Search engine optimisation or SEO is one of the biggest ‘trends’ in the web design industry at present time. SEO is the means to earn placements and higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERP's).
At last count, 90% of all searches in the UK are made through Google (source The Gaurdian / Hitwise), no surprises there then! It is only 60% in the USA, with Yahoo, AOL and MSN sharing most of the remaining 40% share. With this in mind it's no surprise that most of your SEO efforts should be aimed at Google’s search engine if you are UK based.
With the sudden awareness of the importance of SEO, the industry seen an explosion of SEO services, the vast majority of which are crooked. With claims of ‘Guaranteed top 10 listings – or your money back ’, it’s an obvious no brainer – or is it?
The world of SEO is part science and part wing of bat all thrown into one cauldron. With SEO, there are never any guarantees, and as such you should stay way clear of any firm offering such a pledge. How are assurances like this made then? SEO companies parading around statements like these back them up by getting you a top 10 position in Google with a search phrase that gains you little or no clicks. Simple!
The article here offers a great explanation regarding this situation and I wholly recommend you read if you want to uncover more information about the great SEO scandal!
Straight to the point, the cost. My SEO services currently start at £500/month which should run for 6 months, minimum, though you can opt for less if you wish but this is not recommended. SEO is not a short term plan, and you need to be in it for the long run to see results and stay on top of the competition. You need to ask yourself the question – if SEO was an instant process, then everyone would be doing it and everyone be on top of Google - Commonsense tells you this is impossible.
An initial report and action plan is then created, and 2 more reports at month 3 and month 6. Reports include your rankings for keywords and keyword phrases, web stats (includes incoming links and number of people clicking to your site etc...)