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Why_is_SEO_so_expensive
| Why is SEO so expensive?
Why is SEO so expensive? By Chris Genge
One of the questions our firm often gets asked is, "Why is
search engine optimization (SEO) so expensive?" The simple
answer -it isn't.
SEO is the most cost effective form of advertising with a low
cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and high return on investment (ROI).
Studies have shown that dollar for dollar, SEO is the best form
of advertising... online and offline!
SEO is proactive... the customer is actively looking for the
products and services you provide. Traditional advertising is
passive... you are hoping to spark someone's interest and get
them thinking about buying your products and services.
Compared with other forms of advertising, Internet marketing via
SEO is very inexpensive. Think about how much your business
spends on television, radio, newspaper, magazine, and even
yellow pages ads. If you were to break these costs down on a
monthly basis, SEO would probably cost the least and still
deliver better results.
To test this, we looked into advertising in a couple of national
US magazines as well as newspapers, yellow pages, and radio
spots in some major Canadian cities. The following table
represents the average cost per month for each.
Advertising Medium---- Audience Reach---- Size, Type,
Frequency---- *Cost Per Month Bus. Magazines (US)--- United
States----- 1/3 column, B/W, 1/mth--- $12000 Radio
(CAN)----------- Local------------- 30-second, 60-spots/mth--
$6000 Newspapers (CAN)------ Local------------- bus-card size,
B/W, 4/mth-$2000-$2500 Yellow Pages (CAN)---- Local-------------
bus-card size, B/W------- $180-$365 SEO------------------- World
Wide-------- 10-20 Keywords----------- $249-$499 * Guidelines
only as actual costs will vary depending on market conditions,
geographical location, and your own preferences.
It is difficult to provide precise numbers because there are so
many different variables that can come into play. What we tried
to do was keep the variables as consistent as possible from one
medium to the next. The ads in the business magazines were the
most expensive but they provided the greatest audience reach
(next to SEO) and because the size of the ad was larger than the
newspaper and yellow pages ad. Radio came in as the next most
expensive. We asked to run a 30-second commercial that would be
aired 60-times in a month (the recommended number of airings was
100). Newspapers came in third only because the frequency option
we selected was one ad appearing once per-week (Saturday issue)
and because the size of the ad was fairly small. The yellow
pages came in around the same cost as SEO, but what good is a
yellow pages ad to an online business? SEO on the other hand,
had one of the lowest costs, provided the greatest audience
coverage, and with a 24x7 frequency.
Which of these forms are you currently using? How effective have
they been? Do your own research and see what you come up with.
Because of the variables, your numbers will be different than
ours, but when you break them down to measure the overall costs
(CPA, ROI)... the majority of you will see that hands down, SEO
is the best option.
It doesn't matter what form of advertising you are using... for
online success, SEO really is the most cost effective and
efficient way to promote your business. That's why SEO is
gaining in popularity with everyone from small one-person
operations to large, multi-national Fortune 500 companies.
SEO lets you target your message to the right people at exactly
the right time... when they are looking to buy... at a fraction
of the cost of other advertising media and a better ROI.
About the author:
Chris Genge is the President of 1st on the List Promotion Inc, a
website promotion firm that specializes in search engine
optimization and pay per click management. Chris writes on
current and emerging search engine marketing theories and has
been involved in the SEO industry since 1997. He and his team
focus on researching and implementing the most effective search
engine optimization techniques. To learn more visit
http://www.1stonthelist.ca/
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