About Cheap SEO Companies In Toronto
If you think you can get great rankings for your Toronto area small business simply by adding some cheap SEO to your website, you might want to reconsider what you think you know about SEO.
The evolution of SEO in general has been swift, and, yes, 10 years ago we could get good results quite easily.
It wasn’t hard.
But things have changed since then and Google is much wiser than it was.
There are also a lot more websites competing for those keywords and some of those websites have done a good job, or, should I say, a more proper job.
Still, a lot of small business owners remain convinced they can hire someone for a few hundred dollars to sprinkle that elusive “Cheap SEO Dust” onto their home page and have them ranking for all of their desired keywords.
Well, I have to tell you that it just doesn’t work that way anymore.
And, if you’ve been around the cheap SEO block a few times, you’re probably beginning to sense that.
Yet, those same business owners keep paying those cheap SEO guys with the hope that they’ll find the right one.
But the results are always the same:
Nothing that actually helps your business.
No, these days – and depending on how competitive your industry is – you’ll have to actually invest some time – and definitely money – into getting the rankings you desire.
The concept of effective cheap SEO simply doesn’t exist.
Cheap SEO itself exists, obviously.
But it’s rarely effective.
Here are the reasons why:
The Content They Create Usually Sucks. Badly.
We’ve all seen websites where the content was clearly written to spam the search engines:
It doesn’t make grammatical sense.
It offers no value to the reader.
It’s not inviting.
It doesn’t encourage people to engage.
Its only purpose is to trick Google into thinking it’s relevant.
And anyone who has put some time into creating some decent content is going to beat you.
You need someone who can analyze the type of content you need and has the ability to put it together.
Cheap? Not really, and definitely not if it’s done correctly.
Even just one page can take anywhere from 8 to 30 hours to create.
They Acquire Worthless Backlinks.
Back in the day, Google began ranking websites that had the most backlinks.
“Backlinks” are simply instances where other websites link back to your website.
They served as online “references” for your website, so, the more you had, the more relevant your website must have been.
It became a game-changer for SEO.
A link from a Chinese auto-parts message board was just as a valuable as any other type of backlink.
And it wasn’t long before anyone who could was spamming their site with a TON of irrelevant backlinks.
These days Google knows better and dismisses such links as being meaningless.
And, if you really go overboard, Google might even ban your website for excessive spamming.
You need someone who can get the types of quality backlinks that will improve your domain ranking and your search rankings.
And it’s definitely not “cheap” to do.
They Submit Your Website To Thousands Of Useless Directories.
Just like with backlinks, directory submissions used to get a lot of traction.
Not any more.
Directories like Yelp are good.
The Chinese auto-parts directories? Not so much.
Not only are they wasting your money.
It’s a waste of time. Period.
You need someone who knows which local citation directories matter and will properly submit your business information.
They Offer 'One-Size-Fits-All' SEO Packages.
There are a lot of reasons for this, but every business is not in the same exact position at all times.
Obviously.
Some need more work than others and the type of work needed can – and often does – vary.
Offering the same set of SEO services to everyone all the time doesn’t make any sense.
You need a tailored set of specific SEO services from month to month that change with your progress.
And that’s just not going to happen for a few hundred dollars.
With all of that out of the way, here are some of the things you can watch out for:
They Don't Rank.
Their Websites Suck.
It almost goes without saying, but people still hire these guys for some reason.
If THEIR website sucks, how do you think they’re going to help you with yours?
Instead, consider hiring a professional to design your small business website and implement effective SEO at the same time.
They Make Unreasonable Promises.
Statements like:
"Top SEO Rankings For $199.00! Guaranteed!"
should definitely raise a red flag or two.
10 years ago they could have probably done it.
Sort of.
If they can, the keywords they’ll get you ranking for won’t be worth anything.
Don’t believe it and please don’t waste your money.
Outsourcing
While certain tasks can be outsourced with confidence, you definitely don’t want your primary services to be.
Be sure to ask who will be doing the majority of your work and where those people are physically located.
Industry Secrets & Google Partnerships
I see this a lot.
Here’s the scoop on that nonsense:
There are no industry secrets and no SEO company actually “partners” with Google.
Anyone can pass a very simple online test and refer to themselves as “Google Partners”.
It doesn’t mean they’re actually good at anything.
And it really doesn’t mean they’ll do a good job for you because of it.
Whenever I hear something like “SEO secrets”, I usually think “spammy SEO”.
If they aren’t willing to tell you what they are doing with your SEO, they’re probably cheating.
And you’ll really pay the price with your website if (and when) they get caught.
Their Names And Business Presentations Aren't Consistent.
We’ve all received these spammy messages before.
“Linda Stewart at Toronto SEO agency” is offering fantastic deals for #1 rankings.
But of course she turns out to be “not Linda” and he is actually based in India.
Any business that introduces and / or presents itself in such a sketchy manner should obviously be avoided.
In Conclusion:
- Basic and extremely spammy on-page optimization services
- Relatively worthless and potentially damaging backlink acquisition services
- Useless directory submissions
- Useless search engine submissions
Some of these tactics might work in the short term for less competitive search terms.
But they probably won’t work and they’ll just hit you up for more money and keep doing the same things.
That’s what they do.
And you really have no excuse to be using them any more.
What I Mean By "Affordable SEO":
When I say “affordable SEO services“, I’m referring to my SEO pricing & rates relative to comparable agencies.
Not including the cheap SEO types, the typical SEO agency hourly rates in Toronto often range from $75.00 to $125.00 (or more).
I charge much less than that.
To me, that’s an affordable alternative.
I offer all of the same services, and sometimes even more.
I just do it for less because I can.
I have little overhead.
I mainly work alone.
And I provide my clients with actual value that results in more qualified traffic, engaging content and real conversions.
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