Get at the top of the search engine results – with just $50! You might have seen advertisements and websites that offer this when considering SEO services for your website. They seem like a dream at first – after all, with their services, you will be able to save a lot of money, right?
However, most of the time, that is not the case. While you might want to try them out, thinking that it will not cost much anyway, you should not take the bait. These cheap search engine optimization services are too good to be true – and in the long run, they will bring more harm than good for your website – whether it is your blog or an ecommerce site.
Cheap SEO Packages Fall Short
There is one universal recommendation for you when you own your website – utilize search engine optimization to boost your site visitors. Since this can help widen your reach tremendously, it is tempting to spend money so that you can improve this element. If you encounter an agency that offers packages that comes at low prices, the temptation might double.
However, these are all baits. Whether you experience persuasive and responsive customer service or see a long list of supposed testimonials, one red flag for SEO services is when they are offered at very low prices. Legitimized methods of employing SEO tactics come at a price because money is spent on backlinks, metric tools, and the like. If a company offers considerably lower prices than their competitors, you should reconsider availing their packages.
6 Reasons Why Cheap SEO Services Can Harm Your Business
Cheap search optimization services do not only fail to bring any advantage for your ecommerce business. Most of the time, they also bring several drawbacks for your business. If you get the service of a company that will not deliver a reliable and sound SEO strategy for your site, it can cause damages. Here are six possible drawbacks that you can get from them.
1. You will receive mass-produced content.
No matter what your reason is for getting SEO services for your site, you want the service to provide tailored works that will bring more clicks and visitors. However, unreliable SEO agencies tend to provide mass-produced content most of the time. Instead of creating tailored posts for your target, they give you the same ones they give to other companies – just with a few tweaks here and there.
These actions are negligible and will not increase your website’s search rankings. They can even cause your site to be flagged negatively by search engine analytics. Aside from that, it will weaken your branding and turn off the potential target clients. After all, if they provide you with unsuitable content, it may clash with the branding you are trying to build or the interest of your target demographic.
2. You will have a hard time with their customer service.
One of the most important ways to make the most of any service you pay for is by receiving constant updates from the company. While this act should be the norm, cheaper agencies tend to slack off with the customer service department. Since their service is relatively cheaper than their competitors, they expect you will not complain.
Even though it will cost you more, it is better to go for a pricier but more responsive company. Since search engine optimization is very important for blogs and ecommerce sites, you will need to receive updates and progress reports. If you have questions, you should receive the answers that you deserve. However, with these types of companies, they will expect you to adapt to their services instead – since you are paying less.
3. You will not receive proper performance metrics.
To ensure that your search engine optimization strategy is working, you will need to determine its performance. You will need to see various elements – the number of visits that you have, the rates for your customer conversions if you own an ecommerce business. When you can get these numbers, you will be able to focus on which strategies are working and which are not. This way, you can tailor your plan to get the best out of it.
When you employ the services of a cheap SEO company, there is a high chance that you will not receive enough post-performance analytics. Sometimes, they do not even provide any metric at all. However, that is a harmful action. Since you want to grow your site, you use only the best methods. And without the proper analytics, it will be hard to do that.
4. You will not get any long-term value.
Contrary to popular opinion, search engine optimization needs continuous updates and improvement. It is not a single project type of job. It should take months of modification and research so that your website will remain high in the search rankings. As search engines regularly update the sites on the first page, the SEO service you receive should still work even in the long term.
They will only treat it as a one-time thing with a cheap agency. While they could give your site a higher position on searches, these might not remain that way for long. Because you are paying a relatively small fee, the company would insist that they are already done with their service once they have performed an SEO strategy or two. When this happens, not only will your search rankings drop in the future, but it might also negatively impact future search rankings.
5. You might employ a company that performs black hat strategies.
If there is one thing that can permanently damage your website’s search ranking, it is the use of black hat SEO strategies. There are various ways to go about it these. There could be keyword stuffing, guest post networks, article spinning, link manipulations, and link farms – among others. Black hat strategies can quickly boost your site’s rank – but at a dire cost.
When an SEO agency offers cheap services that are too good to be true, they may be employing these black hat tactics. While they may help you in a shorter timeline, it will be heavily penalized if a search engine detects that your site has done black hat tactics.
6. You will receive substandard backlinks.
Backlinks are one of the most important SEO elements. If you want your website to rank high on search engine results, other websites should like back to it. However, it is not quantity over quality when it comes to backlinks. Instead, it is the opposite. Search engines prioritize and give more weight when backlinks come from high-authority websites.
With agencies that offer cheap SEO services, you might receive many backlinks. However, they may not be reliable. Unless owned by the company, high authority websites usually offer a high price or require quality content to link to your site. Since you are not paying a large amount of money, most cheap agencies will believe that backlinks from low-authority websites are enough.
Alternatives to Cheap SEO Packages
Knowing the harms of cheap SEO companies, you might want to avoid them. However, if you are on a tight budget and cannot afford to spend money on pricier but more reliable digital marketing agencies, there is still hope for you and your website.
Here are some things you can do to give your website a better search ranking position without breaking the bank.
Do organic link building.
Backlinks are the backbone of your website’s search engine optimization. While it may take time and patience, you can still get them yourself. Search for high-authority websites or websites from the same niche as your sites. Ask them if they can trade backlinks for you.
Create quality content.
Another strategy to build your site’s SEO is by having numerous quality content. Not only does it help build your site as an authority for a specific topic, but it is an easy way to optimize search keywords. If you cannot make your blogs and post, you can look for the service of a talented writer to help you.
Consider long-term goals.
It is exhilarating to see your site on the first few pages of the search results. However, this is not something you can get overnight – and even in a month. To rise in the search ranking organically, you need to consistently follow SEO techniques, receive backlinks, and create great content.
Hire the service of an expert.
You do not need to look for an entire agency to offer their services. Instead, you can look for a freelancer who can help. While they have less influence than companies, they also offer more affordable rates.
Find a Capable SEO Agency
It is fine if you cannot handle spending thousands of dollars on SEO services. However, if you want long-term improvement for your website, you will need to spend some money and effort. No matter how tempting it is to pay for cheap SEO services, you will bring harm to your website if you try them out.
There are various SEO companies in the market, and while reliable ones do not come cheap, some offer more affordable packages. Employing an SEO expert is ideal, but only if they can truly help your site. With how important search engine optimization is for your site, you should consider your options carefully.
