How Much Should Online Marketing Cost?
While your website may be failing to capture online sales it would be a huge understatement to think it’s not worth the investment to market your business online. If you’re like most of us then you have received many quotes for online marketing services by numerous companies promising the world. One company offers a price that’s so low that it just seems too good to be true, while another requires you to give up you left arm just to get started with them. So the question is how much should online marketing cost and what should you buy from these companies?
There are two common types of online marketing and below we describe what each one is and how much they cost.
Pay Per Click Advertising: This also called PPC, paid search advertising, or search engine marketing. If you’re a small business and looking for a good place to start then this is it. In fact you really should put this before anything else. This type of online marketing delivers immediate returns. In this model you simply bid on keywords (i.e. “roofers in Charlotte”) that are performed in a geographic location. The cost to have this service managed for you will be 10% – 15% of your total monthly spend. Your marketing firm will set up campaigns and bid on search terms which will vary in price. Less competitive terms like “how to tie a bow tie” can cost between $0.05 – $0.08 a click while more competitive terms like “attorney in New York” can run as high as $20 -$50 a click. The cost is driven by market size, competition, and how much people are willing to pay for qualified click that potentially will result in a sale.
Online Marketing Organic Optimization: Organic optimization is the optimization of a webpage that when done correctly will naturally rank a webpage high in the search engines and allows you to enjoy unlimited clicks without paying for them. Of course you’ll to pay someone to optimize the pages and this is not going to be an overnight process. The first part is fairly easy, and that’s the on-page SEO, which the internet marketing firm will help make it so your pages can talk to the search engines by picking the right title tag, H1 tags, and adding quality content to your webpage. The costly portion (and needed for competitive terms) is off page marketing which ultimately gives a web page more authority and trust and therefor boosting your position in the search results. As a general rule this is done by earning (and we do mean EARNING) links to webpage. Quality links can come from authoritative websites like techcrunch.com, bbb.com, or other site business webpages with authoritative links pointing to their site. At the very least you’ll be investing about $800 a month, and this could climb to $5,000 or even $10,000 for more competitive industries. While the price is not cheap the payoff for the top ranked pages is usually far greater than any investment in PPC marketing.
How to Get The Best Service and Price for SEO: In general you need to call on at least 5 companies and ask them all the same questions, especially “how will EARN links to my website”? Stay away from any company that offers to buy links. The old “I can get 1,000 links for $100” not only doesn’t work but the penalty from the search engines could be devastating to all of your future internet marketing efforts.
INTERNET MARKETING SERVICES: WHAT TO LOOK FOR
As algorithms from search engine change and new forms of online media are developed, finding a good online marketing company to partner with can be a challenge in itself.
When choosing a digital advertising business that best fits you, we looked at companies that supply you with many marketing options and services and that have established, positive reputations in the online marketing field. Here are more considerations to examine when evaluating the best online marketing services:
Online Tools
These tools will give you the best information there is about internet marketing services. Companies should demonstrate their understanding of online marketing and produce relevant, informative, and original content on their websites. This includes resources, like infographics and whitepapers, that help you calculate your return on investment or learn more about a product or service.
The top companies frequently update these valuable resources with accurate up to date information. They also create other resources, such as educational videos, and provide specialized training when needed.
Performance & Tracking Reports
Online campaigns create large amounts of data that you can use and apply toward managing your online marketing campaigns. This data can be lost if you do not have an online marketing company that analyzes it and provides you with detailed reporting the can be used to extract critical information that can turn visitors into sales. The best online marketing firms help you make sense of the data and decide which course of action your business needs to take.
Make sure the company you hire uses this data to deeply analyze your competitors, so you candiscover from their success and failures to better monetize your campaign. The best online marketing services are Google Certified Partners whose employees have taken the proper courses and remain educated in current online marketing practices.
SEO Services
SEO – Search engine optimization services are a key part of internet marketing. Popular search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, are what will drive traffic to your website. Online marketing services include deep keyword research, link building (earning) and copy writing services. Companies should provide a complete website audit before they start to offer any of their services. The best online marketing business will help you create quality industry content for your site based on the top keywords for your niche industry.
No matter what type of business you are running, the best online marketing company should be able to fully understand your company’s needs, how your customer is, and develop an online marketing strategy that will bring more relevant traffic to your website and convert site visitors into hot leads for your company.