will live to be 90 years old.

Also, unless you already know what keywords will convert into members for your site, you'll likely want to (at least should heavily consider) spend money on PPC (pay per click) advertising before you spend any large amount on natural optimization methods. By using PPC first, you can pinpoint the keywords that convert into members instead of merely guessing; this is something that your optimization firm should tell you as well. If the optimization firm simply asks you what terms you want to rank for and pursues that no-questions asked; this is probably a company you should avoid at all costs as they are the experts & that's why you're hiring them.

I guess the bottom line is that optimization can be worth the price if you find the right person /company to do it for you. . . but it's a crapshoot finding an affordable & experienced SEO that knows the ins & outs of the business.

It's been suggested that you learn some things for yourself, and that is recommended. However, you can't simply go to a webmaster forum & take what people have to say there; there are a lot of well-intentioned people there that try to help, but many of them are simply parrots relaying what they've read on some other forum or webmaster blog without any personal experience to backup what they're suggesting.

In any case, tread carefully & good luck.