Can you do SEO for cheap?
It’s a question I’m asked often. And, I completely empathise that if you’re new to the world of SEO, you may not realise just how much companies tend to invest in SEO strategies for their organic online presence. But, as a small business owner, startup or freelancer, how do you stand any chance of competing in the search results?
It’s all about picking your battles. And, after speaking to potential clients who have what would be considered low budgets, I’ve decided to offer a bespoke, budget SEO package which will allow smaller businesses to compete.
A disclaimer before I outline the strategies of how I would suggest you do SEO on a budget (and also how I can do this for you). The price is £250 + VAT, which is what some agencies charge for an hours work. This means that the strategy is very, very targeted, and results will be nowhere near as fast compared to a client with a large budget.
This service is also geared more towards business owners looking for local SEO services, as it mostly revolves around Google My Business optimisation, and ongoing on-page work.
Now the above is out of the way, let’s have a look at how budget SEO can be realistically approached. Want me to do this for you? Give me a call on 07393 286 400 or contact me.
A realistic budget SEO strategy
Google My Business
GMB is one of the more easier ways to rank your site, without any upfront costs. By optimising your business description, filling in all relevant information, optimising images, regularly publishing content ensuring you have a custom name, you will see often immediate results (especially compared to competition who may not even have a GMB profile).
On-Page SEO
Title tags, meta descriptions and headers are all the pillars of optimising your site. And, with good keyword research, these can seriously improve the visibility of your site. Look at the types of keywords your competitors are targeting… is it working for them? How can you improve or expand upon their strategies?
Consider purchasing or signing up for free tools such as Ahrefs to conduct some top-level keyword research, and really gain a deeper understanding into how you can use keywords effectively as part of your on-page SEO strategy.
Citations
Link building doesn’t have to be expensive. Granted, most bloggers and sites in your industry may try and charge for a link to your site, however there are free ways to get relevant links to your site that will not damage your authority…citations. Sites like 192, Yell, Yelp, relevant business directories and publishing sites will offer free listings, that will also come with a link.
Don’t worry about these links being no-follow either; it’s nice to mix things up a bit!
Content
Blogging regularly should always be a part of your strategy. It’s an ongoing battle, and something that can vastly improve both rankings and relevant traffic if done correctly. Again, your biggest indicator of what is working should be starting with what your competitors are writing about )if they even are). What are they missing? What trends can you jump on?
Again, keyword research and a competitor content gap analysis will allow you to identify the opportunites that you otherwise wouldn’t.
Hopefully the above helps you to understand how SEO can be done on a budget. The bigger the budget, the better chances you’ll have of ranking, but that isn’t to say you need to be disheartened.
For any questions please get in touch, and as stated above I can always do this for you if it seems like a mammoth undertaking! You can also find the other services I provide as a freelance SEO consultant throughout this site.
