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Every business owner has been there. They are looking for an SEO service, and within hours of announcing it, there are multiple phone calls and e-mails proposing a deal.
If you are looking for an SEO company too, then you know what we are talking about. After getting a dozen email notifications of SEO services sending you messages, you decide to go through all of them.
You read the dear sir/ madam, some promises, and the boring service description. Nothing special. The next message, and you see the same. But on the third one, you are particularly interested.
What a great deal! This company promises you the top Google Search Rankings score at a price that is lower than the bus fare. They are doing it because it is their passion.
Well, you have two options. You could ignore that email and continue your quest for the right agency, or be intrigued and decide to work with that company and throw your money in the river.
Here are some reasons you must avoid cheap SEO services.
#1 SEO Requires a Fair Amount of Money
Here is the deal. SEO is not a straightforward job. You need to analyze, plan, execute, and then maintain what you do. With Google increasing the number of its ranking factors every day, SEO agencies need to broaden their spectrum of services.
They need to hire people to create backlinks, content creators (writers, video editors, etc.), social media experts, web designers and many more. Every member of an SEO team does a dignified job, and the real professionals don’t work for little money.
Agencies that work for less amount don’t have resources to hire experts. They spin content, create backlinks at any website they can, watch a YouTube video to create websites with WordPress and do other amateur things hoping that your patience won’t break and they can keep ripping you off.
#2 “Affordable” SEO Services Don’t Know How to Make Money
Don’t forget- the real objective of doing SEO is to expand a business. How do you even trust an “SEO Solution” to help you when they can’t make money for themselves?
Even if the so-called SEO agency has skills, why would they want to undervalue themselves? If they don’t know their worth, do you seriously believe they can understand how much your business means to you?
Alright, some companies may say they are smart enough to avoid competition. Really? They are afraid of getting into a competition themselves and still believe that they can help their clients compete?
A broke company is a big no-no. SEO is for making money, and you can’t work with those who don’t make enough for themselves.
#3 Low-Cost SEO Agencies Won’t Do Even Your Basic SEO
In order to nail SEO for your website, you require high-quality content and strong backlinks. Cheap SEO agencies will not be able to provide you these basic SEO needs because they require a lot of labor and capital investment.
Cutting down on these costs would mean that the agency will not be able to produce long-form, high-quality, and engaging content that you can place on your blog or website. Neither will cheap SEO services get you good opportunities for guest posts on high-authority websites.
Backlinking is another strong strategy that helps build your SEO. Without good backlinks to your site, your website will not be able to move up through the Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
Long-form content needs to be informative, well-crafted, and have a good structure and tone. This requires a good amount of skill as well as time. SEO agencies on a budget do not have the resources required to produce such good quality content and usually end up using online tools to ‘spin’ existing content into ‘fresh’ articles that end up being poor in grammar, structure, quality, and tone.
This will definitely lead to a decrease in brand value and can damage your reputation among potential customers. Poor backlink outreach can also lead to links from smaller, cheaper websites, that will again affect your brand name.
We’ll talk more about link building in the next point.
#4 Cheap Link Building Techniques Are Detrimental To Your Site
When link building was first introduced as a tactic to improve digital marketing of content, people started focusing on the number of links obtained instead of the quality. And this worked for them. Websites that had the most number of links were moving high up on the SERPs, which nullified the need for creating engaging content or a better backlinking strategy.
SEO agencies that offer their services at cheap rates still provide the same service today, even though Google has changed its algorithms considerably and the concept of link building has come a long distance.
Engaging cheap SEO services, therefore, puts your website at great risk of being penalized by Google due to poor link building strategies and low-quality content. They will most probably build links to your site through automated software or from sites with minimal trust or authority.
Although you may not immediately see huge consequences (apart from a sheer waste of resources), in the long term you will be at risk of getting penalized by Google, resulting in your site being removed from organic search result pages completely.
You will need to pool in a lot of time, resources, and money in order to get out of a situation like this, so it’s best to avoid it at the get-go and work with a more reputable SEO company instead.
#5 Cheaper Outsourcing Does Not Promise Quality
Most of the cheap SEO companies take more jobs for a lesser price and then outsource them to others. They make money as middle people. This is one thing you must avoid at any cost.
If you ask us, as an SEO service provider ourselves, we admit that we can only do our best when we can understand our clients. We prefer frequent communication, and we can’t bring any results until we communicate with our clients regularly and become clear about their objectives and values.
When cheap SEO services share their work with other people at lower rates, this means inviting trouble. The person who does SEO for your company doesn’t have any idea about who you are. Everything they will do is buy software such as Aherfs, open your website and stack keyword.
Another drawback of hiring cheap SEO services was highlighted by the recent Google Helpful Content Update of 2023.
The update was a significant move to penalize websites with low-quality, spammy content that did not align with search intent. Cheap SEO agencies that relied on black hat techniques and did not focus on providing valuable, relevant content to users were particularly affected. The update led to a substantial drop in traffic and visibility for websites that did not adhere to the updated guidelines.
The update also highlighted Google’s commitment to enhancing the quality of search results, with a particular focus on AI-enhanced content quality checks. Websites and SEO agencies are now required to focus more on providing helpful, relevant content that aligns with user intent to maintain and improve their search engine rankings.
#6 Cheap SEO Companies Use BlackHat SEO Techniques
If everything you want to do is rank your website on the top, it is not hard. Given that your only objective is the first ranking, you might be able to do it in as little as a day.
There are techniques known as BlackHat SEO techniques which means doing illegitimate things to rank your site on the first. Things such as over stacking keywords, invisible keywords, duplicate content, content automation, private blog network, hidden links, spammy backlinks, and many more fall into the Black Hat SEO methods.
So, what is the problem with this all? Well, read the Google Webmaster Guidelines. Google will penalize your website if it finds you are using any black hat methods. It basically means that even if you are on the top of the rankings, you can be taken out of there the next day and Google will make sure to avoid your site from the next time.
Cheap SEO services throw dust on your eyes by using these Black Hat approach. You might be glad of the results at first, but soon you will realize the permanent damage. In the worst-case scenario, you might even have to open a new site.
#7 Experts Cost Money
Extraordinary web designers take hundreds of dollars. The same goes for content creators. Well, we are not saying that SEO is a million-dollar game, but you must know that professionals won’t work for very less.
Time is money- remember that people working in the inexpensive SEO service company should eat as well. But if the price you are paying can’t buy them lunch, they will look for ways to finish your work in the shortest time possible. At the same time, they are not willing to build their skills and ask for more. Their job is straightforward- attract as many people with the ‘low price tag,’ and cheat.
See, anyone can tell you they can do SEO. Besides that, everyone knows how to lie. If you focus a lot on the budget part, you are sure to be scammed.
#8 “Affordable” SEO Firms May Not Have Accountability
Cheap SEO companies have a very simple business model. They focus on constantly getting new clients to work with, thus having no need for accountability or building a long term relationship with any client.
They most likely have no interest in your business and have no qualms about delivering low-quality service to you. This becomes a problem for you in the long run as you have to go back and fix all the issues associated with the work that they have done for you.
By the time you realize this and approach them to cut off the business deal, they would already be on the lookout for new clients and have probably bagged a few. They would have no regrets in terminating the contract signed with you.
At this point, you will not only have lost valuable time and resources, but also have to deal with the consequences of all the mistakes they have done.
This goes against normal business ethics of wanting to build long term relationships with other service companies by working together on projects and quickly resolving any issues that may crop up in between.
When you first received contact from them stating a proposal to work with you, you were probably just another contact that they sent the proposal to. They may not have invested enough time to even go through your company website and see what kind of business you do.
This method is usually employed to help cheap SEO firms secure a high number of clients and obtain first payments quickly so that they can continue to run their business.
#9 Low-Cost SEO Companies Offer Fixed Packages
When you approach a low-cost SEO agency, you will most probably find that they only offer a fixed set of packages that you are expected to choose from. As an experienced marketer, you should know by now that this is a definite warning signal.
No two companies are the same, which means that each company’s marketing strategy needs to be tailor-made according to the situations, and the goals of each client.
There are tons of factors that determine what kind of growth and marketing plan a particular company needs to have in place to see their desired results. Some of these factors are the company’s marketing budget, the industry they operate in, and their current SEO strategy (if there is one).
A good SEO company will go the extra mile to find out details such as your company’s working structure, business goals, as well as which markets you are targeting, both locally and globally.
They would be more passionate about learning more about what you do and getting results for you. This way they are constantly checking up on how your company is performing with their SEO efforts, and are able to provide you with good results that will boost your business.
This kind of responsibility that they take up not only helps you grow in terms of business but also helps them improve their SEO skills. SEO service providers who are more invested in your business and who are working towards great results are able to judiciously use your money, thus bringing you more value per dollar spent.
On the other hand, cheap SEO agencies are more worried about gaining a huge number of clients so that they can become profitable. They are not so concerned about your business or its unique goals.
#10 They Do Not Focus On Long-Term Relationship
Search Engine Optimization is one of those things where you must build a long-term relationship with an agency. The search results trends keep on changing, so your agency, depending on your business nature should frequently plan about new strategies and ideas. An SEO solution must be used to your business before they can ensure results. This is something you can’t expect from companies who don’t want to grow.
Okay, let’s say that the inexpensive SEO company you hired defied all the odds. It has some of the most talented experts in the market working for minimum wages. It gave you results. Now, wouldn’t the company want to move on?
Thus, you should ask yourself about the price you are paying. If you had the skill set and ideas to help make a company owner rich, would you accept peanuts?
#11 They Do Not Possess Enough Resources
More resources, the better the search result rankings. This includes software, press network, ad money, workforce and many more. Larger websites even spend money on conducting their own research, due to which they get the fresh statistics and thus, can create quality content.
Don’t expect cheap SEO companies to have any resources that matter. They only have some computers, phones to receive complaints and a bunch of people who don’t have an idea of what they are doing. They can’t get resources to become result-oriented; their primary way of getting customers is sending pitches highlighting the low cost and not their portfolio.
#12 SEO is an Investment
Always have this mindset. The money you spend on SEO will come back to you someday. Letting some half-skilled people do the job means putting yourself on more risk.
Good SEO companies might take more money, but their work will return you more than what you spent. These companies are competing with others in the market. Thus they know that they should give the best service if they are to keep on surviving.
On the other hand, spending money on cheap SEO services basically means paying someone to make you worse. You will just be giving them finances, and that’s it- you can’t expect anything.
So, Does This Mean that You Should Not Do SEO Until You can Spend a Fortune?
Not at all. You should be looking for an affordable SEO service rather than a dirt-cheap one. When we say affordable, we are asking you to find a balance between the skills and the cost. The best bet for you would be to work with an up-and-coming SEO company that is still growing at the moment. This way, the cost won’t down your bank account, and by the time they increase their prices, they would already have helped you with your business up to the point you can easily pay them.
Bottom Line
Cheap SEO companies cheat people for their money. You could say that we are harsh, but it is the absolute truth. Here is a perfect example- you can’t buy the brand-new iPhone for $10.
SEO agencies have a lot to address to give your site sustaining rankings. Things cost money, and you won’t get anywhere if you don’t buy them.
Just remember that the investment you make in Search Engine Optimization will double up if it is in the right hands. Stop considering the price as the only factor while choosing an SEO company and don’t let cheap SEO companies ruin what you already have.
