Anyone in the SEO business will tell you that great SEO is never cheap. Truth be told, cheap SEO is more of a myth than a fraud. When someone tells you that they can do your SEO for cheap, you should be wary of the negative effects associated with this.
While there are several ways to save up on SEO, great SEO marketing strategies always come at a price. In this article, we will discuss what constitutes cheap SEO and the corresponding damages that one can incur when they use cheap SEO. Moreover, we will also discuss the ways on how to save money when doing SEO without resorting to cheap SEO. Find out more about the truth behind cheap SEO in the article below.
What is Cheap SEO?
While we really cannot put an exact number to define what cheap SEO is, it is dependent on how large your business is. Cheap SEO will always result in a loss for the company since it will cause more damage than benefit.
Common Practices of Cheap SEO
There are several ways to do cheap SEO, but these three are the worst practices done by cheap SEO companies:
A. Duplicate Content
Google recognizes plagiarized content immediately. One common pitfall of bad SEO practice is creating a content that is a direct copy of another’s content. While it is easy to just follow what the leading company does, they are already the leader at their game. In order to outdo them, it is important to ensure that you do something that is able to set you apart.
Duplicate content is not just about having an exact copy of another’s text. It can also be using a synonym of an exact sentence in the same exact way. This can also mean using a portion of one’s work in a verbatim manner without giving some credit to the other person.
Plagiarizing another person’s content will not just result in a Google penalty, but it is a real violation of someone else’s intellectual property. On the other hand, using another person’s article as an inspiration, one can create a new content with a spin. This new content will be likely to get a higher ranking without the fear of being penalized by Google.
B. Bad Links
Backlinks are the backbone of SEO and if the backbone is weak, the entire body will fail. When the backlinks are bad, Google will take note of this. If a new page suddenly has thousands of backlinks in just a day, it will send a sign to Google that the links are paid.
Moreover, if the backlinks are not related to the webpage’s niche, it would not score any credit with Google. It can even kill the chances of ranking well with Google. When it comes to SEO, one great backlink is better than tens of unrelated backlinks.
There are several ways to get a great backlink and a reputable SEO company will provide you with that benefit. Cheap SEO will only get you backlinks that can lead to the webpage’s downfall. This is why it is important to not resort to cheap methods that provide no benefits at all.
Never Fall For Cheap SEO!
C. Keyword Stuffing
The proper use of keywords is rather important for creating great content. Use of related keywords is a major component of Google’s algorithm. This is why cheap SEO would think that stuffing keywords carelessly could lead to higher search engine ranking.
However, the overuse of keywords can lead to the content being classified as spam. It is important to keep the use of keywords to a minimum. Otherwise, it could cause damage to one’s SEO marketing strategy.
Keyword stuffing is a bad SEO practice that should never be done. The overuse of keywords can be detrimental to one’s SEO marketing strategy. It is important to also use the keywords in a natural way because Google can also sense if the keywords are just being stuffed into the content for the sake of ranking.
The Damages Caused by Cheap SEO
The Basics of Google Penalty
Before we go into details about Google Penalty, we will first define the basic concepts of Google Penalties. SEO Mark explains the different SEO penalties in this manner: “A penalty can either be a manual one or an algorithmic one. A manual penalty is where someone from within Google has manually reviewed your site and determined that it has breached one or more of their guidelines. An algorithmic penalty is where your site has tripped a filter/safeguard built into Google’s algorithm.
Algorithmic penalties fall into one of two categories – Panda or Penguin. Panda penalties relate to the usability of your site and the quality of your site’s content. They roll out, unannounced, on a monthly basis. Penguin penalties relate to over-optimization. They roll out only at certain times of the year, and are generally accompanied by an announcement from Google.” (https://www.seomark.co.uk/google-penalties-types-causes/)
When Google penalizes your page, it will take a long time before one recovers from the damage. The lengthy penalty time can lead to the wastage of time, resources, and efforts. The recovery from the Google penalization will require more expenditures than the original cost of the affordable SEO that you used at first.
This means that the webpage owner will end up spending more than the money that they have originally intended to save. With this, it is important to use cost-benefit analysis to prevent drilling a hole in your pocket with unnecessary costs that bottle up at the last minute.
Damage 1: Loss of Money
As we have suggested, it is important to employ a cost-benefit analysis for SEO. Cheap SEO will damage your bank account even more when compared to using a reputable SEO marketing SEO strategy. When you begin with cheap SEO strategies, your initial capital would also be smaller. However, the succeeding costs would surely pile up and can be ten times more than the initial cost that you have paid.
On the other hand, when you invest in a reputable SEO strategy, you may be required to shell out a smaller amount. However, the succeeding costs would become minimal as you have already built a sturdy foundation for your SEO. As your SEO marketing strategy becomes successful, the initial investment that you have spent will pay for itself eventually.
In simple terms, the money that you use for cheap SEO will be an outright expense. On the contrary, investing in a reputable and credible SEO marketing strategy can be treated as an investment.
Damage 2: Waste of Time
More than the loss of money, it is the loss of time that is more damaging. You can liken the competition between cheap SEO and credible SEO to the race of the hare and the tortoise. In the story of the hare and the tortoise, the hare was able to get ahead quickly while the tortoise was several steps behind. However, in the middle of the race, the hare took a break and that is where the tortoise was able to catch up.
Great SEO marketing strategies will take longer before you see results, but the result is highly likely to be lasting and permanent. On the contrary, cheap SEO will show results in an instant, but this will also disappear immediately. Similar to the hare and the tortoise, it is slow and consistent that wins when it comes to SEO marketing strategy.
How to Save Money on SEO without being “CHEAP”
A. Employ Credible SEO Companies
While there are SEO companies that lack credibility, there are several SEO companies that have built a name for themselves due to their reliable performance and quality results. Companies like SEO Miami have created unique SEO marketing strategies that allow their clients to become leaders in their niche. With credible SEO companies, you will be paying a bit more, but the benefits are reciprocal.
This is because you will be provided with a marketing strategy that is specific to your company. Each niche is different, which is why it is important that the design is specialized according to the needs of the company. Cheap SEO companies do SEO marketing strategy in a similar way for all companies, which is why the results are rather temporary.
B. Create Good Content
One of the most important aspects that you should pay attention to when it comes to SEO is the content on the page. When a page lacks content, it will make the domain appear to be inactive. It has been stated as part of the Tips for SEO Content Writing that, “…Google will also look at the content of your page for your SEO Ranking, it will be hard to judge how your page will rank when your page has no content. With bad SEO, your ranking can be destroyed instead of improving your score. When your page lacks content and value, you will lose credibility with your audience. Without any content, your website will appear to be inactive. As a result, you will lose the trust of potential clients.
Poor SEO practices can also lead to unfavorable results and you might just be hit with a penalty, especially if your content has been plagiarized. This is why it is important to create unique contents for your page. Moreover, you should not overuse the keywords since this can damage the quality of the content. It is also important that the keywords are placed in a logical and natural manner, which can lead to a better ranking.”
C. Use Reliable SEO Practices
Apart from the content on the page, it is important to never neglect other SEO practices. It is important to also put extra attention on the design of the page. This is important since a responsive page can help garner more followers, which can lead to added traffic to the page.
Another important aspect to pay attention to is the backlinks to the page. It is important that the backlinks are related to the niche and the link has a credible reputation in order to score good points with Google. Finally, it is important to pay attention to both the off-site SEO and the on-site SEO.
D. Be Patient when it comes to SEO Results
We have often discussed in our blogs that SEO takes time. You can get quality SEO results if you learn how to wait for the seeds that you have planted to bear fruit. As we have stated previously in an article about the Top 10 Mistakes that SEO Newbies Commit:
“It is no secret that SEO takes time. This is why some SEO newbies instantly give up. A common mistake in the business is giving up when they do not see results immediately. Since SEO results take time, you need to be patient before you see results.
It is important to not quit even if you do not see the results that you wish to have. You may be able to see SEO results at around three months, but there are times when you will see the results after six months.”
Waiting for SEO Results does not cost anything, but being patient bears good result for SEO. Cheap SEO may show instant results, but it does not last long and it does not create a good reputation for one’s brand.
Conclusion
As we draw this article to a close, we have all learned that cheap SEO produces cheap results as well. Due to the bad SEO practices, cheap SEO may end up costing more than the initial cost that is being shelled out. Great SEO practices will yield great results, which is why it is important that one invests in quality SEO.
When it comes to SEO, “you reap what you sow,” this is why it is important to plant good seeds to ensure that your seeds are able to bear good fruits. You can plant good seeds with SEO Miami because of their good reputation in the business. If you wish to stay away from cheap SEO, just give us a call at 786-355-8085 or send us an email and we will respond to your message immediately.