Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a cost effective way for every business to have digital marketing. SEO is basically making your website be found on Google without paying for the traffic. However, many are confused on how much they should pay on agency pricing. We aim to guide you on how much investment in SEO is needed depending on your needs and advise you on the appropriate budget. So how much should I expect to pay for SEO Services in Australia as an SME?
However, this advice is limited to Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as large corporations are on a different playing field all together. We will not be advising based on industry wide statistics or empirical data, but from our experience on what will be enough to get a result without breaking the bank.
The short answer? You should be paying at least $1000AUD within Australia as a SME. Cheap providers are just going to burn your money. The lowest cost provider is not going to be sufficient.
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How is SEO charged?
The best way for SEO services to be charged is via a monthly retainer. This is the most consistent way to pay and does not have any surprises. Being charged an hourly rate is never acceptable without extraneous reasons, such as having a really large website as a big corporation. Unless it is an unusual circumstance, very rarely there will be custom arrangement.
What do I get with SEO?
There are different combinations of services you can get with SEO. However they usually consist of:
- Content (blogs, page creation, etc.)
- Link Building (building backlinks to your site)
- Speed Optimisations
- Schema (a form of technical compliance)
- Other technical compliance, e.g. Sitemaps
What is usually not included, but can be inclusive:
- Web Development
One note on content creation. Some niches are very hard to write on, so they need specialist writers and therefore cannot be included in the package.
What are SEO packages like?
The question “How much should I expect to pay for SEO”? depends on the package.
SEO agencies have various packages, the charge is usually premised on:
- Niche Difficulty
- Number of focus keywords
Usually the harder and stiffer the competition in a particular industry or niche, an SEO campaign will become more expensive. SEOs need to put in more work if the competitors are numerous. This is why paying for lower end SEO will not work. The strategy will be inferior. You will never see ROI or significant ranking if you spend too little.
Packages based on Niche Difficulty
This implies that the harder it is to rank for head terms, such as “criminal lawyer sydney”, “landscaping perth”, really generic and not so specific terms relevant to your business, the more the plan will cost.
However, you have to understand about the key to getting revenue is that it works in two ways:
- Breadth
- Depth
The breadth is where you have a significant rank on more keywords. If you only target a few head terms, and they are low volume, it is not going to help you a great deal. Usually it is not that important to rank on that head term such as “migration agent melbourne” and it is better to get detectable ranking on many words rather than a few.
Depth means that the better your position on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), the more clicks you get. Depth is good to establish you as an authority, but not worth coveting if you do not get much increase in user figures in your Google Analytics.
Ultimately, you need both breadth and depth for maximum visibility.
Packages based on a predefined number of words
These usually are like a 10 or 20 word tier, which means that they focus on primary variants you say are important to you. Remember to keep in mind, the words you choose are important KPI, but content leads to sales too, not only getting top position.
Consultants like to sell you on being number one, but really it is useless if they volume is small or they do not convert.
Nevertheless, despite having a limited keyword focus, more often than not, this type of package can monitor around 200 keywords or more. The analysis of the success of any SEO includes traffic volume and number of actions taken on the website.
What to take into consideration when picking an SEO company
First of all, never pick freelancers or solo professionals. SEO is labour intensive work, which is why many SEO companies need help from India. The premium providers never have staff overseas, but another common place SEO agencies outsource to, is the Philippines. SEO takes a team, not an individual.
Always look at their past results. If they cannot show you previous experience, then the risk to hire them increases.
To see if Google certification helps SEO see this article.
How much should I expect to pay for SEO in Australia as an SME?
Besides the considerations we have outlined, we generally believe the right price is at least over $1000AUD. It may increase in costs depending on difficulty or number of target keywords, or even if you require a web development service attached, but it certainly businesses should never pay $5000 or more in total unless they are looking at more than one market, or they are a large corporation of some kind.
A quick note on Schema
Schema is the method which tells Google the fastest what your web page is about. Schema properly done is very expensive and specialist Schema services are usually reserved for premium providers and are never inclusive for lower end providers.
We offer specialist Schema services on top of typical SEO and offer it on top of our SEO packages. Very little agencies in Australia get it right because the competition is not yet as heavy as the USA. In fact, we import US talent because of this fact.
Conclusion
We offer SEO services through our strategic partners who are specialised in legal or eCommerce industries. All our providers have proven results and will not cost a bomb. SEO is the most cost effective way to do Digital Marketing, as you pay for the time it takes to optimise, not the traffic as in paid channels. We hoped we answered the question, “How much should I expect to pay for SEO in Australia as an SME”? Do you need SEO services?
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FAQ
How much should I pay for SEO in Australia as an SME?
Over $1000AUD but not exceeding $5000AUD a month without extraneous circumstances
How do I normally pay for SEO?
By monthly retainer
How is SEO packaged?
Based on niche difficulty or number of focus keywords
Is Schema included in SEO packages?
Yes, for premium providers. We offer this service without the premium price by importing talent from the US
Clarence Ling is the Founder of Marketlytics, and a guerilla marketer. Initially a trained Lawyer and Practice Development Manager, he contributed to the growth of his firm, including implementing software.
Clarence Ling is a Digital Advertising and Analytics Expert. Having a wide range of advertising experience ranging from international real estate, to legal and previously worked in full service marketing agencies, Clarence is a diligent marketer with an eye for detail and a talent for numbers.
Clarence can carefully plan out the best budget levels for the desired outcomes with projections that are more accurate than most.
His background in Analytics enables a clear, big picture assessment of both organic and paid campaigns, enabling maximum efficiency of those digital campaigns. His analytical background brings precise clarity of client or customer interaction and behaviour on online assets.
Clarence’s four fields of practice are Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Email Marketing (EDM). He is best as an Advertiser and is an avid collector of Software As A Service (SaaS) Products, avidly investing in both technology and human capital of Marketlytics.
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