SEO Packages for Small Businesse
Five Things You Absolutely Need to Know
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE ON SMALL BUSINESS SEO PACKAGES
- What exactly are SEO packages for small businesses?
- How much should I pay for an SEO package for my small business?
- How do I find an agency that can meet my small business SEO needs?
- What should an SEO package for a small business include?
- What kind of results can companies expect from small business SEO packages?
First Things First
What Is A Small Business?
Let’s briefly clarify what a small business is. Generally described as a business with fewer than 500 employees, the Small Business Administration (SBA) SBA defines a small business as:
- As a for-profit business
- A company that has a place of business in the United States
- A business that operates primarily within the U.S. or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor
- A business that is independently owned and operated
- A business that is not dominant in its field on a national basis
- The legal set up of the small business may be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, corporation, or any other legal form
Small businesses in the U.S. are the backbone of the economy. In 2022, 99.9 percent of all businesses in the United States will be small businesses. There are currently 33.2 million small businesses in the U.S. These businesses employ millions of people and generate billions of tax dollars for the government.
The Small Business Landscape Is Extremely Competitive
As a small business owner or someone in charge of marketing at a small business, you understand how challenging it can be to acquire new customers. Many small businesses are self-funded (or supported financially by friends and family) and usually don’t have millions of dollars in a bank account. There’s little wiggle room for burning cash or investing in marketing programs that don’t yield results.
Frequently, one of the first search engine programs a small business dabbles in is pay-per-click (PPC). Traditional PPC programs such as Google Ads, and advertising on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram, offer a valid and immediate solution to connect with potential customers online. However, PPC can be very expensive, and online ads stop appearing in the search results once the PPC budget is used up.
Unlike PPC, getting a website to appear organically at the top in Google and other search engines is the gift that keeps giving. Once a website achieves top rankings for its target search engine optimization (SEO) keywords in the search engines, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
The small business landscape in many industries around the country is already hyper-competitive. As the economy continues improving, more new businesses will join the party. Having a sound organic SEO strategy in place is no longer an option; it’s a must. A small business SEO package may be a great investment if companies want to attract more potential customers to their websites through Google.
This quick guide aims to help you understand the basics of SEO packages for small businesses and how your business could potentially benefit from investing in a monthly SEO package.
What Exactly Are SEO Packages for Small Businesses?
SEO is about getting Google to notice your site and then considering it valuable enough to place it at the top of its search results pages (aka SERPs). Once a web page is published, Google crawls and indexes the page. The search giant assigns a quality score to the page during this process. When someone enters a search query, Google retrieves the most relevant pages based on hundreds, if not thousands, of ranking factors. After all, Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, and it always starts with a search. The key to getting noticed is addressing many of the most important rankings signals and following Google Search Essentials best practices.
Since many bad actors are trying to game the system, Google updates its algorithm thousands of times yearly. Every other month or so, Google releases a core algorithm update. Consequently, a good SEO strategy is ever-evolving.
Unfortunately, many small to mid-sized businesses don’t believe they can afford to work with a reputable SEO agency to devise such a strategy. This is where SEO packages for small businesses come in. The right package will include à la carte services that promptly address the company’s most pressing needs without hurting its bottom line. It should eventuallyhelp their bottom line, assuming the agency is doing things right.
Over the last few years, Google’s algorithm has improved dramatically, and the “old SEO” simply doesn’t work anymore. Every small business SEO package should be unique and custom-developed.
How Much Should I Pay for an SEO Package for My Small Business?
If you’ve done some research already, you’ve surely concluded that rates for monthly small business SEO packages range greatly. Generally speaking, though, the fee is always charged monthly. Depending on how the agency operates, there may or may not be a lengthy contract associated with the package.
When you purchase an SEO package, you’re essentially hiring a pool of experts for a certain number of hours per month. The more expensive the package, the more services you can expect out of it because the more time the team will be able to dedicate to your project.
In the United States, most agencies charge between $75 and $150 per hour for their services. It’s wise to steer clear of anyone who charges considerably less. As tempting as it might be to hire an offshore agency that demands a fraction of the standard, their packages cannot possibly include enough time to follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
As with most things in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to SEO; however, that doesn’t mean small businesses have to earmark a significant portion of their budget each month for digital marketing. In most cases, they can see incredible results by spending just a few thousand dollars a month—as long as they turn to the right experts. Pricing for monthly small business SEO packages can range considerably.
An article by Inc. states that an investment of $1,000 or less per month is too low, and a monthly investment of $5,000 or more is too high. The article also notes that an investment of $2,000-$2,500 per month may be suitable.
How Do I Find an Agency That Can Meet My Small Business SEO Needs?
There’s certainly no shortage of SEO agencies that cater to small businesses, so narrowing down the options when searching for a package can pose a challenge. You must do your due diligence since you’ll probably end up working with them for at least four to six months. There’s no magic switch when it comes to SEO. It frequently takes at least three to five months to start seeing significant improvements in rankings.
As we started one, we understand small businesses here at Boulder SEO Marketing (BSM). Consequently, the services we include in our small business SEO packages are the same ones we use to reach our goals and rank on page one of Google.
Did you find this guide via a Google search?
Well, then, we can say with confidence that our approach works. Moreover, we can take the same methods for your business, though we’ll tailor it to your unique needs and positioning.
At BSM, we have everything you should be looking for in an agency, including dedicated project managers, creative content writers, social media specialists, digital strategists, and highly experienced technical experts. Small businesses benefit from our experience working with clients across a wide range of industries since 2009.
If you’re wondering what kind of specific qualities to look for in an agency, here’s a brief list:
- A free, no-obligation consultation to ensure you’re a good fit for their services
- A comprehensive assessment that identifies low-hanging fruit on the site so you can pluck it and start climbing the rankings right away
- A Micro-SEO StrategyTM tailored to your particular industry, current positioning, and long-term goals
- SEO design services
- Month-to-month contracts, so you’re not locked in if you’re unhappy with the results
As for qualities to avoid, it’s generally wise to steer clear of agencies that rely on the following:
- Incredibly low prices (essentially a fraction of what other agencies charge)
- Guaranteed results
- Black hat SEO tactics
- Third-party contractors
- Long-term contracts that are impossible to get out of
What Should an SEO Package for a Small Business Include?
At BSM, we tailor our approach for each client. There are some general features, however, that every SEO package includes. These fundamentals aim to address many ranking factors in Google’s algorithm. Theone-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work when it comes to SEO. We always create a custom-project plan and frequently address some, if not all, of the action items listed below:
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Auditing and addressing technical health issues of the website
Addressing technical matters of a website is like looking under the hood of a car to figure out what’s wrong. Frequently, we find website problems that we can fix quickly and make a significant impact. Our complimentary site audit tool gives you a quick snapshot of your website in less than a minute. The 8-page report provides actionable information that helps improve a website’s visibility on Google and other search engines.
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Auditing and improving the functionality and user experience of the website
Google likes people to be able to find what they need. We’ll look at your website to see if we can make customer experience improvements and boost conversions.
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Implement on-page SEO and content marketing best practices
Here’s wherekeyword research and content development come into play. We’ll perform keyword research to determine how your customers search for your products or services. We’ll then provide a strategy to optimize your website, from webpage content to tags to internal hyperlinking and much more.
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Implement off-page SEO best practices
Off-page SEO is about getting reputable websites to link to your site. We’ll provide you with a strategy to increase and improve the links that go back to your website, from press releases to business listings to directory listings.
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If part of the package, implementing a meaningful social media marketing and influencer marketing strategy
Social media marketing is truly a must in today’s world. If you’re not doing it, your competitors are, and you don’t capitalize on an opportunity to communicate with existing and potential new customers this way. Your strategy will include content marketing and types of channels, as well as influencer marketing recommendations.
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Micro-SEO Strategies
This new SEO tactic is vital to every small business SEO package. This proprietary new SEO strategy essentially levels the playing field. Even small businesses can now outrank Fortune 500 companies like Amazon and Walmart.
Micro-SEO Strategies℠ Case Study
Crew Supply is a barware e-commerce website that sells innovative and sustainable tools for bartenders, baristas, and at-home mixologists. They had an old blog post ranking on page two of Google for keywords such as pouring spout, pour spouts, and pouring spouts.
After running our findings by the client as part of our quarterly re-strategy meeting, we developed a hyper-focused campaign that focused on pouring spout-related keywords. Then, we got to work.
We completely re-designed the old blog post and created the best piece of content currently available on the internet for pour spout-related keywords. BSM turned the outdated blog post into The Ultimate Guide to Pour Spouts (That You Never Knew You Needed). This web page now features everything from a prominent call-to-action to valuable content, engaging visuals, and more.
This guide is now the second most visited Google organic search landing page of their entire website:
Google deems this post one of the top pages concerning pouring spout-related keywords on the web. This page ranks for over 500 keywords and is now one of the site’s top-performing pages:
Ever since we deployed this Micro-SEO Strategy℠ for Crew Supply, this page has seen a constant increase in Google organic search traffic:
We always see similar opportunities when we perform an initial analysis for potential new clients.
What Kind of Results Can Companies Expect From Small Business SEO Packages?
Implementing a successful digital marketing strategy that addresses the ranking signals to Google’s satisfaction takes time. On average, our clients start seeing results within three to four months. This is roughly how long Google needs to start processing the changes we implement and consider them consistent enough to impact rankings.
It’s important to remember, however, that SEO is not a one-time task. Even after you climb the rankings and reach the top, you’ll compete with other sites to stay there. To maintain your position, you must keep addressing Google’s algorithm, especially after its major updates. Once we do the initial work, it’s not uncommon to see a dramatic increase in organic traffic, which usually translates to a boost in leads and sales.
Not Quite Ready For A Small Business SEO Package?
SMALL BUSINESS SEO CLASSES FOR ALL SKILL LEVELS
Explore Agency-Approved Strategies That Are as Impactful as They Are Revolutionary
Not ready to invest in an SEO package for your small business? Don’t let that stop you from climbing the rankings! Take our free SEO training classes. They are available on-demand, allowing you to broaden your knowledge of search engine optimization. Upon completing one of our courses, you’ll have the tools needed to devise and implement successful tactics that will help your site attract more of the right kind of traffic.