Is Search Engine Optimization Really Free?
Written by Michael Fleischner   
Sunday, 12 July 2009 20:10
Improving your search engine ranking is hard work. It takes time, effort and resources. For many who are managing multiple websites, the effort is multiplied given the need to manage so many web pages and keyword terms. The reality is that SEO is not free. The more websites you have the more time and effort is required.

Improving your search ranking is hard work. It takes time, effort and resources. For many who are managing multiple websites, the effort is multiplied given the need to manage so many web pages and keyword terms. The reality is that SEO is not free. The more websites you have the more time and effort is required.

Optimizing your website for specific keywords or keyword phrases doesn't come for free. In fact, in many instances, SEO is much more costly. Unfortunately, the comparison is usually between SEO and PPC. With pay-per-click advertising, it is true that your cost happens in real time, but search engine optimization has a financial impact as well. Think of your time, and the time of others working on search engine initiatives as having a cost - time is money.

The costs involved with search engine optimization come in when resources are needed to analyze your web site from an SEO perspective. You may also spend a great deal of time doing keyword research and analyzing your competitors. In each of these efforts, you are either paying a professional to do the work for you or spending your valuable time managing these tasks. As a result, you are spending money. Even when working on a project by yourself, you are experiencing costs. What is your hourly rate? What is your time worth? These factors should be part of your cost calculation.

Be sure to calculate the value of your time and the time spent by others on your team who are focused on SEO related efforts. Each of us can calculate our value by taking an annual salary and dividing it by two thousand hours. This is based on working for a full, 40 hours per week. How much is your time worth? Consider this factor before determining the true cost of your search engine optimization efforts.

Now that you've completed a thorough review of your website, competitors, and so on, it's time to start applying search engine optimization techniques. To do so requires labor. You may need individuals who can help to implement on page optimization factors and build links to your website. Will you be doing this work? Will someone else be performing these tasks? Consider the costs associated with each and make a wise investment in yourself or an outside firm.

Online tools can also be helpful in determining or prioritizing tasks. Once you have specific tasks defined, locate a resource that can save you money. This may be a software application that helps you submit your website to directories. It could be an article writing service that can do the heavy lifting for you. It may even be an outsource solution for finding link partners and managing link exchanges. Link building|All of this link building takes work and requires a good deal of time. So consider your options and choose the one that is most affordable.

SEO is certainly not free. You may consider it less expensive than other forms of online marketing because you're doing much of the work on your own. However, you should consider the value of your personal time and alternatives for reducing your workload and improving results. Whether you are thinking about online resources or additional individuals to do many of the repetitive tasks necessary to build in-bound links and corresponding page rank, your analysis should consider costs and benefits. Even though SEO is not free, its worth every cent.

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