SEO services' prices

If you are willing to invest in SEO, we can offer two basic methods of how you can determine your budget:

1. Budget method: set preliminary budget for a year or half a year, then meet with a few service providers, ask them – “what can be reached with such cost?”, get your answers, select the best fitting option (according to the goals, prices) and, finally, adjust your budget. It is easy!
2. Purpose method: again, meet with a number of SEO agencies and split up your BIG purpose into small (but important) goals that you want to observe (traffic, keyword positions, effective traffic, conversions) and decide, how much can you pay for a unit (e. g. 1 conversion). The agency that gives you the best option is the winner.

A little bit more about goals and ways to measure work when evaluating the cost of SEO services:

       1. The goal to reach a certain position on a number of keywords.

This is the most understandable but also the most confusing goal. Usually, clients select a few relevant keywords that generate the most traffic. However, not all popular keywords tend to convert traffic into conversions.

Description: this one we call the strategy of maximum competition because everyone wrestles for general keywords. According to the calculations, such keywords can generate an essential part of traffic for around 30% of all markets. However, if a client’s website contains a wide variety of services or products it is better to concentrate to many different groups of keywords instead of one (this obviously requires more resources as general keywords can be identified even by a beginner SEO services provider).

ROI: it is incredibly difficult to elevate website to the top of Google search results pages if you focus only on general keywords. This process is expensive and time-consuming. By choosing such a strategy, return on your investments will not come quickly.

System preparation: with current strategy on-site optimization may cost you less because in most cases it is enough to arrange landing pages for only the most crucial keywords. Personally, we are not very much in favor of this strategy (except those cases when the project is relatively short-lived) because websites that are prepared in such manner are not the best ones in markets and they do not bring much value to a visitor.

Market Rats recommends: use this strategy for short projects or examination of an SEO agency if you question their competence (keep it in mind that fast growth of a few keywords can also be caused by a good database of external links). It sometimes works with markets of low competence when working with one-time budget (usually when SEO is perceived as a one time gig, instead of a continuous investment).

Dangers: rivals constantly track their main keywords’ positions. By noticing new participant coming over to steal those rankings they will put more effort to overcome you without a doubt. It will definitely result in a further war in prices and resources. In such scenario, the only source for you to get income for your ammo will be those few main but unstable keywords. If a particular market is susceptible for ROI from SEO services, such war should be won by those, who use their resources optimally and are capable to earn more from search systems (their website has a bigger steady system, they work with more keywords).

       2. The strategy of maximum ROI

This strategy requires a really competitive SEO specialist and a client that is able to devote a huge part of his time to communication. The strategy of maximum ROI is characterized by long-term investment and shifting budget. The main purpose of this SEO technique is to raise a website’s efficiency by one new sale or goal achievement price after the period of investment.

Description: we can call such a strategy the smart one. Periodic communication on higher margin products, services, possible future financing and budget adjustment (according to received results) is necessary when applying this method of results measurement. Defining principle – we strive for the best results possible with the available budget.

ROI: Return depends on the number of investments.

System preparation: content creation usually costs less (cheaper copywriters, link-building strategies), though, the website’s system is fully arranged. Strong external sources are often used temporarily.

Market Rats recommends: use this strategy when you are aware that your market’s organic traffic can convert even if your business growth ambitions in the channel of SEO are average. You can also apply such a technique when you are willing to increase your enterprise profitability.

Dangers: the usage of cheaper tools can slightly decrease the website’s system reliability. It will not necessarily cause big problems to brand awareness or the formation of a positive attitude of a company. This method makes it severe to conquer the market in a short period of time and benefit from it.

        3. Scheduled jobs by list

Description: SEO audit, on-site SEO, off-site plan, system preparation, site update maintenance and so on. Budget is designated for every separate job.

ROI: varies. It depends on the tasks that are ordered. Some SEO tasks do not give any measured result (e. g. change in traffic) because they lack indispensable actions needed to overtake rivals. Some works can be preventive – protection from the future fluctuation of positions and other dangers. One of such tasks is an existing backlink network arrangement – although, it may not give any real change in positions, it will definitely decrease the chance of future position drop. It will also minimize the possibility of getting a penalty from Google.

System preparation: It depends on the tasks that were ordered. The most valuable works are those, which contribute to the expansion of a website's structure and prepare explicit guidelines for its further development (in a perfect scenario, the client implements these recommendations).

Market Rats recommends:

• Website Audit. This task is a must in order to estimate the necessity and extent of works needed. Order such task at the very beginning of the collaboration with an SEO agency.
• System planning. Do you plan a new online project? ORDER system planning NOW, otherwise you will waste time and a huge amount of money!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for reparation works later. What is a new system planning? It is a procedure when an SEO specialist, according to keyword research, arrange which website’s pages will contain certain keywords. It is a must if you want your website to attract large audiences.
• On-site SEO preparation. Order such tasks only if you are planning to work on your website’s external strengthening – its authority, external links. On-site preparation works can also be important for websites that are older and have their traffic but their systems are outdated, so they need improvement to meet the present guidelines.
• Off-site SEO services. These tasks will give results only if your website’s on-site SEO is professionally arranged and SEO specialist agrees on your website’s on-site strategy. The best results can be reached only by coordinating on-site and off-site SEO strategies.

• 4. Keyword groups strategy (unlimited keywords)

Description: in our opinion – the most effective strategy (at least in most cases). “Weaker” keyword combinations reach positions and traffic faster, the main ones – slower. However, by applying such a method you make full use of the website’s potential. It is not a secret that detailed inquiries convert more frequently (e. g. furniture vs. wicker outdoor furniture in New York).

ROI: balanced – primary return can be reached quicker, main keywords’ positions – later. The enlarged website generates much more profit than the narrow one.

System preparation: almost all website’s pages depend on work that has been put on. SEO specialist predicts and prepares combinations of positions and traffic attraction. The specialist equips the website with all the crucial elements required to become the information leader within a particular topic (it provides long-term stability and opportunity to maintain high positions in Google search engine results’ pages with fewer resources for off-site SEO, which usually makes up the greater part of a budget).

Market Rats recommends: for large-scale projects. However, you have to be aware that organic search could contain a huge part of all your business income. All keyword groups strategy could also be useful for those projects that struggle in high competitiveness markets. It works perfectly as a business entry strategy and, later, as business entrenchment strategy. Large-scale projects can expect fast traffic growth right after the on-site system preparation works and first attempts at raising the website.

     5. The strategy of market dominance

Description: the most expensive investigation. Its purpose is to get the maximum ROI and reduce competitors’ earnings.

ROI: dual – direct return from SEO is quick (because a lot of resources are dedicated to it), return on market share – depends on how the advantage is being exploited.

System preparation: full internal (on-site) arrangement with continued investments and development according to the actions of rivals. It does not mean that by choosing such a strategy, SEO specialists will only respond to the movements of your competitors. Professional specialists will foresee possible future scenarios and will provide you with the best SEO strategies in order to be ahead of everyone. An appropriate budget allows you to implement future leadership, anticipate potential new keywords and prepare a system to get that brand new traffic. More resources also allow you to work on exclusive website content, thus creating a true market leader in terms of information. Briefly, by choosing such strategy your TOP positions in SERP will be received deservedly. Expected maximum sustainability of results.

Market Rats recommends this strategy when you want to become a definite leader of the market or when the growth exceeds your expectations (by getting the desired effect, by raising budget).

Competition and SEO prices

The ultimate benefit of SEO comes when a targeted person visits the website from search engines’ results pages. To put it simply: targeted keyword positions in SERP determine the number of benefits you get. And how, how, HOW are the positions gained? Attention! It is so simple, it hurts. High positions can be reached when you convince Google or another search engine that your website’s page can answer searchers question better than your competitors’. Even more simple: the more valuable answer is the one, which is broader, more detailed and it is strictly oriented to answer concrete searcher’s question (keyword). The more valuable answer can also be determined by the authority of your website in comparison to rivals’ websites.

Therefore, if you want to create a better answer to a searcher’s query, you need to prepare more appropriate, broader, comprehensive content and reinforce your website’s authority. Content should be prepared in the matter of what may catch the interest of a potential visitor and the authority can be raised by expanding the network of backlinks. If your rival has a sparrow-like amount of content and a sparrow-like authority, in order to overtake him you need to create a sparrow plus one content and gather a sparrow plus one authority. However, if your rival is a mammoth – you need more preparations and more investments, so you could be able to compete with it. If you compete over a ton of keywords, you have to create many unique articles and collect authority for the whole website or its particular pages. There is no fixed budget that can give you positions in all markets. There is only an adequate amount of resources to overtake a concrete competitor. An SEO specialist can and should tell you how competitive is your market and how much resources (or at least external sources) do you need to reach a certain authority level.

If your sphere is “buying honey bee products in Lithuania”, the positions may be reached by preparing approx. 8 A4 pages of text and 300-500 euros for in-site and off-site SEO works in total (if the project is absolutely new).

If you specialize in “bank services” and you want to reach leading positions in Lithuania from zero, 2000-3000 euros probably is not enough (and by measuring these prices, we do not evaluate the competitors’ retaliation).

If you have a “homestead with a hot tub by the lake in Kurklėnai” and you want your website to be visible in search results by such keyword, it is very likely that you only need few pieces of advice and a couple of hours of work in order to become number 1. Why? Because there is no competition over this keyword on the internet.