Why are you in SEO? Do you just want to publish, or are you one of the many who wants to earn and develop social status on the web? Hopefully it’s the second one because the first one won’t likely cause you to overspend (or maybe not.)
Is It Possible to Overspend in SEO?
Definitely. While reading many blogs about setting an SEO budget, reading comments about how they wasted four-digit dollars on investments that don’t work makes me cringe. What’s worse is that, the obvious facts are already there but they tend to ignore it because they use “I’m not very familiar with SEO” as an excuse. The thing is, many small business and site owners are the same, but they we’re careful when it comes to spending on SEO. When things aren’t clear, avoid jumping to conclusions while expecting a miracle. SEO does not work that way. If it isn’t too late, then maybe we can stop overspending on SEO right now.
You Get More Visits but You Don’t Get Clients
If this is caused by organic searches, then you’re not overspending, but you may need to change something to earn from your visits. But if these visits came from paid ads, then it’s different. Common scenario, you easily believed in promotional jargons that promised better ranking. Do we need an improved ranking? Yes. Do we need to earn from it? Yes! Sometimes these paid ads or paid SEO services, cannot be blamed since they have given the promised results. But knowing what results we really need is important, especially for business-related sites.
Hosting Company that Overbills
Choose a hosting that works best for your industry and goal. There are hosting companies that limit bandwidth while the others provide upgrades. Carefully read your options so that you won’t be stunned when you end up receiving hidden charges.
Thinking that SEO Is the Only Effective Marketing Strategy
Social media, email marketing, TV, radio, and word-of-mouth to name a few. If it’s too much work, then why not focus on one platform where your potential clients are? Healthy SEO is effective, but you should also benefit from it. View your business from a client’s perspective first in order to know which niche and approach you should be using.
Ignoring What’s Free
Searching for traffic data? Looking for tools? Start with what’s free like Google Search Console. They are usually enough for small business owners when it comes to gathering data related to site performance, crawl issues, mobile and PC comparison and more.
Outsourcing on What You Already Have
Do not ignore in-house talent, or even yourself. There are many aspects to cover in SEO, if you can provide action on one, then you’re saving more. If you can find someone who is well equipped with SEO knowledge in your team, you can negotiate on a price that works best for the both of you, and less compared to outsourcing.
Lack of Goal, Branding and Focus
The goal is to stop spending more than what you’re making. That’s the red flag in SEO expenses. Sadly, the lack of goal, branding and focus is still what breaks the SEO game for many small businesses. Before diving in to investments, understand what your company needs first and produce a clear plan for every goal.