Why are SEO services so expensive?

What is a reasonable amount for a B2B company to spend on SEO services, and what should these include?

• I currently manage a Drupal-based website for a B2B startup. I am tasked with dramatically improving our SEO optimization for one target keyword (we would like to appear on page one for this keyword.) The website is currently not SEO optimized and there are limitations to my technical ability to edit the Drupal backend (ie add modules to fix the page titles, et al.) Our company is a leader in an industry (the keyword we want to optimize for) and it looks very bad that we do not show up on the first page of search for the term. (The industry is not big enough where I can use that as an excuse!) There are a vast array of SEO services available and they also range in cost. Much of the cost is often for an "Audit" which provides suggestions of what to do written up in a long fancy report, but without the actual work and technical optimization. Any agencies that offer both seem to be extremely expensive. Also, without being an SEO expert, it's hard to know what is the minimum viable solution to move the needle for one keyword. What is a reasonable budget for SEO optimization (ie $10k per year vs $100k per year?) How much do B2B startups typically spend on this? Do they usually do the work in-house, with their web development agencies, or via SEO agencies? The goal would be to show up on page one in Google for one particular keyword, though overall optimization for SEO and determining other keywords would be ideal if we can afford it. I'm very concerned that I will partner with an agency and spend a chunk of our small budget, only to see no results (ie if we don't show up on page one for this particular keyword all will be deemed a failure.)

• Answer:

  Pay for the audit; nothing more as the rest is about hiring the right people.  SEO is very straightforward these days: 1 part technical, 1 part marketing. Technical should outline what's wrong with the site and what needs to be fixed.  Then hire a Drupal developer that knows what they are doing (part time or full as needed) as you don't want to keep paying an agency to run your website properly. Marketing is just that, you can't outsource good marketing as that includes analytics, site optimization, PR, social marketing, etc.  ALL of those things affect where and how you rank and SEO is no longer as simple as keyword stuffing and link buying (frankly, anyone trying to sell you that should be reported the BBB as it's a scam with no basis). SEO isn't hard anymore as Google has been trying desperately to level the playing field for businesses by ensuring one site can't "out-optimize" another and rank better simply because it knows how to play the game.  To do that they've focused on the fundamentals: good technology (which, granted, you want to have audited so you know what you're doing and what that means so you don't screw it up in the future) and good old-fashioned marketing (well, new-fashioned marketing but hopefully you get my meaning). What's a reasonable budget for an audit?  Well that depends on quite a few things, least of which are the size and complexity of your site and the significance of it's state today.  But for an average B2B site, that's <$10k You then really need to do the work in house.  Why?  Because marketing. The way you build your site (with someone who now knows HOW to do it right and can do it right without the unreasonable premium of an "SEO") depends on marketing.  The content you write, the terms you use, the prices you charge, the calls to action, the landing page layout, etc.  Marketing.  Don't confuse marketing with Advertising; I'm not talking about marketing campaigns to get you more customers, we're talking about traditional marketing: analytics, intelligence, design, user experience, etc.  That can't be capably done by a 3rd party anything while at the same time effectively doing the other marketing that affects where you rank: PR, content marketing, social marketing, etc. HUGE RED FLAG "The goal would be to show up on page one in Google for one particular keyword, though overall optimization for SEO and determining other keywords would be ideal if we can afford it." Stop. Right now.  Go back to your bosses and tell them they are morons.  Okay, don't do that.  But apply the logic of what I just shared with you to that statement. Google ranks well good businesses that have effective websites and demand in the market (influenced by marketing).   You want to rank at the top of the results on one keyword.  A decade ago, we could trick Google into possibly making that happen but today, in trying to influence how Google tries to interpret what you really are, you're going to kill the business by stressing that one term.  Simply the opportunity cost; is there not demand for other terms?  Are you not known for other things?  Unless you actually only do one thing, which has one name, throughout the world, with no variations what-so-ever.  Fix the site, do good marketing, and ignore rank. Ignore rank?!? How then do you know if these SEOs are effective!?  They're not, that's my entire point; beyond the audit.  If you're familiar with Google Analytics, you'll have noted that Organic Search as a traffic source now largely shows "Not Provided" as the keywords leading traffic to the site.  While Google has been working to ensure the right businesses are shown, it has also been working to ensure that users get the perfect experience.  Simply put, that means behavioral variations, localization, and personalization of search results.  Even more simply put, rank is irrelevant.  What I see in search results is different than what you see.  What you see is different than what your boss sees.  And that's as it should be. How then do you ensure you're getting as much traffic as you can from Google? Do good business, have an effective websites and demand in the market Bah! There has to be SOME way to determine if the work we're doing is yielding positive results!  Of course there is, let's come full circle to the role of marketing and analytic. If the work being done is effective, you'll get more traffic from Google, more qualified traffic, that delivers more business, no?  It's your job, I suspect, to keep tabs on that and ensure it's happening, so don't hold a third party that isn't constantly monitoring that and optimizing EVERY contributing factor from the performance of the website to the quality of Customer Service to the effectiveness of the Sales organization. No? Bottom line, if you're management team expects that if you don't show up on page one for this particular keyword, all will be deemed a failure, I, and many others I expect, look forward to you going out of business. The only way an "SEO agency" can be effective on an ongoing basis is to take over your website and marketing.  I don't expect that's going to happen so don't expect them to, no, don't waste money on any promises, that there is work that they can do ongoing.  They can tell you what's wrong; your organization has to do it right.