The Cost of Search Engine Optimization in Australia
A lot of Australian business owners want to know what the cost of SEO is and how one determines what professional SEO agencies or consultants should be charging.
After all, a good SEO provider is a mysterious creature.
With small businesses under more pressure than ever to save on unnecessary costs, now is the time to get educated about the different types of search engine optimisation packages. SEO is important, and if you’re not doing it, you’re being left behind.
If you don’t have time to read the full article here is a summarized list of the cost of SEO in Australia:
- Cheap SEO is anything below $600/month. It is ineffective and dangerous to your brand.
- Affordable SEO packages cost around the $1,000/month mark and should achieve decent results.
- Expensive SEO the costs of which are published publicly start from $2,500 – $5,000/month.
- Premium SEO prices aren’t published but some keyword research projects have cost over $200,000.
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What is the Average Cost of SEO?
At the moment the average cost of search engine optimisation ranges from about $75-$250 per hour and if you’re opting for an affordable SEO package in Australia, those start at about $600/month, right up to $2,000 for entry-level fees with the big agencies.
So just so everybody is on the same page of what SEO actually means, it involves bringing a deep technical knowledge of websites, as well as an extensive understanding of traditional and digital marketing methods to get your website to rank higher on search engines, mostly Google.
Today we’re here to shed a little bit of light on the search engine optimization cost, what these packages deliver, and where you should be investing.
Lastly, when you consider on-boarding and SEO agency to help your business rank, you will also want to consider minimum contract periods and the length of engagement you’ll need to achieve your results.
The Cost Of SEO
The cost of your SEO package and SEO services will ultimately depend on what you want to get out of them and how quickly you want to see results.
However, while there is the monetary cost associated with SEO strategies, you can land yourself in dangerous territory when the word “cheap” comes in to play.
Cheap SEO
Cheap SEO, usually, sourced from inexperienced SEO consultants or overseas providers are the ones to keep a special eye out for.
I’d consider cheap search engine optimization as anything under $500/month.
You simply cannot complete the level of work required to do the job right every month.
If you’re a quality SEO provider you know you can charge more than $500/month, and they do.
While not all cheap SEOs are inherently bad, there is a reason they are underpricing themselves so much.
Maybe their knowledge is outdated, or the worst case scenario would be they employ blackhat SEO strategies that boost you temporarily but can harm your SERP ranking in the long-term, sometimes permanently.
If you can find an SEO freelancer that is new to the market with up to date knowledge but is looking to add their first few clients to their portfolio, you might have found a winner for cheap SEO packages to stick with.
Any other time, our recommendation is stay away from these providers.
Affordable SEO
A step up, affordable SEO companies are companies that are providing the work at below the $1000/month price point but still provide quality work.
These guys are not all that hard to find, you just need to know the right questions to ask and what to expect. The way to identify the good from the bad is to see whether they are covering basics like keyword research, competitor analysis and backlink audits.
Without a clear idea of who you’re trying to beat for certain search terms, there’s really no way of having a strategic approach to improving your ranking, you’re doing things blind.
Make sure when you get your SEO package pricing that these basics are all included. Utilizing social media to generate and backup content with positive social signals has never hurt anybody.
Expensive SEO
Fundamentally, I believe expensive SEO doesn’t exist as the word expensive has a bit of a negative connotation to it.
Expensive SEO, or high end SEO, while big clients or once off large projects are a bit beyond our business startup and small business SEO specialisation, based on research and networking with industry professionals from all around the globe, we know that monthly retainers start from $2,500 – $5,000/month with once-off projects easily cost $50,000+.
Investing in your Australian business SEO at this level means you’ve got a serious budget behind you and some serious gains to make.
In Australia, we tend to forget that the world is much larger than our small population and when it comes to business, especially eCommerce, the potential to make money on a global scale is unprecedented.
Premium SEO
When you start to dive into the world of premium search engine optimisation you’re venturing into highly secretive deals within very closed off groups.
Having gotten the odd glance into these circles, we know that some simple keyword research projects, sourced from one of the big global brands, have started at over $200,000 for a one-off project.
On-site optimisation for a large eCommerce store could take several months, also costing 6-figures and above.
The Cost Of SEO Packages in Perth
The search engine optimisation packages we offer Perth businesses (but the rest of Australia too, I just had to mention Perth for good SEO :)….Melbourne ) are always bespoke and based on the content creation strategy you currently have in place or would like us to put in place for you.
Our small business SEO packages start from $625/month for Local SEO covering an extensive range of services, keyword research, backlink audits and building strategies, competitor analysis and so much more
Content is still king when it comes to high-quality SEO and if we can get you writing posts, articles and infographics that are reflective of your brand and online tone of voice, we’re in for a win for you.
So, let’s talk about your ranking.
SEO Package Contract Lengths & Costs
Search Engine Optimisation is a long term investment. It doesn’t bring immediate results, so you can expect some minimum engagement terms.
These will range from 3 to 6 months at least.
Here at 3am Ideas, we hardly have any lock-in contracts as we choose to retain our clients on performance, not through paperwork.
We don’t say this to brag, but to set the expectations. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the only service we offer with a minimum engagement period of 3 months.
This is because good SEO takes time.
Sure, on-page changes we make today will likely start benefiting your ranking almost immediately.
However, it is the content creation and off-page SEO that takes a long time to take effect.
Once-Off SEO
We have offered once-off SEO projects in the past, and these are certainly not uncommon.
Mainly, you have a specific outcome in mind.
Such as improving speeds, or improving ranking for one particular keyword.
On bigger projects, it might include the optimisation of all images, product pages etc.
There really is no measurement on cost here as it depends entirely on what needs to be done to your site to achieve your outcome.
Month-by-Month SEO Contracts
We’re pretty skeptical about month-by-month, or no lock-in SEO contracts.
As we’ve mentioned above, good SEO takes time.
If we’re publishing new content for you today, it might take a week before it has been properly ranked and getting you traffic.
That’s if all goes well.
What if we need to tweak some things? Adjust the content based on the user data you’re receiving back?
Then it could take another few weeks, depending on how many users you’re pushing to your content.
1000 people reading your blog post gives us a lot more insight into what needs improving when compared to only 10 people reading your blog.
As such, we believe that on a month-by-month engagement, you cannot possibly be receiving sustainable search engine optimisation efforts.
The agency you’re working with will likely be spending too much attention on ensuring you’re paying next month’s fees, to even be looking at growing your website traffic.
Minimum Engagement Periods
When it comes to SEO, you’ll want to partner up with somebody whom you can trust.
They can make your break your website’s ranking, permanently.
So before you go out making any hasty decisions, be sure you have a solid and trusting relationship with your SEO agency.
Your SEO agency should have your business’ growth at heart first and foremost.
We always tell our clients we want them to consider us as part of their business team, not some consulting company they’ve hired.
We’re there through the blood, sweat, tears, and successes.
If you have that sort of relationship with any of your service providers, then a 3 or 6-month engagement period shouldn’t worry you.
Over those 12 to 24 weeks you’re giving your SEO experts the time and resources needed to put a long-term strategic plan into place.
Long-term strategic planning is what is required to sustainably grow Google and other search engine traffic.
If you want instant results, SEO isn’t for you. Maybe check out Google Ads instead, if you need immediate results.
Doing Your Own SEO?
Check out our guide and list on how to get easy backlinks.
3am Ideas Australian SEO Packages
PRICING DESIGNED TO GENERATE RETURNS
We’ve been dominating the search engine results page for our clients since 2014. Since then, we’ve generated a significant amount of traffic and improved website conversion rates along with it.
Great SEO creates tangible results, sometimes within weeks of launching. Discover 3am’s SEO packages.
SEO Packages for Small Business
We can get almost immediate results with our SEO strategy.
But, Search Engine Optimisation is a long-term game, and often requires a decent amount of investment before you see results that are really, really good.
What we suggest you do is couple your small business SEO with a Google Ads campaign.
This will drive in immediate results, offsetting the initial investment you’ll need to make to start ranking higher and getting more traffic.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Packages for Small Business
If you’re not quite ready to onboard an SEO agency in Perth, that’s ok. Maybe you’re not sure if they’re even worth it yet, and you’re right to have your doubts. There are a lot of SEO cowboys out there.
To put your mind to rest and to show you what can be achieved with your website, we offer a free 1-hour consultation, where we sit down with you and go over everything you have in place at the moment and what you might want to consider implementing over the next 3, 6 and 12 months.
Consultations are also available via Skype if you’re interstate or based overseas. We’re happy working with SEO clients from all over Australia and the world.
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