Affordable v’s Cheap SEO – whats the difference?

Before you make the grave mistake of accepting Cheap SEO Sydney Services, You MUST read this first!

Be warned if you want to start an SEO campaign for your Sydney business and use an SEO agency offering you the lowest price. There are many pitfalls, and any one of these could kill your business on Google.

You should know the difference between cheap and affordable SEO as you will hear these terms thrown around the whole time. While they might sound the same, they are, in fact, poles apart in marketing terms – especially when it comes to SEO.

Cheap SEO is all about cost-cutting your SEO service to meet the clients tight budget. Many agencies will offer their service at a bargain-basement price to get your business. Once they have it, they do nothing. They take your money month after month, and you end up losing.

These guys work on the business model of quantity. It’s a ‘churn and burn’ production line where the name of the game is to get as many clients as possible using slick sales tactics. They get as many small businesses paying them a monthly retainer on the promise of page 1 rankings. You’d be surprised how many people fall for these scams of cheap SEO packages.

These companies don’t care if they lose your business as they have a long line of Sydney companies willing to sign up because they see the words ‘cheap SEO’ and ‘page 1 ranking guarantee.’ These words are like honey to a bee. So many businesses want the cheapest rate going around. I get it. We are all in business and like it when we hear cheap or discount or sale. These SEO scammers prey on your naivety, and they don’t give a dam about your business or results. So long as you keep paying them, they will keep on doing this to other poor unsuspecting business owners.

On the other hand, affordable SEO Sydney services refer to reasonably priced SEO where quality counts. You’re getting a fair priced SEO campaign without cutting any corners or ‘black hat’ or spammy techniques to boost rankings temporarily.

In terms of costs, cheap SEO will be more affordable than any other SEO type, but it will end up costing you a whole bunch more in the short to medium term. You’ll end up losing big-time – money, effort, rankings, sales, revenue and potential customers.

What is “Cheap” Sydney SEO

Cheap SEO is when you sign up for a 12-month plan at a laughably low rate of less than $500 per month. I’ve used $500 per month as this is the most common pricing level these agencies seem to offer. It’s the sweet spot that businesses seem to be comfortable spending on their SEO.

Most trustworthy SEO agencies charge between $90 to $150 per hour, and if your business is in a competitive area, you will need way more than 5 hours spent on your SEO per month.

While SEO prices in Sydney can vary among agencies ( if you’re doing the ring around), anyone selling their SEO below $500 relies on high volume sales tactics and WILL be cutting corners. These guys are super-dangerous. Their business model is about getting new clients with call centres driving salespeople hard to meet their targets. Of course, they will tell you anything to secure your account.

Let’s take a look at some of the issues with cheap SEO agencies.

1) Low Quality

With cheap SEO services, don’t expect any quality work. You will hear from them in the beginning when you sign up, but that’s about it. Who can blame them? $500 per month restricts their ability to build quality backlinks or add any decent content. It’s like shopping at ALDI or buying the Coles or Woolies home brand. It just isn’t as good as the better-known brands. They appear to be the same, but it’s nowhere near as good.

The takeaway: Cheap SEO is an illusion or a mirage. You think it’s real, but it’s just a disguise.

2) Black Hat Techniques

The strategies used by cheap SEO agencies are 100% non-Google compliant that go against Googles guidelines. They are fraudulent, misleading and disingenuous, to name a few. Why? Because they sign you up on the premise that they will do the right thing. But the reality is far from this.

They will use every banned technique to manipulate rankings quickly to justify their fee. After 3 to 6 months, these rankings are going to fall off the edge. I encounter this all the type. People ring me up in a panic telling me they have lost all their Google rankings, and they don’t know why. I have the same answer all the time ( in fact, it gets repetitive ). It’s because they went with the cheapest SEO option. Watch out for these Black Hat Techniques: The Rundown On Black Hat SEO Techniques And Why You Should Avoid Them

The takeaway: You get what you pay for with SEO.

3) Google Penalties

If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. With SEO, in 99.9 % of the cases, your website & marketing campaign will end up with severe issues if you take the cheapest option. By this, I mean a Google penalty.

There are so many dreadful bullet points that cover cheap SEO; in fact, it is too numerous to mention that it will land you in a Google penalty. But rest assured, Google is watching what you do, and as soon as your SEO company starts with their spammy ways, you will end up paying the ultimate price – a Google penalty.

Recovering from a Google penalty is another story, but let’s say it can take many months ( and you might not even recover ), lots of effort and more money. You have to do everything possible to avoid a Google penalty, which means steer well clear of cheap SEO packages.

Note: we offer a Google penalty help service, so if you think you’re website has been penalised by Google or there is a sudden drop in rankings; we can take a look into this for you and see what the issue is.

4) Cookie Cutter SEO Campaign

Every business requires it’s own customised campaign. You have to tailor-make each campaign to suit the businesses goals, expectations and requirements. When you get cheap SEO, you get a cookie-cutter, one size fits all campaign that has no relevance for your business. All they will do is buy a few crappy backlinks, and that’s it. They won’t look at your website or make any changes to make it more Google-friendly.

Most businesses owners are happy to accept this sub-par level of work because all they see are the dollar signs – never mind the poor rankings or low web traffic numbers.

5) Grandiose Promises

Cheap SEO companies will say anything to get your business. Remember, you are dealing with salespeople who have bosses that have set strict sales targets they have to meet. You are just another number to them, and they don’t give a dam about your business.

They will offer fake Google ranking guarantees with no substance.

The takeaway: It’s a complete lie if they tell you that they can increase web traffic by 500% and quickly get you to page 1. No reputable SEO agency will make these types of grandiose statements.

6) Short-Lived

In some rare cases, cheap SEO companies will attain some rankings and get you some meagre web traffic, but these are always short term. I like to call it sugar highs. You might see a quick spike in rankings, but they always fall. They are never consistent and never long term.

Cheap SEO uses spammy links that can cause spikes in the rankings, only to be detected by Google. They always come plummeting down.

7) Hardcore sales

A standard method used by cheap SEO agencies is to churn and burn businesses. They’ll offer crazy SEO deals and one-off daily specials to sign you up.

Here’s where the insanity begins – their job is to sign businesses up in the guise of being an SEO agency, when in fact, they are just a sales machine.

You see these dodgy selling tactics with hosting companies. They’ll offer their SEO services as an add-on for less than $200 per month. Multiply $200 x 1000 clients per month, and you can see the huge dollar amount. Of course, they never do any work. But, people think they are getting a good deal because the SEO is so cheap.

The takeaway: The bottom line is that SEO requires a bucket load of hard work. You have to fund building authority and trust in a website. If you are in a competitive niche, it can be a full-time job blogging, creating new pages, adding copy, and constantly monitoring website performance – this all costs money and cheap SEO cannot fund it.

It’s not all doom and gloom, as Sydney SEO can be affordable.

What is “Affordable” Sydney SEO?

Affordable SEO Sydney means you’re getting quality SEO but at a reasonable price. It will be more expensive than cheap SEO packages but still excellent value! The good news here is you can find SEO companies in Sydney that can provide a bloody good service at rates that won’t break the budget.

Benefits of Affordable SEO

1) Best SEO practices

You can sleep easy at night, knowing that your SEO is in safe hands. They won’t cut corners, build dodgy backlinks or try to spam your way to the top of the rankings for short term sugar highs. There are a few quality SEO agencies in Sydney, but you’ll have to do your research.

If you have worked with a cheap SEO provider in the past, you will soon notice the difference between them and your current affordable SEO agency. It’s chalk and cheese, and the results will speak for themselves. You’ll see a sustained uptick in rankings, quality reporting procedures, improvements in your website’s appearance, and eventually a boost in sales numbers and revenue.

2) White Hat Methods

White hat SEO methods refer to the following of Google’s guidelines. Google clearly outlines these, and a reputable SEO company will never deviate from them.

If you decide to do the right thing by your business and go with an affordable SEO campaign over cheap SEO, you will get the best links, excellent copy, and someone to manage your website’s performance. All these white hat methods will help your rankings slowly improve over the following weeks and months. White hat tactics are the only way to make SEO work to your advantage.

3) Bespoke Campaigns

Creating a customised SEO campaign around your business goals is needed to achieve the best possible outcomes. You can’t take a one size fits all approach. It just doesn’t work this way. Let’s look at a few scenarios that can affect the SEO strategy:

a) a new business wanting local dominance needs the campaign to boost local results.

b) a mid-sized company looking to market to great Sydney will require a more extensive campaign.

c) a mid-sized professional firm in a competitive niche will need a very aggressive approach.

d) a national franchise operation with many franchisees will require local, statewide and national campaigns simultaneously.

Cheap SEO packages don’t have anywhere near the grunt or technical know-how or experience to handle any of the above scenarios.

4) Realistic Goals

Affordable SEO will allow open and honest dialogue between the agency and the client. You can discuss long term goals and set realistic expectations and strategies. You form a good working relationship, and the communication channels are open. With a cheap SEO, the package is all lies, deceit and vacant promises. No one can work in this manner or expect anything other than disastrous results.

5) Long-Term Strategies

SEO takes time. Patience is the golden rule, and businesses have to come to terms with this fact. There are very few quick wins, and you have to be prepared to partner with your SEO agency for the long term to see the real benefits. These fantastic outcomes will only come when long term strategies are in place. And, affordable SEO will allow for this to happen.

Conversely, cheap SEO is about fast unsustainable quick sugar high wins that never last longer than a couple of weeks. A bad outcome all round!

6) Real Results

An affordable SEO company will be able to show you the results in their monthly reports. They’ll invest the time, energy and have the necessary tools to show you the state of your campaign. Because cheap SEO companies operate on a shoestring budget, they don’t have the resources or cannot be bothered to provide up to date reports.

7) Positive Return on Investment (ROI)

The deal-breaking difference between cheap SEO and affordable SEO is your return on investment. Affordable SEO will provide a decent and measurable return on your marketing dollar. But, cheap SEO offers nothing but empty sales talk.

In summary: Affordable vs. Cheap SEO Sydney

SEO is here to stay and is the best way a business can grow. And, now, in 2021, all Sydney companies can get decent SEO which is also affordable. All you need to do is keep your eyes open to these cheap SEO scammers and hang up the phone. Now you are armed with this information; there are no excuses to plead ignorance.

When looking online for SEO, Sydney companies make sure you don’t make the wrong decision. Use your better judgement and go with someone who is not pressuring you into making a snap decision.

It would be best to think about your next moves as your business’s success will depend on them. If you think with your wallet and want to penny-pinch, the consequences are dire.

SEO is a long term investment that will reap huge rewards. Keep on repeating this to yourself and make it part of your marketing mantra.