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

[SWINGNDANCE]

I'm a very small startup social networking site and I need traffic; however, when I checked the prices for SEO, I was shocked at the prices. Maybe I'm just naive or SEO is definately worth the price it demands.

Any opinions on how effective SEO's are and if the prices are worth its reputation?

For example, the cost for SEO and maintenance for 3 keywords is $500 setup fee and $200 annual maintenance. For 20 keywords, it is $2,300 setup fee and $1,000 annual maintenance.

I know some SEO's go as expensive s $25,000 - $100,000.

[kekito224]

There are other ways to do SEO, like using good keywords and using tags and such. There are great websites out there that allow you to make your website come up in a search engine. They give you many tips. do not pay anything for SEO. Try to put as much keywords in your content as possible and try to use more tags.

[vicseo]

SEO charges may be shocking in light of the simple fact that most website owners and designers do not know how to go about on their own to achieve high SEO rankings. Here's a step-by-step procedure on how to achieve and acquire large net traffic.

The most effective way to advertise on the Internet is
to first set up a website and publish its domain name
on major search directories such as Google.com,
Yahoo.com [at http://www.google.com/addurl/?...... and
MSN.com since 85% of Internet shoppers rely on these
search directories to provide them with goods and
services. In a sense, these search directories are a
very large Internet Yellow Pages.

Nevertheless, should your website or opening webpage
fail to contain "generic" keywords, then anyone using
such "generic" queries will not be able to discover
your website. Your domain name [URL] of your website,
in a sense, will be invisible, undiscoverable.

You may want to consider some simple algorithms which,
when observed and committed in designing of a website
with placement of various critical metatags that can
surely achieve a high search engine presence and
increase Internet traffic to your website. These
metatag strategies work well with published webpages
at Google and Yahoo.

Design: Should you create an extensive Flash-based
website, make sure to fill-in the property entries
such as the Title, Description and Keywords. Failing
to do so, leaves no hard HTML or ALT resource that can
be readily indexed by search robots. Also consider the
Internet audience and their incoming setup. For
example, if they are on analog/dialup, Flash webpages
take too long to load up and therefore analog users
will likely lose interest and discontinue entering the
Flash site. On the other hand, anyone on hi-speed DSL
lines, will welcome Flash pages which load quickly. So
before designing a pure Flash websitge, ask the simple
question, "Who's my end user - is he on dialup or
DSL?" And if you had to choose between these two users
for maximum marketability, then select analog users
since 80% of most resident users are still analog
Internet subscribers and pure HTML designed webpages
is best for them.

A non-Flash-based website which relies on hard text,
is far easier to be indexed by search robots. Limit
the use of stylized text saved as .gifs since as a
graphic, they are not indexable by search robots.

Avoid use of frames since any number of search robots
are unable to properly classify textual material.

Placement of Metatags:

A ranking or search order does take place with Google
and Yahoo and it begins with the "Title" metag which
should consist of no more than 60 characters separated
by commas. The "Title" should describe in generic terms, the goods and services, followed by a location from which the resource is located, i.e., city, state. The placement of a domain name which is not generic within the "Title" is not appropriate, unless your
domain name is a major recognizable brand name.

The second metatag is the "Description" which is
usually up to 41 words to form a complete paragraph which
best describes one's goods and services. It is not merely a list.

And the very last category - "Keywords" are also
somewhat limited to 15 words which can be plural
and compound in nature. Again, avoid multiple entries
which could be mistaken as "spamdexed entries" which
is defined as the loading, and submission of
repetitive words into a particular metatag category.
"Spamdexing" when discovered on a webpage and reported
to Google's spamreport.com can result in the
elimination of your website from their search
directory.

Here's an example of a very highly-placed website on
Google.com: Begin with the very "generic" search query
"sandwiches downtown los angeles," taking note to not
abbreviate Los Angeles to "LA" and of course, leave
out the parentheses ("). It will bring up some 2.4
million+ search results. Check out where "Nazos.net"
is ranked. It's on the SECOND FRONT [ranked 15]!
Again, Nazos.net's high web presence was achieved by
proper web design and placement of relevant metatags
according to Google's publication guidelines.

Good luck!

[Johnny B]

Try this for a start instead.

It’s rarely an instant return on the Internet. You need your website coming up relevant to what people "search for" on the Internet. It takes time to get placement in the right places within the Internet and if you're listed in the right category of searches you stand a better chance of returns. The following is one of the better ways.

For a small charge you can have a “Permanent” website advertisement placed in an index such as this in a choice of around 750 categories to target your business trade.

This will raise your website profile and increase its chances of extra sales because this site is indexed by the search engines placing your site within public searches.

The advantage of a site like this is that you don’t have to update your listing again.
For a permanent ongoing promotion:
http://www.search-the-world.com/form/listing

[boguspoet]

Here are 7 proven techniques that are 100% guaranteed to produce results when using a search engine marketing specialist What is the objective of your website? Is it ultimately to bring you new business rather than just being an `online brochure`.

* The only purpose of a website should be to produce new leads and sales.

* Put together some carefully targeted pages on the internet that are optimised and will bring new visitors back to your website.

* Use Google Adwords as a very cost effective form of advertising for your keyword phrases that describe your business. You only pay when visitors actually look at your site!

* Placing carefully, targeted and user friendly content on your home page. This is your `power` page so you really need to make use of it.

* Obtain relevant, quality links to your website

* Researching keywords that are going to produce qualified visitors to your website

* Look carefully at your design. Does it have flash animation, is it user friendly, does it have a site map. You have less than 8 seconds to convince new visitor to stay on your website.

This, and more I have learned from a website I have bumped on: http://online-marketingsolutions.com

[Brick Marketing]

Hi there,

SEO is very effective but you don't have to pay high prices to get the help you need. You can try to learn it on your own for example, by researching keywords for your niche, and making sure you have the proper content to go along with your keywords, however sometimes a little help is needed becuase SEO isn't a quick and easy process. If you'd like more info, visit us at
http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com

Good luck and hope this helps.
Tina

[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.

[Geoffrey Curtis]

You have to check out http://www.seogodfather.com It fully automates the SEO process without spending the big bucks on the outside services. It cost like $98 and is well worth it. You stay in complete control of keywords, phases and everything, but, it does all the work. You just have to turn it on once a day and walk away. I've been using it with one of online businesses and I'm getting really good results.
It primarily works using medium density keywords. Which still gives you really god results, without trying to compete with the big huge websites!

[Mark M]

Here are the tools in my seo arsenol

Link Building
http://www.linkbuildingstrategy.com
http://www.qualitybacklinks.com

Directory Submissions
http://www.manualwebsitesubmission.com

Article Distribution
http://www.articlecirculation.com
http://www.manualarticlesubmission.com

SEO Employment Sites
Where people can buy and sell SEO Services
http://www.philippinesoffshoring.com
http://www.seoemployment.com

Full Time Webmaster Message Boards
http://www.fulltimewebmasters.com

Affiliate Programs Monetization
http://www.highconversionaffiliateprograms.com
Affiliate Programs Monetization
http://www.highconversionaffiliateprograms.com

[Marin Tsanov]

SEO definetly works good,but you need to pick up the right company for that.There are many companies,that offer that service,but some of them will charge you,withouth giving you good results.I've read many articles about that type of service and I believe I have found the right company for that,you can check the website below and see for yourself.Just to tell you,Jeremy Shoemaker is an online entrepreneur and he will teach you how to earn money online by thinking and doing the right things.