Tag: seo an art

SEO and Web Development Hourly Rates

Hourly rates for SEO (search engine optimization) and Web development are confusing. As a Web developer and SEO, I am very often asked to produce a Website development quote, without the client giving all of the facts. The most important thing to remember is that there is no apples-to-apples comparison.

Website Development Hourly Rates

When you compare the hourly rates of two different Website developers or SEOs, you are really only looking at a fraction of the picture. If “Web Developer A” charges $85 per hour, and “Web Developer B” charges $150 per hour, which one is a better deal? There is a missing variable in how much and how well either of them can produce the results. If “Web Developer B” has a decade of experience and can finish the same task in half of the time, “Web Developer A’s” hourly rate just became $170 per hour ($85*2).

Another strong factor is that although there are standards for Web programming, there are many “correct” ways to produce a project, and usually the “correctness” will come in different degrees. This requires a question of how correct you want it. Two Web developers will likely never produce the exact same results. Thus, the comparison of hourly rates is already flawed.

SEO Hourly Rates

When it comes to SEO, many of the tasks are even less defined than Web development. Determining the best SEO between “SEO A” and “SEO B” it is like comparing two brains, which stumps even the most brilliant Neurosurgeons. There are many skills that we share, but there are also many varying opinions on the best practices. There is only one number one position in each search engine for a given keyword or keyword phrase. That is the goal of the SEO, but the methods used to get there often vary greatly between SEOs.

Reduce Hourly Rate Confusion

Perhaps the most challenging and confusing thing about shopping for Website development or SEO is how much a Website should cost. As I have strongly suggested before, it is best to set a budget. Here is a clip from another of my blog posts:

“Hiding your expected budget is like going to a realtor and saying that you want to buy a house and hiding your budget. If they do not know your budget, they can show you homes all day but you will both be spinning your wheels and never get anywhere.”

When a Web developer or SEO provides a proposal based on only a portion of the client’s objectives, they will always be wrong. I can appreciate the notion of “shopping around”, but to shop without a budget serves nobody at all, and may land you with “Web Developer A” who can potentially cost you more. When it comes to shopping for SEO services, the largest cost is often in the cost of lost opportunities.

Getting the Right Cost Quote

I have produced quotes to shoppers who simply refused to give me the whole picture, only to have them compliment me greatly but say that they believe I am “out of their league”. The fact is that I write quotes ranging from a few thousand dollars on up to many tens of thousands of dollars. It is always based on the information I am given. No two companies place the same importance on Internet marketing, thus, their needs and expectations of both performance and cost will always be different. Without clarifying the needs and expectations for both parties, nobody wins.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Art or Science?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a term that many people may recognize, but seldom clearly understand. Most people exposed to the term grasp the fact that search engine optimization is designed to help bring more traffic to their Website, but that is where their knowledge ends. Without a good understanding what search engine optimization is, many people are destined to either fail in their online marketing pursuits, or alternately throw good money out the window by paying the search engine optimizer with the best sales pitch … the SEO with all hat and no cattle. First things first, I want to address the title of this blog post “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Art or Science?”

  • Is SEO an art? The answer is clearly and undeniably “yes”.
  • Is SEO a science? The answer is clearly and undeniably “yes”.

If this sounds strange, let us look at each of these aspects of SEO so you can decide for yourself.

Search Engine Optimization as an Art

While you read this article, you can surely see the art. After all, I am writing to you in a conversational form, and the way in which I choose my every word is work that surely does not seem scientific. All the while, I am writing an article that will likely be plucked up by search engine spiders for inclusion in their databases and returned in many search results on this topic.

Search Engine Optimization as a Science

This is an area where many SEO firms will try to sell you. It is the wizardry and hocus pocus of the SEO industry. Some companies will try to tell you that they have special technologies to bring or keep your Website at the top of search engine results. Technology is certainly an important aspect of SEO, and cannot be overlooked. Factors I have written about such as keyword research, keyword proximity, keyword usage, keyword density, and many other search engine optimization technology practices are hugely important to the success of any SEO campaign. We must know what keyword phrases people are actually searching for, how competitive it is, how to format contents of a Website, and much more.

Which is More Important in SEO – Art or Science?

The art and science of SEO are both important for top search engine results, and I mean more than just finding your company name in a search engine. Without the science, you face an uphill battle against huge odds. At the same time, without the artistic part, it is like a house of cards. The truth is that the artistic part is more important to the overall results.  I have been writing on the Internet for so many years that I often find that when an article is completed, I have met all of the science of search engine optimization, such as keyword usage, keyword proximity, and programming concerns without even trying. Most important to a search engine is the visible text content of the Website. The information is the most important part of this Information Superhighway. You may have noticed that I am writing about search engine optimization here, and not tractor tires and fishing lures. My content is on-topic and keyword rich.

Author Mark Murnahan is the Chairman and CEO of YourNew.com, Inc. and provides SEO consulting services to companies and non-profit organizations. Mark Murnahan may be reached toll free at 866-A-Web-Guy (*REDACTED DUE TO AGING WEBSITE*) for consultation.