How to buy SEO for Startups: Avoiding The Google Penalty

What is SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has been hard to understand ever since its first existence. It started in the late '90s when SEO began to play a role for business. Later, SEO for startups began to play a role as well. Focusing on niche keywords to gain market share through Search Engine Optimisation.

SEO is described as 'the process of affecting the online visibility of a website or a web page in a web search engine's unpaid results'.

So basically, the stronger your SEO, the easier your website will appear on keyword search in search engines.

It is a big part of building your online sales engine to drive online sales leads at a very low cost

Throughout the years, search engines have influenced the way of strengthening your keyword search position. Also, the gap between BlackHat and WhiteHat became smaller. People who thought to have the golden ticket to SEO success could be shut down the next month.

I will explain a bit more about the two types of criteria that are really needed to gain sought after your ranking.

On-page SEO

On-page optimization is a rather logical part of the search engine optimization. It requires that your web pages contain the elements needed for a good ranking in search engines. Think about load speed, mobile user-friendliness, meta tags, linking structures, menu structures and more.

People still argue which of these is more relevant than others but in general, having a user-friendly website is what makes the true difference.

Off-page SEO

Off-page optimization is in big lines about your connections and associations. A good example is if one of your keywords is 'cars', it is good when other websites link to your website when they talk about this keyword. It makes your website more trusted and is ranked as more interesting in the engine search.

Those backlinks also rely on domain authority. Having a backlink in a high-rated published article is more beneficial than from a less ranked one.

WhiteHat vs BlackHat SEO

Nowadays, the difference between BlackHat and WhiteHat is crucial for your strategy. It can put you out of business and it can give you a great boost. Let me explain a bit more about BlackHat SEO and how it came to existence.

The concept of 'search engine optimization' was created in the late ’90s. As people got to understand more and more about SEO, they understood that links from other website were really important for a strong Seach engine optimization.

Having more likes to your website made your SEO even stronger. Until people started using ‘link farms’ which enabled you to try to create thousands of links and it is fully automated. This was where the term ‘BlackHat SEO’ was created.

BlackHat SEO package

Nowadays the use of BlackHat can lead to a red flag which means that you will be blacklisted. Search engines can often root out these methods but the battle between the online marketers and search engines is ongoing. Programmers were able to create software that creates thousands of backlinks in a couple of hours which shoots website in the top rankings.

WhiteHat, on the other hand, are the strategies that are allowed. The major difference is that search engines allow this type but it will take longer until actual results are reflected. WhiteHat SEO requires patience but also this depends on how aggressive you can be. This is more of a struggle with SEO for startups.

The resistance of primarily Google caused that WhiteHat was more effective cause it worked and there was no risk. That is where GreyHat SEO was created, As blackHat started to look like WhiteHat more and more.

GreyHat SEO works like WhiteHat but it is twice the speed and the method is still the same as BlackHat.

Why WhiteHat SEO is the best choice 

The motto for BlackHat SEO would be ‘cheap, fast and easy results’. It gives you rankings very fast but they will fade away after a while since the linking quality is not as strong as WhiteHat SEO.

When you choose WhiteHat, the providers of the backlinks and internal links are providers who care about the quality of their marketing. The domain authority is higher and that determines the real results.

Let me give you a quick overview of what WhiteHat SEO actually involves. The linking structure you are creating is based on high-quality domain authority which makes search engines realize that your content is actually reliable content. The results you create with the SEO are results that will last forever.

WhiteHat SEO means that there is no software to do it for you, it will only work manually which is absolutely time-consuming. Keep in mind that the downside is that the results will not be reflected so much on a short term. It is a long process which will be worth it in the long term. SEO for startups requires even more patience because they often cannot be as aggresive.

The price of SEO for startups and larger corporates

It would obviously be no surprise that WhiteHat is more expensive than BlackHat. WhiteHat requires more labor and time for the quality that you receive. Especially for SEO for startups, you got to find the trick to be efficient when it comes to costs.

Online marketers will always give you the advice ‘if you want to start digital marketing, be willing to spend a decent amount of money otherwise the result will not be beneficial to you and you should simply not bother doing it’. Keep in mind that the minimum you should spend for good SEO is easily around USD 1,000 per month. 

50% of respondents charge between $75 and $200 per hour.

SEO firms normally work on a monthly fee and for a fixed period. What you pay for the service often depends on multiple things. One of them is the country you are situated in. In the USA it is simply more expensive than in Malaysia.

The second challenge for SEO for startups is the competition of your keywords. With ‘cars’ as a keyword, there is more competition and makes it harder to obtain results than for example a niche keyword like ‘car wheels’. Take into account that you will have to spend more money in the long term. This is especially the case with larger companies.

When will you see results

It depends on many factors whether the results on SEO for startups are quickly visible. In general, it is good to check every six months on your results. After the first six months, you should be able to see improvement regarding website clicks, page views and sometimes even actual Google ranking.

Good ways to revise these statistics are with the following tools: Google Analytics, Semrush.com, Alexa and varvy.com. Try them, they are great ways to keep track of your website performance.

Keep in mind not to expect major changes after three months or maybe even after six months. Strong SEO is built over time and requires patience. Digital Marketing firms that guarantee you results on a short-term are more likely to hurt your business in the long run.

Reference list

Brian Dean, WHITE HAT SEO: The Definitive Guide, Backlinko, Available at; https://backlinko.com/white-hat-seo

Ghoast, How to buy SEO for your Business, BlackHat SEO forum, Available at; https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/how-to-buy-seo-for-your-business.707600/

Joshua Hardwick, SEO Pricing: ~350 Agencies, Consultants, and Freelancers Reveal How Much SEO Costs in 2018 [New Research], Ahrefs Blog, Available at; https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-pricing/

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Written by Berry Broersma

I am a third year International Business student at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, Groningen. Currently, I am doing my internship at NEXEA in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

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