SEO is Not About Packages
SEO is everything but a packageable service and on the contrary current scenario in the search marketing industry is a grain field of SEO Packages - paranoia. 20 Keywords | 6 months | USD $$$$ | Weekly Reports | Consultancy | Submissions | Link Building | Content Editing included - that’s the sound of it, an SEO package.
If you are a small business aiming to reach out to new clients for a defined service or product then there’s no harm in going for such a package because it will serve you just right. But if you are to grow big and that too organically with search engine rankings then you are about to board the flight to “that’s-not-what-i-wanted island”.
Many SEO companies today are selling SEO packages without any commitments or assurance of organic growth . There is nothing wrong is giving a structure to your offering and packaging a service but SEO just has to be an exception. Don’t sell it as a package to everyone! Must Read: SEO in 5 Basic Steps - Search Engine Optimisation Fundamentals
I know that these companies (and most of optimisers) are not going to like me for this but I do have a point backed with logical reasoning here. Limiting a service which has to be an ongoing exploration and research process is cheating a consumer because after the package span expires, which is usually 3-6months, the customer has nothing but a temporary ranking on Google or Yahoo for few keywords only. Genuinely done SEO takes time and gives guaranteed results and performance. Packaging it and bounding it in a package with a fixed set of deliverables is just not fair. Let me tell you why!
Why not to go for an SEO Package?
1. The number of targeted keywords are fixed - with this you are confining your options because search trends keep on changing every now and then. What people are searching today won’t be the same 6 months hence. Your SEO strategy should be able to accomodate such trend swings in order to get the early mover advantage. Keyword research should be an on going process and should be repeated after every 3 months or so to keep your website’s content updated with fresh content.
2. The service time span in a package is fixed - when this time span expires you either have to upgrade to a better package, renew your package or remain unsatisfied with the results. Competitive keywords (the one’s which actually make you big) are the hardest to optimise for and it takes time for your rankings to get to the top and stabilise for those keywords. No point limiting yourself to a time-bound package when you’ve jotted a long-term organic growth strategy.
3. Fixed set of services - again by confining the scope of research and analysis you are narrowing the thought-span of your SEO vendor. Let them think broad and ask them to come up with newer innovative ways to optimise your site. Your SEO company might offer some nick nack services without charging you but would charge you for other services by giving you gimmick explanations like “SEO takes time for new website”, “go for paid links”, “start a blog for your website”. Don’t do anything with your website unless you think it might add true value to your visitors.
Getting rankings naturally is about building a website that is of some value to its visitors. If your visitors like it then the search engines will like it too.
Recommendation - go in for a customised SEO solution because every website needs to be marketed in a different way. Ask your SEO company to educate you with latest search trends and it also becomes your duty to update them with buildups in your trade. If done effectively, SEO can start giving you results within 1-2 months and things only get better as the time goes on.
A true search engine marketer will always try to create a differentiator for you, others will only work to get you rankings as per the package.
Talk to atleast 10 different SEO companies and atleast 10 search marketing professionals in order to decide who is more compatible with your growth plan. Sometimes having a 3rd party SEO professional review the ongoing work is also beneficial. Be careful and avoid getting yourself to the ‘that’s-not-what-i-wanted island’ 
Related posts:
· Optimum Keyword Density is a Gimmick!
· SEO in 5 basic steps - Search Engine Optimisation
· Better be Bing; Microsoft’s New Search Engine
Comments
11 Responses to “SEO is Not About Packages”
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Good post. Will follow.
Thought this might have some relevance:
http://www.slideshare.net/rwd/what-is-seo-presentation-740102
Best,
Pinaki
http://twitter.com/pinakis
What I can understand about SEO is the ability to determine the correct keyword, get backlink, and link-exchange
Why do you think that SEO companies aren’t going to like you for saying this? Most *good* SEO companies that I know (and my company included, obviously) create customized campaigns tailored to each client anyway. If someone doesn’t like you for stating this, they aren’t a very good SEO company to begin with, at least in my book. The days of packaged SEO are over and we need to be looking at analytics - conversion ratios, traffic increases, etc. and that means custom campaigns tailored to the clients’ needs, not some generic package.
You have a great point in your post here. I have passed it on to my FF and twitter followers. Well done.
On problem, when trying to find out more information about YOU, the info page came up 404.
Abhishek, you are so very right! I just submitted this article at http://sphinn.com/story/95221 and voted for it at http://www.mixx.com/stories/3328867/seo_packages_are_a_scam_search_engine_optimisation_is_not_about_packages#comment-287165 . Good show.
RE: Greg
Thanks for the support; good to know you feel the same way I do. The only reason I wrote this post is to let people know what wrong an SEO company is doing by selling it as a bottled commodity. I wish you luck with your SEO firm.
RE: John McElhenney
Thanks for the gesture John. And I will soon create an About Me page too
RE: David Leonhardt
I am gratified with your thoughts and action. Thank you so very much
[...] Abhishek Bhardwaj says SEO isn’t about packages. Eh, it maybe kind of [...]
Nicely put.
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