Search Engine Optimization or SEO is considered part of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and this has, over just 2 years, grown into a massive, multi-billion industry. Analysts vary in their estimates from $500 Million to $2.5 Billion and beyond. SEO has largely come about as a factor of overall Web growth. Developed countries account for 70% of the Web population and people use search engines as their starting point most of the time. Therefore, being found at the top of a search results page is deemed critical. Google has shown studies that after the 3rd link on a search results page, clicking drops by over 86% and less than 3% of people go to the second page. So what are you paying for with SEO companies? Some might argue not much.

When you retain an SEO marketing agency, you are hiring them to make sure your website, or some portion of your website, is going to appear at or near the top of search “terms” or “keywords” you believe are most related to your company or product. That is the implied expectation. We have seen prices fro SEO range between $2500 to beyond $100,000 depending on the buyers needs.

SEO work can be executed in any number of ways, through link building programs to integrated paid and unpaid search and page and site map optimization. One can often spot a poorly executed SEO campaign when you land on a page that seems to be written by a computer for a computer…largely because they have been written for a computer. The company paid for top rankings, but forgot that the customer reads differently from a computer. Count one lost conversion there.

There are some good SEO/SEM firms out there that can deliver results. The good ones employ good writers and write for your prospective customer. They will also work with you over time to develop an SEO strategy that doesn’t get you disqualified by Google or Yahoo and they adapt your strategy to the algorithm changes made by Google and Yahoo.

No doubt you’ve fielded many a call from an SEO firm promising you the world. For the most part, we find that a client will see their ranking in a search engine increase for a short period of time. Usually to get the attention of whoevers making the purchase decision at the client side. Once the monthly fees become regular, don’t be surprised if your rankings drop.

SEO is not easy, and with search engines changing algorithms and practices constantly, it can be hard to keep up and beyond the skills of most Web designers. You can take some steps to mitigate the risks of overspending and wasting good marketing money; check client references from SEO agencies, and search their clients to see where they come up, negotiate rates down and reject any writing that looks like it was written for a computer and not your prospects. Where possible, obtaining an unbiased audit of your SEO results may also be helpful.