There are 5.9 million searches done on Google every minute. Hence, there’s an immense opportunity to catch the eye of your potential customers on the search engine.
As a result, many business owners are turning to SEO agencies to improve their search engine rankings and drive more traffic to their websites.
However, there are multiple SEO agencies claiming to offer the best results. So you might wonder — is it worth investing in a good SEO company, or a cheap SEO company which claims to deliver the same results?
Having worked with so many business owners over the years and networking with industry professionals, we have gathered some insights on the differences between Cheap SEO v/s Good SEO.
We will present those insights in this blog to answer all your questiosn.
Table of Contents
- What is Cheap SEO?
- What is Good SEO?
- Good vs Cheap — Signs of Cheap SEO Services
- Good vs Cheap — Qualities of Good SEO Service
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cheap SEO?
Many companies employ unethical techniques known as “black hat SEO” which might violate search engine’s terms of service. Many times they might overload a web page with keywords in a very unnatural way.
Some agencies also practise putting hidden text or links. These links are not visible to readers, however, search engines can read them. They do this to manipulate the rankings.
However, this might have severe consequences. First, Google updates its algorithms quite frequently to identify websites violating its policies. It even penalises such websites.
So, if this happens to your website — it could disappear from search results forever.
And mind you — cheap SEO services often come with attractive price tags, but they can be misleading as we saw. You might think it’s the best deal out there as it’s cheaper compared to good SEO companies. However, you might end up paying a high price in the long term.
For example, building a website from scratch will then again double your cost. On top of that, you will have to hire another SEO company and pay them as well. So our advise would be – please please stay away from “black hat SEO services.”
What is Good SEO?
Good SEO, on the other hand, focuses on sustainable, ethical practices that comply with search engine guidelines. This practice is called “White hat SEO.” It ensures that your website not only improves its rankings but also maintains it in the long term.
A typical white hat SEO strategy focuses on putting out high-quality and valuable content by naturally including the keywords. Usually, it’s a high effort task and demands a significant time to seethe results – your website ranking in top search.
Overall, white hat SEO focuses on providing real value to users, improving the user experience on your website and building a strong authoritative online presence over time.
Good vs Cheap — Signs of Cheap SEO Services
It’s easy to get enticed by cheap SEO services as they promise remarkable results in the short term. However, it’s a trap that you must avoid at all costs. Otherwise, you will end up wasting your resources.
So here are some key signs to look for to catch Cheap SEO.
1. No Audits, Just Generic SEO Strategy
Cheap SEO services often use a one-size-fits-all approach. They will not even take time to audit your website or understand your requirements. They will simply apply the same old generic SEO tactics to all clients regardless of their unique business needs and goals.
This means that their strategies may not effectively address your specific challenges or highlight your unique strengths resulting in subpar performance.
2. Low-Quality Content
For successful SEO, high-quality content is very important. However, cheap SEO services do not prioritise good content as they are not paid well. They heavily rely on AI-generated content and keyword stuffing that leads to poorly written, irrelevant material.
This type of content not only fails to engage your audience but can also be flagged by search engines as spammy, negatively impacting your rankings.
3. Inexperienced SEO Team
Cheap services typically mean inexperienced or less skilled professionals are handling your account. Talented SEO experts usually demand higher fees due to their expertise and ability to deliver results.
Additionally, an inexperienced team may lack the knowledge and skills that are necessary to navigate the complexities of SEO. On top of it, they might not know how SEO works in your industry. Since they are accustomed to following generic SEO strategies.
Ultimately, you are bound to be disappointed with the outcome.
4. Sudden Decrease in Rankings
Cheap SEO services often use “Black-hat” SEO tactics as they have promised quick results. However, Google doesn’t support it. As a result, they have spam policies in place to recognise sites that try to manipulate search engines to rank higher in search results.
Google can detect this spammy content using automated systems or human review (if needed) to flag your website. If it finds that the content violates the policies — your site may rank lower or just disappear from search results.
This is why you might rank well in the short term using cheap SEO services. However, it harms your business in the long term as you will not see any traffic coming to your website.
As a result, you will have to start all over again.
Good vs Cheap — Qualities of Good SEO Service
Think about your long-term goals with SEO. Do you want to rank quickly and then just disappear? No right? Of course, you want to rank organically and maintain it over a long period of time and see a return on investment.
That’s why always opt for quality SEO services from a good SEO company. Here are some key points that we follow as an SEO agency to provide quality SEO services to our clients. You can use it as a cue to identify reliable SEO services.
1. Tailored Strategy
A good SEO company will always ask you questions about your business goals. They will conduct a thorough audit of your website to identify gaps and areas of improvement. Based on the findings, they will create a strategy and communicate it to you.
Their approach will always include addressing those gaps and ensuring that SEO efforts are aligned with your specific needs and objectives.
2. High-Quality Content
Good SEO services prioritise high-quality, relevant content that provides real value to your audience. This includes well-researched articles, blog posts and other forms of engaging and informative content.
What happens with quality content is that it improves and compels the users to spend more time on your website. They will be inclined to read more and know more about your products and brand. This will indicate to Google that you are providing relevant information as users are spending more time on your website and they will boost our site’s rankings.
A good SEO company knows these basic principles. So they will always provide good-quality content.
3. Experienced SEO Team
As you are paying fairly for the SEO service, the company can afford good talent. As a result, you have access to talented professionals who stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and best practices.
For example, they will always keep an eye on updates from Google regarding changing algorithms.
As a result, they will be able to adapt their strategies accordingly.
This way, they will ensure that the SEO strategy they are using to enhance your site’s ranking is relevant and effective in the long term.
4. Ethical Practices
Good SEO service includes using white hat practices that do not violate Google’s spam policies which we discused earlier. Additionally, they will also make it a point to comply with Google Search’s overall policies.
This includes avoiding content that may be offensive or illegal. That’s how you can save your website from getting banned if you rely on quality SEO services.
In Conclusion
Choosing between Cheap SEO and Good SEO can have a significant impact on your business’ online presence and success. While Cheap SEO services might offer short-term gains, they often rely on unethical practices that can lead to long-term damage and penalties.
On the other hand, investing in Good SEO ensures sustainable growth, improved search engine rankings and a stronger, more credible online presence.
So always look for signs of Good SEO services when you partner with an SEO agency.
If you are looking for a reliable SEO and digital marketing agency, reach out to us at hello@florafountain.com to rank on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
The founder and partner of Flora Fountain, Shefali leads the Content and Technology divisions. A one-time engineer who started her career writing front-end code, she took a detour sometime during her 9 years in New York, studied journalism and started writing prose, poetry and sometimes jokes. She now has 15...